Villains After Hours Event

Get ready because I have so much to say about this fun experience! Disney’s Villains After Hours Event is relatively new, but we’ve got the scoop for you.

What is it?

So, what is it exactly? Well, Disney has been offering After Hours for a while now.

It is a special ticketed event, like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, or the Very Merry Christmas Party. While you are able to get into Magic Kingdom in the early evening, the event doesn’t actually start until later, after the fireworks show.

The goal is shorter wait times and lines for rides. They also offer free bottled drinks, ice cream, and popcorn. Disney tried something new this summer, putting a theme on it, and turning it into Villains After Hours.

How does it differ from the other After Hours events?

For Disney’s Villains after dark event, not only was it aimed at smaller crowds to make easier access to rides, but pretty much everything had a Villain spin to it; there were ride overlays special to this Villains event on Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as Space Mountain; some rides were lit up “evil” colors of green and purple, or red, while other’s had special Villain light displays.

Along with the free offerings, they also had Villain themed snacks, treats, and drinks dispersed through the park at various quick service eateries. A stage show with many different villains, and a focus on Hades, had various times throughout the night, making it easy and accessible to catch one! Furthermore, the major hit of the evening, was Maleficent the dragon roaming around for the first time at night!

A Rundown of the Evening

I was attending this excursion with my sister, Cara. We planned to arrive at Magic Kingdom promptly at 7:00pm. This was the time we, and anyone else who was attending this event, were allowed in with our special tickets. We managed to step off the monorail around 6:55pm, and make our way to the ticket turnstiles. As we came up on the crowds starting to swarm, we were informed that all Villains After Hours tickets needed to be checked in towards the end of the row.

After scanning our card tickets and scanning our fingerprints, we were then placed in a line to receive a wristband. They were placed on our right wrists, and throughout the event we were asked several times to lift up our right arm to show them off. Past 10pm no one was allowed on rides or in the park without that fluorescent pink wristband. It was nice to see them taking it seriously since we had paid a pretty penny in order to be at this Villain’s After hours event.

We then went to get my sister a coffee, before we headed to Liberty Square to eat at Columbia Harbor House for dinner. It was nice to be able to take our time, and just sit and relax a moment. By the time we were all done, it was about 8:30pm.

Wanting to do a little shopping, we went over to Tomorrowland, and then hopped on the Tomorrowland Speedway. Once done with that, we made our way over to the middle of Fantasyland, by the Carousel, just behind the castle. And we made it just in time for the fireworks! It was amazing to be so close to them. They seemed to be going off all around us, all directions! We couldn’t see the projection show on the castle of course, but with the fireworks exploding right over our heads it was worth it.

Rides, Rides, and more Rides

Then it was time to start the night. Deciding to start where we were, we wanted to get as many rides as we could in. First up was Peter Pan, then The Little Mermaid, second. We decided to skip Seven Dwarfs because the line was still pretty long at around 35 minutes (or longer). Stopping at a snack cart, we got drinks and ice cream. The Cast Members were so generous, practically pushing the free stuff on us! It was definitely cool getting free drinks and food at Disney World.

Haunted Mansion seemed like a must at a Villains themed party. After that, we rode Big Thunder, and decided to skip Splash Mountain, even though it’s my favorite because we didn’t want the chance of getting wet so late at night.

We headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean which also was a long wait time, but it was one we were determined to do because of the overlays. In the queue, there were two actors. One behind the bars, close to the floor. And a wonderful actress closer to where the ride actually starts. She was so in character and did a great job. I was able to snag a couple photos of her! During the ride there was also an actor being a Pirate on the bridge towards the end of the ride. It was a very fun and neat experience!

We stopped for a snack at Tortuga Tavern. My sister got the Hades Nachos, and I got the Hades Temptation drink. Both were delicious. The Hades Temptation tasted like a cotton candy slushie with a yummy gummy worm on top.

Afterwards, we went on the Jungle Cruise. We decided at this point to stop at another snack cart, and while my sister indulged in another free ice cream bar, I got another water. The weather was excellent, but humid.

We walked around over to the Castle, and sat while we waited for the next stage show to begin. There was a DJ trying to hype the crowd, playing very fun dance music, in between the sets.

Villains Take The Stage

They’d projected onto the Castle to make it look like Maleficent’s rather than Cinderella’s. It was so cool. As the Villains took the stage, it would change more, turning into each of the Villain’s themes.

At the very end, as we were ready to walk out, there atop the train tracks stood the Queen of Hearts, Gaston, Cruella De Vil, and the big bad wolf, to give us a Villainous goodbye.

All in all, it was jam packed with all the villainy you could possibly hope for. They seemed to be around every corner at the Villain’s After Hours event. All the little touches they added were quite extraordinary.

The Good and The Bad

So, was it worth it?

Overall, it was such a magical, fun, special experience! It has been on my bucketlist for sometime now, to be at Magic Kingdom late at night (or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it). I’m not sure why, I just always thought it’d be such a different encounter, magical in its own way.

Here’s what I loved about it:

Shorter lines– We were able to ride so many rides without any fast passes. Peter Pan was walk on. When has that ever happened besides rope drop?
Free stuff– I said it before and I’ll say it again, getting anything for free at Disney is the best! It was limitless. You could visit a snack cart as much as you wanted. At the end, my sister and I each took two drinks. They were practically throwing them at us.
Exclusivity– It did feel special in a way to have on this “magic” wristband that let you experience this limited ticket event.
The music and the stage show added to the fun of the night.
The themed snacks were also a great addition!

Here’s what I didn’t love:

It felt very rushed. Technically, we only had three hours to get everything in. Ride as many rides as we could, stop for free snacks and drinks, stop at the Quick Services to buy themed snacks and drinks, watch and enjoy a stage show. Maybe if we had planned it out a little better, we could have made it to more. But it still felt hard to fit it all in.
For food allergy eaters, the food was limited. It was nice that the free snacks had options for gluten free, as well as other allergies, while the themed food and snacks did not. I believe it was only the drinks, a total of three, that were gluten free. (For other info on food at Disney that IS gluten free, check out our Gluten Free at Disney Page.)
The merchandise that was supposed to be exclusive and only available during the event hours, was actually out beforehand, meaning anyone could buy it. I did buy a shirt, but we never saw any of the tumblers.
I was also bummed that Ursula, my favorite Villain, although present on some of the merchandise, was not a focus at this event.

The cost:

$139 plus tax, or with an annual pass $109 plus tax.

The final word:

This was a fun time, and helped me cross off my late night at Disney World bucket list item. I’m glad I did it. But I’d say it’s definitely not for everyone. If you’re looking for lower wait times, or Villains are you’re thing, especially Maleficent, then yes, this is probably worth it for you.

If you don’t care for Villains, the park at night is not your thing, and you’d rather just try your luck at fast passes then you should pass on this pass.

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