Walt Disney World Introducing New ‘Disney After Hours’ Paid Event At Magic Kingdom
It appears as if another change is coming from Walt Disney World and it is in the form of the addition of a paid event. An announcement has been made on Monday afternoon, revealing that Magic Kingdom park is going to introduce “Disney After Hours” for the months of April and May where guests can pay an extra fee to enjoy different attractions late into the night.
Yes, this may sound like the Extra Magic Hours that Walt Disney World Resort guests get complimentary access to with their stay, but it’s a tad different. For this event, tickets for each person will cost $149 plus tax for three extra hours in Magic Kingdom.
BREAKING: Disney World Introducing $150 Paid After Hours Event At Magic Kingdom https://t.co/LqdGvJajid pic.twitter.com/x8s0xAjRH4
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) March 21, 2016
According to WDWNT, the event is going to be called “Disney After Hours,” and so far, it appears as if it will only take place at Magic Kingdom. Now, it won’t be every single night in April and May, and actually it is a very limited number of nights.
- April: 14, 21, 28
- May: 5, 8, 12, 19
It seems as if select attractions and meet-and-greets will be going on during these events. Perhaps there will be some rare characters appearing and other exclusive opportunities. The details are not known for certain just yet.
Tickets are set to go on sale for this event on Apr. 6, and it is also very likely that only a limited number of tickets will be made available. It isn’t known how many tickets will be sold for “Disney After Hours,” but it probably won’t be many.
It isn’t known if this is going to be a way of replacing Extra Magic Hours at Walt Disney World Resort hotels, but those are still scheduled and in place for months. By checking out the official Disney site for park operating hours, the “Disney After Hours” events take place on nights that there are no Extra Magic Hours at any of the four parks.
With EMH, resort guests get to enjoy one of the three parks that can be open two hours past the closing time for daily guests. As of this writing, Disney’s Animal Kingdom does not offer evening Extra Magic Hours.
There are also morning EMH at all four parks.
If this announcement of “Disney After Hours” ends up being true and staying in this format, it could end up making a number of people not want to stay on property any longer. While EMH was a huge perk of staying at a Disney hotel, there are other perks:
- Merchandise delivery to the resort
- Ability to make advanced dining reservations past 180 days (180+10)
- Ability to make FASTPass+ reservations at 60 days out instead of just 30
- Ability to purchase the Disney Dining Plan
Taking away Extra Magic Hours won’t make staying on Disney property entirely worthless, but it does take one huge perk away.
Disney has yet to officially comment on this event and they haven’t made an actual announcement as of yet, but it does seem to be legit. The word is starting to make the Disney rounds on social media, and it seems as if it is only a matter of time until Disney says something officially.
Walt Disney World has made a number of changes over the course of the past couple of years, and this is yet another one. Some guests may find it difficult to justify spending $150 on three extra hours in Magic Kingdom, but it could be time well spent with fewer crowds. “Disney After Hours” still needs to formalize an official announcement but when it happens, there will be those for the change and those against it.
[Image via Danny Cox]
