It’s the dream of many Disney World fans to stay in the parks after they close and enjoy the rides, entertainment, and ambiance without the huge crowds. Guess what? That dream can actually come true!

If you’re willing to pay some extra cash, there are several different options you can check out that let you stay late into the night in Disney World! Some of those events include special holiday parties, After Hours events, and Extended Evening Hours. In this post, we’re going to compare After Hours events and Extended Evening Hours to see which of these add-ons is right for your next Disney trip!

At both Disney’s After Hours events and Extended Evening Hours, you can stay late at select parks, and you’ll get to experience things that daytime guests typically don’t see. But even though they have some things in common, there are key differences between the two offerings that we’re going to break down!

Dates

Let’s start with the “when” of these two events. For After Hours events, you’ll typically find them taking place at the beginning of the year. In 2023, Disney After Hours events are scheduled from January through April, but before the pandemic, we did see some After Hours offerings at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park during the summer.

On top of that, After Hours typically only happens once or twice a week, so you may have to modify your park schedule during your visit if you want to attend.

Click here to see ALL the dates for the 2023 After Hours events.

The Magic Kingdom After Hours events are typically held on select Mondays and Thursdays, whereas the Hollywood Studios After Hours events are mostly on Wednesdays. They don’t take place every week, though, so make sure you check the schedule before making your plans!

Extended Evening Hours happen throughout the year, and there are usually one or two nights per week when they’re happening. Most of the Magic Kingdom events are on Wednesdays, and most of the EPCOT events are Mondays. Like the After Hours events, the schedule is variable and will change week-to-week, so make sure you check out those dates and times before you plan your vacation.

Who Qualifies

Anyone can purchase a ticket to attend After Hours events in Disney World. As long as the event isn’t sold out, you’re free to buy a ticket and attend the event!

However, you must be a guest at a Disney-owned Deluxe hotel in order to take advantage of Extended Evening Hours.

If you’re staying at any of the following hotels, you qualify for this perk:

• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve

Locations

One big difference between the two events is the locations where they’re held. For After Hours events, we’ve seen them take place in Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, and even Animal Kingdom (pre-COVID). Since the pandemic, they’ve only returned to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

Most of the Extended Evening Hours events, by contrast, happen at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. We’ve only seen a couple of times when Hollywood Studios was thrown into the mix, and there have never been Extended Hours available at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Times

If you’re heading to an After Hours event, the name gives away the timeframe. These hard-ticketed offerings don’t start until AFTER the park is closed for the evening. At Magic Kingdom, they’re running from 10PM to 1AM currently, and in Hollywood Studios, they take place from 9:30PM-12:30AM. That’s 3 hours of late-night park time. On top of that, you can enter the park early with your After Hours ticket at 7PM, giving you some extra time while the daytime crowds peter out. So ultimately, you get just a little bit more time at Magic Kingdom than you do at Hollywood Studios.

With Extended Evening Hours, you get a little less extra time. The Magic Kingdom hours generally run from 10PM to midnight, and the event in EPCOT is usually 9PM to 11PM.

That means you’ll only get 2 hours of extra time with Extended Hours, whereas the After Hours events give you 3 hours of park time after the parks close.

Park Pass Requirements

If you purchase a ticket to an After Hours event, you do NOT need to buy a park ticket or make a Park Pass Reservation. Your ticket is your admission, so there’s no need to buy a daytime ticket unless you wanted to enter the park before 7PM.

To attend Extended Evening Hours, guests will need a valid park ticket or annual pass AND a Park Pass Reservation for the park that is offering Extended Evening Hours that day (or a ticket or Annual Pass with the Park Hopper option, provided the park with the Park Pass reservation was already entered earlier that day).

Guests will also need a Resort ID (such as a MagicBand or Key to the World card) to enter.

Crowds

Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty of things! One reason people really enjoy the After Hours events is that they offer the chance to see Disney World with incredibly low crowds. Tickets are extremely limited, so you’ll find short wait times for the rides and large, empty spaces. This is the perfect time to get that castle pic!

We saw a similar picture at Extended Evening Hours. Once the daytime crowds left the park, wait times were very low and the park felt virtually empty in some parts!

