Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios (dates, cost, how to plan your time)

If you like exclusive events that make you feel like a V.I.P., you’ll probably fall in love with Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios.

Hosted at different parks at Walt Disney World, Disney After Hours are special-ticketed events that let guests explore their favorite attractions and experience a park with very low crowds.

Not all of the After Hours events are created equal, however. And, while we don’t recommend all of them, a couple (like the one at Hollywood Studios) are definitely worth it for some people.

Here is info about the event, how much it costs, who should attend, and a suggested itinerary if you plan to go.

What is Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios?

If you are a person who would love to ride your favorite headliner attractions over and over, Disney After Hours might be just the thing for you.

You may be asking yourself why you should pay for extra time in the park? Well, Disney After Hours are much more exclusive.

This is a special-ticketed event, and not only that, Disney has said over and over that the number of tickets sold is limited and from our experience, they are 100% right.

The limited number of tickets create parks that almost feel eerily empty with hardly any lines to be found, which is perfect for anybody who loves riding lots of attractions.

Checking in

Aside from the low lines, another cool thing is that purchasing a ticket to Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios allows you to enter the park before the event begins (in this case at 7:00 p.m.), which is before the regular park closing.

That means you’ll be able to see and do a few things not included in Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios without having to buy a regular park ticket before the event starts (more on that below).

When you arrive at the front of Hollywood Studios, you’ll be asked to check in and be given your credentials (wristband) for the evening.

Starting right at the official start time for the event, you’ll be asked to show your wristband when entering lines and guests without wristbands will be asked to head to the front of the park.

Planning on arriving earlier than 7 p.m.?

If you have a regular park ticket (and now a theme park reservation) for that day, and you’ll be spending the afternoon before the check-in time at Hollywood Studios, you won’t have to go all the way back to the front to check in.

Guests already in the park can go to Ticket Central, located at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard (near The Hollywood Brown Derby) for their wristband.

When the official park closing time arrives, guests without wristbands will be directed towards the front.

People without the proper credentials won’t be allowed to enter any of the lines, and it doesn’t take long at all for the park to clear out of non-Disney After Hours participants, though you should plan on there being some overlap between day guests and the beginning of the event.

What’s available at Hollywood Studios After Hours

You should find lots to keep you busy, including:

Rides & attractions

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Toy Story Mania!
• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Star Tours — The Adventures Continue
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster¹
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

¹ – Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will be under refurbishment for part of early 2023.

Characters

• Select Character greetings

Entertainment

• Disney Movie Magic (11:25 pm)
• Wonderful World of Animation (11:45 pm)

What’s NOT available:

• Fantasmic! (but you can catch a show before the park closes, if you want)
• Star Wars Launch Bay (including Chewbacca, BB-8, and Darth Vader)
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Most character meets that are found during the day
• Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
• Disney Junior Dance Party!
• For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

Snacks and Dining

One of the perks of the After Hours events are the free snacks and drinks you get.

Those include ice cream novelties, popcorn, and select bottled beverages (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, water) – all for free. There will be carts stationed throughout the park. The lines at the carts can sometimes get long, but they move quickly. It is also a good tip to just keep walking to the next cart if you don’t want to wait!

You can also purchase other food and beverages at select dining locations.

You’ll find that most of the regular Table Service and Quick Service locations aren’t open (although there will be a couple of spots where you can purchase some select menu items).

Quick Service Locations

While most places will be closed, there are a few that will be open. Keep in mind that the entire menu may not be available:

• Walk-up availability at Oga’s Cantina
• Select outdoor bar carts
• Woody’s Lunchbox
• Milk Stand
• Anaheim Produce
• Rosie’s All-American Cafe
• KRNR The Rock Station

Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios dates

Depending on the date, the After Hours Events at Hollywood Studios have slightly different start and end times:

¹February, March, and April After Hours dates start at 9:30 and end at 12:30 am
²May and June After Hours dates start at 10:00 pm and end at 1:00 am

2023 Disney After Hours dates

January

• Wednesday, January 4, 2023¹
• Wednesday, January 11, 2023¹
• Wednesday, January 18, 2023¹
• Wednesday, January 25, 2023¹

February

• Wednesday, February 15, 2023¹
• Wednesday, February 22, 2023¹

March

• Wednesday, March 8, 2023¹
• Wednesday, March 22, 2023¹
• Wednesday, March 29, 2023¹

April

• Sunday, April 2, 2023¹
• Wednesday, April 5, 2023¹
• Wednesday, April 19, 2023¹

May

• Wednesday, May 3, 2023²
• Wednesday, May 17, 2023²
• Wednesday, May 24, 2023²
• Wednesday, May 31, 2023²

June

• Wednesday, June 7, 2023²
• Wednesday, June 14, 2023²
• Wednesday, June 21, 2023²
• Wednesday, June 28, 2023²

Disney After Hours cost

Current ticket prices are:

• $129-$149 plus tax per adult or child (depending on date)

Discounts

There are some discounts available, though.

Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members can purchase tickets for $99-$119 so that is a nice bit of savings if you are a member of either of those groups.

How to get tickets

When it comes time to purchase tickets, you have a couple of options:

You can purchase them from a travel professional like the agents at Small World Vacations.

Or, if you’d rather, tickets can be purchased online or by calling 407-827-7185.

Planning your time

Here’s how we think you can best use your time.

• Arrive at Hollywood Studios just before 7:00 p.m. so you can enter the park as soon as you can.
• Visit any of the attractions or characters that are not available after the event begins. That includes the Frozen Sing-Along and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
• See one of the nighttime shows.
• After the event starts, spend most of your time visiting attractions and meeting characters, picking up snacks at kiosks throughout Hollywood Studios as you go. Since daytime guests will linger at the beginning of the event, consider starting your rides and character visits outside of Toy Story Land.
• Grab a PhotoPass picture inside a nearly empty park.
• Grab a bottle or two of beverages to take back to your hotel before you head out.

Who should attend?

Yes, this event is not cheap. You’re paying a lot of money for what is essentially 3 hours of park touring, plus the time between 7 p.m. and when the party starts.

But for people on short trips or guests staying offsite that weren’t able to snag Genie+ Lightning Lane selections for the attractions in Toy Story Land, and Galaxy’s Edge, it might make sense to think about adding this event into your plans.

Thinking about a trip where you’ll only have time to visit each park only once?

Then the Disney After Hours might be an even better idea.

VIDEO: Disney After Hours: Is it worth it?