Walt Disney World’s after-hours events, like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, supply company a novel alternative to go to Disney World’s theme parks at night time after they’ve closed to daytime company. This implies decrease crowds, shorter wait occasions and experiences which can be solely out there to occasion company.
Disney after the daytime crowds go away sounds nice, proper?
The more durable problem is that the after-hours perks include a worth that may be laborious to justify on prime of your different Disney trip bills, corresponding to multi-day park tickets and even annual passes, since you’ll need particular occasion tickets that price $100-$200 per particular person vary, relying on the occasion.
Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at a few of Disney World’s hottest after-hours events to see how they rank for crowds, unique experiences and included perks that can assist you reply the age-old query, “To occasion, or to not occasion.”
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together
Held annually at Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party often kicks off in mid-August and runs on choose nights via late October or early November. It might appear to be numerous methods and treats when a lot of the nation celebrates only one night time of Halloween. Nonetheless, the long term offers out-of-town company ample alternative to expertise the occasion.
On occasion nights, Magic Kingdom closes early for daytime company, sometimes by 6 p.m., and solely these with a celebration ticket can keep for the night’s festivities. Visitors are inspired to decorate in costumes, and your favourite Disney characters gown up for the event, too.
Ticket price
Tickets for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together price between $109 and $199 plus tax for adults or $99 and $189 for youths ages 3-9. Reductions can be found for Disney Trip Membership members and annual move holders. Click here to buy tickets.
Additional hours spent within the park
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together begins at 7 p.m. and ends at midnight, however company with tickets to the occasion can enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4 p.m. This implies even with out a common park ticket, you possibly can spend as much as eight hours within the park.
As a result of the ticket costs can climb to just about $200 on sure nights, skipping a daily daytime ticket and coming into the park early for the Halloween occasion is among the finest money-saving methods.
Every day E-newsletter
Reward your inbox with the TPG Every day e-newsletter
Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants
No matter your priorities for the night time, the decreased crowds ought to offer you ample time to see and do all the things you need to do in the event you arrive across the 4 p.m. early entry time.
Wait occasions for rides
The wait occasions for rides are a lot shorter than common throughout Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together. For instance, in style rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice and Peter Pan’s Flight usually have wait occasions between 60 and 90 minutes in the course of the day however have waits round half that point (between 30 and 45 minutes) on occasion nights. Most different rides have wait occasions beneath half-hour.
Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane aren’t out there in the course of the occasion, however you need to use them between 4 p.m. and seven p.m. if maxing out rides is your prime precedence. It’s also possible to save time in line by getting in line throughout one of many nightly parades or the fireworks present.
Included snacks and drinks
There are not any included snacks or drinks at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together, however you may make out like a bandit with sweet on the trick-or-treat stops.
All occasion company obtain a reusable trick-or-treat bag and an occasion map upon coming into the park. There are trick-or-treat spots all around the Magic Kingdom, and you may simply fill your bag to the brim in the event you hit all of them. Allergy-friendly treats are additionally out there.
Although you’ll have to shell out additional for them, there are a selection of specialty foods and drinks choices which can be unique to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together. If you’re there for the total size of the occasion, you will must eat, and it is enjoyable attempting out the meals, sweets and drinks that you could solely get in the course of the occasion.
Unique leisure and experiences
You may meet uncommon characters just like the Seven Dwarfs or Jack and Sally from “A Nightmare Earlier than Christmas,” however the wait occasions can climb as excessive as three hours for the most well-liked characters, so be ready to attend.
There’s additionally dwell leisure you possibly can solely expertise in the course of the occasion, together with Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular! stage present and Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks present. The parade and the Hocus Pocus present are held a number of occasions nightly, so it is easy to suit them into your schedule no matter your different priorities for the night time.
Rides, together with Area Mountain and the Mad Tea Get together, get enjoyable Halloween overlays you possibly can solely expertise in the course of the occasion.
Is Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together price it?
Value it for characters and leisure
If you’re going for the unique meet-and-greets and leisure choices, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together is certainly price it, however these are additionally the the reason why you will want to find out your priorities and develop a technique earlier than your go to. If there are characters you simply have to satisfy, you will need to line up as early as attainable, which can imply forgoing rides or trick-or-treating.
