Is Disney World’s £150 After Hours event worth the money?
For us? Absolutely.
We visited Walt Disney World for 5 nights at the end of January into the beginning of February and on our final evening we had tickets to the After Hours event at Magic Kingdom following an incredible time at the Hollywood Studios After Hours event on our 2023 trip.
We paid £142 each for our tickets which we purchased through Attraction Tickets for 1 February 2024.
What is After Hours?
A 3-hour ticketed event that provides access to a Disney park after closing, with general park admission from 7:30pm, shorter attraction queues, a selection of unlimited snacks, occasional extra firework showings (park, event and weather dependent).
The After Hours event for Magic Kingdom is capped so once the day crowds have left, queues are minimal and rides with virtual queues are open for standard queues (Tron/Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in Epcot).
The ticket gives you access to the park from 7:30pm, though the actual event doesn’t start until after the park closes. There are cast members scanning tickets and providing wristbands at the front of the park from 7:30pm and in the first bit of the event you will need to show your wristband to access rides and certain areas of the park until all of the day guests have left.
Once the event starts, snacks and drinks are available and the attraction queues continue to fall.
Was it worth it?
Yes. We loved every second of this event, even though we were literally hobbling out of Magic Kingdom at gone 1am by the end of our last day of our trip!
We were extremely lucky that during our After Hours event, we were treated to a showing of Disney’s Enchantment - the firework and projection show that was on during the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration. With only a few thousand people in the park and lots of people on the rides, we were able to sit on at the very front of the Hub on the sloped semi-circle directly in front of the castle while we ate our complimentary popcorn and watched the show in comfort. It was a truly magical experience and honestly, worth the price of the ticket for us alone.
During After Hours we saw Happily Ever After and then rode 14 rides and watched Disney’s Enchantment, had 6 bottled drinks and 4 ice creams between us.
The only downside for us, and this is nitpicky, is that we were staying at Pop Century so the bus and the queue was extremely busy as we shared with Art of Animation and the All Stars - it took a really long time to get back from the event as we were the last stop. It was a lot at the end of a long day and a late night.
Overall, we absolutely love After Hours events - the feeling of having the park to yourself is unmatched, the queues are mostly walk ons, the snacks feel free, and the extra entertainment is so wonderful and a really special moment. We’ll absolutely be doing more events in the future; hopefully Epcot next time!
Happily Ever After, February 2024
We booked through Attraction Tickets, you can find tickets from the UK for Magic Kingdom HERE, Epcot HERE and Hollywood Studios HERE. We’re not at all affiliated with Attraction Tickets, just passing several great experiences booking through them.
If you have any questions about the event, please drop us a comment or an email and we’ll be happy to help!
Written by Sophie
