After Hours Parties Return in Early 2024 at 3 Disney World Parks!
Disney After Hours events will be back once again starting in January 2024 at three of the four Walt Disney World theme parks! This post shares dates and details about the post-closing parties at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, plus our recommendations and ‘wish list’ for these hard ticket events.
Let’s start with the basics. Disney After Hours will start on January 10, 2024 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and January 11, 2024 at Magic Kingdom, and February 2, 2024 at EPCOT. The only park not participating in After Hours is Animal Kingdom, which is probably because its initial experiment with the offering didn’t go so well.
In case you aren’t familiar with Disney After Hours, these late-night, separately ticketed events let you enjoy a Walt Disney World theme park for three additional hours after regular park hours, with treats such as ice cream, popcorn and select beverages included.
The main selling point of Disney After Hours events is that the number of tickets for these events is limited, which means lower wait times for some of your favorite attractions. Unlike Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, these After Hours evenings are advertised as low crowds events.
Event times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios are from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Event times at Magic Kingdom and at EPCOT are from 10 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. You can get a head start on attractions by entering the park beginning at 7 p.m. to squeeze even more fun out of your midnight merriment with family and friends.
Let’s start by taking a look at attractions, event date ranges, ticket prices, and other details for After Hours at Walt Disney World in 2024…
After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
These special nights will take place at Disney’s Hollywood Studios January 10, 2024 through April 10, 2024. (See our Guide to 2024 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for full dates and specific ticket prices, strategy, and more.)
During After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can play in Andy’s backyard in Toy Story Land, join the resistance with Chewbacca in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and embark on a whimsical adventure aboard Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, among other favorites.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, attractions may include:
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Toy Story Mania!
…and more!
After Hours at Magic Kingdom
After Hours at Magic Kingdom will occur on select nights starting January 11, 2024 through April 8, 2024. (See our Guide to 2024 After Hours at Magic Kingdom for full dates and specific ticket prices, strategy, and more.)
At Magic Kingdom, this means you can enjoy more than 20 popular attractions with lower wait times, including the following:
- 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
- TRON Lightcycle Run
…And many more!
There are two very notable details for After Hours at Magic Kingdom. First, a standby queue is planned for TRON Lightcycle / Run during these special events. This is only during After Hours, and not regular operating hours, but it’s still notable since both MNSSHP and MVMCP are using a virtual queue for TRON Lightcycle Run.
Additionally, nighttime fireworks spectacular “Disney Enchantment” will return exclusively to After Hours events at Magic Kingdom. This means that on event nights, early arrivals will have the opportunity to see both Happily Ever After and Enchantment.
Bringing back Enchantment is a very curious decision, sure to prompt “no one asked for this” and “that’s one way to keep attendance limited” jokes in response from Walt Disney World fans. We’ll have more thoughts on this later, but–and we say this as two people who hated Enchantment–we like this move.
After Hours at EPCOT
After Hours events at EPCOT will take place on select nights starting February 2, 2024 through April 4, 2024. (See our Guide to 2024 After Hours at EPCOT for full dates and specific ticket prices, strategy, and more.)
The following attractions will be available during EPCOT After Hours:
- Spaceship Earth
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Test Track
- Soarin’
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
…And more!
Purchase Tickets Soon
Booked guests of Walt Disney World Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, and Shades of Green can purchase tickets starting November 7, 2023, by calling 407-W-Disney. Event tickets can be purchased online by all guests starting November 14, 2023.
Disney After Hours ticket prices range from $155 to $175 (plus tax) for Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. EPCOT After Hours ticket pricing ranges from $149 to $159 (plus tax). Specially priced tickets are available for Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members.
All you have to do is pick your night, pick your park and enjoy your after-hours adventure. To learn more about Disney After Hours events, visit DisneyWorld.com/AfterHours. Tickets are limited and may not be available for purchase on the day of the event (or earlier). Check back for even more Disney After Hours updates in early 2024.
Note that After Hours does not mean the end of the free Extended Evening Hours, just as it didn’t this year. While originally promoted as a special perk for the 50th Anniversary, Walt Disney World has confirmed that Extended Evening Hours will continue throughout all of 2024 for guests staying at a Disney Deluxe Resort, Disney Deluxe Villa Resort, or other select hotels.
About the only thing that might change is the schedule, with modifications along the lines of what we’re seeing for this year’s Party Season. But even that is doubtful, as After Hours doesn’t cause Magic Kingdom to close at 6 pm like MNSSHP or MVMCP. For more info on the free ‘version’ of this perk, see our Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World.
We’ve done every single After Hours event that Walt Disney World has held, from the themed ones (Villains, Halloween, Christmas) to these vanilla ones at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (back in 2018 through early 2020) and again last year, including the inaugural After Hours at EPCOT.
For the most part, our experiences have been positive, although colored by a bit by annoyance that what was once free now costs money. At this point, that feels like the story of Walt Disney World.
For those who don’t follow, Magic Kingdom used to close at midnight on even moderately crowded days (that’s finally happening again…on two days in November 2023). On many of those same nights, Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic Hours until 3 a.m. (Evening Extra Magic Hours used to be 3 hours long).
