In late February, my mom, my sister, and I went to Magic Kingdom After Hours! I’ve been to one After Hours event back in 2017, so it had been a long time and I was looking forward to getting to experience a lot of attractions with low wait times. In this Magic Kingdom After Hours Review, I’ll go over what to expect, how to prepare, pros, cons, the attractions we were able to do, and if I’d do it again!

What to Expect

First, Walt Disney World has a lot of extra parties throughout the year – Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Mickey’s Halloween Party, etc. Disney After Hours is different than other extra ticketed events because it is just an event that includes rides – there are no entertainment offerings or special fireworks.

What’s Included

Your ticket includes entry to the park a few hours before it closes to the public. Double check the Disney website for specific times, but for our date we could enter at 7pm with a 10pm park closure, and the party went on until 1am. From 7pm-10pm we had access to everything that day guests had access to – all shows, rides, entertainment, restaurants, shopping, etc. We could have even purchased Genie+ and booked ourselves Lightning Lanes for this period of time. Anything that was open and available from 7-10pm was available to us!

Once the party began at 10pm, and the park was closed to day guests, we presented our wristbands for entry into attractions that were available during the event. Unlimited bottled beverages, popcorn, and select ice cream treats (Mickey bars, sandwiches, etc.) were also included. Pro tip – bring a backpack and stock up on bottled drinks!

Once the party gets started, most attractions are open. I’ll cover what’s not included in the next section!

What’s Not Included

First, PhotoPass is not included in your After Hours ticket purchase. PhotoPass photographers are out, especially around Main Street USA, and you can get your PhotoPass downloads if you have an Annual Pass that includes PhotoPass, or if you have purchased Memory Maker.

Not all shops or restaurants are open. Yes, you may shop and eat anywhere that’s open during regular park hours until the After Hours party officially begins. But once the event begins, the only spot for a full meal is Casey’s Corner, and there are only a handful of places to shop.

Closed Rides & Attractions

• Carousel of Progress
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Hall of Presidents
• Tom Sawyer Island*
• Liberty Belle*
• Walt Disney World Railroad*
• Tron Lightcycle Run**

*These attractions typically close before the park closes to day guests, so you may be unable to experience these if you check in early. If they’re important to you, make sure to have a day ticket to Magic Kingdom to experience these!

**Special Note about Tron Lightcycle Run – as of publication, this attraction is in “soft opening” mode and will fully open on April 4, 2023. Perhaps it will be available during After Hours once the attraction opens, but since it’s going to use a virtual queue or Individual Lightning Lane purchase only, it’s hard to tell whether or not it will be available. Stay tuned!

There are also limited character opportunities – the princess meet & greet in Fantasyland is open, and you can meet Mickey on Main Street, but those are your only chances to see characters once the party officially starts.

Arrival, Check-In, & Event Start

You can arrive any way you normally arrive to the Magic Kingdom – bus, ferryboat, Monorail, rideshare, or driving yourself! Keep in mind if you are driving yourself or otherwise arriving at the Ticket and Transportation Center, give yourself plenty of time to get from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom entry – you’ll either have to take a ferryboat or Monorail over to Magic Kingdom. I recommend planning on parking about an hour before the event begins – this way you’ll have time to get to the Magic Kingdom, go to the restroom if necessary, etc. – and you’ll still be able to line up at the turnstiles before the event starts.

If you’re in Magic Kingdom for the day, you can pick up your wristbands across from Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. If you’re just coming to Magic Kingdom as part of the After Hours party, you’ll pick up your wristbands after entering the specially-marked turnstiles.

If you’re at the turnstiles, they will open right as the event begins. We arrived around 30 minutes early and we were about 15 parties behind the turnstiles. We didn’t need to show any special email or ticket or anything – we had our event admission connected to our My Disney Experience account so we just scanned our MagicBands and we were in!

Rides We Went on at After Hours

Here’s the rides & attractions we were able to experience, in order!

• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Carousel of Progress
• Peoplemover
• Astro Orbiter (during fireworks!)
• Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (my sister and our mom did this one while I picked up a mobile order from Cosmic Ray’s)
• Mad Tea Party
• Dumbo
• Barnstormer
• Little Mermaid
• Winnie the Pooh
  —while we were in line for Winnie the Pooh, the park closed to day guests—
• Carousel
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Haunted Mansion
• Big Thunder
• Pirates
• Jungle Cruise
• Country Bear Jamboree
• Space Mountain
• Peter Pan
• It’s a Small World

As soon as we were disembarking it’s a small world, the event officially ended. We walked down Main Street USA and took pictures with PhotoPass at Cinderella Castle, and then we were on our way out!

Exiting the Park

The Monorail and ferryboats were running to the Ticket & Transportation Center, and of course resort guests had buses waiting as well. We were exhausted but we made it back to our car and finally back home. It was nice leaving this time of night, as there weren’t huge crowds of people to contend with! Getting back home was a smooth drive as well, with no resort traffic anywhere.

Final Thoughts on After Hours at Magic Kingdom

After Hours is an exceptional value if you’re a ride warrior and can manage your time wisely. We were able to accomplish most attractions including all the headliners without waiting more than 15 minutes. We could have done the experience a bit differently and watched the fireworks, but it would have come at a sacrifice of missing out on a couple rides.

Pros of After Hours

Obviously, getting a lot of rides done with minimal waits is the huge draw of this event. The ice cream, popcorn, and bottled drinks is a nice added value (and welcomed as you get pretty tired later on in the evening!). It’s also a great chance to see the parks at night without hordes of other guests.

Cons of After Hours

If you’re interested in parades or atmosphere entertainment, you’re not going to find this at After Hours. For us that’s not a problem, but for some that can be a disappointment. I also wish they had more locations for the ice cream, drinks, and popcorn – it felt like we spent part of our evening hunting them down. Also, if traveling with kids, this is a tough event to pull off as it goes late into the night.

Would I do After Hours Again?

Absolutely, 100%. For a ride warrior family like us, it makes sense to do this event – and I think others who are ride warriors can consider this as a replacement for a full day at Magic Kingdom if you’re okay with missing out on dining experiences, atmosphere entertainment, parades, etc. If you strictly want to get the rides done this is a great opportunity to do so. I would not do this event at Epcot or Animal Kingdom – I just don’t think there are enough rides there for it to be worth it for me personally. I would consider doing this at Hollywood Studios as long as there weren’t any rides down for refurbishment. (As of publication, Rock n Rollercoaster is down for a lengthy refurbishment).

Have you done After Hours? Thinking about it? Drop any feedback or questions!