Latest / Ear Scouts Podcast / After Hours, Parties and Extended Evening Hours at Disney World
Transcript
- Rob: In this episode of the Ear Scouts podcast, we're talking about extended evening hours, after hours events, and special parties that happen after the parks close. And all of these different things have their own set of rules and their own peculiar things that you need to know if you're planning to attend one of them. In today's episode, we're going to share. Everything you're going to need to know so that you'll be prepared to have an amazing time after the parks close. We got a lot to cover, so let's get to it. Hi ho, everybody. This is Rob with Ear Scouts coming to you from our makeshift studio here in Celebration, Florida. Also, with us, as always, is the other half of Ear Scouts Eric. Hi ho, Eric. Erick: I ho everyone. Rob: Eric is gonna be keeping up with the live chat over on Patreon. If you'd like to join us live as we record each episode and get access to the Patreon exclusive after party, head on over to patreon.com forward slash earscouts. Also with us from the great state of Indiana is our resident Disney trivia guru, Quizmaster Craig. Hi ho, Craig. Craig: Hi ho, everyone. Rob: Good to see you this week. How's the how's the weather up there? Is it is it as balmy as it is down here? Craig: not as as horrible, but it it's been pretty hot. It it it was worse last week, but it seemed to be a little better right now, in the moment. Rob: I asked because we I ran into someone from who's visiting from Minnesota and I was like I was like, I I apologize. I'm guessing you had much better weather back home. He said, actually no, believe it or not, it was hotter and muggier in Minnesota than it was in Orlando. So it's Craig: Yeah, I was in upper Michigan earlier, not like up upper peninsula, but yeah, it was it was Florida hot on those days. Rob: Yeah. Also joining us is the host of Jessica Scraps on YouTube, coming in from Connecticut, where I'm hoping it's not feeling as hot as it is here in Florida. It's our good friend Jessica. Hi ho, Jessica. Jessica: We're doing pretty good this week, but last week we had all of the smoke all the smoke from the wildfires So Rob: yeah. Craig: Hmm. Yeah. Jessica: I got to experience a little apocalypse now orange sky Rob: Wow. Jessica: For a couple Craig: Mm-hmm. Jessica: of days it was pretty bad So today has been blue skies and 80s, and I'll take it every day so much better Rob: Well, we well Yeah. Craig: Yeah, I forgot all about that. That was Jessica: It was bad. Craig: crazy. That was really bad here. Rob: We would also like to send our best wishes to our friends in Canada. We have lots of folks who join us from Canada, and I hope that everything gets under control very soon because I know that's been, I'm sure it's been a very challenging week for our friends north of the border. but in today's episode, we're gonna be talking about extended evening hours. And this is actually all came from a question. that we got. Jessica, why don't you share with us the question that kind of inspired this episode? Jessica: So was more of a kind of a request than a question, but Heather Honeycutt over on Patreon said, I know we've talked about this in some episodes, but a dedicated focus on explanation and tips and tricks for late evenings, extended evening hours, ticketed events and parties. So this is kind of a response to that. And if you have suggestions of shows you would like, please put it in the comments of the show or join us on Patreon and we will definitely try to get those into the show. But this is for Heather. Rob: Yeah. And it actually kind of bookends our show that we did last week. If you listen, last week we were talking about early entry and rope drop. And so it just kind of makes sense that we would talk about the other half of your Disney day, the extended evening hours and all the fun things you can do after the parks officially close for the day guests. Craig, I'd like you to start us off because you are kind of a a a deluxe resort veteran. veteran. I feel like you always stay because you're DVC, you're always staying at the deluxe villa resorts. So extended evening hours is just kind of part of your regular, you know, park visiting. You know, it's just something that kind of comes along when when you stay. would you let us know just kind of the basics of extended evening hours? If someone's not a familiar with it, what are the things they should know? Craig: Sure. So basically what happens for extending evening hours is they keep the park open for two hours after the regular closing. Now this is for guests, as Rob mentioned, who are staying at a deluxe resort or a qualifying resort. and I'll go into that a little more later. But and it it's just a great way to get in a bunch of rides with low crowds. now traditionally it's only offered twice a week at Erick: Sure. Craig: two different parks. currently the trend, and this has been the trend I think since they started doing this. it seems to be Epcot on Mondays and then Magic Kingdom on Wednesdays. Again, all that can change. I've seen it they do it at Animal Kingdom before. I have not experienced it and any other park besides Magic Kingdom and Epcot. But yeah, you you just have to watch the My Disney experience app or online and just keep checking the schedule because it can change frequently. Rob: Yeah, they a lot of times during Halloween season, because Craig: Mm-hmm. Rob: Magic Kingdom is hosting the parties, they'll move it to Hollywood Studios. And then during the holiday season, when both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are having after hours events, that's when you sometimes see it pop up. But Animal Kingdom, I did get a chance. Eric and I did extended evening hours to Animal Kingdom twice. Love it. It's actually, I think it might be my favorite because The park there closes so early. I mean, one day that we did it, the park closed at six. So extended evening hours was until Craig: Yeah. Rob: eight PM. It wasn't like you had to stay up late to enjoy it, but I mean that park, Jessica: That's my kind of extended. Rob: yeah. Erick: Yeah. Rob: That park i is already kind of slow later in the day. So it's it is dead for extended evening hours. And it was just magical. It was like you had the whole park to yourself. It was really, really Craig: Very nice. Rob: Continue, yeah. Craig: Yeah, so I just want to do a quick rundown of the deluxe resorts and what is what do qualify here. so we got Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Beach Club, Boardwalk, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, and Yacht Club. Also includes all DVC resorts, all DVC Villa Resorts. now there is the caveat there. Fort Wilderness, the cabins are included as part of the deluxe, but the campsites are not. So it's not the whole resort. Just if you're staying at the cabins, will you be qualified to stay for extended evening hours? and the other non-Disney r resorts that are on property, we've got the the Swan, the dolphin, the swan reserve, and then shades of green. so that's who qualifies. And basic it's mainly so you can get the rides in. the other thing it is no additional cost, unless of course you're guiding the cost of a deluxe resort. I do not suggest getting a deluxe resort just for this little perk. Rob: Mm-hmm. Craig: but it is something to consider if you are working on the days that you do want if you are gonna splurge for a day or two at a deluxe, consider Mondays and Wednesdays or just make sure you check schedule and see if anyone's offering extended evening hours and plan accordingly. but Rob: Yeah. Craig: yeah, you definitely want to check the calendar for the hours. Again, it changes frequently. now most rides will be open, but not all. I'm just gonna it's probably easier just to go through the ones that aren't open, and some of them are pretty surprising. so at Magic Kingdom, what's not open? the railroad, jungle cruise. That's a big one that's not open. Tiana's Bioadventure, another big one. Then Enchanted Tales with Belle, Hall of Presidents. that's kind of expected. But the People Mover, unfortunately, is another one that is not open during extended evening hours. Rob: I don't know what Jessica would do all night. Craig: I know. She'd have to walk. Jessica: go to ExtendedEV now. Craig: And then a Epcot is just a few more. Living with the Land, Impressions to France, and unfortunately, Journey into Imagination with Figment. So there's they they're just against Jessica here, I guess. