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Is After Hours at Magic Kingdom Worth the Price?

Is After Hours at Magic Kingdom Worth the Price?


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As Disney continues to sell more special ticketed events, it can be hard to figure out which event is right for your family. I attended After Hours at Magic Kingdom and have written about my experience.

Recently, my family traveled to Disney World and went to the After Hours event at Magic Kingdom. I was most looking forward to a quiet night with fewer crowds at the Magic Kingdom. The park is kept open for three hours past closing.

At a price of $129 plus tax per person, After Hours can seem steep for three hours of park time. Unfortunately, there is no difference in price for a child ticket. The fact that there is no difference in price can make this an expensive night for a large family. The price can quickly add up and seem pricey for three hours.

However, there are two discounts available. Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Members are able to receive a $30 discount on tickets. If you are eligible make sure you get the discount!

General admission to Magic Kingdom is not required so you do not need to worry about having two tickets for this event like Early Morning Magic.

Upon arrival to the park, your ticket or magic band is scanned and you are given a wrist band along with an attraction list of what is available during After Hours. The wrist band will give you access to attractions, bottled beverages, and snacks.

The snacks that are included are a single serving of popcorn, ice cream, and fruit bars. You can also get bottled Coke products (including bottled water) from the carts. Simply walk up to any open cart and tell them what you would like!

The event starts as soon as the park closes. On the night we visited, the park closed at 8 PM. At this point, you can begin enjoying rides and treats from select carts. We opted to grab some sodas and mickey bars and watch the fireworks.

Throughout the night we continued to walk on to every ride we went to. By the end of the night, we had ridden over twelve attractions with a toddler in tow. The snacks and drinks are unlimited. I’m pretty sure we ate our weight in Mickey bars!

After watching most of the fireworks we were able to ride:

  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train x2
  • Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
  • Dumbo the Flying Elephant
  • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
  • Space Mountain
  • Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
  • Peter Pan’s Flight
  • “It’s a small world”
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad x2
  • Splash Mountain
  • Pirates of the Caribbean

It was amazing to move around the park and feel as if you are the only one there. Not every After Hours event may feel this way, but it was amazing to see nearly empty lands. We moved at a leisurely pace and got done so much more than I ever thought possible.

More dates have been released for After Hours. Check those out HERE. Would rather attend an After Hours at Magic Kingdom with some flair? More dates have been released for Villains After Hours. Check those dates out HERE.

Walk on to some of the most popular attractions? Pictures on a nearly empty Main Street? Unlimited bottled beverages and snacks? YES PLEASE!!!

After trying this experience,  it is something my family would do again.  In fact, my family has done this twice, and we are doing it again on our next trip! It may seem expensive, but you are able to accomplish so much more in those three hours than most can in a full day at the park.

If this splurge isn’t in the cards for you, use a good touring plan from Character Locator to accomplish more on your regular park day. Click HERE to check it out!

Have you tried an After Hours event? Would you do it again?

-Heather Alosa

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Lisa K

Friday 10th of January 2020

We don't have tickets for that day. It would be great for us! I don't remember MK being open past 9 pm off season.

ruth

Monday 9th of December 2019

I remember when the parks were open later for free to accommodate the guests. Now they have managed to make it so crowded that paying for what used to be free seems to appeal to some. I don't like that they took away free for everyone and are having "special Events" at an upcharge. I won't be taking advantage of this upcharge. It's difficult for regular paying guests to have a full park day with all these "events" now. It's ridiculous. However, that seemsto be the way of things now at WDW; take away what was free and charge a ridiculous amount of money for it, while inconveniencing regular paying guests. So, we will never pay to do this.

Rose

Sunday 17th of November 2019

I can barely afford the regular park admissions.

Kim Zupfer

Saturday 16th of November 2019

We love the after hours events. Great when available on days you arrive and you aren't able to get a full day in at the parks. Also important to note that they allow entry at 7p for these events which generally start at either 8p, 9p or 10p and run for 3 hours. If you have night owls, and the event starts at 10p, you get 6 hours of park time!! Our sweet spot is the 9p start, and then get in line to see Mickey at 1150p on the way out. Our record is 17 attractions in 5 hours, some of them multiple rides and we don't always have to get off to ride again.

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