Disney After Hours returns to Walt Disney World in January 2023

Sep 27, 2022 in "Disney After Hours"

Posted: Tuesday September 27, 2022 11:08am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney After Hours will return to Walt Disney World January 4 2023 at Disney's Hollywood Studios and January 9 2023 at Magic Kingdom.


Disney After Hours is a late-night, separately ticketed events at a Walt Disney World theme park for three additional hours after regular park hours, with treats such as ice cream, popcorn and select beverages included. The number of tickets for these events is limited, which means lower wait times for some of your favorite attractions.

At Disney's Hollywood Studios, all of the latest attractions are included - Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, Slinky Dog Dash and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

Pricing for the event has increased prior to the pause of Disney After Hours during the pandemic. Tickets then were fixed at $129, and are now between $129 and $149 based on date.

Disney After Hours events at Disney’s Hollywood Studios are scheduled for select nights, January 4 through April 19, 2023. Disney After Hours events at Magic Kingdom are scheduled for select nights, January 9 through March 27, 2023. Disney After Hours takes place from 9:30pm to 12:30am at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and 10pm to 1am at Magic Kingdom. Admission begins at 7pm.

Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom - January 9, 16, 23; February 16, 20, 27; March 2, 6, 13, 16, 20, 27 2023.

Disney After Hours at Disney's Hollywood Studios - January 4, 11, 18, 25; February 15, 22; March 8, 22, 29; April 2, 5, 19 2023.


With Disney After Hours tickets, you can enter the park where the event is taking place as early as 7 p.m.  Disney After Hours admission is a separately priced ticket not included with regular daytime park admission. Event tickets for Magic Kingdom Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios can be purchased by all guests starting October 7, 2022, with prices ranging from $129 to $159 (plus tax). Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels can begin purchasing Disney After Hours tickets as early as October 4. The advance-purchase window is available to Guests of Disney Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels as well as Shades of Green at Walt Disney World Resort.

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    monothingie18 days ago

    @wdwmagic just to update your article. There is no AP/DVC discount for Magic Kingdom after hours.

    bmr159119 days ago

    And here I thought Enchantment was going to damn After Hours to never selling out. At least, that's what I was told on here when it was announced.

    DCBaker22 days ago

    The Magic Kingdom After Hours event on April 7 has sold out.

    MisterPenguin27 days ago

    It's an old conspiracy theory that a studio would throw an extra $50M at a movie so it "looks good" while, at the same time, bearing extra tens of millions of dollars in that movie's deficit. If this is what TWDC does, then please explain all of their theatrical releases which financially bombed if Disney plays such game with the Box Office. You're saying Disney would spend tens of millions to keep that from happening. And yet, it happens. So... what you say happens, doesn't.

    Cliff27 days ago

    These days, it seems that it's VERY important for Burbank to display the "sold out" sign on everything. Since Disney keeps it's ticket sales secret, too many people are now using wait times and "sold out" flags to judge park attendence. It certainly does seem that how crowded a "sold out" event actually is CAN vary widely from day to day. Disney has years of gathering sophisticated guest attendance habbits and trends. They already know which nights will have higher AND lower "sell out" numbers based in selling speed and other factors. But yes, I think that no matter how many tickets are actually sold, it's CRITICAL that these events be seen as a "success" with that "sold out" label on top of it. It reminds me of when Disney was accused of buying it's own movie tickets in empty theaters just as a marketing trick to "buy" good box office numbers press for a bad movie. Remember, if a studio buys 50 million in movie tickets one week, the theaters keep half and the other 50 million goes right back to studio!!. In a case like this, Burbank's marketing group can buy a ticket from parks and experiences and that money never leaves the company at all. But Parks can still report it as a "sold" ticket for their financial books and they can make all the internet "watchers" (like us) feel very impressed. This is nothing new. It an old trick...

    co1006427 days ago

    I can’t speak to Halloween parties, but when I went to a sold out EPCOT After Hours, everything was a walk-on throughout the night except Guardians, which held steady at a posted 30 minute wait (but actual 15 minute wait in the queue leading up to the pre-show). The draw for After Hours is undoubtedly low waits, whereas the parties are more about the entertainment IMO. Does Disney actually advertise less wait times for the Halloween/Christmas parties?

    DCBaker27 days ago

    The Hollywood Studios After Hours event on March 26 has sold out.

    CliffMar 13, 2025

    Nah,...the dozens of live streamers I watch.

    Chi84Mar 13, 2025

    Is this based on your personal observations?

    Mr. SullivanMar 13, 2025

    I would have to imagine that their max capacity for any given event fluctuates relative to how many CMs are scheduled to be present for it, what that event will entail, when it takes place (for example, an event taking place on a at a time that isn’t considered a prime vacation period may have a lower set capacity than the same event but taking place at a time that is considered a prime vacation period), the amount of day tickets that have been sold for the time period of the event, and their hotel occupancy for that time frame (the latter two metrics giving them a sort of margin to guess how many people may be on property at that time that may be interested in going to the event).

    CliffMar 13, 2025

    Many after-hours events "reach capacity," but we never know what that "capacity" is for each night. Sometimes Halloween events that reach "capacity" are SUPER crowded but then other nights that reach "capacity" are WAY more sparse with MUCH smaller crowds. I'm not sure why this seems to be the case but it makes sense that every night needs to reach "capacity" for the optics of ticket sales to the financial people that watch these numbers. I'm guessing that "max capacity" is the number of people that Disney has near the time that the event starts? In other words, if you sell 10 tickets one night, "that" is your "max capacity". If you sell 7 tickets another night, "that" is your "max capacity" for that night. This math formula means that you are guaranteed to always reach "capacity"?? I dunno. Just wondering how it works when no actual sales numbers are ever stated and crowd sizes vary widely.

    DisneyRoyMar 12, 2025

    I wouldn't expect huge crowds for deluxe hours, but since it's a non-ticketed event there will definitely be more people at these than at after hours ticketed events.

    DCBakerMar 11, 2025

    The Magic Kingdom After Hours event on March 24 has sold out.