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: Impressions de France was a shocker for me because the last time I had extended evening hours, I was so that was what I wanted to do. Because you know, it's hard to get to do Impressions Craig: Mm. Uh-huh. Rob: de France because it's only I'm not making fun Jessica: Do not make fun of me for figment ever again. Erick: Okay. Craig: Ha ha. Rob: But it's hard to do Impressions de France because it's only there early in the morning or kind of after dark. And was like, this is the perfect chance for me to go catch Impressions de France. I went over there a little bit before. I wasn't even there after park closed. I was there like six or seven minutes before the fireworks were gonna start. And I was gonna get, you know, in line for the next show. And they're like, I'm sorry. We just had our final showing of the day. And I was like, What? As little time as you can do Impressions de France. I think they should run it during extended evening hours, but they don't. Craig: And most of the world showcase is closed anyway during that, so also Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Craig: keep that in mind, except for the attractions. the other rule is you do have to have a park ticket for that day. And it has to be for the park that you have. So if you have a one-day one park ticket and you want to go to extended evening hours at Magic Kingdom, make that your park day. If you have hoppers or an annual pass, it's not as big a deal. the other thing which I was not sure of I had to do a lot of research on this one in they will let you in after park closing if you show up for extended evening hours. Supposedly they will let you in even if even if it's after the regular park closing. So that's cool. I wasn't sure about that one. Yeah. Rob: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I've done that. Yes. I've arrived late and and yeah, as long as you they they're obviously checking to make sure you have the valid hotel stay. But yeah, they let you in. Craig: Right. And yeah, that's my next point. And they they basically will check your admission media or your tickets or your hotel key at every ride to make sure you're qualified to get on and get in line. another downer is there's not a whole lot of food open for these. again, this is a a free perk. It's kind of bare bones, so but there's things open like Magic Kingdom traditionally, like things like Casey's Corner, the Main Street Bakery, aka Starbucks, Lunching Pad. in Tomorrowland, Aloha Isle, food carts, popcorn carts. and in Epcot, we've got Connections Cafe and World Celebration, Rosen Crown. It's usually open along with the Yorkshire County Fish House, Kringla Bakery Og in Norway. And again, assorted food carts will have things open. So you can always get something to eat, just don't plan on having a nice sit-down dinner during this. Rob: And the other thing I would add to that, some of those places are only open for part of extended evening hours. Some of them will Craig: Mm-hmm. Rob: be open for like the first like thirty minutes or first hour and then they close as well. So we're gonna talk more about each of these different event types later in the show, but that is the only one of the event types we're gonna talk about that is quote unquote free. I mean, obviously it's not free. You have to have a park ticket, you have to have a deluxe resort stay, which is very far from free, but you're not gonna pay anything extra just. To stay for extended evening hours if you have those things already. The next things we're going to talk about, these are paid separate events. So having a park ticket on the days that these things happen is irrelevant. And I'm going to start by talking about after hours parties. Now, this is the thing that happens most of the year. You will see after hours events happening at the different parks. Typically it's going to be at Magic Kingdom, at Epcot, at Hollywood Studios, and interestingly at Typhoon Lagoon. You don't usually see it at Animal Kingdom. They like to put the animals to bed early. So it's very rare that you're going to find late night things happening at Animal Kingdom. But these ticketed events let you get into the park a little bit early. So if you didn't have a day ticket. Even though the park is going to close at a normal hour when these events happen, you do get to get into the park a little bit ahead of that. I think it's usually 7 PM. but definitely check, you know, when you're looking at the after hours event you want to purchase for, and it'll give you the details for that specific event of the hours that it'll run. but at Magic Kingdom, for example, I think it's usually 7 p.m. is when you can get in. The event itself typically runs for three hours. and it's really a lot like extended evening hours in that most people think of these events as an opportunity to ride a whole bunch of rides with reduced wait times. there's not a whole lot of extra stuff that happens at these events, with a a few exceptions. So we'll start with Typhoon Lagoon. The exception there is that everything's kind of lit up in a fun way. There'll be kind of neon lighting everywhere. I was really hopeful that they would kind of light up the the water slides that are tubes. That just seemed like a really cool like thing that they could have done. They don't do that. It's really just kind of. Think of like the greenery and the different areas of the park just have some, you know, black lights and colored lights thrown on them. it's not like a a light show kind of a lighting effect. they will also have special food at H2O Glow that's unique for the event. and they will oftentimes have some characters and like a dance party that's happening on the beach, and that's also unique to the event. At Magic Kingdom, the thing that's usually added to these events is an extra fireworks show. They'll show enchantment, which was the fireworks show for the 50th anniversary. and it's really kind of amazing when you think about it, because these fireworks shows cost Disney a small fortune to do. That's you know, that they do them once a night typically. So the fact that you're getting a second fireworks show is kind of a big deal. and so on those nights. The park's going to close at its regular time. It's going to have its regular happily ever after fireworks show as well. You're just going to get this bonus on top of it. At Epcot, I'm sad to say there's really not a whole lot extra. And it's kind of the reason I don't usually recommend extended hours at Epcot. it much like extended evening hours, they're going to close off most of World Showcase. They kind of take away more from the park than they add to it for the after hours events. I the only things I can think of off the top of my head, you will occasionally see some extra characters out roaming and you will see like a little dance party that usually happens up near Guardians of the Galaxy. Really, I think for most people, the reason they want to do after hours at Epcot is to ride Guardians over and over and over again or test track their. You know, i those rides that have extremely long waits during the day. If you want to ride them multiple times, this is kind of the best chance to do that. And finally, over at Hollywood Studios, their after-hours event is very character-focused. There's going to be so many special characters all over the park. And for me, as as someone you know, who who has the the joy of being able to visit the parks frequently. That's the reason I would consider going back to the after hours event at Hollywood Studios. I don't care as much about riding rides and, you know, with with shorter weights, because, you know, when you live here, it's a little bit different than than when you're visiting. But those characters are really kind of unique. And if I had someone visiting, for example, that was in love with one of those characters you can only see at that event, that might make me decide to add that to our itinerary. now these events range in price depending on the day and depending on the park that you're going to. I want to say the cheapest I've seen a ticket for these events is usually it's H2O Glow is the cheapest. And I feel like I've seen that one for like $79 a night. but then they go up significantly from there. I think you can oftentimes expect to. Spend about 150, 160 bucks on one of these tickets. And if you think about it, you're paying for a much more limited window of time in the park than you would with a day ticket. You're probably going to pay about as much, if not sometimes a little bit more, than you would for a day ticket. The only benefits you're getting, number one, the timing of it. If you don't like being out in the Florida heat, that could be a big perk. That you can enjoy the park in the dark. And then the other big thing is just the reduced crowd levels. So you can really enjoy the attractions more frequently and and have shorter waits to ride. is there anything else that that I'm forgetting about? Jessica: Did you mention that at the parks they typically have free snacks though? There's free snacks. mean, if you, Rob: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Craig: Uh-huh. Jessica: know, much like I said, when we talked about other things, if you want $150 worth of Mickey premium bars, you Rob: Ha ha. Jessica: could get $150 worth of Mickey premium bars. I mean, you Rob: You could. Jessica: might be able to make your money back in Mickey premium bars, but they'd be melted. You could bring a freezer bag or something. Rob: They'd be melted, unfortunately, by the time you so yeah. Jessica: But yeah, you do get popcorn and Mickey premium bars for free and water and soft drinks. And Rob: Yeah. And and soft drinks. