2024 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.

We’ve been lucky enough to have several trips overlap with the After Hours events at Hollywood Studios and after multiple times attending, we can say that we truly think that After Hours is worth it at Hollywood Studios.

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?

Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios is a specially ticketed event that allows guests entry to Hollywood Studios from 7 PM, with the main event running from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM.

Just what is that main event? Well, it’s access to nearly every attraction plus tons of characters, all with limited crowds. That’s because Disney limits the number of tickets sold, meaning Hollywood Studios is way emptier than what you’d find during regular park hours.

The downside is that it *is* a bit pricey – but the experience is unparalleled, offering the chance to ride popular attractions with minimal waits, the opportunity to meet unique characters that you can’t see anywhere else, with the added benefit of unlimited treats -like Mickey Bars, popcorn, and soda – included with your ticket.

We hate to love things that are expensive, but we really, really find that the After Hours events at Hollywood Studios are worth it.

Disney After Hours cost and dates

Okay, now for the bad part – the price. Keep in mind that you might be able to offset a bit of the cost by shortening the number of days you’d purchase on a regular ticket.

For example, instead of purchasing a 5-day ticket, purchase a 4-day ticket and an After Hours ticket. You can spend the daytime enjoying your resort, swimming, etc. and then head into the park for 5 1/2 hours of fun.

2024 Hollywood Studios After Hours ticket prices:

• $145-$175 plus tax per adult or child (depending on date)

Like we said, it isn’t cheap. Prices range from $145 all the way to $175, depending on the date.

Discounts

There are some discounts available, though.

Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members can purchase tickets for $125-$145 , so that is a nice bit of savings if you are a member of either of those groups.

Ticket prices and dates

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.

When can you enter Hollywood Studios for After Hours?

In 2024, Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios starts at 9:30 p.m. and ends at 12:30 a.m.

But, when you have an After Hours ticket for Hollywood Studios, you’ll be able to enter the park with just your event ticket starting at 7:00 PM. If possible, we highly recommend you do that because that means you’ll have 2+ hours before the event officially begins to enjoy a few rides and, more importantly, catch Fantasmic!.

Checking in

Checking in for any event like this at Disney World is pretty much the same. They’ll typically have an area outside the park to get your wristbands (if you’re just arriving) as well as at least 1 spot inside the park where you can get your credentials for the evening if you’ve already entered Hollywood Studios for the day.

Checking in at the entrance (at 7PM)

When you arrive at the front of Hollywood Studios, look for the signs that will direct you to the check-in point for After Hours. Typically, they have people lining up at the tapstiles at the far end.

When the clock hits 7:00 PM, they’ll scan your MagicBand or ticket to confirm you are good to go. Once they do that, you’ll be given your credentials (aka a wristband) for the evening.

Checking in inside the park

If you have a regular park ticket 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

We have found that the wait times for most attractions during Hollywood Studios After Hours to be between 5 and 20 minutes, with Slinky Dog Dash consistently having the longest waits. If you really want to ride it, you might want to save it to the end or ride it before the event starts.

• 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 Coaster
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Characters

Disney has really stepped it up and there are a ton of characters available at this year’s Hollywood Studios After Hours. We feel like maybe Disney learned a thing or two from Jollywood Nights and they really seemed to work hard to make it worth the cost of the ticket to attend.

Most of the characters alternate, so the character you’ll meet may not be who you see when you get in line. BUT, we never found the lines to be very long and they moved quickly.

Here’s who all you can see:

Hollywood Boulevard and the front of the park:

• Mickey Mouse (may alternate with Minnie Mouse)
• Minnie Mouse (may alternate with Mickey Mouse)

In front of the Chinese Theater:

• Rafiki OR Stitch (characters alternate throughout the evening)

• Pinocchio or Jiminy Cricket (characters alternate throughout the evening)

Near the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular

• Duffy

• Thumper OR Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers (characters alternate throughout the evening)

• Donald Duck OR Daisy Duck (characters alternate throughout the evening)

Along the water near Hollywood and Vine:

• Goofy OR the White Rabbit (characters alternate throughout the evening)

Grand Avenue

• Mary Poppins & Penguin OR Pocahontas and Meeko (characters alternate throughout the evening)

• Tiana OR Jasmine (characters alternate throughout the evening)

Select drinks & snacks are included

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

Those include ice cream novelties like Mickey Bars, popcorn, and select bottled beverages (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, water) – all included with the cost of your ticket.

There will be carts stationed throughout the park where you’ll be able to grab them. 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.

Quick Service locations

If you want something more than popcorn and ice cream, you can purchase those separately. 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

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 Play and Dance
• For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

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 Muppet*Vision 3D.
• See Fantasmic! OR, if you opt to not see Fantasmic! consider jumping in line for one of the attractions that either take a long time or have long waits like Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash.
• 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.
• 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 optimized 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.

Here are some other people who might enjoy After Hours at Hollywood Studios:

• Photographers: With fewer people around, it’s a great time to take photos without the usual crowds photobombing the shots.
• People without kids: While families with young children might find the late hours challenging, adults or families with older children can take full advantage of the late-night atmosphere.
• First-time visitors: If someone’s trip to Hollywood Studios is a once-in-a-lifetime event, they might want to maximize their experience.
• Repeat visitors: Those who’ve been to the park multiple times might enjoy a different, more relaxed experience.
• Guests on short trips: If someone is only in Orlando for a short time and wants to make the most of it, this is a great way to experience a lot in a little time.
• People who dislike crowds: One of the main benefits of the After Hours event is the significantly reduced crowd sizes.
• Attraction enthusiasts: Guests who want to experience as many attractions as possible, especially popular ones like the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run or Slinky Dog Dash, without the regular waiting times.

VIDEO: Disney After Hours: Is it worth it?