Disney in a Minute: What is a Hard-Ticket Event?

In Disney parlance, a hard-ticket event is a separately ticketed, limited-capacity park experience that requires its own admission ticket. In other words, you can’t get into this sort of event with a standard park ticket. Most take place after the park closes to regular day guests, and they are gently ushered out of the parks as the hard-ticket event gets set to begin. Even if you’ve already spent the day at the park, you have to buy this additional ticket in order to stay for the event.

The term “hard-ticket” event is a leftover from days gone by when guests needed an old-timey physical admission ticket, separate from the park ticket. Nowadays, with digital tickets and MagicBands, the term is still used as a way of referring to these extra events.

Hard-ticket events may include special entertainment and food, special characters to meet and greet, or some sort of seasonal festivities. One of the better-known hard-ticket events is Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) at the Magic Kingdom. On evenings when this party takes place, the park has trick-or-treat stations with free snacks, specially-themed parades, fireworks, and characters in costumes you won’t see any other time of year.

Other seasonal hard-ticket events at Disney World are Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and Jollywood Nights, which is held at Hollywood Studios. And there are also seasonal hard-ticket events at Disneyland, like the Oogie Boogie Bash which is the West Coast Halloween event.

One common feature of hard-ticket events is that limited attendance means shorter waits for the rides. In recent years, Disney World has introduced another type of hard-ticket event that really leans into shorter lines, called “After Hours” events. These typically offer three to four hours of late-night park access, and sometimes rare characters. There are some free snacks, but the main focus of After Hours events is low wait times.

It’s worth noting that you don’t need a regular park ticket to attend a hard-ticket event. You can buy just this special ticket and enter the park for the event hours only. Depending on the length of your stay at the parks, doing this may even save you a few dollars.

One personal note, if I may: on our trip to Walt Disney World in 2005, we were in the Magic Kingdom on a day when MNSSHP was scheduled. We knew next to nothing about this event. A Cast Member randomly walked up to us as the hour approached and asked if we would like wrist bands that would allow us to stay for the event. Free. Of course, we said yes – and had a great time! Talk about getting pixie-dusted!

Disney in a Minute is a series of short posts designed to help you better understand a Disney term or planning topic. Do you have a Disney term that you think needs a little more explanation? Let us know in the comments!