Disney After Hours Events Expanding to EPCOT & Returning to Typhoon Lagoon
Walt Disney World has announced that After Hours is coming to EPCOT for the first time, returning to Typhoon Lagoon, and having dates added at Hollywood Studios in Summer 2023. This post covers everything you need to know: dates, details, pricing–plus our commentary.
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 number of tickets for these After Hours events is limited, which means lower wait times for popular attractions.
After Hours event tickets also allow guests to enter the park early during the “mix-in” period when it’s still open to day guests. That means After Hours ticket holders have access to the park beginning at 6 p.m. at Typhoon Lagoon, and beginning at 7 p.m. for EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
For the first time in forever, EPCOT is hosting After Hours in Summer 2023! This means that for 3 hours after the gates close, After Hours guests will have access to Frozen Ever After, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and more. This is your chance to explore all four neighborhoods in the park with shorter attraction wait times.
Disney After Hours at EPCOT takes place select nights June 1 to August 24, 2023. Ticket prices vary based on date:
Event Date | Price (Excludes Tax) | Price for Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members (Excludes Tax) |
---|---|---|
Thursday, June 1 | $139 | $99 |
Thursday, June 15 | $129 | $99 |
Thursday, June 22 | $129 | $99 |
Thursday, June 29 | $139 | $99 |
Thursday, July 6 | $139 | $99 |
Wednesday, July 12 | $139 | $99 |
Thursday, July 20 | $139 | $99 |
Thursday, July 27 | $129 | $99 |
Thursday, August 3 | $139 | $99 |
Thursday, August 10 | $129 | $99 |
Thursday, August 17 | $129 | $99 |
Thursday, August 24 | $129 | $99 |
EPCOT After Hours attractions include the following:
- Frozen Ever After
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Living with the Land
- Mission: SPACE
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
Attractions and experiences are subject to change without notice.
But that’s not all! Grab your neon swimwear and get ready for some glowing tropical fun! Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park will reopen in Spring 2023 and along with that, H2O Glow After Hours will be back and ready to “light” up the summer.
With its vibrant decor, a specially themed menu of snacks and treats throughout the park and your favorite watery attractions under the stars, the popular after-hours party is a “must-do” with friends and family this summer. Don’t miss out on what could be the high-“light” of your summer! Move and groove to hot beats during a DJ dance party! H2O Glow is yet another new experience returning to Walt Disney World’s After Hours lineup.
Disney H2O Glow After Hours takes place select nights May 20, 2023 to September 2, 2023.
- May 20 and 27
- June 3, 10, 17 and 24
- July 1, 3, 8, 15, 22, 29 and 31
- August 5, 12, 19 and 26
- September 2
After Hours at Typhoon Lagoon Prices:
- Adult (ages 10 and up): $75 plus tax
- Child (ages 3 to 9): $70 plus tax
After Hours at Typhoon Lagoon Discounts:
- Passholder or DVC Member – Adult (ages 10 and up): $59 plus tax
- Passholder or DVC Member – Child (ages 3 to 9): $54 plus tax
On another positive note, After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is adding more 2023 dates! The event has been selling out quickly at DHS, and offers guests the chance to take control of the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, ride through a cartoon adventure in Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, play like one of Andy’s favorite toys in Toy Story Land and more.
This event takes place select nights through June 28, 2023. Below are the previously-released dates, many of which are now sold out, plus the new ones scheduled for Summer 2023. Ticket prices vary based on date:
Event Date | Price (Excludes Tax) | Price for Passholders and Disney Vacation Club Members (Excludes Tax) |
---|---|---|
Wednesday, January 4, 2023 | SOLD OUT | SOLD OUT |
Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | SOLD OUT | SOLD OUT |
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 | SOLD OUT | SOLD OUT |
Wednesday, January 25, 2023 | SOLD OUT | SOLD OUT |
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 | SOLD OUT | SOLD OUT |
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 | SOLD OUT | SOLD OUT |
Wednesday, March 8, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, March 22, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 | $145 | $115 |
Sunday, April 2, 2023 | $139 | $109 |
Wednesday, April 5, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, April 19, 2023 | $145 | $115 |
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Wednesday, June 28, 2023 | $149 | $119 |
Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels can begin purchasing Disney After Hours tickets for EPCOT and Typhoon Lagoon as early as February 28. The advance-purchase window is available to guests at Disney Resort hotels and Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, as well as Shades of Green at Walt Disney World Resort.
