wdw at night

[MmeLeota]

I love WS at night after Illuminations!

We would love to hang out on the beach at the Poly and watch the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes! I never knew you could do that (and have the music there too!)

[Arete]

Ooh what a topic!

I would recommend:
1. The boat ride between Riverside and Downtown Disney. So magical, so peaceful, so quiet. Total love. Or even just a walk around Riverside.
2. World Showcase during Extra Magic Hours - everyone is up in Future World riding Soarin' or whatnot. You'll have the whole back half of Epcot all to yourself.
3. Main Street after the closing exodus has dispersed. Main Street during the Halloween Party - the colors are phenomenal. Main Street during Christmas.
4. The Tree of Life paths. I think 99.9% of people don't even know there are paths with animals you can view during the day. At night with the Tree all lit up it's just amazing. If you ever want to go be all by yourself at a Disney park - this is the place to go.
5. Sunset Boulevard at the Studios. I just adore how they light ToT.

[SoarinSoarin]

My Top 5:
5. Splash Mountain - Not only does Splash Mountain have a short wait time during the Parades and Fireworks, being cut off from the park with Big Thunder Mountain from the Parade Route, but it offers up some great views. My favorite is the right turn before the first drop (I can't remember the name...) where you can see everything the Kingdom has to offer, including ongoing Parades and Fireworks if you're lucky.
4. Future World - Not only is Future World in EPCOT one of my favorite places during the day, but nighttime just ups the experience. There's something about the buildings, background music, and surroundings that makes Future World a magical place late at night.
3. Expedition Everest - Everest isn't one of the places you get to see lit up very often, due to Animal Kindom closing at 7 or 8. I always try to catch the nighttime Extra Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom to hop on Everest in the dark. At the broken track, you can look out over the Resort to see EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and off in the distance Magic Kingdom all lit up, right before plummeting into the darkness. Plus, the Anandapur Village is a much different experience at night.
2. Tomorrowland - Just in general. I love all the lights and especially how Space Mountain looks lit up in front of a dark sky. The TTA is a great way to see everything in just a few minutes (although I'm not a fan of the new narration).
1. Disney Grad Nite 2010 - As a graduate from high school, my senior class was given the opportunity to visit the Magic Kingdom from 8:00pm to 4:00am during the first weekend in May. As a huge Disney fan, I was one of the first to register for the trip, way back in September. The party in the park was by far my favorite Disney experience so far. The combination of a great custom Fireworks show, Dance Parties (my favorite was the rave held at the Tomorrowland Stage) and overall atmosphere, not to mention short wait times after about 2:00am due to tiring teenagers, made for a very memorable night in the Magic Kingdom.

[Amy]

4. The Tree of Life paths. I think 99.9% of people don't even know there are paths with animals you can view during the day. At night with the Tree all lit up it's just amazing. If you ever want to go be all by yourself at a Disney park - this is the place to go.

I didn't know they lit the tree up at night...I will have to try to see if there are evening hours the next time we are there!

[MmeLeota]

1. Disney Grad Nite 2010 - As a graduate from high school, my senior class was given the opportunity to visit the Magic Kingdom from 8:00pm to 4:00am during the first weekend in May. As a huge Disney fan, I was one of the first to register for the trip, way back in September. The party in the park was by far my favorite Disney experience so far. The combination of a great custom Fireworks show, Dance Parties (my favorite was the rave held at the Tomorrowland Stage) and overall atmosphere, not to mention short wait times after about 2:00am due to tiring teenagers, made for a very memorable night in the Magic Kingdom.

Congratulations on your graduation! I'm glad you had fun at Grad Nite! I would imagine a Grad Nite at MK would be very different from a Grad Nite at DL...ours was so packed all night long that only the "little" rides had no line (i.e. all Fantasyland rides (before they were stylish, you know), IASW, POTC & HM (I know, they are classics, not to be considered small), Autopia...etc). All the big rides (Mountains, Indy (was the new ride then),...etc) had a 3-4 hour wait and our Grad Nite only went from 11pm or midnight to 5am. Of course, this was a whopping 14 years ago....perhaps things have changed a bit since then.

[SoarinSoarin]

Congratulations on your graduation! I'm glad you had fun at Grad Nite! I would imagine a Grad Nite at MK would be very different from a Grad Nite at DL...ours was so packed all night long that only the "little" rides had no line (i.e. all Fantasyland rides (before they were stylish, you know), IASW, POTC & HM (I know, they are classics, not to be considered small), Autopia...etc). All the big rides (Mountains, Indy (was the new ride then),...etc) had a 3-4 hour wait and our Grad Nite only went from 11pm or midnight to 5am. Of course, this was a whopping 14 years ago....perhaps things have changed a bit since then.

It was a great trip. Being a long time Disney fan (Notice I made this account here back in my "prime" almost 4 years ago when I had Annual Passes. Since then my family has strayed away from the Parks and onto Cruises, having been on 4 over the past 3 years.) I really enjoyed it, and after 3 years of listening to upperclassmen talk about the trip, it was finally my turn. The only downside was our bus service, which I'll start my own thread about and do a full write up of the trip later tonight, since it's a long story. Let's just say our Grad Nite didn't end until 9:00am, which sounds great, but it wasn't.

