Villains After Hours Review

If you have ever been to Disney World, you probably think about two things: 1) the beauty of the Cinderella’s castle as you stroll down Main Street USA and 2) the crowds. The crowds are by far one of the least appealing parts of Disney, but it is just comes with the territory of taking a vacation to the happiest place on earth. What if I told you there was a way to experience Disney World with crowds so small, you feel like you have the park to yourself?

Are you a fan of Disney Villains? This might be why you’re reading this article about the Villains After Hours Review. You’re in luck because during my most recent vacation to the happiest place on earth, I had the opportunity to check out the Magic Kingdom’s summer after hours event – Disney’s Villains After Hours! Here is some general information about the event and review!

Let’s Kick Off The Villains After Hours Review With Some Info

Before we get into the nitty gritty of the Villains After Hours Review, we can talk about some fo the basic info about the event. This is a hard ticket event in Magic Kingdom where you have access to certain attractions in the park for three hours after the park closed to regular guests. This summer, Magic Kingdoms After Hours is a special nighttime event showcasing some of everyone’s favorite villains. Event tickets provide access to themed snacks, fun photo ops, merchandise, entertainment and park admission as early at 7:00 PM. This event runs on select Thursday nights during Summer 2019 until August 8th.

What Are The Highlights Of Disney Villains After Hours Event?

To kick off our Villains After Hours Review, we’ve got some of the event highlights straight from Disney’s site:

• Three hours of access to over 20 popular Magic Kingdom attractions with low wait times and thrilling villain-inspired surprises at Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain—all after the park closes
• Villains Unite the Night, an all-new, 20-plus minute stage show starring Hades, Meg, The Queen, Maleficent, Jafar and other hilarious hoodlums
• Keep your eyes peeled for the fire-breathing dragon, Maleficent as she slinks her way through the park at night—for the very first time!
• Dress your diabolical best—pay homage to your fave knave with inspired attire (see dress code and costume guidelines)
• Sinfully delicious villain-themed food and beverage offerings available for purchase, including brand-new items and returning favorites such as Evil Emperor Zurg’s Noodles and Not-So-Poison Apple Cupcakes
• Event-themed, limited merchandise plus a curated collection of Villains must-haves will be available for purchase
• Malevolent music and frightful lighting set the tone for a gruesomely good time
• Ever driven to stand out in their unpredictable and audacious fashion, the Villains will be entertaining Guests in the Villains Unite the Night show; however, they will not be participating in Character Greetings during the event.
• Ice Cream, Popcorn & Select Beverages Included!
• Be sure to chill out with popcorn, ice cream novelties and select bottled beverages—included in the cost of admission—available at carts stationed throughout the park. In addition, you can also purchase select menu items at Main Street Bakery and select locations throughout the park.

How Much Does A Ticket Cost to Disney Villains After Hours Event?

Probably the part of the Villains After Hours Review that might be the make or break part for many is the cost of the event. Tickets for this after hours event cost anywhere from $109.00-$144.00 (plus tax) depending on when you buy them and if you can get a discount. Tickets purchased in advance costs $139, whereas a ticket purchased the day of the event costs $144. Annual Passholders are able to take advantage of their Passholder discount and they can pay roughly $109 for their ticket.

What Food and Beverage Options Are Available?

The purchase of your ticket includes all you care to enjoy bottled drinks, popcorn, Mickey Bars, Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches and Strawberry Fruit Popsicles. But this event also had a TON of specialty snacks that are exclusive to purchase at Villains After Dark. All of the specialty snacks qualify as a snack credit on the Disney Dining Plan, as well. I broke down the snacks by land for this Villains After Hours Review:

Adventureland

• Hades Nachos (Tortuga Tavern)- Black bean nacho chips served with fiery buffalo chicken ($5.49)
• Hades Temptation Mocktail (Tortuga Tavern)- Non-alcoholic purple cosmo frozen mocktail in a plastic martini glass topped with a gummy worm ($5.99)