After Hours event tickets for EPCOT, Typhoon Lagoon, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios can be purchased by all guests starting March 3, 2023, with prices ranging from $75 to $149 (plus tax). Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders can also purchase discounted tickets for select dates.
In terms of commentary, it’s interesting to see the announcement of After Hours at EPCOT. As noted above, this is the first-time the park has ever hosted After Hours, which probably was not offered pre-closure due to the limited ride roster. Both Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure are recent additions, so those draws would not have existed previously.
On top of that, Frozen Ever After and Test Track haven’t always been the most reliable rides (I’ve done Extended Evening Hours when one or both went down, which really threw a monkey wrench into my plans.) So it probably didn’t make sense to offer After Hours before.
Now that those new attractions have debuted, and the front of the park is closer to coming together, it makes sense to offer After Hours at EPCOT than it does to bring it back to Animal Kingdom.
There, the main draw is looping Avatar Flight of Passage, which quickly loses its luster since you’re “forced” to do the interminably long pre-show in between rides. (If you didn’t hate it before, you will definitely hate it after seeing it ten times in one night–I speak from experience!)
It stands to reason that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will lose its virtual queue before After Hours at EPCOT. Then again, I’ve thought this was an inevitability that was “right around the corner” since about last July. The only conceivable issue is the lack of physical queue space.
Regardless, I’m guessing Cosmic Rewind drops the VQ before TRON Lightcycle Run opens. There’s plenty of space for an overflow queue outside the building, just like the line for Slinky Dog Dash extends far beyond that attraction entrance on a daily basis.
It’s also unsurprising that more dates are being added for After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Not to pat ourselves on the back since it was hardly a bold prediction, but we called this one. (We also called or hoped for a themed Magic Kingdom After Hours event this summer. Here’s hoping that has simply yet to be announced.)
If you haven’t already read it, we’d recommend checking out our standalone Guide to 2023 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. While we are critical of “overbuying” upcharge offerings due to FOMO and so forth, we actually love After Hours at DHS. It’s definitely a splurge, but it’s one that’s actually worth the money. After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios adds a VIP vibe to the visit, and at a fraction of the price of hiring a tour guide. After Hours at DHS is our favorite of these events, and the one that offers the most value for money due to lack of alternatives to the paid event.
I assume we’ll end up doing After Hours at EPCOT, but I cannot imagine that’ll earn as enthusiastic of a recommendation. In large part, that’s because we’ve already done the free version of After Hours there many times via Extended Evening Hours. We really like that event…when it’s free.
The difference between EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the number of headliners. While the number has increased at EPCOT, there are still more at DHS–and it’s a more difficult park to “conquer” with conventional strategy. Early Entry still works pretty well at EPCOT, as does Genie+ if you don’t mind criss-crossing the park.
We have similar feelings about After Hours at Typhoon Lagoon. Without question, nighttime is the best time at Typhoon Lagoon. We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth reiterating that sunset and beyond is our favorite time to visit the water parks. We’ve done Typhoon Lagoon in the evening several times, including Moonlight Magic (again) last summer.
With that said, the critical distinction is that all of those were free. I’m not sure I’d pay ~$75 per person for this experience if I were an average guest. There are a lot of other things I’d first prioritize with that money. With that said, if I were choosing between the cost of a single-day water park ticket or H2O Glow After Hours event admission…I might be willing to pay the premium price for evening. It’s really a much more pleasant experience, at least in my opinion.