The biggest attraction was, of course, Space Mountain, due to the entrance being right next to it (at the site of the old Tomorrowland Stage). It was the first thing I hopped in line for, and even with the line winding all the way outside, where on a normal day the wait is around 60-80 minutes, it took only 20, mainly because there were no FastPasses to take up the Omega/Green track. That was right when everything opened. At around 1:30-2:00am, everyone was getting pretty tired, some finding a nice bench to rest, leaving the lines open. I think I rode Space Mountain a total of 8 times, with a few walk on rides of Splash and Big Thunder Mountains. All include all this and more, along with some pictures in my write up.

The smaller crowds could be due to the fact that the Magic Kingdom held four Grad Nite sessions this year, spanning two weekends on both Friday and Saturday.

[MmeLeota]

I believe there are more sessions of Grad Nite in DL, but there are more people trying to fit in a smaller area too.

[Sockdoodle]

Neat question!

Test Track, ToT, Cinderella's/Prince Charming's/whoever is owning it now Carousel, and Everest (if open at night)

[nicklesm17]

Ooh what a topic!

I would recommend:
1. The boat ride between Riverside and Downtown Disney. So magical, so peaceful, so quiet. Total love. Or even just a walk around Riverside.
2. World Showcase during Extra Magic Hours - everyone is up in Future World riding Soarin' or whatnot. You'll have the whole back half of Epcot all to yourself.
3. Main Street after the closing exodus has dispersed. Main Street during the Halloween Party - the colors are phenomenal. Main Street during Christmas.
4. The Tree of Life paths. I think 99.9% of people don't even know there are paths with animals you can view during the day. At night with the Tree all lit up it's just amazing. If you ever want to go be all by yourself at a Disney park - this is the place to go.
5. Sunset Boulevard at the Studios. I just adore how they light ToT.

you hit on some of my personal favorites. 2 of which are in my top five. love walking by that lit up tree of life during magic hours in AK. by far my #1 fav is that ride down the sassagoula heading to POFQ. the low hum of the engine, the new olrleans music softly played on board, the even splash of the water as you pass shorelines and other boats, the look of the treehouse villas at night, and best of all... just as you round that last corner and start to see FQ, there's usually a cool breeze coming off the golf course at night, it blows thru the jasmine growing on the edge of the shoreline, what a sight, what a smell. can't find a spot like that at night anywhere else. i'm always there oct/nov, so perhaps the jasmine bonus only happens at that time of year, but still a magical place/ride at night.

[missynole]

I also like to pick out a spot at the Poly, grab a hot coffee and watch the Electrical Water Parade (and fireworks) with a cool breeze coming off Bay Lake

this is something that i try to see every year, and never works out. is this the best place to view it?

I like viewing the Electrical Parade from here because if you get to the docks early enough, like around 8:15, you can get bench that's right on the water. You can't hear the music for the water parade if the fireworks are going at the same time, usually 9:00pm but if the fireworks are later, like 10:00pm, then yes, I like the Poly for viewing the Electrial Water Parade.

[nicklesm17]

My Top 5:
2. Tomorrowland - Just in general. I love all the lights and especially how Space Mountain looks lit up in front of a dark sky. The TTA is a great way to see everything in just a few minutes (although I'm not a fan of the new narration).

this one makes one of my top 5 as well, alot of great night time views from here, plus space mountain. unfortunately, last time i was there space mountain was still under construction, so they had all the windows boarded up. kind of took away from the ride at night, but fun none the less. i've never heard a sound track on the TTA, when did this happen, and what's it about?

[greendoor678]

The Main Street Electrical Parade when it is at WDW. I miss it and won't be able to see the parade during it's visit this summer.

[Len90]

There are so many things that you can do at WDW during the night. My favorite is to go on TTA while Spectromagic is going on. If you hit it at the perfect time you can catch Mickey Mouse making his way up Main Street USA. This year it will be taking TTA during MSEP. It is really amazing to see the lights out area from above and see the parade floats from a different angle.

Some other night time things that I like to do:
- Walk the boardwalk at night
- Hang out in MK on EMH after the parade and fireworks crowds have left
- Walk the World Showcase during EMH

[SoarinSoarin]

this one makes one of my top 5 as well, alot of great night time views from here, plus space mountain. unfortunately, last time i was there space mountain was still under construction, so they had all the windows boarded up. kind of took away from the ride at night, but fun none the less. i've never heard a sound track on the TTA, when did this happen, and what's it about?

You'll be surprised with the additions they added to Space Mountain. It really helps the queue experience, as well as making the ride much darker. I was completely unaware of the renovations, so it was a nice surprise when I first stepped into Tomorrowland. I just wish they would change the actual track, similarly to the 50th update in Disneyland. Maybe not a new design, but a newer, smoother track with new technology would bring in more of the guests who shy away from the ride due to it's rigidness.

The TTA now has a newer voice narrating the ride on Tomorrowland's "Super Skyway." It's a more friendly, more high pitched voice than the previous narrator, which I'm not a fan of since I had the old narration track completely memorized...

[Amy]

The TTA now has a newer voice narrating the ride on Tomorrowland's "Super Skyway." It's a more friendly, more high pitched voice than the previous narrator, which I'm not a fan of since I had the old narration track completely memorized...

Sounds like a good reason to ride the TTA over and over and over to learn the new script ~ glass half full SoarinSoarin!