I was extremely fortunate to attend the second night of Animal Kingdom’s After Hours. It was a spectacular experience filled with a prime parking location, snacks, and all you can ride rides with little-to-no lines! My dad had never visited the Animal Kingdom park before and happened to be visiting during the event. I decided to take him along as my guest because: 1. He can put down some snacks. 2. He can stay up past 8pm. 3. He loves rides. 4. I never get any time alone with him! We had the most memorable night so let’s start with the basics:
WHAT IS IT?
After Hours is a special ticket you can purchase to visit Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios for three hours after the park closes. You are allowed access an hour and a half before the park closes so in my dad’s case (he is not a passholder and didn’t have a daytime ticket), he was able to visit the park from 7-11:30pm. The park closed at 8:30pm. Admission is $125 and passholders and DVC get tickets discounted at $95. I believe that non-passholders/DVC have to pay for parking but they parked us in the Premium Parking lot with no upgraded charge. This allowed for quick and easy access to the park and we really appreciated this perk!
WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?
Unlimited snacks- Popcorn, Premium Mickey ice cream bars, Mickey ice cream sandwiches, frozen strawberry fruit bars, bottled Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke, and Dasani Water.
Admission into the park from 7pm until 11:30pm (park closes at 8:30pm).
Little-to-no wait times for rides- read below for a list of attractions that are open during the event.
WHAT CAN I DO DURING AFTER HOURS?
Attractions are limited from what you’d be able to do during normal hours. For example- there is no safari and all the animals have been put away for the night. We didn’t see any characters after park closing aside from Chip & Dale at the Dino-Riffic Dance Party. Restaurants are closed but select menu items (such as hot dogs) are available for purchase at Pongu Pongu, Thirsty River Bar & Trek Snacks, and there are several outdoor bars for purchasing adult beverages. All gifts shops are closed except Windraders, Serka Zong Bazaar, and The Dino Institute Shop. One big disappointment was that we couldn’t find any PhotoPass photographers at all once the park closed. It’s so dark in the park that taking photos with good lighting is nearly impossible. We would’ve been happy to have a few PhotoPass memories from the night. Hopefully they add photographers to future events.
Entertainment:
There are several entertainment options to choose from during After Hours. The Tree of Life has “awakenings” (movie and music projections) throughout the night. Pandora has three drum shows. There is a Rivers of Light show at 9pm. And Dinoland U.S.A. has a Dino-Riffic Dance Party with Chip & Dale. Rivers of Light can be extremely crowded on a regular evening so being able to watch it during the event is a luxury!
Rides:
Everyone wants to know if there is a wait for Avatar Flight of Passage and in our case, the answer is NO!!! We didn’t wait in any lines whatsoever after the park closed. Other rides during After Hours include Na’vi River Journey, Expedition Everest, TriceraTop Spin, DINOSAUR, and It’s Tough to be a Bug. Here’s the big caveat to riding unlimited rides- my dad and I both had motion sickness! Even guests who don’t usually experience motion-sensitivity said that after repeated rides, they were dizzy and didn’t feel 100%. We broke up the evening by watching It’s Tough to be a Bug and taking some time to enjoy snacks. There’s no rush because there’s plenty of time to do everything.
IS IT GOOD FOR SMALL KIDS?
In my opinion, it’s not ideal for young kids for a few reasons. Little ones may be disappointed by the lack of characters. It’s also pretty late in the evening so you may be dealing with a cranky toddler or working around a sleeping child. The best rides that most people want to ride repetitively have a height limit that toddlers don’t meet. I don’t believe we saw any really young kids during our date. For kids 8+ I think it could be a really fun night!
MAGICAL MEMORIES
As a passholder, this makes a perfect date night and is a really great gift idea. It would be a ton of fun if you were vacationing and took the day off of a park to explore resorts or Disney Springs and then spent the evening at AH.
We walked throughout the park (Africa is completely closed-off) several times during the night and ate our snacks. A walk from Everest to Avatar Flight of Passage is the perfect time to devour a Premium Mickey Bar! When crossing the bridge from Discovery Island to Dinoland U.S.A., we noticed white birds nesting for the night in the trees over the river and it was really pretty! The lighting in Dinoland U.S.A. allowed us to take a few fun photos with no guests in the background. My dad said several times what an awesome experience it was for the two of us to share!
It truly was a night to remember and I didn’t take for granted the lack of crowds! If I had to GUESS the attendance number, I’d say it was under 400 people. On a typical day, park attendance at AK is around 35,000 on average. On many rides, they allowed guests to reride without going back through the standby line if you asked a cast member. I also don’t think I saw a single stroller. In certain areas, you may be walking the paths completely alone. After Hours will leave you feeling like a Disney V.I.P. We absolutely loved our evening and if given the opportunity again, I’d gladly check out another park!