Fantasyland 

• Maleficent Cone (Storybook Treats)- Lime soft-serve topped with chocolate horns and purple sprinkles ($6.99)
• Dragon’s Breath Float (Storybook Treats)- Lemon soft-serve, cherry-flavored syrup, sprite and topped with green cherries ($6.49)

Liberty Square 

• Headless Horseman Browkie (Liberty Square Popcorn Cart)- Half-Cookie and Half-Brownie with Headless Horseman Chocolate Piece ($5.75)
• Headless Horseman Novelty Straw Clip (Liberty Square Popcorn Cart)  ($5.25)
• Dr. Facilier’s Tarot Card Tart (Sleepy Hollow)- Chocolate Tart filled with dark chocolate ganache and topped with peanut butter mousse Topped with peanut butter mousse and a white chocolate tarot card ($6.99)
• A Drink From the Other Side (Sleepy Hollow)- A non-alcoholic hurricane garnished with a cherry and an orange slice ($4.99)

Tomorrowland 

• Evil Emperor Zurg’s Noodles (Cool Ship’s)- Chilled noodle salad with snap peas, red onion, and red peppers topped with a sesame soy sauce ($5.99)
• Yzma’s Llama Potion (Cool Ship’s)- Dry Ice-infused vessel filled with strawberry Fanta ($6.99)

Main Street, USA

• DeVille’s Treat (Casey’s Corner)- Brownie topped with Black and White Icing ($4.99)
• Not-So-Poison Apple Cupcake (Main Street Bakery)- Spiced apple cupcake with pecan crunch and buttercream icing ($6.99)

What Attractions Were Not Open During After Hours?

While I went into this Villains After Hours Review thinking there would be meet and greets with the villains, surprisingly there were absolutely none. As a matter of fact, there were no meet and greets with anyone to my knowledge. Most of the attractions were open with the exception of a few, which were:

•       Tom Sawyer Island
•       Riverboat
•       Carousel of Progress
•       Monsters Inc, Laugh Floor
•       Hall of Presidents
•       Enchanted Tales with Belle

Was There Any Villains Merchandise? 

YES! There was tons of limited exclusive villains themed merchandise to help channel your inner bad side. There were tank tops, t-shirts, spirit jerseys, phone cases and Tervis tumblers. Annual Passholders can also pick up their villains themed passholder gift at Mickey’s Star Traders, which is an ornament this year!

You could begin purchasing the villains themed merchandise at 7:00 PM, but you had to have a wristband in order to access them. You can find the villains merch at the following locations:

• Emporium
• Plaza del Sol
• Caribe Bazaar
• Memento Mori
• Fantasy Faire
• Tomorrowland Light & Power Co.
• Mickey’s Star Traders

Any Villains Entertainment or Other After Hours Extras?

There is a night show called Villains Unite the Night at 10:00, 12:00 and 1:00 in front of Cinderella’s castle. Maleficent also makes her way thru Magic Kingdom at 10:40, 11:45 and 1:00. At 10:40 and 11:45 routes start in Fantasyland, turn at Liberty Square and circle in front of the castle before making her way back. The 1:20 route starts in Fantasyland, turns at Liberty Square, makes a circle in front of the castle and comes down Main Street and ends at the fire station near the Emporium.

Apparently, there was face painting available at Fantasy Faire from 7-11. I didn’t know about it, so I obviously didn’t try it out. But it was available for those that might be interested in the future!

My Disney Villains After Hours Review

To start the Villains After Hours Review I got to the park before 7:00, I was able to enter Magic Kingdom and enjoy the park before the event a little, and check into the event a little early at Monsters Laugh Floor. After checking in, I realized I could pick up my complimentary Passholder ornament, which was a huge surprise because they originally released they wouldn’t be available until the following week.  It has Hades face on the front and the Villains After Hours logo on the back. (I collect Disney ornaments, so this was a fantastic addition to my collection!) In the future, I would look for the ornament near Stitch’s Great Escape, as that is where they had the sign this time and I feel like it will be located here in the future.

