Your Guide to Disney After Hours at Walt Disney World (2024)

Your complete guide to Disney After Hours. Learn more about the separately ticketed events available at Walt Disney World Resort.

Disney After Hours events have returned. The late-night events require a separate ticket, giving guests access to the parks after they have closed to the general public. In 2024 and 2025, Disney After Hours events will be taking place at three of the theme parks: Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom Park, and EPCOT. The events give guests access to shorter wait times, complimentary snacks, and the chance to meet beloved characters. In this guide, we’ll be sharing everything that you need to know.

Disney After Hours: Table of Contents

- What is Disney After Hours?
- Disney After Hours 2024 and 2025 Dates and Cost
- What is Included in Disney After Hours?
- Are Disney After Hours Worth It?

What is Disney After Hours?

Disney After Hours is a separately ticketed event that will give guests access to the parks after they have closed to the general public. Typically, a ticket for the event will allow you entry into the park a few hours before its closure, and three hours after it’s closed. With the event, you can expect shorter wait times on your favorite rides, character meet-and-greets, as well as unlimited complimentary snacks at select locations throughout each of the parks.

Disney After Hours Dates and Cost

There are different dates and costs for each of the three parks. We’ll be sharing what the cost and dates are for Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT, along with the start and end times.

Magic Kingdom

At Magic Kingdom, events have been announced for select nights from January 11 to May 2025. Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, and Shades of Green who would like to purchase tickets for 2025 dates, can do so beginning on September 4, 2024. All other guests can purchase tickets for these dates online beginning September 10, 2024

Tickets range from $175 to $185 (plus tax) for Magic Kingdom, with a discounted rate available for Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members. The Magic Kingdom events take place from 10 PM to 1 AM, though your ticket gives you entry beginning at 7 PM. At Magic Kingdom, you can ride popular newer attractions like TRON Lightcycle / Run and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which will both be available by standby queue.

The event takes place on the following 2025 dates:

January 6, 13, 20 and 27
February 3, 10, 17 and 24
March 3, 17, 24 and 31
April 7 and 28
May 5, 12 and 19

EPCOT

At EPCOT, events have been announced for select nights from February 27 to September 2025. Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, and Shades of Green who would like to purchase tickets for 2025 dates, can do so beginning on September 4, 2024. All other guests can purchase tickets for these dates online beginning September 10, 2024

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, events have been announced for select nights from January 22 to September 2025. Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, and Shades of Green who would like to purchase tickets for 2025 dates, can do so beginning on September 4, 2024. All other guests can purchase tickets for these dates online beginning September 10, 2024

Tickets for Hollywood Studios range from $155 to $185 (plus tax) for EPCOT, with a $30 discount available for Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members. The Hollywood Studios events take place from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM (10 PM to 1 AM on March 26 and April 1, 2025). At Hollywood Studios you can ride popular attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

The event takes place on the following 2025 dates:

January 22 and 29
February 12 and 19
March 5 and 26
April 1 and 30
May 14 and 28
June 4, 11 and 25
July 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30
August 6, 20 and 27
September 3

What is Included in Disney After Hours?

What’s included in your Disney After Hours ticket will depend on the park you’re visiting. Each of the parks offers complimentary, unlimited snacks such as popcorn, ice cream treats, and beverages. Additionally, each offers after-hours access to rides and select dining for you to enjoy. Let’s take a closer look at what is included at each park.

Photo by Brett Svenson.

Magic Kingdom

At Magic Kingdom, you can enjoy after-hours access to rides such as the following highlights:

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 presented by Enterprise
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

For TRON Lightcycle /Run, a standby queue will be used.

Additionally, you can purchase snacks at shops like Main Street Bakery and Casey’s Corner, or pick up complimentary ice cream novelties, popcorn, and bottled beverages at carts stationed throughout the park.

EPCOT

At EPCOT, you can enjoy after-hours access to rides such as the following highlights:

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’ (located in The Land Pavilion)
Spaceship Earth
Test Track Presented by Chevrolet®

Additionally, you can pick up complimentary ice cream novelties, popcorn, and bottled beverages at the following locations:

Mission: SPACE Cart
Imagination Cart
Connections Cart
Fountain Popcorn Cart

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

At Hollywood Studios, you can enjoy after-hours access to rides such as the following highlights:

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!

Keep in mind that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is under refurbishment through the summer of 2024. You can also pick up complimentary ice cream novelties, popcorn, and bottled beverages at carts in the following locations:

Grand Avenue
Hollywood Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Toy Story Land

Anaheim Produce, the Milk Stand, and Woody’s Lunch Box will also have select food and beverages to purchase. Plus, you can enjoywalk-up availability atOga’s Cantina.

Is it Worth the Cost?

So, are Disney After Hours events worth it? Ultimately, that’s going to be up to your personal opinion! It will come down to what is right for your family, your budget, as well as your schedule. The event does come with a significant price tag per person, so you will want to carefully weigh exactly what you want to get out of it.

Photo by Judd Helms

If you are looking to ride multiple rides with lower wait times, and everyone in your group is okay with the later hours, then this very well may be worth it for you. Included in the cost of your ticket, you’ll get the unique experience of visiting the parks when they’re “closed” to the general public. That means much lower wait times, as well as the chance to enjoy complimentary snacks.Magic Kingdom and EPCOT especially offer a unique opportunity, because during regular park hours, you can typically only ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle / Run with a Lightning Lane purchase or by virtual queue. By attending Disney After Hours, you can experience either with a standby wait instead.

You can read more about our past experiences at Disney After Hours events in our post below.

Disney After Hours: Is It Worth It?