The time has FINALLY come — After Hours events are BACK in Disney World!

When Disney World reopened after the park closures, not all entertainment offerings came back at once. Disney announced that After Hours Events would be returning to the parks in January 2023, and that day is officially here! It has all kicked off at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so come with us as we see what crowds and wait times are like at the very FIRST returning After Hours Event!

We’re SO excited that After Hours Events are back at Disney World! These are separately ticketed parties where you can stay in the Disney theme parks for 3 hours after the park closes. There are special treats and drinks included in your ticket — and because the number of tickets sold for the parties is limited, you can often find lower wait times than usual on the rides and attractions.

Before Official Event Kick-Off

Since this is the first After Hours Event in YEARS, we figured it would be pretty busy — especially considering the event was sold out. We arrived as early as our ticket allowed — 7PM — and began to survey the scene. When we arrived, quite the crowd had already formed.

This is a look at the crowds at 7PM.

The park officially closes to the guests not attending the event at 9PM.

After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is BACK! Follow along with us tonight! pic.twitter.com/iBtPuk5JUY

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) January 5, 2023

So if you arrive at 7PM, there will be a mix of guests who have paid to attend the 3-hour event and the guests who are staying in the park until it closes meaning crowds will be a bit higher than they will be after 9PM. On the first night, the event took place from 9:30PM-12:30AM.

Here is a look at the 7:30PM wait times.

Wait times were looking pretty high at this time.

But again, this is likely because so many guests are in the parks at that time. These wait times dropped quite a bit once the event actually kicked off!

If you are already in the park when 7PM rolls around and you are attending the event, there is a check-in for you inside Hollywood Studios. You don’t have to exit and re-enter.

It looks like there are several After Hours check-in spots inside the park! You’ve got to make sure you get your wristband before the event starts – cast members will check for them! pic.twitter.com/xsFF9yy0Xm

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) January 5, 2023

If you check in and enter the parks before 9:30, you may have the opportunity to watch a showing of Fantasmic! Here is a look at the crowds lining up for the 9:30 show. This is also around the time the 8PM show was exiting. So crowds were a bit hefty.

Once the Event Began

Once the event officially kicked off, wait times and crowds dropped significantly. These were the wait times around 9:30PM.

Rise of the Resistance was set at a 30 minute wait. We ended up reaching the pre-show in 16 minutes! This is almost unheard of in Disney World. Wait times can still reach 4 hours during regular park hours.

Other attractions had even shorter waits.

The longest wait time was Tower of Terror at 80 minutes.

Around 10:30PM, the park had really emptied out.

And wait times had dropped even more.

Rise of the Resistance was only a 5 minute (!!) wait at this time! That’s unheard of!

Really, at times there were just a handful of people in sight!

These were the crowds around Tower of Terror (which had some of the higher wait times throughout the night) looked like at 11PM.

That’s what you might run into if you’re heading to one of Disney World’s After Hours events this year. These parties can be a great way to take in everything the parks have to offer without the business of the daytime. Consider booking an event in the future if this sounds like something you don’t want to miss!

Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for more information about After Hours Events and our coverage of the next event in Magic Kingdom on January 9th!

Check out everything that’s open/complimentary during the After Hours Event in Hollywood Studios

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Have you ever been to an After Hours Event? Let us know in the comments!

The post See How EMPTY Hollywood Studios Is During an After Hours Event first appeared on the disney food blog.