Disney without the crowds? Teens thinking their parents are (kinda) cool? Yes, there is such a place.
Now imagine that Disney experience wrapped up in three hours, a brief window to take in as many rides as most people do all day.
This land exists — it's called
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On select nights in Florida, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Disney holds a special event at one park when only people with a special wristband can board rides at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, or Hollywood Studios. You can officially enter at 7 p.m., but the perks begin later.
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I did this recently with my two teenage kids in Florida.
between $155 and $185, a tad more than a normal day ticket (prices vary by park and date). But the nighttime alternative is good bang for your buck.
Consider our experience with Disney's hot, newish
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Around 8:30 p.m., when the park was still open for regular ticket holders, my kids and I saw the mass of humanity lined up and said no, thank you. When we came back at 11 p.m., we zipped through in minutes. The ride is way cooler at night, by the way.
The parks and attractions, including EPCOT's Spaceship Earth, look cool in the dark.
Jason Margolis
Another night, we hit EPCOT and the indoor roller coaster Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which opened in 2022. On a normal day, you can either wait up to a whopping two hours or pay about $20 for a Lighting Lane Single Pass, which reserves you a spot. (More on that process in a bit.)
During After Hours, we practically walked on, then hopped back in the queue for a second go.
Side note for roller coaster enthusiasts: My kids and I agreed that Guardians is hands down the coolest ride we've ever done. The train zips through the dark as a different disco or '80s pop song propels you along, a nice touch to make each time a bit different. I won't spoil the big surprise, but the ride has an unexpected twist, which blew our minds.
The special bracelets that got us on the Disney After Hours rides.
Jason Margolis
Overall, the longest we waited at night was about 20 minutes for the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios, still much quicker than during the day.
Here's another small bonus of Disney After Hours: carts hand out unlimited popcorn, sodas and water, and ice cream bars, all for no charge. For a teenager, or anyone for that matter, is there anything better than free food?
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Now, Disney After Hours is not for everyone. Most people there were young adults without kids, with some families sprinkled in the mix.
Parents with young children, this event is not for you. Or people who like to soak in the entire Disney vibe, I'd stick to the daytime. After dark, there are no shows, no parades, and very few places to eat or shop. Character sightings are sparse — we only spotted Pluto.
Disney After Hours events give guests three hours – after hours – to explore one of the Walt Disney World Theme Parks. Throughout Magic Kingdom, guests can enjoy more than 20 attractions and experiences including the new TRON Lightcycle / Run.
Steven Diaz/Steven Diaz, Photographer
Also, it's a rather late night. In one of my less-than-stellar parenting moves, when my 13-year-old daughter was just plain tuckered out and it wasn't even close to midnight, I gave her a 20-ounce Coke and some popcorn so my 16-year-old son and I could keep the good times rolling. (But hey, it was free!) And she POWERED through the rest of the night.
I also think my kids may have thought I was bordering on cool for just a brief moment as I obliterated all the rules. (My wife was stuck back in Boston preserving her vacation time, so all good there.) Further, my kids loved the perfect teenage schedule: sleep in as late as possible, hit the pool for a few hours, then slowly make our way to the parks by 7 p.m.
There was plenty to fill our days as well — Disney has lots to do outside the parks, from riding canoes or horses, taking a boat tour of the themed hotels, strolling 'Disney's Boardwalk' and playing games of chance, or just shooting some free billiards at a hotel. My daughter and I also took a cake-decorating class at the Disney Springs shopping area one day while killing a few hours.
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Now, going back to that Lightning Lane, an After Hours ticket isn't entirely necessary to cut down on wait times if you're well prepared. Disney has its ride reservation system down to a science, and you can put in for up to five attractions in advance: three on a multi-pass and two additional single passes for bigger attractions.
When we went to the parks during the daytime, I had my morning laid out a week in advance, including passes for TRON and Guardians. And when Disney says Lightning Lane, they mean it — we never waited more than 5-10 minutes for a ride.
But reserving those rides tacks on another $60 or so per person; pretty quickly that late-night ticket starts looking like a sweet deal. Also, the Lightning Lane can only be used for a specific ride once, unless you're willing to purchase an unlimited 'premier pass,' which can run north of $400 per person at Magic Kingdom, a bridge too far for me.
With the regular Lightning Lane, once you check in for a ride, you can immediately select a new one on Disney's app. It's a fun system to navigate, but the ride choices become slim pickings as the day goes on. You also quickly become even more tethered to your phone than usual.
During the After Hours event, you just go where you want, when you want.
After arriving at a park around 7 p.m., we'd hop on a few of the smaller rides with short lines, grab a nice sit-down meal in the park, then wait impatiently for the clock to strike 10 p.m. From that moment on, we were all focus.
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The author's son and daughter headed toward the last ride of their late-night adventure.
Jason Margolis
Our last night, as the hour approached 1 a.m, we decided to make our last ride
When we got off the ride, we realized it was only 12:57 a.m., and we still had three minutes of fun to go. (Also, my daughter needed to burn off the caffeine somehow.) So we ran through the exit, did a U-turn into the entrance, and were back on our rat-shaped vehicle for one more spin with a solid minute to spare.
Jason Margolis can be reached at
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