After checking in and getting my ornament, I headed out to do some rides. I did Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s A Small World, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Splash Mountain all before I headed to buy some Villains merchandise. The special event items were located in various areas throughout the park, but I headed to the Emporium. The items were roped off behind the counter and you had to show your wristband in order to access it.

All of the merchandise Disney had promoted was available, as well as a spirit jersey. The spirit jersey had Hades on the front and “Villains After Hours” across the back. Even though the items were roped off, I was able to go try on the tank top I ended up purchasing, and I was able to use my passholder discount (20%) for the After Hours merchandise. Uptown Jewelers also had an exclusive villains charm set available, as well. It wasn’t an event exclusive, but they did say that they only had 100 sets available.

The charm set was $225 (plus tax). After looking around at special event items, I headed to find a spot to watch Happily Ever After at 9:15– AMAZING, as always! I then headed over to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to use my last fast pass before After Hours started. About the time I got off of Big Thunder, it was time for After Hours to begin and see what the villains were up to!

Breaking Down Villains After Hours Review By The Hour

To help give you an idea of what all you can do during an After Hours event, I’ll break down what all I got done hour by hour during our Villains After Hours Review.

10:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Since I was over in the general area, I headed over to Tortuga Tavern to try out Hades Nachos and the Hades Temptation Mocktail. I had not eaten lunch or dinner, so I was starving!! The nachos were quite spicy, but they were very good! The Hades Temptation Mocktail was a little sweet, but super refreshing and I really enjoyed it! The two paired really well together in my opinion. Next, I headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, which had a special “villains” overlay. The overlay was actually just live actors during the queue and one during the actual ride, but it was a unique experience on one of my favorite rides, so I rode twice!

Next, I headed over to Swiss Family Treehouse for the magic shot photopass with Scar from The Lion King and then headed over to Tomorrowland, where I did the magic shot with Oogie Boogie on the bridge leading into the land near Stitch’s Great Escape. All of the Magic Shots had at least two PhotoPass photographers, so the lines moved very, very quickly. I was really impressed. Then I headed to ride what ended up being my favorite attraction of the night…. Space Mountain with a Villains overlay!

SPACE MOUNTAIN IN THE COMPLETE DARK IS AMAZING! For the event, they turned off all of the lights in Space Mountain and played villains inspired music. It was INCREDIBLE; I rode it 4 times in a row!! Plus, since I was a single rider, I was able to jump in front of folks every single time I rode – I jumped in front of at least 100 people twice! The first few times I rode, they were letting you choose which side you wanted to go on (left side, always), but by the last time I rode they were directing people.

11:00 PM – 12:00 AM

After my time at Space Mountain, I headed over to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and walked right on with less than a 10 minute wait time – SCORE! 7DMT is one of my favorite rides on property, especially at night, so I jumped in line again. It was about a 20 minute wait the second time I rode, but I was happy to wait. Apparently, someone got a little sick and it caused the ride to be shut down for a bit during the event.

After Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, I hopped in line for the Maleficent magic shot over near Pinocchio Village Haus and then headed over to Peter Pan’s Flight. It took me less than 3 minutes from the time I walked in line until the time I sat down on the ride, which is AWESOME for a ride that frequently has a 70 minute or so wait! I also walked on to Haunted Mansion with no wait. Since I was over in the Liberty Square area, I grabbed the Browkie, which was a specialty snack everyone was talking about!!! I put it in my backpack to save it until the next day, but y’all… it was SO good. If you are going to this event, GET THE BROWKIE. You can definitely share it with someone!!!!