This was even the case during the Great Recession when attendance was lower than it is now, so daytime crowds were comparatively light. Now, attendance is significantly higher (by several millions of guests per year), and regular park hours have been reduced by several hours per day. More people crammed into fewer hours, which does not compute.
Nevertheless, we’ve (begrudgingly) bought the After Hours tickets. In the past, we’ve also felt that the parties are worth it as quasi-VIP experiences for a more approachable price.
As noted above, After Hours is comparable to the Halloween and Christmas parties, albeit with significantly lower crowds and minus the seasonal entertainment. In fact, we’ve been so pleased with this event in previous years that it made our Best Value Splurges at Walt Disney World List.
You might notice those assessments are in the past tense. Upon returning this year, After Hours events increased in price by a modest amount as compared to the last times they were held in 2019-2020. Given that a few years had passed and line-skipping now costs money via Lightning Lanes, that seemed fairly reasonable in the grand scheme of things.
However, ticket prices are up pretty significantly for the 2024 Disney After Hours parties, by roughly $10 to $36 depending upon the date and park. For most of the ones we’d be able or want to attend, the increases are $20 to $30. Even as a party of two, that’s too much for us to justify. (Of course, we’re also Annual Passholders who have done most rides dozens of times and are DVC members with access to Extended Evening Hours, so we’re hardly the target demo for this!)
What we would pay to attend is themed After Hours events. Although not branded as such, that’s more or less what we expect of Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Party. Likewise, there was the aforementioned Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom pre-closure, as well as the one-off Christmas and Halloween events in Magic Kingdom.
All of those offered unique hooks in addition to limited capacity and short lines. As fans who are repeat visitors to Walt Disney World, that’s what we need in order to be able to justify doing these events at $150+ price points. Otherwise, the value just isn’t there for us. So hopefully when Walt Disney World indicates that more 2024 After Hours announcements are coming soon, they mean themed ones…and not just the Typhoon Lagoon event!
Essentially, the value proposition of After Hours is whether 6 hours (3 with low crowds, 3 with low to moderate crowds) is better than 10-12 hours in the parks during the day. Even if you used an efficient itinerary for Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios during those normal operating hours, the answer to that used to be yes.
With that said, the equation has changed with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, as well as Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours (at Magic Kingdom, at least). At least two of these things are controversial, but can be highly advantageous–especially at Magic Kingdom. Then there’s Early Entry at DHS, which is less divisive and offers a tremendous head start.
The other thing that it’s important not to overlook is the timing of After Hours. This is good or bad, depending upon your perspective. For many parents, it’s a total nonstarter, as the prime time for the event is post-bedtime for many kids.
For others, it’s a huge upside when considering the reality of Florida weather. Humidity can be oppressive and the midday sun can be draining. At night, the sun is down and it feels better. That’s one of the reasons why we loved After Hours in July or August…and really could’ve used them during this year’s brutal heat wave! The weather is very different at the beginning of the year, but being in the parks at night is still nicer.
Ultimately, that’s my basis for reluctantly recommending After Hours at Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios to first-timers to Walt Disney World with limited vacation time and a ton of extra money for splurging. (We do not recommend After Hours at EPCOT to anyone.) It’s expensive, but also a good way to get a lot done at Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios without waking up at the crack of dawn for Early Entry or criss-crossing the park (or burying your head in your phone) while using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
After Hours events are undoubtedly expensive, but they are also friction-less. You don’t need some grand strategy or plan-of-attack for experiencing a ton of attractions during these hard ticket events. They offer a quasi-VIP experience without having to be accompanied by a tour guide–best of both worlds! On top of that, After Hours occurs at night. Obviously. Point being, you’re getting the best of weather, crowds, wait times and (as a result of all three) just general pleasantness. You’re likely to enjoy After Hours a great deal, especially as compared to a normal day in the park.
If you’re an Annual Passholder, are a repeat visitor, taking a longer vacation, or fit into some category other than the above, After Hours is a much tougher sell in terms of value for money. That’s mostly because you’re looking at paying the full/discounted price (or close to it) of this ticket on top of your existing admission. It’s fairly undeniable that you’d likewise have a better time at this event than by trying to contort your schedule to make your time in Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios this pleasant (or close to it), but the tickets aren’t cheap.
So long as Walt Disney World doesn’t get greedy and increase the attendance cap, After Hours should continue to be an excellent event when it returns in January 2024. It also helps that demand for these is way lower than for the Halloween and Christmas Parties, so over-crowding is unlikely to be a problem.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Have you attended After Hours at Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or EPCOT? What did you think of the event? Would you attend, or is it too pricey? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Any idea if the extended evening hours (for deluxe resorts) will occur the same occurrence/week as the after hours parties or would they skip the extended evening hours those weeks? When does Disney usually release the official hours for the extended evening hours? 60 days out?
We’re going during the busy spring break season again, so I’m more than happy to pay for a hard-ticket event. Here’s a big question, though: Do you think booking a Thursday Epcot is conflict-free when it comes to EEH? In other words, do you feel confident EEH will still be Mondays/Wednesdays? I don’t want to end up missing a “free” perk, but I also don’t want to miss an opportunity to navigate Epcot at night again. (I feel like EEH on Monday plus AH on Thursday would allow us to do nearly everything with lower crowds and far less heat.)
