The MAJOR Difference Between Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios After Hours Events in 2024

Disney After Hours events are a fantastic way to experience your favorite Disney World parks and attractions with very small crowds. Imagine being able to walk onto the Haunted Mansion with NO line. It’s possible!

Right now, you can experience After Hours events at Magic Kingdom select nights from January 11th through April 8th and Disney’s Hollywood Studios select nights from January 10th through April 10th. But which one of these events is a better value? There’s a MASSIVE difference between the two that may easily help you decide.

OK, so here’s the deal. We recently attended After Hours events at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. We first went to the Hollywood Studios event (and had a BLAST!).

During our night at Hollywood Studios After Hours, we ran into a few FUN surprises — Disney characters ROAMING the park! It’s not too often you see Mickey wandering the empty streets of Hollywood Boulevard.

Roaming characters are a welcome surprise when you’re visiting the park — it’s pretty fun to have a character interaction without having to stand in a line! But when we visited Magic Kingdom’s After Hours event, we didn’t see any characters walking around the park!

To be fair, it was a pretty rainy night, so we spoke to a Cast Member to see if any roaming characters would appear at future Magic Kingdom After Hours events. The Cast Member told us that there are no plans to have roaming characters during Magic Kingdom After Hours events. 

Our event guide listed two locations where character meet-and-greets would be available during the party, but there was no sign of any roaming characters on the map. You can meet Mickey at Town Square Theater and Disney Princesses at Princess Fairytale Hall.

Meanwhile, when we visited Hollywood Studios After Hours, we spotted characters like Pocahontas and Meeko, Minnie, and more! The Hollywood Studios event tells guests you may see rare characters wandering the park.

What does this tell us? If you’re on the hunt for rare characters, one After Hours event is the CLEAR winner. Your chances of meeting a rare character in Magic Kingdom are pretty much nonexistent, while you’ve got a good shot at bumping into a friendly face at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

For some, this may be a super important distinction. Both events are similar in price (both ranging from $155 to $175), so you’re paying the same price for an event that’s missing an entertainment option.

This can be a really big deal breaker for families who love meeting characters, so we knew we needed to tell you about this difference between the events ASAP. On the other hand, Magic Kingdom has more attractions open during its After Hours event, so if rides are more important to you than characters, you might not care about the lack of roaming characters.

It’s up to you: unlimited access to Pirates of the Caribbean or the chance to see some rare characters? The answer will probably vary from person to person! In the meantime, we’re always here to bring you the latest Disney news, so stay tuned to AllEars!

This is the ONE reason you should go to an after-hours event in Disney World!

Which After Hours event would you choose to go to? Tell us in the comments!