Disney’s Exclusive Event Fails to Impress, Leaves Attendees Disappointed

Disneyland in California has become known over the last few years for its Disneyland After Dark events, a series of specially themed events that take place after park close and provide guests with a variety of special events and activities.

Some of the events that take place throughout the year are Sweethearts Nite, Princess Nite, a Star Wars Nite, Pride Nite, and the most recent new addition, Disney Channel Nite. Each event offers guests themed food and beverage offerings, as well as fun activities throughout the park, like dance parties and rare character interactions. With a recent resurgence of nostalgia, the announcement of a Disney Channel Nite was met with much excitement and anticipation from Disney fans.

With expected announcements like Kim Possible, That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, and others, adults were excited at the prospect of being able to relive their childhood. However, it seems as though the event was a bit of a letdown for some guests, who took to social media to share their complaints about the after-hours event.

With special events like these, although crowds are smaller compared to normal daytime crowds, demand is often higher for the offerings that are provided for guests, leading to long lines for the meet and greets and major crowds in many of the DJ dance party areas. With the character interactions, many of the characters are some that are either rolled out specifically for that event or only come out for other special events, making them incredibly popular and in high demand throughout the course of the night.

Of course, it’s just not always possible that every guest is able to meet these characters due to the demand as well as mandated cast member breaks. It can be incredibly disappointing to have been waiting for hours only to find out you won’t be able to meet your favorite character.

In addition, tickets for these events cost almost as much as a regular daytime ticket, despite only being a six hour event. While the entirety of the park is available to these guests, including attractions, food service locations, and merchandise locations, most of the guests are going for the special offerings, which congregates crowds in the same areas. This seems to be the main problem that one guest had while attending Disney Channel Nite.

In a post to Reddit, u/TorturedPoett describes their experience, stating that they had a lot of fun, but they had several issues with the overall event. They explained that many of the photo op lines were over two hours, food was extremely limited, the advertised “exclusive merch” was only one specific item, the map was unclear, causing them to wait over two and a half hours for the wrong photo op, and the timing of the party starting was confusing. “Overall, I love the concept of late night events,” they finished, “Everyone had wonderful costumes and the energy was fun. But Disney dropped the ball. Again.”

Disney Channel Nite Thoughts (night 2)
byu/TorturedPoett inDisneyland

Several of the comments agreed with the comments from the OP, including comments from cast members. “They REALLY need to be specific about photo op locations. It’s embarrassing as a cm not knowing where to send people,” said u/Ok-Computer-Ok. Another chimed in saying that their experience at “sweethearts nite last year totally turned me off of all after dark events…they’re unorganized, overcrowded cash grab events that are a waste of money for guests,” said u/BreakfastQueen.

“Villains night two years ago turned me off to the after hours events,” said u/ckeenan9192. “It was such a wasted opportunity.” u/No_Zucchini_5395 agreed with the points OP made, adding that “they sell too many tickets to these after dark events to be able to enjoy it for the $ you pay.”

While the Disneyland After Dark events are often popular upon announcement and pretty quick to sell out, the criticisms after the fact are often the same, with many claiming that while they’re a cool concept, the after-hours events just aren’t thought through all the way or well organized. Disneyland has been hosting these events for a few years now, so hopefully the events will get better as they continue.

Have you ever attended one of the Disneyland After Dark events? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.

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