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Craig: Water. Yeah. Jessica: just like Craig was saying, not all rides are open and not all food is open. So it's the same kind of situation as extended evening hours. So if you're listening to this and your favorite ride is figment and your plan was to see how many times you could ride figment, this is not the event for you. So just look at the extent it's. pretty similar list, I would think, to extended evening hours of what's open and what's not. So just think about that as well. Rob: When you purchase your after hours ticket for the park, on that page where you're buying the ticket, it's gonna have a listing of the attractions that are expected to be open. Obviously, Disney never promises that any attraction is gonna be open because it could be having technical difficulties. There could be weather that's preventing it from running, but you will see a list of attractions that are expected to be open. I do wanna, before we move on to the parties. I do want to say that if you haven't been to Disney World in a long while, you may remember these after hours events as having themes attached to them, like the villains after hours that used to happen at Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, that aspect of After Hours, at least so far, had never it's never come back after the the closures from the pandemic. I'm just including that because I am hoping that someone at Disney's listening and knowing that we would Jessica: You Rob: all really love for that to come back. I don't know, maybe to get people excited about a new land that might be coming to Magic Kingdom. I don't know. I think there is some opportunity there, Disney, and we Craig: Mm-hmm. Rob: would love to give you some of our money to experience it. Jessica: lot of people would love to give them money to experience that. Rob: Yes. So we'll talk a little bit more about after hours in a moment, but before we do that, Jessica, why don't you tell us all about the different parties that people can get tickets for, which is a completely different way of enjoying the parks after they close. Jessica: So the third type of evening events are parties. Right now, as of this recording in 2026, we have at Magic Kingdom for the Halloween season, which obviously starts in August, the not so scary Halloween party. And at the Christmas time, which obviously starts in the beginning of November, we have the Mickey and Minnie's, very Merry Christmas party. And at Hollywood Studios, we have Jollywood Nights, which goes from November to January. So those are right now the parties. These are paid events and their prices range. They are date-based and day-based and they range from about $160 to $200. So you're substantially more than you paid, well not substantially more, up to $50 to $60 more than you paid for the after hours events. The caveat is that these parties start at seven. You can get in the parks at 4 p.m. but at 6 p.m. they will start removing the day guests completely. So unlike both extended evening hours and the after hours days where there's a full park day before you show up, you actually get the park to yourself starting at kind of 7 p.m. And that's a huge difference. You can get into the park at four and you have the park to yourself. I say that's a huge difference because And these other events, although you could get in, you're getting in with a whole bunch of people that have a full day. This time you're getting in with four at 4pm, but the party, you're going to have the parks to yourself starting at 7pm. it can last depending on the party in the day, midnight and 1am. Some of them, Jollywood nights tends to run later. the Halloween and the Christmas party also I've noticed as the days get darker earlier, they shift some of the fireworks up. So. Check your calendar on the day you want to go as to know what exactly is going on. These are very much theme driven. So at both of the ones at Magic Kingdom, you will have themed fireworks and themed parades. And at both Hollywood Studios and at Magic Kingdom, you will have themed shows. There will be a lot of theme shows with a lot of entertainment. You will also have unique costumes for characters. For me, the character costumes are some of the most fun part of this event. And at Hollywood Studios, once again, you'll get more unique characters. I find that the characters at Hollywood Studios always seem to be the ones that are the most unique. At the Christmas party and the Halloween party at Magic Kingdom, there will be more about the costumes, with the one very large exception of Jack and Sally. If Nightmare Before Christmas is your favorite franchise or one of your favorite films, this is the place. These two parties are the one place. And in Florida, that you can definitely see those sets of characters are at these two parties. So, and you can see them at either. So if you're there in the Christmas time, so anytime between August and December, if you're there and you can get to either one of these parties, you can get to see those characters. they also, unlike the other party or after hours events we've talked about, these parties have food. Almost every restaurant is open and there is unique party specific food. That is some of we've talked about before the best food that we've had on property. In some cases, some of the best, most unique, well thought out themed food. And it's just amazing. In addition at Jollywood, they'll have themed alcohol, themed cocktails, some really big themed cocktails at Jollywood night. So that's a lot of fun. So another thing about the parties that you should know is at the Christmas party, specifically at Magic Kingdom, they do have a special free or included treat of Christmas cookies and hot chocolate or cider at specific locations. And then for the Halloween party, even better is trick or treating. They have trick or treat stations. Mars has been the sponsor for a while. So we're talking &Ms and Snickers and all kinds of fun treats. They do have gluten and allergy sensitive options. give you tokens or tickets that you can go redeem at certain locations. So that's another kind of plus for these parties. The other thing at Magic Kingdom, they do have some overlays during the parties of different rides. We would suggest that you ride those during the party. You can't really see the overlays till the party starts. Now the exception is Jingle Cruise. Jingle Cruise runs all the time. It's the Jungle Cruise overlay, and it runs all the time at Magic Kingdom during the holiday season, but the other overlays at Magic Kingdom are specific to the party. So just wanted to let you guys know that as well. But finally, I will just say, if you are a rides person, the majority of the people going to these parties are interested in the really cool characters, the really cool shows, all the unique foods, the parade, the fireworks. I think these are some of the lowest wait times I've seen, even including extended evenings and after hours because Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: At the parties, there's so much non-ride stuff to do. It's just a good time to ride rides if that's really what you wanted to do. It's a expensive ticket, but it's still, it's a lot more hours than maybe the after hours party. Cause you get from 4 p.m. till close, which is late. It's a lot of time to ride a lot of rides. Rob: We we did a video at Jollywood. I think it was the second year of Jollywood. Eric went and just rode rides. Like at the certain so when the party Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: started, he started riding rides to see how quickly he could get through all the rides in the park. And I mean, it was pretty fast, wasn't it? I mean, you were definitely done well before, you know, the the the party was over. Do you remember, Eric, how long it took you to ride everything in Hollywood Studios? Erick: I cannot remember how long it took me. I do remember though that it was for a pretty decent time. Like it was it was fast. Rob: Like most of the attractions were walk ons, correct? Yeah. Erick: Yes. I remembered especially the one especially the Rise of the Resistance. Like it was you just you were able just basically to keep going if you wanted to. Jessica: Yeah. Rob: So there there was no weight at all for rise of the Erick: Mm-hmm. Rob: resistance. I as I recall, the only rate weight of any significance you encountered was for Slinky Dog Dash, if I'm recalling Erick: Yes. Rob: correctly. Everything else I think was a walk. Erick: Correct. Jessica: And I do just want to say as a reminder, even if you paid money for the Premier Pass, you would only get to skip the line once. The Premier Pass Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: only lets you ride the big rides once each. If you wanted to ride Slinky Dog three times, three, four times maybe, you could do it at a Hollywood nights party and you couldn't do that with a Premier Pass. So if you're looking at the cost of a Premier Pass because you want to ride a bunch of rides, and you're looking at the cost of a party, that to me is the you know, the biggest obvious comparison, because you are going to get to ride the big rides a lot of times. And that's Craig: Mm-hmm. Jessica: a lot different. Now, and you're hearing the non-ride person tell you that this is the time to go ride rides is at these parties. If that's really what you want to do, it may be a good price, but that's the parties. And I'm pretty excited that we're about to hit party season again. Rob: Yes. I'm I'm decked out in my in my not so scary Halloween party years because it's gonna be, believe it or not, when this Craig: Mm. Rob: episode drops, it's gonna be days away from the first not so scary Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: Halloween party. when I told my my coworkers that I was going to a Halloween party last year in early August, I got some very confused looks, but Craig: Mm-hmm. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: Halloween season starts early here in Orlando. well, friends on Patreon, we would love to hear your thoughts and questions about each of these different event types. We're gonna go through and talk a little bit more in depth about each one now. but at the end, we're gonna kind of loop in the questions and comments that we get from you on Patreon. let's start with extended evening hours. Jessica, Craig kind of gave us a good introduction to all of that. Do you have any other things to add about extended evening hours? Jessica: You know, my thought on Extended Evening Hours, and this is kind of where I fall, is if you're already staying at either a hotel that is next to Epcot, so an Epcot hotel, or a hotel that's on the monorail route next to Magic Kingdom, and you happen to be staying there for one of those, it's a no-brainer, right? It allows you to stay past the fireworks and ride a few rides. It lets you avoid the crowd getting out. It's really, it's a no-brainer for me to do, even as someone who's not a big ride person. For me, if I wasn't staying, if I was staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge or I was staying at Saratoga Springs, I am not a nighttime person. am a, if they did extending morning hours and gave us from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., I would be there every day of the week. Rob: Ha ha ha. Jessica: This would be a no-brainer for me. That's when my body gets up. I'm not a nighttime person. So extended evening hours is a real tough one for me if it's not convenient. And Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: cause it's really just about the rides and I love, I love some of the rides at the parks and I like to ride them, but I'm not going to stay up an extra couple of hours and then have to figure out the bus and then have to go back to Saratoga Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: Springs to do that. If it's convenient and I can walk, I'm there for it every time. I also do not think from what I have seen. the because it's a short window of time. Something like Guardians of the Galaxy is a good example. That right and Rise of the Resistance, they take up a lot of time. There's Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: a chunk of time. So you might not get the rewrite ability that you're hoping during extended evening hours of some of those bigger rides because it's a 20 minute attraction. And even at extended evening hours, I've seen those lines be 30, 40 minutes. Rob: yeah. Jessica: And then, so you're not gonna get more than maybe two rides on some of those bigger rides. So just, to me, it's not as, it's very worth it if it's convenient. To me, I'm not gonna go out of my way for extended evening hours. Rob: So I I want to just piggyback on the thing you just said about the wait times. At Magic Kingdom, because there's so many attractions and people are spread out so much, Tron is probably gonna have a crazy long wait, but most everything else, people are pretty well spread. So you're gonna find short waits even during extended evening hours in that limited window. Epcot, on the other hand, everybody is trying to do the same two or three. in the whole park. I mean, yes, all the stuff is is, you know, a lot of the stuff is open that that that are, you know, lesser draws, but folks are not doing extended evening hours to, well, to go see Impressions of De France like I was. That's not a common thing that people Craig: Ha ha ha. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: are are are clamoring to do. They're all going to be lined up for Guardians, Test Track, and now to a lesser extent. Remy and and Frozen, but really it's those first two. so I do think it's a even though it is reduced crowd levels, Disney's not controlling where those crowds go. And they're all pretty much gonna go to the same place at Epcot. And also at at Hollywood Studios, when you do see the extended evening hours appear there, Slinky is usually the one that just gets kind of Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: mobbed. Not as much rise, but like you said, Rise takes forever to ride. So I mean Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: that's just a Craig: Mm-hmm. Rob: Downside to that one. So the other things I did want to add about extended evening hours, this one's really random, but it's something that I just discovered by accident. You can do extended evening hours on your check-in day or your checkout day. That's perfectly fine. You're allowed to do that. However, at Magic Kingdom, many times extended evening hours will go into the next day. Because the park closes at 11, it's two hours, it goes until 1 a.m. If that is your checkout day, be prepared that at midnight, when they scan you to see that you have access to ride the rides, it's going to show that you don't if that was your checkout day, because technically it's no longer your checkout day. Now. Most cast members have experienced this once or twice and so they understand, they they know the drill, but do know you might have to explain to the cast member. I Craig: Ha ha Rob: I do. I've been riding all night. It's just it's after midnight and today's my checkout day. but Craig: Yeah. And your your r reservation should be on your app too. So Rob: Correct. Craig: if you show them that it'll have the dates on. So hopefully you wouldn't Jessica: Mm-hmm. Craig: have much of a problem. But yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. Rob: It it's a it's it trips people up. I mean it tripped me up. I was I was like, Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: What's why is suddenly there it's not working anymore? Yeah. Jessica: That's when technology Rob: The other thing that I want to talk about with extended evening hours is if you are planning to do some of those big attractions that we talked about, like Guardians or you know, Tron at Magic Kingdom, it's important. That you don't get in that line right away at the beginning of extended evening hours. Because at that moment, you've still got all the day guests who are in the park, as well as a flood of people that are coming in at the beginning of extended evening hours, folks who've been at other parks and they're park hopping in for the event. That is gonna be actually the worst possible time to get in line for those bigger attractions typically. I mean, there's always exceptions. If you run across, you know, a a 15-minute wait at at Guardians, by all means, jump in that line. But as a rule, plan on doing kind of the more mid-tier attractions early in your night and try to do those bigger tier ones later. That's not just extended evening hours. That's really just kind of a rule for all extent after hours events. And the other thing I want to talk about on the flip side of that, if you are a day guest. If you're someone who's not going to be taking advantage of extended evening hours, it's important for you to know that those events are happening. Because typically you can count on wait times getting shorter and shorter as you get closer to park close. You can count on, especially the last ride of the night, if you jump in a line just before the park's going to close, they'll let you stay in that line typically until you know you ride the ride. And it's usually going to be a a shorter wait than what is posted. but that's not often the case on nights when there's extended evening hours. And we'll talk about this more with parties, but with the parties where the park closes early, they won't even let you get in line for some attractions before. So the park is still open, technically, but they will cut the cues for certain attractions. So that they can start getting those wait times down in advance of the party. So just be aware of when these events are happening, if you are just there as a day guest, so that you can kind of plan accordingly and don't let it derail the last moments of your day. Craig: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I wanted to just piggyback a little bit on what you were talking about as far as jumping in line right away. at least at Epcot, park closes at nine, extended evening hours from nine to eleven, but Luminous is also at nine. So, I mean, that's generally what I will do. I'll sit I will watch Luminous and then I've done this in Norway. Just turned around, jumped right onto Frozen because the day guest while Luminous was going on, all the day guests got through and then it was just after hours people after that. Rob: Yeah. That's a good point. If the fireworks are happening right as the park closes, that will change the calculus a little bit because it will be a draw. I have can tell you from personal experience though, it won't draw people away from guardians. Guardians will not get a shorter wait. Yeah. Craig: No, no, you good point. You are right there. But and and another thing I wanted to just possibly bring up is of course the cost of the deluxe. Now if you're waffling between, say, an after hours and an and maybe doing extended evening hours, you know, consider a split stays, considering maybe just getting one night at a deluxe versus the cost of all those tickets to go to an after hours. Just something