In terms of crowd levels, these 2 events are very similar.

Attractions and Entertainment

What special things do these events have to offer? Well, at the After Hours events, you won’t find many special or unique things to do outside of the regular rides and character meet and greets. In fact, some of the attractions are limited during that time. We did see special performances of Wonderful World of Animation and Disney Movie Magic at Hollywood Studios during After Hours, but those were the only entertainment offerings.

The low ride wait times were the real highlight of the event. Getting on Rise of the Resistance in 20 minutes? Yes, please!

At Hollywood Studios, the following rides stay open during the After Hours event:

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Toy Story Mania!
• Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Tower of Terror
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

At Magic Kingdom, the following rides stay open during the After Hours event:

• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Haunted Mansion
• “it’s a small world”
• Jungle Cruise
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Swiss Family Treehouse
• Enchanted Tiki Room
• Country Bear Jamboree
• The Barnstormer
• Dumbo The Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party
• The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh
• Mickey’s Philharmagic
• Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel
• Under The Sea — Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Astro Orbiter
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• PeopleMover
• Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater
• Meet Disney Princesses at Princess Fairytale Hall

During Extended Evening Hours, many rides and attractions remain open as well. There aren’t usually extra entertainment offerings, though, which is similar to the After Hours events.

At EPCOT, the following rides stay open during Extended Evening Hours:

• Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
• Frozen Ever After
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind — PLEASE NOTE: Guests going to Extended Evening Hours can request to join the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at 6PM. Find COMPLETE DETAILS here. 
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• Test Track
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

At Magic Kingdom, the following rides stay open during Extended Evening Hours:

• “it’s a small world”
• Astro Orbiter
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Haunted Mansion
• Mad Tea Party
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• Swiss Family Treehouse
• The Barnstormer
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress

On the rare occasions when Extended Evening Hours are offered at Hollywood Studios, the following rides are open:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Toy Story Mania!
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Note that during both the After Hours events and Extended Evening Hours, most restaurants are CLOSED in the parks. A couple of restaurants will usually stay open for both events, and you can pick up free snacks at snack stands during the After Hours events, but don’t plan on too much dining availability during these times.

Included in Admission

Are there any “freebies” you can get at these events? We’re glad you asked! At the After Hours events, select snacks are included in your ticket price. If you visit popcorn stands around the park, you can get unlimited popcorn, ice cream novelties, and bottled drinks.

There aren’t any freebies at the Extended Evening Hours events — these just offer straightforward time in the parks and low ride wait times.

Price

Finally, we’ve got to talk about price! For After Hours events in 2023, prices ranged from $129 to $159, depending on the night. Tickets were a little more expensive at Magic Kingdom than they were for Hollywood Studios. Keep in mind that this gets you 5.5-6 hours of park time if you enter at 7PM.

Extended Evening Hours are FREE…as long as you’re staying at one of Disney’s Deluxe hotels. Those Deluxe hotels usually cost $500+ per night (and some reach into the thousands per night during busy times!), so they definitely aren’t cheap.

However, if you’re planning to stay at one of these hotels anyway, or if you’re a DVC member at one of those hotels, you can take advantage of the free perk and extra park time.

Which Is Better?

So which of these events is better? If you’re already planning to stay at a Deluxe hotel, you can take advantage of Extended Evening Hours for FREE and you probably won’t need to buy a ticket for the After Hours events. But if you wanted to save some money, it’s likely going to be cheaper to stay at a Value or Moderate hotel (or even off Disney World property) and buy a ticket for an After Hours event.

The pricing may depend on your group, however. After Hours events cost $129-$159 per person, so if you can get a good deal on a Deluxe hotel room (which is one cost for the whole room rather than a per-person cost), you might actually save some cash by going with Extended Evening Hours. Check the rates for Deluxe hotels during your trip to see which is cheaper!

Other than the price, the events themselves are very similar. Most of the same rides are open at each event, neither has super special entertainment offerings, and both get you on lots of rides with low wait times. However, you get more time in the parks with After Hours events, and those also have the bonus of free snacks and treats throughout the evening.

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Have you ever been to these events in Disney World? Tell us in the comments!

The post Comparing After Hours Events and Extended Evening Hours in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.