Thanks for the review! We have a similar plan for a short trip in August. We will do Epcot AH and
MNSSHP. (I will also try for Typhoon Lagoon Moonlight Magic during the open reservation window, but that's a long shot.) For our dates it is cheaper than buying day tickets, especially with the DVC discount, and we don't really want to be in the parks all day in the August heat anyway.
We did Epcot Moonlight Magic last year, and the reviews I'm seeing for AH so far sound similar to our experience with MM. Long lines almost everywhere, and we had trouble finding popcorn and ice cream carts. Remy went down, which pushed up wait times at other rides, and also meant we had to walk across the park and back again to ride it later. I think you're right that it's just not the ideal environment for an after-hours event, but I have an idea of what we're getting into, and I'm okay with it. The takeaway for me is that I need to have modest expectations and a good plan.
What I'm not sure of yet is exactly what that plan should look like. Priority is Guardians, of course, since we haven't ridden it yet. Any advice on when it would be best to ride it? At tonight's party it was still showing a 50 minute wait just before 1 am. I forgot to check earlier on wait times. Not sure I want to leave it to the end of the night and risk missing it if it goes down, but if the wait earlier in the evening is much longer we might take the chance and use the "jump-in-line-before-close-and-hope-the-wait-time-is-inflated" strategy.
Remy was only 10 minutes at the end of the night, so that's encouraging. TT and Soarin' were around 25.