I’m so sad that they eliminated the After Hours event the first week of January. There was an after hours event at Hollywood studios Jan 4th 2023 but not for 2024. It’s not looking good for marathon weekend. Crowds predicted to be 10/10 and park hours are basically 9am-9pm and no extras even available for purchase.
It’s likely those hours will increase a couple weeks ahead of time…Thanksgiving week was showing 9am-9pm for MK and recently jumped to have some midnight closures (usually updated two Fridays in advance. Thanksgiving week was updated Nov 2).
Thanks for that information!! Fingers crossed for marathon week.
I’m guessing even with “lower crowds,” that standby wait for TRON is going to be pretty long most nights…
I’m not sure, we did an Epcot After Hours on 8/10 (melted in the heat but that’s another story) and we rode Guardians three times and it was a walk-on, despite posting a 45 minute wait (something I will never understand and royally angered me). We rode at two different points in the night, too. I assume Tron could be similar, especially because there’s so much more to absorb people at MK than there is at Epcot.
YES! If they would bring back AK after hours, I wouldn’t buy regular park tickets at all. 2019 after hours was a splurge, too, but it was unquestionably one of our best family vacations ever.
Would love to hear more about what you didn’t like at Epcot.
Tom generally thinks it’s easy to beat the crowds at Epcot using strategy, so he likely just wouldn’t recommend spending the money.
Tom’s Animal Kingdom After Hours report sounded good, so I assume what “didn’t go so well” with it was so few people went to it WDW didn’t want to do it again? (While I prefer Extended Evening Hours myself, I actually like having After Hours as an option for people who aren’t staying on a fancy resort on property, and it doesn’t seem to interfere much with day guests.)
Check the above link to Tom’s “Guide to 2024 After Hours at EPCOT” for his review of how few headliners with reduced capacity affect that version.
Do you think there’s any chance that more dates will be added? We go the last week of January and there’s none scheduled for when we’re there☹️
Question… Does Hollywood Studios have a “Star Wars” after hours event where adult ticket holders are allowed to dress up? I believe they do something like this at Disneyland?
Do these parties tend to have an effect on crowd levels during the day like the Halloween and Christmas parties do, or no since the park doesn’t close early? I noticed MK has an after hours party on one of our dates in Feb. Should we plan to go to MK that day, or avoid it? It’s a Thursday, so I was thinking it would be a good day, pending my ability to book CRT!
No non-holidy after parties for us with 3 kids under 8!
With the park only closing one hour early on After Hours event nights (versus 3-4 hours for MVMCP or MNSSHP at Magic Kingdom), not many guests are discouraged from doing the daytime hours on those dates. Attendance might be a little lower, but not significantly so.
Conversely, there’s the event crowd that will arrive in the evening, and this will result in longer lines for headliner attractions at a time when they’d otherwise be getting shorter. Not only that, but this can impact crowds for (and showings of) nighttime spectaculars. Fantasmic is the big one, as it’ll likely only get one showtime on these evenings, versus 2 on other adjacent nights.
So I’d typically avoid the parks hosting After Hours during the daytime hours, especially DHS. That’s not really a strong recommendation, so if you have your heart set on a certain park on a certain day, it’s fine to disregard.
I just can’t be excited about this. You nailed it in your post talking about how these extra hours used to be free and how that helped to spread crowds out throughout the day/evening. Families on a sleep schedule with young kids would often utilize more of the daytime hours, and adults and families with older kids in the evening. Disney in the dark is the absolute best experience IMO, even though it can still be hot, no sun beating down on you is a game changer. 10 pm feels late now for us at this stage of our lives, but I’d love to stay out until 1 am to experience Disney, just not for $1k for our family of 5 for 3 hours.
We just let our APs expire in September, and we are less than 2 hours away. We are taking a year off. With 3 kids in school, and most school breaks blacked out unless we sign up for the Incredipass, the value isn’t there for us right now. Summer at Disney is brutal. We are camping at the fort for Halloween, so our first trip ever with no park visits.
I absolutely hate how Disney has nickel and dime EVERYTHING that used to be good about an already expensive experience.
I like the idea of bringing back a limited run fireworks show for events like this…but I think they meant to say “Wishes” instead of “Enchantment”. If they do that I would buy tickets.
OMG I would just be a puddle, sobbing in the middle of main street
I would 100% buy tickets for Wishes and would make a special trip to WDW for the event (and I know we’re not the only ones!)
Finally! I’m having a conundrum between keeping my dates and only doing MK after hours or switching dates and doing both MK and HS…
I updated the main post to address these questions, but Extended Evening Hours will continue in 2024. Walt Disney World has already confirmed as much.
Any thoughts on if this means they are doing away with the free extended evening hours for deluxe guests? Sounds like that probably won’t be happening now with these paid events going on from January through April.
Thanks for the story Tom……..As a deluxe resort guest, having the DEluxe Resort hours makes paying for this event irrelevant to me personally……..That being said, do you think this signals the end of that perk?