that might work for you and do some math and if you can stay in a deluxe even for Jessica: Good point. Craig: one night, it's awesome. Erick: So na since you were talking yeah since you were talking about Rob: all right. Eric, what are we hearing on Patreon? Yes, go ahead. Erick: a how after midnight like sometimes you cannot get into the the rides and you have to ho you have to show your reservation. Laura just mentioned that if it's your checkout day on the extent net even in an hour's night and you're switching to a different non non deluxe resort You won't have direct Disney transportation access to that non deluxe resort. For example, the Skyliner, Rob: Mm-hmm. Erick: for Pop Century Rob: So that's really great to know. And that's that's a great kind Craig: Never thought of that. Rob: of counterpoint to what Craig was just saying about a split stay. If if your split stay takes you to a a value resort the night after. So in other words, you checked out from your deluxe that morning and then you're going to a value. Yeah, that would be a good thing to know that you're not gonna have transportation because why would they have buses running to those resorts since they weren't included in the event? That's a great point. That I didn't think about. all right. What else are we hearing on Patreon about extended evening hours specifically? Any other comments or questions? Erick: So early in the chat, Dennis wrote that for extended even evening hours for Epcot, he got Guardian's Lightning Lane single pass right before it started. Then he hit Frozen and Remy easily. probably could have hit Test Track or or one other Epcot was tough for Animal Kingdom. they love They love what you were mentioning before. That it was so good. just like it was a great experience. Rob: it's it's the best. Erick: And after going to Jollywood and Mickey's very Merry Christmas parties early in the week, it was like really awesome just to be able to experience that. the Brit family said we do extended hours quite often. Has anyone been able to get a walk on or clause on guardians? we still wait very long during the that time. Is there a better time for of year to get on guard guardian squeaker during during extended hours? Rob: I will be honest with you. Guardians is just it's a tough one. It's gonna, it's, it's gonna have probably a long wait. I've done extended evening hours where guardians was my focus, and I really thought that if I waited until the last minute and got in line for Guardians, like right before the park was gonna close, that that would be the right play. It took us so long to ride Guardians that the Skyliner stopped running. We needed to get to that resort and it it wasn't running anymore. So there was no there was no way. it was because normally the Skyliner runs to get folks to Riviera. That's the deluxe resort that's on the Skyliner route. but it wasn't even running to Riviera anymore. By the time we got out of the line for Guardians, by the time we got through with Guardians, because they just closed the whole thing down for the night. Skyliner specifically, this is something I just learned, I thought was interesting. They have to close the Skyliner at a specific time because there's a whole maintenance procedure that they have to do. There's a whole team that comes in to do the things that have to be done every night for Skyliner. It can't stay open past a certain point. So If you're doing any of these extended hours events, you really can't count on Skyliner as a form of transportation past a certain point. So do check with transportation cast members if that's your plan to know when that cutoff point is going to be. all right. Well, thank you all so much. If you have any other questions about extended evening hours, put them in the chat and we will cover them in the after party. But now let's move on to after hours events. Jessica, why don't you start us off on this one? what were your thoughts that that we didn't cover already Jessica: So after hours events for our family are not worth it. I will just say that with a hundred percent. And I, the reason is, is we're not big ride people. So, you the rides that I covet riding are not the rides that you would go to an after hours event for. I mean, I guess I could ride, it's a small world a thousand times, but I don't Rob: Yeah. Jessica: need to pay money, that much money to do it. Craig: Ha ha ha. Jessica: And the only thing that would draw us to an after hours is the unique characters. If at any point there are characters that I'm just dying for, that will be the reason that I buy an after hours of it. But right now there haven't been a reason. So for us, it's a kind of a money versus payoff kind of decision. And the rides that I can ride at the normal park days are not. are not the ones that are gonna be the issue. So I just, haven't found a need to go to an after hours and there's just not enough extra. There's not fun food, there's not a show, there's not something extra for us non-ride people, except the unique characters. And so far the unique characters have not been the ones that I care about. So for, if you're listening to this and you're thinking I'm not a big rides person or I'm not the big ride person. And I think that's the key. This is for the big rides. This is not for the normal park ride. I ride a lot of rides at Disney World. Sometimes it sounds like I don't, but I do ride a lot Craig: Mm-hmm. Jessica: of rides at Disney World. I just don't ride Guardians or Slinky, so I don't need these events. So that's kind of why they're not. And Magic Kingdom has a little bit of appeal to me more than the other ones, just because there are more rides there, but. With Lightning Lane, we've always been able to ride everything we wanted to ride, even multiple times, because we've been able to do early entry in Lightning Lane or rope drop in Lightning Lane. I've never had a trouble riding the rides I want to ride. So I haven't need to pay for the after hours. Rob: Yeah. Craig: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think you bring up a good point. It's almost like the difference between the parties and after hours. Like parties are more for people who have been there, or repeat visitors. Where I think after hours is very convenient for those if it's their first time and they really do want to get as many rides in as possible. I mean the last time I did an after hours it was for Hollywood Studios and it was Eric's first trip. So I got we got just one day passes, but we bought the extra hour or the after hours ticket for Hollywood Studios and that was his park day there to get as much rides in 'cause we only had like a three day trip. So I think that might be a good use for after hours as well for those who are trying to pack everything in in a short time. Rob: the only thing that that I didn't really cover before about after hours that I did want to add in, this is kind of echoing what we talked about with extended evening hours. Transportation, much more so at after hours events, changes more than it does for extended evening hours. the Skyliner is definitely out. I think for for most of the after hours events, again, these things can change, but just check with your transportation team members and make sure that you know how you're gonna get back to your resort or or where it is that you're headed after the after hours event ends. all right. What are we hearing on Patreon? Erick: Related to After Hours Rob: Mm-hmm. Erick: from Dennis. He wrote, We are right people, so after hours was really fun for us. Hollywood Studios after hours. Jennifer, a benefit it a benefit of Magic Kingdom after hours is the thinner crowds. Aside from the rights, you can breathe in Magic Kingdom, you can walk up to the castle thirty seconds before enchantment starts. Which which that's also like a a good point. usually you have to find your place to watch the fireworks during after hours events, like it's just it's a breeze for you to be able to find something. Rob: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Erick: A in this case for Rachel, staying up past ten PM is a no go for some in my family. Learned at the hard way at Halloween party last year when my plan Rob: no. Erick: was to watch all the late shows and the parade was delayed forty five minutes. Craig: Mm. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: Mm-hmm. Erick: Yeah. Rob: So I again I think you're hearing though from everyone these after hours events, it's really mostly it's about the rides. but I think that is a good point. If you just don't like that claustrophobic feeling that you sometimes get when you're in a park like Magic Kingdom, especially during fireworks, this is a good reprieve from that and maybe a good alternative to Your Magic Kingdom Day. all right. Well, let's finish up with the parties. And I feel like this is where there's probably the most stuff to talk about. Jessica, since you introduced the parties, Craig, why don't you start us off? What are some things that you think people need to be thinking about as they plan for their party night? Craig: okay. Well, taking advantage of that early entry, usually three hours before the actual party starts. and be aware again of say the park closes at six and there's usually that hour between park closing and the party starting, and not everything is open. So plan accordingly. Sometimes that's a good time to grab a bite or you know, wherever they have your corral, just do some of the smaller rides there and get those out of the way. while you're waiting for the actual party to start. Rob: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Cause there there is kind of a weird middle area where Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: the day the day has ended for day guests, but the party has not yet begun. The weirdest thing that happens then is it doesn't show wait times. The wait times dis Craig: Mm-hmm. Jessica: or mobile orders. Rob: yeah, or you can't do mobile orders. That stuff all disappears. It comes back when the party starts. But there's this like kind of weird, it's almost like Disney pretends that the park isn't open for anyone for that hour. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: It's just but Jessica: It's all closed. Rob: yeah. But Craig: Yes. Yeah, you can stay there but don't have fun. Rob: right. You you can still ride everything. You just won't know what the wait time is in the app. Jessica: Mm-mm. Rob: It was not gonna tell you. so the one thing I really want to focus on with parties is this is the one event that we're talking about where they're gonna close the park early. And that has really big implications for the party guests and for the day guests on the day of that party. If you're not planning on doing the party and you have a park hopper ticket, you absolutely want to make that park your park day because so many people who don't have park hopper tickets, they don't want to go to Magic Kingdom on the day when the park is going to close at like six o'clock. when they could just wait and go the very next day or the day before and it stays open till 11 o'clock at night. So for that reason, a lot of times on party days, the park is dead. Now this is to a lesser extent at Hollywood Studios for Jollywood. It's not really as big of a thing there. But at Magic Kingdom on both not so scary and very merry nights, that is the best time to have your your day ticket. Especially if you can park hop. So you're not giving up that park time. You just go to a different park to finish up your evening. Now, if you are doing the party, however, I do not recommend getting a day ticket. These parties go late into the night. You can get in pretty early compared to the other events. You can get in at 4 p.m. So take the money that you would have spent on another day in the park and apply that instead. just to the party. Spend that day relaxing, enjoying your resort, sleeping in so that you're well rested and you can enjoy that party. obviously if you're staying staying for a long period of time and you've got, you know, seven plus day ticket, it might not cost that much more to add on an an extra day. but I don't think you need it. the other thing I want to talk about specifically with parties, For a lot of folks, they think of the parties as a great chance to ride rides because it's going to be reduced capacity, which Jessica talked about. However, you're paying a lot for that limited period of time with you know reduced capacity on rides. What you're really paying for is all of that extra entertainment, the firework show, the parade, the the extra stuff that's happening. So Even if you are really going for the rides, I would say try to carve out some of your evening for this extra stuff. Cause it's it really is. I mean, as someone who goes every single year, I enjoy seeing these shows year after year. I enjoy watching the parades year after year. there's a reason that people pay all this money and don't even get on a ride because this other stuff is so great. So just Don't completely count it out, even if you're focused on rides. yeah. Yeah, please do. Jessica: Can I just piggyback on something that you were saying? I think one of the reasons, and I'll just say this, if you are a normal day guest at Magic Kingdom, you will not see fireworks or the nighttime parade. But if you are a normal day guest at Hollywood Studios, they do show phantasmag for the normal day guests. So there will be a showing of phantasmag. That is, think, one of the biggest reasons why there's people that end up being at. Hollywood studios all the way up until the end of the night there, they will show phantasmag. It's normally an earlier phantasmag. It's like, it's either at six 30 or right at seven when the party starts. I don't remember what time, but there will be a phantasmag. There will not be a happily ever after or starlight on the nights of the party. So that's a huge difference. So if you are intending on seeing happily ever after or starlight, you need to make sure you do not plan. to go to Magic Kingdom on that day. Rob: That's a great point. Thank you for bringing that up. the the other thing that I was when I was talking about making time for these things that are special, like the shows, the characters, the parades, if that is your focus, it's really important, in my opinion, that you do those things early in the night. Because rain is an ever-present, you know, issue in Orlando. Thunderstorms come out of nowhere, especially in the late afternoon and evening. And so it is not uncommon for these shows. The outdoor stage shows cannot happen if there's rain. the the parade will either be modified or canceled altogether if there's rain, especially if there's lightning in the area, it's not happening. I've even seen fireworks get delayed or canceled because of weather. So if you go to these, if you plan to do these things early and that show gets rained out, you've got more opportunities, right? There's another chance that you might be able to see it. But if you wait until the later shows and that gets rained out, it's just it's not happening again, right? And you can't come the next day and see those things that you missed. It, you know, it's kind of one and done. You you've that's your party night. You kind of have to do it on that night. So Yeah, that's something that I recommend is is get those things done early. And the last thing I want to talk about specific to parties is you really do need to make a food plan because the thing Jessica: Mm-hmm Rob: is there's some you wanna look in advance at what all the different special party food offerings are and where they're located in the park because you know if you just kind of saunter around the park and just see what you come across and see what looks interesting. You know, you might have something that's that's good or okay and you get filled up on, you know, whatever the flaming hot Cheeto, you know, chicken tenders that they have at at Cosmic Rays, but then you get around the corner and there's this other thing you're like, my gosh, that looks amazing, but I'm full. I already ate that, you know, flaming hot Cheeto thing. so there Just know what's available before you come and kind of make your food plan. And the inverse of that, if you're not coming for party night, if you're coming for extended evening hours, make sure you know what's not gonna be there and plan accordingly for that as well. So food is definitely something you gotta be thinking about at all of these different after hours events. And before we toss to Patreon, a quick plug. If you're planning on visiting any of these parties, we have done videos every single year for the parties, you know, for the last several years. so take a moment to check out one of those videos and just you'll get a sense of what's available and some different tips and suggestions that are specific to that party. Cause there's a whole lot of stuff that we could, you know, we could go down the rabbit hole. on for each of those events, but the video is gonna kinda cover all those points that we can't really do in this show. Eric, what are we hearing on Patreon about the parties? I know there's gonna be a lot Erick: So we have Rob: of talk because we got a lot of party animals on Patreon. Craig: Mm-hmm. Erick: We have a few questions related to the parties. so this is came from Kate. Okay, for Halloween party, what is your favorite spot to sit for the Boot to You parade? Rob: Hmm. I'm a what I'm gonna toss to you guys what are what are your favorite spots? Do you have a favorite spot? Jessica: So Boo to you and the Christmas party parade. I do something very specific and that is I typically try to watch the first parade right in front of town hall and go directly into Jack and Sally as soon as the parade is done. So Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: I will do that or Mickey and Minnie, whichever one's more important to you to try to take advantage of a lot of parents with kids are watching that first parade. So As the last parade floats leave in, I'm running right in that line. That is a very specific way to watch the parade though. Rob: Ha ha ha. Jessica: That may not be what everybody else Craig: Ha ha ha Jessica: is recommending. That's so that I can see the parade and then get in those character lines and then Rob: Okay. Jessica: make it back out for fireworks, which we've done multiple years in a row. Rob: That's a great tip. Craig, do you have any particular spot? Craig: Yeah, I'm not quite that specific when it comes to parade spots. I generally just I just want to see it. So but one of my favorites is in Frontierland, on the deck of the Diamond Horseshoe. Because you're raised up a little bit. There's