I knew I wanted to catch the event’s special stage show, Villains Unite the Night, so I headed over to Main Street Bakery and picked up the Not-So-Poisonous Apple Cupcake before heading to find a spot to watch the show. It was not listed as a specialty snack, but they did have it available. It has shown up in the past at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, so it is popular. I knew I wanted to try out this villains inspired treat, so I picked it up and headed out to watch the show!

12:00 AM – 1:00 AM

There was a DJ hosting a dance party (imagine that!) whenever there wasn’t a show going on. I am not a dance party fan, but the music was awesome and I really enjoyed it! The stage show started right on time at 1:00 am, which was the last show of the night. The plot is quite silly, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t waste 25 minutes of a three hour after hours event on this show, but it was fun to watch and the castle projections were neat. The projections changed every time one of the villains came on stage.

It wasn’t Happily Ever After level (nor did I expect it to be) but I did enjoy the projections and seeing Cinderella’s castle look a little different. The plot of Villains After Dark is basically that Hades is sitting on his throne waiting for the five planets to align, following a prophecy that states when they come together he can rule the universe. The problem is, that all of the other villains, such as Jafar, the Evil Queen, Dr. Facilier and Maleficent, have all heard the prophecy, as well and believe they will be the ones who will rule the universe.

Like I said…. Pretty silly. If you are wanting to see the after hours stage show, I would recommend catching the 1:00 show so that you can spend the rest of the party enjoying the rides with villains overlays or the rides that typically have a longer wait time.

After the show, “Festival of Fantasy” parade’s Maleficent Dragon is “set free”. During the first two shows, Maleficent makes her way from Frontierland and then turns at Liberty Square to make her way in front of the castle, goes around in a circle, and then returns down the  route in which she entered.

For the last show of the night, she follows a similar route, but instead of returning down her original route, she makes her way down Main Street USA. She is absolutely breathtaking, and I was able to stand about 15 feet from her whenever she came down Main Street! If you are going, I would highly recommend staying until the end and catch her coming down Main Street near the train station! It was an awesome experience that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Even though the party was “over” at 1:00 am, I didn’t leave Magic Kingdom until around 2:00 am. They had all of the other villains, such as Gaston, Queen of Hearts, Cruella, Evil Stepsisters, Lady Tremaine, and Captain Hook at the train station overlooking and sending you off for the night as you exit. Super fun to get photos of these villains!

Wrapping Up Our Villains After Hours Review

If you can’t tell by my Villains After Hours Review, I had an amazing time and I would highly recommend checking it out. That being said, I would not recommend it for those with smaller children. I saw a couple of families leaving around 11 because their kids were having meltdowns… not because the villains were scary, but because you could tell they were just exhausted. At a cost of roughly $150 per person, that’s $450 for a family of 3…. Which, in my opinion, is a lot of money and probably not worth it! Otherwise, if you have older kids or if you’re single like me or you absolutely love the villains, I would highly, highly recommend considering doing the event.

One of the negatives in my Villains After Hours Review is that the event does come with a high price tag, but being able to walk on 10 attractions with literally no lines or very short wait times in an essentially empty park with low crowds is amazing. Plus you get to see Magic Kingdom in a whole different light. Complimentary snacks such as bottled drinks (water and Coke products), popcorn, Mickey bars and fruit bars were all included and you could get as many as you cared to enjoy, which does justify the price tag some since you could essentially go to the event and not spend another dime.

I wish the event would have been a tad longer because I was having the BEST time, and I honestly did not see anyone not enjoying themselves. A lot of people have asked if I thought it was similar to a party. Another important thing to note is that there were no character meet and greets at this event.

Something that could increase our Villains After Hours Review outlook would be adding character meet and greets with the villains. This could be another way they could justify the price tag, since it is more expensive than the After Hours events at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. But overall, I had such a fun night. It was truly a wicked night, and I had the best time! It was so worth it.

If you enjoyed our Villains After Hours review, then you should head over and check out our Early Morning Magic Review for your next trip.