Value it for brief wait occasions and experience overlays
In case your purpose is getting on as many rides as attainable, Mickey’s-Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together is an effective time to try this, as effectively. You could miss out on a number of the Halloween-specific choices, however you will nonetheless be surrounded by spooky settings and music as you hop from experience to experience.
Not price it when you’ve got younger youngsters who go to mattress early
The occasion is probably going not price it in the event you — or your little ones — want to depart and go to mattress by 8 or 9 p.m., so take that into consideration. You will miss out on a lot of the Halloween-specific choices, which negates going for a particular occasion.
Not price it in the event you aren’t into Halloween
At Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Get together, everyone seems to be wearing costume, and you may get masses and a great deal of sweet. If filling your trick-or-treat bag with Halloween treats is not your, effectively, bag, and also you could not care much less about characters in costumes, you could need to skip this one.
FOR NO-COST ASSISTANCE WITH PLANNING AND BOOKING YOUR NEXT DISNEY VACATION, CHECK OUT TPG’S DISNEY BOOKING PARTNER, MOUSE COUNSELORS.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party takes place every vacation season on choose nights from early November via late December. It is the closest you will discover to a winter wonderland in Central Florida, full with a magical “snowfall” and a go to from Santa Claus on the finish of the parade.
Associated: Up all night: How Disney transforms the Magic Kingdom from Halloween to holiday overnight
Through the occasion, the park is illuminated with vacation lights, and Christmas tunes fill the air. As a result of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together is a individually ticketed occasion, you will get to benefit from the sights and sounds of the season with decrease crowd ranges than you will expertise in the course of the day.
Ticket price
Tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together price between $159 and $199 plus tax for adults or $149 and $189 for youths ages 3-9. Reductions can be found for Disney Trip Membership members and annual move holders. Click on here to buy tickets.
Additional hours spent within the park
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 12 a.m. Along with the 5 official occasion hours, company with occasion tickets can enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4 p.m. for as much as eight hours within the park.
Wait occasions for rides
Disney sells a restricted variety of tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together, so the wait occasions are shorter than a typical day in the course of the vacation season. Nonetheless, you should still wait upward of 45 minutes for in style rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice and Peter Pan’s Flight, in addition to rides that get vacation overlays like Area Mountain and the Jungle Cruise.
Included snacks and drinks
The free meals and drinks are an awesome perk at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. Along with specialty foods and drinks gadgets out there for buy, there are stations throughout the park with complimentary cookies and scorching cocoa.
Unique leisure and experiences
For those who begin taking part in Christmas songs as quickly as you get up Nov. 1, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together will greater than fulfill your want for vacation leisure. You’ve got 4 alternatives every night to observe Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration stage reveals, two possibilities to get a great spot for Mickey’s As soon as Upon a Christmastime Parade and every night time at 10 p.m., you possibly can view Minnie’s Great Christmastime Fireworks Present.
All through the night, you possibly can cease by Membership Tinsel and the Disney Junior Jingle Jam to bop with characters to full of life vacation music. The leisure alone might hold you busy till the occasion ends.
Is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together price it?
Value it for reveals, parades and fireworks
The specialty leisure choices are what set Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together other than a typical daytime go to. Sure, you possibly can see the decor and listen to the vacation tunes in the course of the day. Nonetheless, few issues will get you within the Christmas spirit sooner than seeing Santa and his reindeer within the parade, watching Clarabelle Cow sing “All I Need For Christmas is You,” and having fun with purple and inexperienced fireworks gentle up the sky over Cinderella Fortress.
Value it without cost snacks and drinks
There are only a few alternatives to get one thing free at Disney World, and we love that the included cookies and scorching cocoa add to the festive temper throughout this occasion.
Not price it in the event you simply need to go on rides
Regardless of the shorter-than-normal wait occasions, rides are not the explanation to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. There are such a lot of party-specific actions that you’re higher off visiting the park throughout daytime hours in case you are solely in it for the rides.