usually not a lot of people standing around you, and you get a great view of the parade as it's coming down through Frontierland. Rob: Yeah. And you'll also be the first to see the parade from there. So it while Craig: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Rob: while everyone else is waiting for the parade to even get to them, you're free to go ride rides and do other things. Yeah. Craig: Mm. And I was able to just piece out of there really quick, make it down to Main Street, through the Emporium and still got to see the parade as I came through Town Square. So Rob: wow. That's awesome. Craig: kinda got to see it twice that way. Rob: Very cool. So my I have two favorite options for watching the parade. If if your main goal is just to get the absolute best view of any parade at Disney at Magic Kingdom, with the exception of Starlight when it's going in reverse. Because Starlight goes in two directions. Sometimes Starlight starts at the beginning at at Ma at Main Street and goes to Frontierland. Other times Starlight starts in Frontierland and comes down to Main Street. But for any parade that is not backwards Starlight, I love to watch it from a spot that Eric actually found and pointed out to me. It's basically right there's that that the big flag post is in the middle of Main Street, right as you come into the park. And if you you can either sit on the curb in front of that flagpost or What I think is even better, they're gonna put a rope basically between part of that flagpost curb to kind of in the middle of of the intersection. and that rope that they're gonna put up is gonna be the rope line for the parade. That's gonna be you're gonna be on the front row if you're on that line. So I like to look on the ground. For a little brass round disc, and that's where that pole is going to go in, that stanchion that's gonna form the other part of that rope.Anywhere along that line, that imaginary rope line, is gonna be the perfect place because the parade, you're gonna get to see it come all the way down Main Street. You're gonna have the castle frame behind it. It's just the most iconic view of these parades. And It even kind of goes around you when you're in that spot. So you don't just get to see it coming at you from the front, you also get to see it as it goes around to the side. It's the ultimate parade watching spot. However, if you want an easy night, say you got a a lot of kids in tow or you got a big crowd to wrangle, the other great option is to just do everything from the hub. So If you the hub is that kind of area where the Walt and Mickey statue are in front of the castle, that area there, you can see the stage show, the parade, and the fireworks Erick: Mm-hmm. Rob: all from one spot. And if you time it right, you can do all three back to back. There's there are moments, there's a moment where you can see all three of those shows in one fell swoop. And if you you're worried about wrangling everybody, that can be a lifesaver to just have that one spot. You can put down your picnic blanket or whatever it is and just kind of camp out in that spot for the for all of those events. All right. What else are we hearing on Patreon? Erick: this is also from Kate. how long are the less popular meet and grids, for example boy, this hurt my heart. For example, the genie, Mickey's not so scary on average. Rob: Hmm. I mean, I it's it's fair. He's he's less popular than Jack and Sally. so the Jeannie in particular is a good one to bring up. Many of the meet and greets, like Jeannie, swap out with other Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: characters at the parties. And so if you get in line to meet Jeannie after Jeannie's been out for a little while, by the time you get to the front of that line, It's not going to be Jeannie anymore. It's going to be probably Aladdin and Abu, or it's going to be, I think, is it, you know, Jeannie and Jasmine, you know, they, they, they kind of they they swap out. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: and this happens in almost all of the outdoor meet and greets. Not all Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: of them, but almost all of them. So if you really want to see that particular character, you need to ask the cast member who you'll there'll be a cast member there, a character attendant who's there to kind of help. And just ask them, if I get in this line now, am I gonna actually meet Jeannie or am I gonna meet the other character? And they can usually gauge it. Sometimes they'll be like, it's too hard to say, it's close. But a lot of times they'll say, Nope, don't get in line now. Wait, get in line later. but in terms of how long the wait is, the the big meet and greets will have long waits. Jessica: when they actually have a queue, those lines are typically over an hour. So the big ones with a queue and the Winnie the Pooh characters will always be at an hour. Rob: I I do think it's important to prioritize characters. I mean it it it Jessica: Yeah. Rob: does eat up a lot of your party night to meet those. the the characters that kind of max out are usually around thirty minutes or so, those are the roaming, like the out, not characters that have a dedicated cue, like Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: the ones that's storybook circus that Jessica's referring to, Jack and Sally, Mickey and Minnie up at the front in Town Square Theater. and then the the Winnie the Pooh characters at the thoughtful spot, right there outside of Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: the Winnie the Pooh attraction. All right. What else we got going on on Patreon? Any other questions, suggestions for the parties? Erick: Yes, that from Dennis. Do you need a day ticket to buy a lining lane for use during the pre party time when you when you can enter, Jessica: Ooh. Erick: for example, four PM? Jessica: That's a good question. Rob: Okay, so I have heard conflicting things on this. My experience is this is what I think is supposed to be the correct answer. There's always exceptions. If you have an annual pass, yes, you're not going to have any problem getting Lightning Lane for the party day. Even if you don't have a park reservation for that park, you can usually still. Book Lightning Lanes because the the it's the annual pass that's giving you that ability. If you just have regular day tickets and you do not have a park day ticket, the system should not let you book lightning lanes for the party, even though you have a party ticket. Because Lightning Lane is going to shut down once the day ends, right? So if you've got a party ticket, yes, you're right. Technically, Lightning lanes will be running from four to six. So you'd have two hours where you could use it. I have been told by cast members that the app should not let you, unless you have a day ticket, purchase Lightning lanes. I have also heard from people that they claim they were able to do it. So Craig: Mm-hmm. Rob: I don't want to say that it's Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: impossible, but it's not supposed to be possible unless you have an annual pass. Jessica: Well, I wonder if you have date baits tickets that span those days. Rob: Mm-hmm. Jessica: It doesn't know that you aren't, go to Magic Kingdom on that day. It lets you buy a lightning lane. That's why, I mean. Craig: Mm-hmm. Rob: And that and that might be what the exception is that people have been like, no, I was able to do it, even though cast members say you shouldn't be able to. Yeah. Jessica: So you buy the Lightning Lanes and then the next Craig: Right. Jessica: day you go to a different park with your park tickets that you purchased. They don't know that you, cause you don't have to reserve a park under those date-based tickets. That's gotta be how you can do it. Rob: That's probably how. Yeah. So that's that's a great insight. I I think you're probably right, Jessica. That makes perfect sense. And that's but according to Disney, the answer is no, but Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: sounds like maybe probably, possibly yes, depending on your ticket type. well I do see that we've got some more questions here on Patreon, and we will cover those in the Patreon exclusive after party. But we do have one question of the week that we had planned to include in this show. If you would like to have your question answered in a future podcast episode, just leave it in the comment on one of our videos on YouTube. We actually have a dedicated podcast YouTube channel. You can find it easily by going to Earscouts.com forward slash podcast, or you can search for the Ear Scouts podcast on YouTube. Leave your question as a comment. on one of those videos and we will try to include it in a future show. Jessica, what is this week's question? Jessica: So this is from Bethany and she says, we're going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party for the first time in August with our four year old. She's watched all the videos covering the party, but what are we anticipating will be different this year? And is it true that the line for Jack and Sally was better last year than in previous years? So I'm just gonna turn this over to you, Rob. Rob: Well, I'm gonna say the the first thing that's important if you're going with a four year old, I think you're gonna need to really rest because the the the