Ultimately, we have very mixed feelings about After Hours and how it has essentially put a paywall around what used to be normal operating hours at Walt Disney World. However, we’ve made those complaints many times in the past (see this if you’ve missed them), so I won’t rehash them here.
Setting all of that aside, we like After Hours and recommend it to a lot of first-timers and infrequent Walt Disney World guests. Between the low crowds and the timing (late at night during what will be the hottest months of the year in Florida), it’s a pleasant and quasi-VIP experience.
Compared to other Walt Disney World upcharges, After Hours is actually one we can endorse. It’s only slightly more expensive than the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties (which have increased in price a ton over the years).
After Hours is comparable to the Halloween and Christmas parties, albeit with significantly lower crowds and minus the seasonal entertainment. In fact, we’re so pleased with this event that it made our Best Value Splurges at Walt Disney World List.
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Your Thoughts
Have you attended After Hours at Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios this year? Planning on attending the event at EPCOT, Typhoon Lagoon, or one of the summer dates at DHS? Hopeful that a themed party comes to Magic Kingdom this summer? What do 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!
Hello Tom,
Do you have any information as to why Epcot is not included with the After/Dark hour event on Thursday June 8? It looks like Disney forgot to included this date or something unannounced is planned? I can’t locate any information as to why June 8 is left out. Thanks for your news!
Do you think Magic Kingdom will have after hours in May? I saw the new dates for HS and it’s every Wednesday except for the one that we’ll be there (May 10th) so bummed. Any other tips or advice for what we can do to make our trip extra special?
We have done several paid after hours, and a few ‘before’ park opens. We were so looking forward to February 22 at Hollywood Studios. It was oversold and crowded. The 100 minute line for Slinky Dog was down to 40 minutes by 10:30 pm, and by 11 pm, Rise was at 55 min. We waited on line for neither, it’s not what we paid for. I would rather just paid for a lightning lane for Rise (and I may be wrong, but it seemed as though some actually HAD one for after hours). Waste of time and money, we were super disappointed. People finally caught on to this event, and Disney is selling too many tickets for too few rides. Rock and Roller Coaster was down during this event too. Be forewarned.
That’s such a shame. I agree. If they oversell, it defeats the purpose and there is no value. We’ve always had good experiences but haven’t tried HS, only MK.
Although After Hours is more expensive on a per hour basis, it’s worth considering just how much more value you receive. A 6 hour event means fewer breaks, lower meal costs, and less “wear and tear” on the body. If you take a mid-day break as recommended by many Disney sites (maybe 4 hours), eat two meals (2-3 hours) and have typical snack and restroom breaks (1-2 hours), the difference between 14 hours and 6 disappears. And, this doesn’t adjust for the lower wait times or lower temps. We’ve done 8 hour days at MK but that’s not even an option any more. If you’re worried about missing daytime offerings, you have 3 hours in the park during regular hours to catch your favorites.
Additionally, the math is interesting. Single day tickets can be more than the “party” ticket and buying multi-day tickets may not clarify the decision. On our last long visit we paid roughly $100/person per day for 7-day, park hopper tickets. Once you add Genie+ ($15 or more) and perhaps ILL’s ($15+) each day, you’re pretty close to the price of an After Hours ticket. Our 9 day trip was so unsatisfactory, we decided we wouldn’t do Disney that way again until/unless things change (capacity, entertainment, etc to absorb crowds). If you’re considering Extended Hours as an alternative to an After Hours event, remember you still need a regular park ticket and the additional hotel cost is considerable so those hours are not “free”.
While a first timer might want to have a more traditional experience, After Hours lets us get our Disney fix in a more satisfactory way and, for us, is less expensive overall. We would absolutely choose 4 After Hours events to 7 full days park hopping if they we offered all in the same week.
Just wondering what time of day will the Epcot tickets go on sale February 28th? 6 am? Can you buy them online? We are DVC and have a reservation for one of the July dates. Any insight would be helpful. Thank you.
