I'm sure by now most of us have caught a glimpse of the new after hours party that will be available at Magic Kingdom on select day this spring. If you've missed the info, it's a 3-hour party after regular operating hours that features small crowds, select attractions, character meet & greets, free ice cream bars, and "more". The party hours are 10pm-1am or 11pm-2am depending on the published park closing time, but the ticket will gain you admission to the park as early as 7pm. The price tag on this is $149/person.
First, this party sounds like the "free" DVC member party that we attended two weeks ago. Our party began at 9:30 and ran until 12:00. We had free ice cream bars and chips with cups of water prepared for us to drink. The available characters were Robin Hood & Friar Tuck/ Little John, Aladdin & Jasmine, Darkling Duck, Launchpad McQuack, Cinderella & Charming, Aurora & Phillip, Rapunzel & Flynn, Tiana & Naveen, and the HM tightrope walker. There may have been others that we had previously done pictures with and thus, ignored. Attendance was such that we were able to get photos with all of these characters except for Jasmine & Aladdin, see the Cadaver Dans perform, ride 7DMT with a 25-minute wait, eat free chips and a Mickey bar, and see the awesome event fireworks. It was a great event and we accomplished a ton, but it was a bit of a blur because we were running from one thing to the next all night long. And we had 30 minutes longer than the proposed party schedule allows for.
We were able to see and do about the same amount of characters, events, and attractions as we could at a typical MNSSHP or MVMCP because the lines were much more reasonable. However, there was no parade at all. A selling point here might be to run a former beloved parade--say, Spectromagic--and include the same awesome fireworks that we saw. Maybe since they are clearly using older characters to find their "rare" characters, make it a "retro-Disney" party and market it that way. Then chop off about $50 and add another hour. I imagine that the pricing is coming from the fact that this is a more costly event to operate than Club Villain, which I believe is running at $99/person. But as guests, we clearly equate it more with MNSSHP or MVMCP, which are 2 hours longer for half the cost and have a parade.
I'll reserve final judgement until we hear reports from attendees, but I'm really skeptical that they'l be able to provide $150 worth of value in 3 hours. We had a blast at the party, but as a paid event with virtually no advance details provided, I wouldn't have paid $150 to get in. And if I had, I'd have felt ripped off. At $50/hour for the official party component, I don't think this one will probably hold enough value to justify the cost. The only impact on day guests will be the fact that these party goers will be able to enter MK at 7:00pm, so expect the park of feel very crowded at the end of the evening on party days.
Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch
Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.