party is a lot, right? There's a lot of sensory overload. So I would say plan on making that a very relaxing, lots of naps in the day, so that you can really enjoy the party. Number one. Second, in terms of specifically Jack and Sally, here's a weird thing we've been noticing the last few years at the parties. The first nights of the parties, the crowds have been noticeably smaller than they have been as you get later into the party run. And, you know, I at first I couldn't figure out why this was. And then it started to make sense to me that they probably do this intentionally. Because they want the cast members to have a period where they're kind of getting used to how the party's gonna run. They can kind of work through any kinks, and it's not gonna be at full capacity right away. I think that's what's happening. So our experience when we make these videos is usually on the first night. And I can tell you on our first night, both of these past years. There have been lulls in the line for Jack and Sally, significant lulls. I mean, sometimes it was getting pretty close to a walk-on later in the party night. Jessica: Mm-hmm. Rob: I don't know that that's typical. Once you get later when the party gets really, really hoping, you know, when they really hit full capacity. But I would say it's possible. I mean, because it it did drop noticeably. The thing is, a lot of folks do these parties year after year. And while Jack and Sally might have been their must do absolute, you know, top of their list item the first two or three years they did it, you know, it's maybe not their their absolute must do anymore. It's the new character that's been added, right, to to the event. So I'd say there's a good chance that you will get a lull later in the night. and it we have experienced that in the last couple first nights. Jessica: the other part of her question was, what do we think will be different this year? And I did look online. The only thing they have announced that is different is a dance party with Stitch and Angel in Tomorrowland. Angel is Stitch's girlfriend, partner, friend, Rob: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Jessica: I don't know, other pink Stitch. It's Stitch and Pink Stitch. I don't know. He's in love with her. Okay. Craig: Ha ha ha. Erick: he's he's in love with her. And yes, in the series he's in love with her. Jessica: He's in love with her. Rob: But she's kind of a isn't she kind of like a double agent spy something or other? I mean she's Erick: It is not so well long story short, like she's the experiment that she can charm other experiments and make them work for her. So So Rob: Okay. Mm-hmm. Jessica: I feel like I need to watch this more. Erick: again, long story short, that's what it is. But then actually Angel ends up having feelings for Stitch. So then they end up like actually being together. So yeah. Rob: Okay. Jessica: See, I knew it was his girlfriend, Rob: Yeah. Jessica: but that's the only thing they've announced that's different. I think typically the differences are food. I mean, they haven't changed much the last few years. Rob: I do think we're gonna see a new parade, a new stage show, a new fireworks show soon, not this year. This year's not gonna be the year. It's we're pretty confident now. I mean, I think they've done casting calls for for they're they're gonna be the same this year as they have been in previous years, other than I think what Jessica mentioned. but hopefully maybe in a year or two, we're gonna see something new. We're gonna see Some things changing up. All right, well that's all the time we have for questions. again, you have a question for us, be sure to leave it in the comments or join us on Patreon at patreon.com forward slash earscouts. But we like to end each and every podcast episode with a segment we call Happy Thoughts. Craig, what is your happy thought this week? Craig: Okay, so my happy thought actually happened during the podcast. So if you've Rob: Mm. Craig: been listening for a while, you know I have two cats now. I've had Pepper for fifteen years and I decided to get her a companion. Her name is Olive. She turned one in May. I've had her since January. The two do not get along. They still do not get along. Rob: Ha ha ha. Craig: Olive is in my bedroom and that's where her food is, her litter box, all that stuff. Pepper will come in there every once in a while, usually ends up with hissing and running away, occasionally an attack, but that hasn't happened in a while. But tonight during the podcast, Olive came out of the bedroom. I she walked right behind this chair over toward the front door. And I've never seen her in the living room. So Jessica: Mmm! Craig: just to see her, you know, coming out of the bedroom is is a positive thing. yeah, Jessica: Excellent. Craig: and actually you might have seen Pepper on the on the podcast. She did make it on here a little bit. Her head got in the the frame, but yeah, she does like to do that. But hopefully one of these days I'll get to see all 'cause she's adorable. But progress. Rob: Very nice. Craig: Progress on the cat front and that makes me very happy. Jessica: Progress. Rob: Awesome. Well, Jessica, I'm I'm I'm guessing your happy thought didn't happen moments ago. What but what was your happy thought this week? Jessica: It didn't. My happy thought happened yesterday. Yesterday I got to be the guest on the Dizzlist podcast Rob: nice. Jessica: to help them talk about new things in the last year and do a list. So if you're watching this live with us on Patreon, it will be this week. So this Wednesday it will go on their podcast. And spoiler alert, I guess you guys will never guess what my favorite new thing was in the last year. Hmm. Tree of Life, Zootopia. It's in a tree Craig: So I was gonna say, is it d is it in a tree somewhere? Rob: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Jessica: somewhere. But if you're watching this on our podcast as it's put out on YouTube, it was last week's Dizzlist podcast. So please go back and check that out, give them a like, and thanks so much, Rob and Nick, for having me. Rob: Awesome. Well, Eric, why don't you share with us what is your happy thought this week? Erick: Mine is very simple, as you guys may know, like Brother Bear is my favorite favorite movie. And I love bears in general, but well a I was able to purchase this pin, which is rock and talk from Brother Bear. And Jessica: cute. Erick: it's just again one small lit one little thing that actually just made me happy to to get and I found it for very cheap, so I'm very happy. That I was able to get it. Rob: So if you're ever looking for a a gift for Eric, Brother Bear Pin, Brother Bear anything, really. That's the the the secret. for me, my happ Erick: Any of the bears. Rob: anything bears, Craig: Mm-hmm. Rob: yeah. for me, my happy thought this week is that we were included in the Wall Street Journal this morning. there was an article about Lightning Lane and they called and and actually did an interview with them. many weeks ago when the article just came out this morning. so I'd like to thank them for including us. But I would also like to say if you did see that article, I feel like it really kind of presented the challenges of using Lightning Lane multipass in the parks. but it didn't really get into what I think is the flip side of it, which is that y'all, Lightning Lane multipass is a really Great service, especially when you compare it to the services that are available in other parks. I happen to go to Epic Universe this past weekend and we used ExpressPass. And you know, the thing with ExpressPass, it costs a fortune. The way that they keep the line shorter is by charging more money than most people are willing to pay for it. That's that's the secret. That's the magic of how the line stays shorter. So you're paying a fortune, but because anybody who has that service can get into that line at any point that they want, during peak times, we waited over 30 minutes for an attraction. And the cost of the service is five, six times what you'd spend on, you know, Lightning Lane, depending obviously that you know depends on the park in the day, but a lot more. So I do think yes. It can be frustrating sometimes to book lightning lanes. Watch our videos. We give you lots of tips to make it easier, to work it into your day. but I just want to say, kind of as a counterpoint to to the article this morning, that that I do think that it is the best system out there. And I do think that that it is worth considering as part of your Disney Day because while it does take time to use it, it's gonna give you. So much more time in your day than you spent using it by eliminating the weights for so many attractions. but again, thank you so much to the Wall Street Journal. It was an honor to be included in that article. And I would like to thank all of you for joining us for this episode of the Ear Scouts podcast. if you haven't subscribed to us on YouTube, head over to Earscouts.com forward slash podcast and subscribe. We are very close. We're this close to a thousand subscribers on YouTube, which is a big milestone. Even if you're subscribed to us on the regular Ear Scouts YouTube, head over to the Ear Scouts Podcast YouTube and subscribe there. we will see you all on that YouTube channel. Until next time, don't forget to think happy thoughts, everybody.