Disney After Hours vs Universal Nights at Epic Universe

Disney and Universal offer amazing late night events at their parks that offer low wait times, free snacks, and exclusive entertainment. But which one is your best option? This article compares the Disney After Hours events to Universal’s Universal Nights and which one is the best for you. Grab a Premium Mickey Bar and a Celestial Bao, here we go!

What is Disney After Hours?

Disney After Hours is a separate ticketed nighttime event that grants you three hours of exclusive park time with reduced crowds, lower waits for attractions, exclusive entertainment, and free soft drinks and snacks. After Hours is offered at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Typhoon Lagoon; but not all at during the same time. Tickets start at $159 per person plus tax, up to $189 per person plus tax for Magic Kingdom.

What is Universal Nights at Epic Universe?

Universal Night at Epic Universe is a separate ticketed nighttime event that grants you three hours of exclusive park time with reduced crowds, lower waits for attractions, meet and greets, and free soft drinks and snacks. Universal Nights is currently only offered at Epic Universe over four nights this fall. Tickets are $180 per person plus tax.

Purchasing Tickets

Tickets are available online on Disney and Universal’s sites. We suggest purchasing in advance as possible because these events sell out.

Check-In & Operations Hand Over

Checking in is similar between both resorts. If you are picking up from outside the park, follow the directional signage to the dedicated turnstiles for check-in. Once your ticket (or MagicBand) is scanned you’ll head over to get a wristband. This wristband is your ticket to the event, do not lose it! Once the event starts you’ll notice check points around the park and at attractions.

Guests will show their wrist bands at attractions and at these check points to show they’re part of the event. This method casually and gently pushes day guests out of the park as they finish attractions and dining. This is especially evident at Epic Universe as all the portals have wrist band check points.

Wait Times

The number one selling point of After Hours and Universal Nights is experiencing the top attractions with low wait times. What we’ve noticed is that these late night events operate in a reverse early entry method: the most popular attractions see the lowest wait times later in the event because the day guests have fully exited the queues. Attractions like TRON, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Rise of the Resistance, Slinky-Dog Dash, Ministry of Magic, and Donkey Kong Minecart Madness see their queues waits remain long til later in the night.

For example, at the start of Universal Nights we saw Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry was 50 minutes, but later in the night we saw waits decrease to under half an hour. Minecart Madness saw its queues go from two hours an hour before park close to 15 minutes later in the night. Some folks visiting the first event night even reported “walk-ons” for Battle at the Ministry!

Food & Drink Offerings

Disney After Hours offers free snacks and bottled non-alcoholic drinks throughout the park during the event plus for-purchase food and alcoholic drinks. Drinks include the standard assortment of bottled Coke products and the snacks include popcorn, Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars, Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Fruit Premium Bars. Drinks and snacks are available at multiple rolling snack stations throughout the park, our last After Hours in Hollywood Studios included carts in all the lands. Purchasable food and drink are offered around the park at restaurants, snack stands, and bars (we walked into Oga’s after 10pm on our last visit).

Universal Nights is a bit different. Free drinks and snacks are also offered, but not in the same way. Drinks are offered through the Coke Freestyle machines through supplied reusable Coke Freestyle Mugs, you will have to store the mugs in lockers on some rides. Snacks are only located in Celestial Park with free popcorn and bao buns, but purchasable food is offered throughout the park at restaurants, snack stands, and bars (nothing sounds quite as good as late night Pizza Moon). Not all restaurants are open, with the sit down restaurants, Mead Hall, Oak & Star Tavern, and Le Goblet Noir closed for Universal Nights.

NOTE: Coke Freestyle machines are not in The Wizarding World. Escape to the Freestyle machines in Celestial park outside the land and inside Meteor Burger.

Entertainment

Disney and Universal offer special show times and exclusive characters during their late night events. Disney busts out the rare characters for After Hours. Ever wanted to meet THUMPER? This is your chance. Characters are found throughout the parks during After Hours.

Disney also has special performances of numerous shows during After Hours. Special performances of Fantasmic and other stage shows are offered at Hollywood Studios along with the various shows at Magic Kingdom.

Universal also has characters and shows during Universal Nights. The characters are limited compared to Disney, think Captain Cacao and meet and greets in Super Nintendo World. Some of the walk around characters are around in Dark Universe, the Wizarding World, and Berk, too. At least one performance of The Untrainable Dragon and Le Cirque Arcanus are offered exclusively for ticket holders.

The nighttime Celestial Goodnight fireworks and fountain show is offered at closing time for all guests.

Final Thoughts

We are BIG fans of late night park events in Orlando. Not only do they grant you lower wait times on the most popular attractions you get to explore the parks with lower crowds during a cooler time of the day. Plus you get included snacks and drinks. What is there not to love? Well, these night events are not for everyone, we’ve seen kids zonk out early and tried guests leaving before the event starts. The event is also expensive, with tickets starting well over a single day ticket to a single park. We suggest pairing a late-night event with an afternoon nap and a rest day the day after, you’ll be refreshed and ready to hit the park till it closes late. Also consider replacing a touring day (with the costs of admission) with a late night event, you’ll see the same attractions but with lower waits and cooler temps.

TouringPlans Touring Tips

• Arrive half an hour before start time to check-in and receive your wristband.
• See any shows and attractions that will close for the event (when After Hours was at DAK they would close Kilimanjaro Safaris before the event began). Check the event details for more information.
• Skip the big, E-Ticket attractions at first and focus on the smaller attractions and shows. Big attractions like Battle at the Ministry and Rise of the Resistance will be processing day guests through the ride during event start time. Leave the big rides for an hour to 90 minutes after the event starts.
• Take Breaks! Despite it being cooler and with fewer crowds, you’ll be actively walking and experiencing attractions more than during a normal day.