2023 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Dates, Details, Tips, Rides & Review

After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a tough ticket occasion with restricted attendance and brief wait occasions for Walt Disney World’s hottest sights. This put up shares our expertise, data in regards to the occasion, 2023 dates & particulars, suggestions & tips, and whether or not it’s well worth the cash. (Updated December 19, 2022.)

This is the newest of the After Hours occasions, which debuted at Magic Kingdom a number of years in the past. For 2023, After Hours is as soon as once more returning to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with dates within the winter and spring, with extra more likely to come.

After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios takes place choose nights from January 4, 2023 till April 19, 2023. This occasion takes place from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM. In addition to that, After Hours attendees can get a head begin on the enjoyable by getting into the park at 7:00 PM—a few hours earlier than the occasion formally begins!

Ticket costs for After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios range based mostly on date:

One of the hallmarks of the After Hours occasions at Walt Disney World is the limitless ice cream novelties, popcorn, and bottled drinks. These are all included in the price of this ticketed occasion–you merely stroll as much as out of doors merchandising carts stationed all through DHS and seize a Premium Mickey Bar, Coca-Cola, or no matter else.

You may buy meals and drinks at choose eating areas, however that is usually a horrible use of the restricted occasion time. Eat earlier than you arrive or refill on ice cream and different treats on-the-go throughout After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

During After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, sights will embrace:

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

There’s one notable distinction between the 2023 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the final time the occasion was held is the trip roster. This is the primary time that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway can be open for After Hours.

This is extremely noteworthy, particularly for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which usually sells Individual Lightning Lane entry and has one of many longest wait occasions at Walt Disney World. In reality, DHS has a number of of the preferred sights in all of Walt Disney World, with the very best common wait occasions amongst all 4 parks!

As such, the operative query about After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is what number of rides are you able to accomplish? Narrowing {that a} bit additional, we assume most individuals studying this are involved with headliners like Slinky Dog Dash–and the way a lot time will be saved by paying to attend After Hours versus a standard day at DHS…

During the final After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we did the next:

• Slinky Dog Dash (x6)
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (x4)
• Tower of Terror (x2)
• Alien Swirling Saucers (x1)
• Toy Story Mania (x1)
• Buzz Lightyear Meet & Greet (x1)
• Woody & Jessie Meet & Greet (x1)

That’s a complete of 16 issues, and we might’ve simply carried out extra if effectivity have been our lone aim and we didn’t crisscross the park as a lot. With Annual Passholder pricing of $99 or as much as $149 common pricing at our occasion, that breaks all the way down to round $6 to $10 per expertise.

We additionally ate a couple of half dozen ice cream novelties and had a number of Cokes, every of that are additionally limitless/included in the price of admission throughout the occasion. You can be taught extra about pricing and 2023 Disney After Hours dates on the official web site.

As famous above, After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios doesn’t require common theme park admission and permits entry as early as 7 p.m. As with the Disney’s Hollywood Studios model of the occasion, the particular occasion begins half-hour after official park closing–at 9:30 p.m., and runs for 3 hours till 12:30 a.m. This means you possibly can see Fantasmic or knock out a number of less-popular sights throughout the mix-in that begins earlier than After Hours formally kicks off.

The final time we attended, we did Slinky Dog Dash as quickly because the occasion formally started. Surprisingly, the road had already practically or completely cleared of day visitors. Unfortunately, everybody else who had arrived for After Hours had this identical thought, so the road was roughly 10 minutes lengthy. Incredibly brief by Slinky Dog Dash requirements, however our longest line of the evening.

We most likely might’ve carried out a bit extra selection and fewer rides on the curler coasters, however these are the issues with the longest daytime waits, so that they have been our focus. Just with the highest two gadgets, we conservatively saved 10 hours of time in line (give or take).

Of course, not many individuals are going to decide on to attend in line an hour-plus for Slinky Dog Dash twice in the identical day, a lot much less six occasions, so the period of time “saved” right here is barely misleading. I imply, we additionally had numerous Mickey Premium Bars, bottled water, and Coke–the worth of which might’ve exceeded $50 have been we paying out of pocket, however I’d by no means purchase a bottle of water at Walt Disney World within the first place, a lot much less 6 of them in a day.

Throughout the evening, the one attraction with any line was Slinky Dog Dash, which tended to be round 3-7 minutes, with an extended line initially of the evening and a big surge instantly after the fireworks. Tower of Terror additionally had a wait within the boiler room, however that’s a results of the way it masses and never a perform of crowds.