Not price it in the event you aren’t ready to remain up late
Like several Disney after-hours occasion, you need to be prepared to remain up previous your bedtime to profit from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. If you wish to strive it, we advocate skipping a daytime ticket and utilizing that point to relaxation up earlier than the occasion begins.
Disney After Hours
You do not have to attend for a vacation for a late-night Disney World celebration. On choose nights in 2024, Magic Kingdom, Epcot or Hollywood Studios will keep open previous midnight for individually ticketed Disney After Hours occasions. Just like the Halloween and Christmas events, Disney sells a restricted variety of tickets for these occasions. Meaning low wait occasions for rides and character experiences.
The present parks and occasions are:
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. starting Jan. 10, 2024
- Magic Kingdom from 10 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. starting Jan. 11, 2024
- Epcot from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. starting Feb. 2, 2024
Ticket price
Disney After Hours ticket costs begin at $155 and go as much as $175 (plus tax) for Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Epcot After Hours ticket pricing is barely decrease, beginning at $149 and going as much as $159 (plus tax). Reductions can be found for annual move holders and Disney Trip Membership members.
Tickets go on sale Nov.14, 2023, and you may purchase them here.
Additional hours spent within the park
Although the official occasion occasions are 9:30 p.m. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and 10 p.m. at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, company can enter the park for Disney After Hours starting at 7 p.m. even with out buying a daytime ticket. Meaning you possibly can rise up to 6 hours contained in the park together with your occasion ticket.
Wait occasions for rides
The low crowds and brief wait occasions are the primary promoting factors for Disney After Hours.
Disney retains most rides open for these occasions, together with in style rides like Tron Lightcycle Run, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which usually have lengthy waits in the course of the day. You may count on wait occasions of round 5 to half-hour for many sights.
Included snacks and drinks
Meals and drinks, like ice cream, popcorn and nonalcoholic drinks, are all included in the price of your ticket. Limitless Mickey ice cream bars could also be well worth the worth of admission on their very own.
Unique leisure and experiences
With one exception, Disney After Hours occasions don’t supply party-exclusive parades, fireworks or stage reveals. The one exception is at Magic Kingdom, the place you possibly can see “Enchantment,” the nighttime fireworks spectacular Disney unveiled in the course of the park’s fiftieth anniversary celebration. For those who arrive early, you possibly can see “Fortunately Ever After” and “Enchantment” on the identical night time.
Is Disney After Hours price it?
Value it for an all-day, all-night experience marathon
In case your most important purpose once you go to Disney World is to experience as many rides as attainable as many occasions as attainable, you possibly can mix a daytime ticket with a Disney After Hours ticket to max out your experience rely. Through the occasion, you possibly can re-ride your favorites time and again or hit the rides you skipped in the course of the day due to the upper wait occasions.
Value it in the event you do not need to cope with Disney Genie+
Throughout Disney After Hours, all rides use a standby queue. If waking up early to vie for a digital queue spot or spending time (and cash) to schedule rides utilizing Disney Genie+ shouldn’t be your concept of a trip, you will take pleasure in hopping briefly standby queues on a whim throughout Disney After Hours.
Not price it for unique experiences
Except you want your repair of “Enchantment” at Magic Kingdom, there isn’t a party-specific leisure that will make the price of this ticket price it for you.
Not price it on your first time visiting a park
Though the crowds are low and choose characters are out greeting company, you will not get the total Disney World expertise throughout these occasions. We would not advocate attending Disney After Hours at a park you have by no means visited throughout daytime hours. You will miss out on a number of the eating, leisure and environment that you could solely expertise with a daily daytime ticket.
Backside line
Disney’s after-hours events are very fashionable and will be price it — relying on what you hope to get out of the expertise. Do you need to meet uncommon characters, see parades and reveals that solely occur in the course of the occasion, or do you need to munch on free popcorn and sip on “free” soda all night time?
As soon as you recognize your priorities (and what number of free Mickey ice cream bars you possibly can eat), you possibly can simply decide which of Disney’s after-hours events will create essentially the most magic for you.
Associated studying:
Trending Merchandise
