Disney After Hours: the 2027 dates and prices, and how short the lines really were

When is Disney After Hours in 2027?

On 56 nights across three parks, from Disney's own event page as read on 13 September 2026. Every ticket lets you in from 7:00pm, before the event starts, with no park reservation.

• Magic Kingdom, 10:00pm to 1:00am, 19 nights: 11 and 18 January; 1, 8, 15 and 22 February; 4, 8 and 15 March; 5, 12 and 26 April; 17 and 24 May; 14, 21 and 28 June; 15 and 19 July. $189 to $209.
• Hollywood Studios, 9:30pm to 12:30am, 22 nights: 16 and 27 January; 13 and 24 February; 13, 17 and 24 March; 7, 24 and 28 April; 19 and 26 May; 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 June; 5, 12 and 26 July; 4 and 25 August. On 24 April it runs 10:30pm to 1:30am. $159 to $199.
• EPCOT, 9:30pm to 12:30am, 15 nights: 21 January; 18 February; 1, 15 and 22 April; 6 and 13 May; 3 and 12 June; 8, 22 and 29 July; 7, 12 and 19 August. $159 to $189.

Prices are per ticket plus tax and vary by night. Guests at Disney's own hotels, the Swan and Dolphin and Shades of Green can buy now for nights during their stay; everyone else from 22 September 2026.

How much does Disney After Hours cost, and is it going up?

Yes, on both counts. Mickey Visit counted 56 nights for 2027 against 62 in 2026, and every park's range has risen:

• Magic Kingdom: $175 to $199 in 2026, $189 to $209 in 2027.
• Hollywood Studios: $155 to $189 in 2026, $159 to $199 in 2027.
• EPCOT: $155 to $179 in 2026, $159 to $189 in 2027.

Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members save $30 a ticket at Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. Disney lists no discount for Magic Kingdom.

How short are the lines at After Hours?

Much shorter, on the one night in our own record. Hollywood Studios held After Hours on 12 September 2026, the last night of its 2026 season.⁷ We log every posted wait every five minutes, and during the event the headliners posted a third to a half of their daytime average:

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance: 19 minutes on average, against 53 between 10am and 8pm.
• Slinky Dog Dash: 25, against 65.
• Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: 30, against 55.
• Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway: 12, against 45.
• Toy Story Mania!: 20, against 44.
• Tower of Terror: 13, against 37.

These are posted waits, not measured ones, from a single night, and one night is a first reading rather than a rule. EPCOT's last two 2026 nights, 16 and 24 September, will add to it.

Is After Hours better than Extended Evening Hours?

For shorter lines, our record says yes. Extended Evening Hours are free for guests at Disney's Deluxe hotels, and on the two such nights we have logged the headliners barely moved. At Magic Kingdom on 9 September, TRON Lightcycle / Run posted 59 minutes on average during the extra hours, against 56 by day; Seven Dwarfs Mine Train posted 31, against 45.

At EPCOT on 7 September, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind posted 67, against 87.

One planning site takes the other side on value.⁸ It calls After Hours unquestionably expensive, and says it is hard to justify paying for it when Extended Evening Hours come free with a Deluxe stay. Both are true: the free hours are better value, and the paid ones buy much shorter lines.

What is included with Disney After Hours?

Entry from 7:00pm, the rides Disney runs during the event, and ice cream novelties, popcorn and selected bottled drinks at no extra charge. Disney names these rides as highlights:

• Magic Kingdom: TRON Lightcycle / Run, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, "it's a small world", Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan's Flight, Under the Sea and Mad Tea Party.
• Hollywood Studios: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania!, Alien Swirling Saucers, Tower of Terror and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway.
• EPCOT: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, Gran Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, Mission: SPACE, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Soarin', Spaceship Earth and Test Track.

Disney adds that the ticket does not guarantee any particular ride will be running.

Is Disney After Hours worth it?

For a short trip with one park to get through, it can be.

One planning site recommends it mainly to first-timers and infrequent visitors with limited time and money to spare, and rates Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios as the better value, with EPCOT worth it only in specific circumstances.⁸ Our one Hollywood Studios night backs the case for that park: at the posted waits above, the three hours fit most of its headliners.

If you are staying at a Deluxe hotel, try the free Extended Evening Hours first, and expect the headliners to stay busy. Plan either night with what order to do the park in and the night shows before the event starts.

After Hours or a Halloween party night?

Disney After Hours and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party are the two ways to buy Magic Kingdom after dark, and they sell different things. Disney's own pages, read 16 September 2026:

After Hours sells you emptiness; the party sells you a show. After Hours schedules nothing at all — the three hours are yours to spend entirely in queues, and Disney caps the ticket count to keep them short.

The party runs a parade, a fireworks show and stage sets through the middle of its five hours, which is most of what people buy it for and is also five hours you are not riding. Two products, one park, opposite designs.

They also fall in different halves of the year, which settles it more often than the comparison does. After Hours runs January to July; the parties run August to December. For most of the calendar only one of them is even on sale.

What we can measure so far favours neither, because the measurements are not yet in the same park. Our record has Magic Kingdom on three Halloween party nights — an 11.5-minute average posted wait across 22 rides from 7pm to 10pm — and After Hours only at Hollywood Studios, where Rise of the Resistance posted 19 minutes against 53 by day.

We will log a Magic Kingdom After Hours night in January 2027 and put the two side by side properly. Until then, anyone ranking them is guessing.

If the choice is open: take After Hours if the point is to ride, and the party if the point is the evening itself. And note the cheap end of the party range, $119, undercuts every After Hours night — though those cheapest nights are in August, and they sell out first.