Everything else was a close to walk-on for everything of the evening. On Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, we had our personal prepare as soon as, and most rides on that have been lower than one-third full. The excellent news with each RnRC and Tower of Terror is that the pre-shows have been non-obligatory. We watched every as soon as (as a result of in contrast to Flight of Passage, they’re superior) after which skipped each on subsequent rides.

Despite this, Disney’s Hollywood Studios felt barely busier than the After Hours at Animal Kingdom occasion. Part of it is a perform of park measurement, DHS being way more compact. We’d additionally hazard a guess that there have been extra attendees on the Disney’s Hollywood Studios occasion.

Going ahead, we’d anticipate that attendance will enhance on the After Hours as optimistic phrase of mouth spreads. However, even when double the variety of tickets are bought, we nonetheless wouldn’t count on the occasion to really feel considerably completely different. Most trip autos (save for Slinky Dog Dash) have been being dispatched partially empty, so there was loads of capability to spare in these ‘walk-on’ wait occasions.

The greatest distinction you may see is a 7-10 minute anticipate Slinky Dog Dash as a substitute of a 3-7 minute wait. We’ll regulate crowds to see what occurs there. Now that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has debuted and its headliners are included, the 2023 After Hours occasion will virtually definitely be busier than the final time After Hours was held at DHS.

Save for a number of meet & greets, none of Disney’s Hollywood Studios main leisure choices run completely throughout After Hours. This virtually necessitates a return go to to the park a unique day, except you’ve already ‘been there, done that’ with the entire reveals. During that completely different day, we’d additionally advocate doing any sights which might be actually prolonged from begin to end (Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run) or that don’t provide super time financial savings throughout After Hours (Star Tours).

In phrases of suggestions, our recommendation could be to start out on the Sunset Boulevard rides (Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror) and finish with Toy Story Land. The latter was positively busiest proper after fireworks, and by the point that crowd cycled by means of Slinky Dog Dash a few occasions, it just about dissipated.

Our recommendation could be to plan your arrival to Toy Story Land for the second half of the occasion. At this level, your common cycle time (wait time plus trip plus exiting) for Slinky Dog Dash or Toy Story Mania must be at or below quarter-hour, and at or below 5 minutes for Alien Swirling Saucers or the meet & greets.

Another huge piece of preliminary recommendation for the 2023 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is to avoid wasting Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance till close to the top of the night. This goes to be the motive that many or most individuals buy tickets to After Hours at DHS, and numerous them are going to prioritize it. The line will virtually definitely be worst early-on, and considerably shorter within the final hour of the occasion.

Our expectation is that numerous visitors will go in with the expectation of doing “unlimited” rides on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, with grandiose concepts of using it dozens of occasions throughout the occasion. That is, till actuality units in.

In all chance, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will begin out with wait occasions of a minimum of half-hour when the occasion begins (if not longer). People will endure that when or perhaps twice, earlier than transferring on to different sights. Others will hold using, however burnout will inevitably set-in for a few causes.

First, as nice as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is–and we expect it’s the #1 attraction at Walt Disney World–it’s not extremely re-rideable within the back-to-back-to-back (and so on.) sense. It’s an excellent storytelling attraction, not one which delivers thrills or prompts a visceral response.

Second, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is lengthy. It’s a multi-phase attraction, and it seemingly gained’t be attainable to skip all or maybe any of the pre-shows throughout the 2023 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We’ve discovered that even with excellent timing, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance takes 18 minutes to expertise from start-to-finish.

That’s the best possible case situation. More seemingly, these attendees who line up early are going to sink virtually an hour into one trip on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Those who do two rides again to again in the beginning of the occasion are more likely to eat up practically 90 minutes of their After Hours time. Few will do 3 consecutive rides because of this.

Even for those who did Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance from the second you possibly can enter DHS till the conclusion of After Hours, it’s seemingly you’d solely handle about 10 rides on the Galaxy’s Edge headliner. So not precisely “unlimited” rides regardless of the way you slice it. (Honestly, that’s positive by us. We completely adore Rise of the Resistance, however I couldn’t do it 10 consecutive occasions. It would begin to lose its luster and the magic would put on off. For me, twice throughout the night is just about excellent.)

