So, I'm finally able to post about the end of my Disney After Hours experience! This post is a little light on photos but that was because I wanted to soak in the experience!
Day 1, Part 9, Best. Cruise. EVER!
So, as I left off I had just taken two spins on the Magic Carpets and was leaving those to meet up with Zach again.
What I left out was when I had gone on 7DMT, Zach had stopped at Jungle Cruise to ask about a possible private boat ride. The CMs explained they need at least 2 guests, I'm assuming for safety purposes! So, even though I had already ridden JC earlier that day, I agreed to come over and meet him after hitting up a couple Fantasyland rides (Zach was riding Splash, and maybe BTMR, but I'm not sure about that one).
We met up again and headed into the queue, where we explained to the dock skippers that we were hoping for a private boat. They decided to try their best but couldn’t guarantee it. When the boat arrived, there were people behind us in line, so we let them go thru and the boat was sent on its way. The next boat arrived, and we were hoping we could hop on, but again, more people showed up and boarded that boat, so foiled again! Well, the CMs decided they really wanted to make this happen, so they held that boat at the dock and just kept loading people onto it waiting for the next one to come along. Of course there was a long delay, but eventually one came up and unloaded its guests, so the nearly full boat was sent on its way. And of course the new one was one of the accessible options so there was a further delay while they offloaded someone in a wheelchair. It emptied and came up to meet us and ... no one in line behind us! So the dock workers were trying to rush along to get us on and the boat away from the dock, but of course the current skipper had to switch with one of the dock guys, so it was again a bit of a delay and people started walking into the empty queue! Thankfully the CMs were so into this idea of us getting a private tour that they held those people off before they could get to the very front, and we were off, on a boat with just me, Zach, and Skipper Mike!
(I later did a cast compliment for everyone for helping us achieve that).
It was definitely the best cruise I have every been on! Skipper Mike didn’t even need to use the microphone since we were able to hear him normally (which meant he could also talk in the cave). He also got to use jokes that he normally doesn’t get to, including a Trump one, where I bent over laughing! He was also very proud when I got his Monty Python joke!
Zach took a video, and you can see it all here:
At the end all of us were just in tears (including Skipper Mike), and it was just so magical!
We disembarked, and it was now midnight, so DAH was over, but it ended on an absolute high note!
We made a quick photopass stop on Main Street.
And then split off at the bus stop for Zach to head back to All Star and me to wait for AKL bus. But we would see each other again the next day!
So, I got to the bus stop. And waited… and waited… and waited… Ugh, it was so long! And so many people for AKL, they totally filled the bus, and even had to leave some people behind. Luckily I got a seated spot.
We got back to AKL around 1am, where I ran into another disboarder, @SmithSmith (I had posted on the DAH board what my shirt looked like so I think she recognized it)! It was funny because she and her husband took the elevators from the 3rd-4th floor, while I took the stairs, so I ended up ahead of them, and they thought I used ninja skills! It was cool to run into someone, though we were all too tired to chat!
My final haul from the drink carts: 5 waters (not including 1 I drank) and 2 cokes! Yeah, my shoulders were also aching!
So, even though it was after 1am, I knew I needed to soak my sore feet/body, so I made my way thru my shortcut to the hot tub, which wasn’t locked, and I was able to relax for a bit. (When I was leaving I did notice the hours on the very bottom of the “Spa Rules” sign, which said it closed at midnight, but I think I was pretty quiet, so no one came out to complain or anything!)
Finally went back to my room, got cleaned up, and crashed to sleep around 2 am!
My overall thoughts on Disney After Hours: It was certainly fun getting to go on so many rides without wait times. And I liked taking advantage of the complimentary bottled drinks, though couldn't really take advantage of ice cream because I was so stuffed with dinner/desserts! Though I think my experience was a bit different than most since I had a similar crowd level opportunity the day before Hurricane Irma blew through! DAH did have fewer crowds, but not by a lot. So, if other people were considering it, I would recommend it, but I probably wouldn't bother as much on my own! But that's just my own personal tastes and touring style!
I do think though that this is a sign of things to come in the future. Disney has already added 11 more dates throughout the summer (which I was completely surprised by). But I guess they realized people would pay $$ to get an emptier park, and they could reduce staffing rather than just extending hours! I wouldn't be surprised to see it get rolled out to more parks (could you imagine a Pandora After Dark, or Pandora Early Morning Magic with breakfast at Satuli Canteen). So, I think if you want to experience low crowds like this you are going to need to be prepared to pay!