So there will be no After Hours at The Magic Kingdom? If there will be, when will they announce it? We are looking forward to going in June. Thank you.
Tom yesterday in your post on genie+ vs express pass at universal you said that Disney would not offer Universals express pass. The after hours events seam closer to the Express pass than Genie+, a much higher price point that allows almost walk on access to the rides. How would you compare the two?
So frustrating that this is no longer free. Some of our favorite memories were at MK after the park closed. Just to clarify, this doesn’t mean Epcot will close to regular guests at 6:00 correct? It is that the typical time they close? I can’t keep track with all of the changes. We have reservations for one of the days listed & our other Epcot day is our arrival day so it’s already shortened. While we enjoy Epcot, we don’t ride enough the justify paying even more.
Correct. This event doesn’t start until 10 pm (the mix-in with regular day guests starts at 7 pm), so EPCOT will still have a normal operating day, concluding with EPCOT Forever and the regular closing time.
I must be the only person wondering, but is it basically only the rides and free snacks that stay open? If I do this with my husband I want to be able to enjoy some adult beverages too. Especially if it’s Epcot.
What are the chances of a After Hours Event at any of the parks happening after September 3rd?
Hi Tom,
We will be attending Mickeys Christmas Party in early December. What is the possibility there will be after hours at another park during that time?
Any idea when the extra Hollywood Studios after hours tickets will go on sale? I just got off the phone with DVC member services and they claimed their only selling tickets for the event until April 29th. The said they have no knowledge of extra days being added except for the EPCOT event.
We did the after hours magic kingdom Christmas party after Covid and loved it. While I get it was no very merry Christmas party it was our first experience and we loved the atmosphere and the walk on rides and fireworks. I would totally do Hollywood studios in a heartbeat. I love night time at any park!!
Hi Tom,
Some of the HS After Hours Events are held at the same time as Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom. Putting money aside (simple, right?) and you were given the opportunity to attend either what do you think is the most efficient use of time to maximize rides and atmosphere? Does opening of Tron at MK in April and closure of RnR at HS change your calculation at all?
Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks,
Andrew
Putting aside money, After Hours at DHS.
TRON definitely moves the needle a bit, as does the closure of RnRC. I’d still take After Hours at DHS, though. With that said, it’s a very close call–Magic Kingdom is a better park and being in my favorite park at night with low crowds is awesome.
Personally, I’d also never set aside money completely, so doing Extended Evening Hours at MK would be a no-brainer.
Hi, I am visiting June 28 – July 11 and not on site.
1. Can I book/buy after hours ?
2. Do they do after hours for MK?
Thanks Tom
You can buy after hour tickets through a travel agent with official rates and yes, there are After Hours for Magic Kingdom too.
@simon it’s a great option for off site folks who are locked out of early hours, extended hours and even have to wait and are often shut out of individual lightning lanes on rides such as rise of the resistance.
I haven’t seen any magic kingdom extra hours listed after March 27 and the not so scary Halloween parties at magic kingdom don’t start
Until august usually. But hopefully you’d have shot at Epcot,Hollywood studios, and/or typhoon lagoon tickets during your June/July time frame
Undercover tourist.Com often gives a slight discount on these events and has a cancellation policy. Good luck!
Do we still need a park reservation for Epcot if we choose to purchase the after hour event?
No, you don’t. Booking the After Hours ticket already tells them which park you’re going to be in.
Good point, thanks
Any speculation on if there will be more after hours events added for DHS after June? We are going near the end of August and that may actually interest me.
I think there’s a good chance that July and early August dates are added, but I’d be surprised if they do mid-August and beyond. That’s getting into off-season, and there’s less demand then–not to mention that it might cannibalize MNSSHP ticket sales.
But who knows. If demand way outpaces supply and projections show MNSSHP tickets selling out just fine, it could happen. I just would not bet on it.