Accordingly, our sturdy suggestion is saving Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance till the very finish. If you solely need to do the attraction as soon as, you possibly can leap in line 1 minute earlier than After Hours ends. This will successfully lengthen the occasion, as you’ll do your ready in line and many of the prolonged attraction period after the occasion has formally ended.

If you need to do Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance twice, contemplate doing it as soon as round 90 minutes earlier than the occasion concludes, then bounce over to Toy Story Land for a bit, after which return to Rise of the Resistance once more 1 minute earlier than After Hours ends. This is a greater balanced method, and likewise mitigates the chance of downtime (for those who wait till the very finish, there’s at all times an opportunity that Rise of the Resistance can be down and never come again up throughout the occasion–it nonetheless suffers from reliability and downtime woes).

We’d additionally advocate sticking to 1 space, doing that on repeat, and never returning. Even although Disney’s Hollywood Studios isn’t large, the stroll from Toy Story Land or Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to Sunset Boulevard is a time eater.

We didn’t comply with our personal recommendation right here, as a substitute doing every a few occasions, grabbing a few of the included refreshments, after which slowly meandering again in direction of the opposite whereas consuming our Mickey’s Premium Bars or what have you ever.

After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios bears similarities to the Animal Kingdom occasion. As is the case there, it is a headliner-heavy occasion. Whereas you possibly can go for selection at Magic Kingdom, the lineup right here is extra restricted. To get probably the most worth from a time-savings perspective out of After Hours at DHS, you could be enthusiastic about using Slinky Dog Dash and/or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster a number of occasions.

We assume that’s actually what the occasion comes all the way down to. You definitely don’t must trip them each a mixed 10 occasions as we did, however you’ll need to do them quite a lot of occasions. If you’re a curler coaster junkie, it is a nice occasion, and the truth that each of those headliners are close to walk-ons (and you could skip the RnRC pre-show) means you possibly can do loops of each and get your trip counts into the double digits over the course of the evening.

Conversely, for those who’re solely enthusiastic about experiencing all the things as soon as, arriving for Early Entry at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and even doing our Half-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary with a powerful Genie+ recreation must be adequate.

Whether it’s best to do After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios comes all the way down to your private attraction priorities (are you a curler coaster junkie who needs to loop the 2 main ones right here?), funds, and averseness to crowds. If you hate crowds and are keen to splurge, After Hours at DHS can be an excellent occasion for you.

It’s completely a matter of non-public choice, however we expect the 2023 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios occasion will provide a lot extra worth than it beforehand did now that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway are included. While all of these are long-duration sights (and we’d contemplate skipping two of them throughout After Hours because of this), it’s nice to have entry to them.

For thrill junkies, doing Slinky Dog Dash or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster on repeat is a good technique–and one that can end in a excessive trip depend, as each of those sights are brief period and will be looped fairly simply. In specific, Slinky Dog Dash is a good attraction to do throughout After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, because it has no pre-show and usually is a prime 5 attraction in all of Walt Disney World by way of the posted wait time! DHS can be probably the most tough Genie+ Lightning Lane to ebook, so doing After Hours as a substitute relieves that strain.

Ultimately, there isn’t a “perfect” method to effectively approaching Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Genie+ works nicely, however not practically to the diploma that it does at Magic Kingdom–and it requires staying the entire day at DHS resulting from return home windows getting pushed out. Early Entry is one other glorious possibility, however will solely make it easier to hit ~3 headliners. Showing up late is one other savvy technique, but it surely additionally gained’t permit you to get all the things carried out, not to mention a number of rides on headliners.

This leaves the 2023 After Hours occasion as the easiest way to effectively “do” Disney’s Hollywood Studios in a frustration-free approach. Obviously, this comes with a excessive worth, however in our estimation, the After Hours occasion is extra more likely to be “worth it” at DHS than some other park. (Of course, Magic Kingdom is probably the most iconic park at Walt Disney World, so it’s laborious to argue with that as a great possibility.) It’s on this foundation that we’re recommending the 2023 After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to most visitors who’ve it of their funds. This occasion is a good way to splurge and reduce stress and complications that usually happen at DHS.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you consider Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ After Hours occasion? Planning on doing the 2023 After Hours at DHS to see what number of occasions you possibly can trip Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in a single evening? Is this one thing that pursuits you, or is the price too excessive to justify? How many occasions would you need to do the 2 coasters in a single evening? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluate of the occasion? Any questions we can assist you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!