It's a bit too early to talk about dining plans- BUT something awesome did pop up during our trip. So I'll spend today talking about that.

AFTER HOURS
Literally the best experience offered at Disney along with the now no longer available,  Early Morning Magic. Both are paid entries to the parks- one After Closing, and the other Before Opening. After Hours has returned, but Early Morning Magic has not come back since the world shut down. Hopefully it too shall make a come back. (Follow this link for my review of Early Morning Magic) If this event ever returns- I HIGHLY recommend it.

What is After Hours?
Basically, it is when the theme parks stay open for 3 extra hours after the park closes for Guests with special event tickets to attend Disney After Hours. 
With a ticket to Disney After Hours, you can explore one of the theme parks with lower wait times for attractions AND with ice cream novelties, popcorn and select beverages—included with the cost of admission.

During our stay, we are VERY excited that BOTH Hollywood Studios AND Epcot are offering After Hours. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they add Magic Kingdom too, but not likely since Magic Kingdom will be ending their current schedule for After Hours today, actually. But Hollywood Studios is scheduled through June 28, 2023 and Epcot is scheduled through August 24, 2023.

The last time I did an After Hours event was during my on-site agent training January of 2019. It was at Magic Kingdom and the only thing I would change is to have had my family there. See my review HERE.

I was SO excited to see that this event has returned and is being offered at 2 parks during our stay. My husband & daughter REALLY wanted the Hollywood Studios(HS) event so they can ride Rockin Roller Coaster (if it is finished with refurbishment) AND Tower of Terror. I want to finally ride all the new Star Wars rides. I am most looking forward to Epcot After Hours because  of the 2 new rides- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and  Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and my most loved- Soarin’ Around the World.

This will take SO MUCH pressure off me feeling like I have to be on top of *Genie+ to book all the rides at both of those parks. Now, I can focus on using it well while at Magic Kingdom.   We will return to BOTH HS & Epcot parks later in the week for After Hours, with much smaller crowds and be able to ride everything without the long waits or the need for Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes purchases . To me that makes the additional cost so worth it.

I plan to write a detailed review upon return.  Until then, our plan is to spend 4 days in the parks. Tentative plans below.

Day 1- Arrival Day (VERY EARLY FLIGHT) Magic Kingdom

• Check in to The Contemporary- Hopefully make it to Magic Kingdom at or close to rope drop.  I will pay for Genie+ & Individual Lightning Lane(ILL) in advance & will have booked my first ride & ILL at 7AM during travel.  No plans for park hoping, but we'll see.

Day 2- Hollywood Studios(HS)/ Park Hop to ?? 

• Plan to keep this a leisurely day. Maybe head to Disney Springs for a little bit.
• This might be a good Epcot park hop day
• Haven't decided if I will purchase Genie+ or not for this day.
• May consider changing this to our Animal Kingdom(AK) day??

Day 3- Animal Kingdom/After Hours- HS

• Maybe Pre-purchase Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane so we can ride Everest, Safari, & Flight of Passage for sure- fairly quickly- then head out.
• After Hours Hollywood Studios- ride EVERYTHING. 
• If we do AK on Day 2 this day is kind of up in the air- except for After Hours

Day 4- Magic Kingdom/After Hours- Epcot

• ​Likely another Genie+ and ILL day. 

​That is all for now. 

I have booked Disney's Contemporary Resort- Theme Park View.  This will be our first time staying here. As much as I love Magic Kingdom- it's kind of surprising we never stayed here- but we fell in love with The Yacht Club and Beach Club and stay at either any chance we had. BUT for this trip- we decided to stay at the very FIRST resort at Walt Disney World. It is an icon and will put us right beside- within walking distance of- Magic Kingdom and on the monorail.

After our 2020 trip- we were each comped a 1 day park hopper ticket & I purchased 3 additional days of park hopper tickets. This is a shorter than usual trip- but we are just testing the water.  We will spend a total of 4 days in the parks.

As you may know, I like to add bling to our trips so in addition to our park tickets- and thanks to Disney bringing back my most beloved experience- we will wallow in the magic of AFTER HOURS.  The first time I did this was at my Travel Agent training in January of 2019 at Magic Kingdom. It was THE BEST!!   (Link here)  Sadly, my husband and daughter were not with me so they have yet to experience this. 

This year we will attend After Hours at Hollywood Studios AND Epcot. I think that adding these experiences will enhance our shorter than usual trip and allow us to relax a bit regarding riding the most coveted rides at both HS & Epcot.

I like the idea of trying out Disney's new Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes*- but with the addition of After Hours- I won't feel so pressured to stay as on top of it as I would have otherwise. As Genie was not available during our last trip and Disney has since removed the Fastpasses and added this new pay 'fastpass' system, this will be a new for us.

What rides are included in After Hours-
Hollywood Studios:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Toy Story Mania!
• and others

Epcot:

• Frozen Ever After
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Living with the Land Presented by Chiquita®
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• Test Track Presented by Chevrolet®
• and others

​​
That is all for now- Coming up next is booking dining- which happens mid- April.  

​*I will detail my experience with the new Genie+ and Lightning Lanes upon return

Upon arrival- we got settled and headed to the Club Level Lounge for a quick snack. We then walked down to the boat transportation area and caught a quick ride to City Walk.  Spent evening shopping and returned to our room fairly early because we had an early start for the parks the next day.

Because we were only here for the 1 night- before checking out and heading to the parks- we had to get our bags together and leave our room. A bit much to do so early, I must say.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at the club lounge and headed out.

We had a lovely 15 or so minute walk to Island of Adventure. We got there before rope drop and waited with the masses for park opening- and then bee-lined to Hagrid's (along with the masses). Some people ran- we did not. We got there when we got there, taking advantage of our resort early park admission- and got in line. We literally waited 90 solid minutes just to ride Hagrid's. 

After Hagrid's, husband and daughter went quickly to the VelociCoaster. It and Hagrid's are the 2 rides that we couldn't use our express pass to avoid the long lines.  They decided to do single rider- to ease the LONG wait- and lucked out. Walked right on the ride AND got to ride it together. That was just luck- because with single rider, your are quite likely to be split up and have to ride with a stranger. 

We hit up all the sights in and around Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. It was fairly crowded so I was so happy to have the unlimited express pass. It is a MUST to be able to experience the best rides with the shortest lines, over and over again. Be aware- there will still be lines- but the express pass line is certainly shorter than the stand-by lines.  On the other hand, the regular express pass is also good to have, but you only get to ride each ride once. Staying at particular resorts adds the express unlimited pass to your reservation automatically- certainly a great perk that I wish Disney would consider.

We grabbed a quick lunch and my daughter & husband went to rid Hulk and other rides that my queasy-self won't even consider. My last ride was the Minions ride- which is always cute and fun- but the line is fairly long and SLOW- so be aware of that, regardless of express pass.

I spent the rest of our time shopping at City Walk while they got their thrill ride on.  It was a busy- yet short day- but we had plans to head to St. Petersburg- so we did our favorite things and headed out.

I wouldn't recommend a 1 day trip for your first visit to Universal, but if you are a repeater- and know what you like and don't- you can easily hit all your favorites using the express pass or unlimited pass and by getting there early. Be sure to purchase 2 Park-to-Park tickets so that you can enjoy the Hogwarts Express Train- as that is such a great experience and you can't ride it if you do not have park to park tickets. (yes- they check)