My concern for an upcharge after hours at Epcot is one of park layout. A big part of the Epcot experience, partly out of necessity, is just walking around soaking in atmosphere. This is partially necessity as some of the attractions are so far from each other.
While at DHS, you can go from Slinky Dog to Rise of the Resistance with a 4-5 minute walk, it’s easily a 10 minute walk from Ratatouille to the next nearest attraction. Want to go from the Rat to Rewind, easily a 15 minute walk.
It’s purely this physical layout which makes it hard to really compress you attraction hopping at Epcot.
Even Soarin to Test Track is 10 minute walk.
So just saying, Epcot works great for “free” extended hours — A chance to soak in more of the atmosphere and do a couple of headliners with low lines.
My concern with “paid” after-hours, there will be disappointment from those that still weren’t able to do “everything” or have aching feet crisscrossing miles in just a couple of hours. Epcot just doesn’t lend itself well to compressed timeframe touring.
This is an excellent point, and you’re 100% correct.
There’s also the reality that Cosmic Rewind is long from start to finish, but it’s possible they’ll let you skip the pre-shows since there’s no safety info in them. In that case, bouncing between Test Track and Cosmic Rewind might be a viable option for ride junkies. It’ll be interesting to see how it works out!
I just wish they would add early May dates for regular After Hours parties at MK. I don’t like the Jan-March ones because of the weather u certainty. I love the May ones because temps are perfect for running around at night grabbing an ice cream treat while moving from one land to the next.
Agreed, was hoping for MK. Tom, any speculation on why they didn’t add more dates for MK? Something about Arron perhaps? Seems like they could sell the most tickets to MK so it’s surprising not to see more.
when my kids are a little older, if they are still doing after hours events like this, i would seriously consider a trip doing majority after hours events if dates lined up, and spending the days at the pool, sleeping in, resort hopping for meals, etc. and skipping all day at the parks.
@laura. Agree completely. I was wondering how the Epcot
After hours would line up with a possible early season mickey’s not so scary Halloween party.
I was thinking the same thing. It would be interesting for somebody to put together a sample itinerary that one could do this summer made up of afterhour events. We just need MK added to the lineup.
If budget allows, it’s a great way to do the parks.
There have been days when we’ve pretty much only done Early Entry or Extended Evening Hours and done the rest of the day at the resort. (Granted, we have APs, so there’s no added cost in skipping the rest of the day–nor is there a potential savings for us in shifting from regular hours to paid parties. But you probably get the idea…)
In fact, I could see booking a Club Level stay somewhere, bouncing between the lounge and pool all day, and then After Hours at night. It’d be a big splurge, but you’d get the most mileage out of the hotel and the parks, while also not needing to buy regular tickets. Definitely an interesting angle!
This is typically how we do it now (our youngest is 9) – I hope Animal Kingdom offers After Hours again sometime soon, too!
Do the after hour events make the park more crowded on after hours dates? Was planning a day at this park on an after hours night (Studios) but wondering if we should avoid the park on this date since they have access in the evening and they typically sell out?
I was wondering the same thing. I would guess that if you don’t have a park hopper, you would avoid the park making it less crowded during the day. Would love to know he answer.
I participated in January After Hours and can confirm that it has a really negligible impact on crowds. The events are really limited in attendance and they don’t mix in until much later in the evening.
I am very interested in this. I plan to visit EPCOT one of the days of the after hours event and I wonder if I should change the park to visit or continue with the plan
I guess I am looking at Studios where there is already competition to get to rides and to watch Fantasmic etc so would assume that even if its only a select number of people you have to assume you would feel the impact in a already crowded park…and Enedina that is my concern as I have is scheduled for a Studios day on a day with this being offered, don’t have park hoppers and don’t plan to have park hoppers as well as don’t plan to spend the extra money on the extra hours. So I guess I am answering my own question as it does concern me from a crows perspective so might change our park plans for that date:) Any other thoughts or experiences with these extra hours events would be greatly appreciated!