The Empty EPCOT After Hours Event - No Waits For Rides / Free Treats & Late Night Disney Magic
EPCOT After Hours Event
Transcript
0:03
Welcome everyone. Adam the Woo here. As
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the recording of is Thursday, September
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25th, 2025,
0:08
tonight's episode is going to be an
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after dark later in the evening kind of
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episode because I have a ticket to an
0:18
after hours event at Epcot Center.
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Believe the park closes at 9:00. Event
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starts at 10:00. I can get there prior
0:25
to 10, but at 10 o'clock, those who have
0:28
not purchased the wristband, I believe,
0:31
have to leave. And then from 10 to 1, 10
0:34
p.m. to 1:00 a.m., the after hours event
0:36
happens. I've been to other after hours
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events in previous years at other parks
0:42
at WDW, but never Epcot. I'm hoping for
0:45
some short wait times on some busy
0:48
attractions that usually have a half
0:49
hour to an hour or more wait. Maybe
0:52
there'll be a walk-on. see what happens.
0:54
I'm inviting you to join me.
0:56
>> Shall you?
0:57
>> Taking a look at the info underneath the
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ticket. Ticket valid today only. 25th of
1:02
September 25. Admission to Disney After
1:05
Hours Epcot. Guests with tickets to the
1:08
events do not need to make a theme park
1:09
reservation. I could have got in at
1:11
7:00, but it's 8:30 right now. Getting
1:14
ready to head over. The event takes
1:16
place from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
1:18
Official check-in at the event will take
1:20
place at main entrance to Epcot
1:21
beginning at 7:00. During the after
1:23
hours event, you can enjoy beloved
1:25
attractions with lower weight times,
1:26
delight and tasty snacks,
1:29
including included in the cost of the
1:31
ticketed event. All snacks are included.
1:34
Don't have to break your wallet out for
1:35
anything. Well, snack-wise anyway. Get a
1:38
head start on entering the park before
1:40
the event begins. Encounter some beloved
1:42
Disney characters. It's not too often
1:45
that I head underneath this archway at
1:47
night
1:48
riding in the passenger seat. Okay.
1:51
Special guest is also going to be
1:54
heading to the event with me.
1:56
>> You'll never get a
1:56
>> special guest.
1:57
>> Oh, what was that?
1:58
>> I'm a special guest.
1:59
>> You're a special guest.
2:01
>> Late night at Epcot.
2:29
Spacesh spaceship earth all illuminated
2:29
there. Oh.
2:32
Oh yeah.
2:34
Coming in on the Montreal.
3:01
All right. Going to make my way in
3:01
underneath Spaceship Earth. Oh yeah. The
3:04
underbelly of the Walt Disney World
3:06
Montreal. The underbelly.
3:10
Jim's here.
3:11
>> Hey. Hey.
3:13
There he goes. Let's do it.
3:14
>> It's a beautiful site. Yeah, it is.
3:16
Let's get our after hours on.
3:19
>> Doesn't quite have the same effect at
3:21
night. The uh you can't really see
3:23
ourselves underneath Spaceship Earth as
3:25
well as you can during the day, but I'm
3:27
not going to let that let that diminish
3:29
diminish the fun because we are going to
3:31
crush some rides tonight. Hopefully
3:35
Spaceship Earth. Well, I don't know.
3:37
Spaceship Earth down. probably not going
3:38
to do the attractions that are normally
3:40
low weight times during the day, you
3:42
know, like Spaceship Earth, Living with
3:44
the Land, Nemo, those kind of rides.
3:47
Let's save those for another day because
3:48
those are always short on a regular day.
3:50
But the the non
3:52
the nonshort times, those are the ones
3:54
we're going for. Guardians, Ratatouille,
3:57
Frozen, is there another one? Oh, and
3:59
Test Track.
4:00
>> Test.
4:00
>> The big four.
4:02
>> The big four
4:04
going to be walk-ons. We might do
4:06
Guardians of Chess Track more than once.
4:08
The real Jedi the old Jedi mind trick
4:10
now. Is Starbucks closed? Is it closed
4:12
right now? It's after 10:00, but the
4:14
event starts at 11:00. This would be
4:17
amazing if there's no one in the
4:18
Starbucks line. This is a This would be
4:21
a complete game changer right here. Look
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at what the heck is this? It's open.
4:26
There's no one in line. No one. There's
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not one person in freaking They're open.
4:34
That
4:40
this is the greatest day of my life.
4:40
This is the greatest moment of my life.
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No one in line for Starbucks. Are you
4:44
guys open?
4:46
>> No. It's a little asterric. You have to
4:48
have the after hours wristband to get
4:51
Wait, I'll fist bump you.
4:52
>> Oh, we are fist bumping.
4:52
>> You got to have the wristband to get in
4:53
line, though. And look at this.
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>> I am roped dropping the after hours
4:58
Starbucks event right here. I'm rope
5:00
dropping this. No one in this line. I've
5:03
gone ahead and ordered. I got a pumpkin
5:04
spice latte heading my way. I'm just
5:06
going to I'm just going to let this sink
5:07
in for a brief moment. The park is open.
5:10
Well, the park closed at 10:00. If you
5:11
have a wristband after 11:00, you can
5:13
get in line for Starbucks. So, the cast
5:15
member over there stopping anyone that
5:16
tries to come in that doesn't have a
5:18
wristband. However, no one's coming in.
5:20
So, I feel like if someone did come in,
5:21
they'd probably give them a magic
5:22
moment, let him come up here and get
5:23
some get some coffee. But, all the cast
5:26
members are just waiting patiently for
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people to get caffeinated. And I'm the
5:30
only one getting I'm the only one
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getting caffeinated.
5:33
Only one.
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>> The only one.
5:35
>> How does that feel? No line.
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>> It's I have never been in here with no
5:38
line ever.
5:40
>> Never. First time.
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>> And no one's come in since we got here.
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>> No, we're the only ones. People sitting
5:44
over here, but no one's getting the
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>> You rope dropped.
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>> I rope dropped the Starbucks. I'm so
5:49
happy right now. If this is how the rest
5:52
of the night's going to go, we're in for
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a treat. Indeed.
5:55
>> We're in for a good night. Now going to
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cruise on over to the creation shop,
5:59
check out some merchandise before the
6:03
lines to the rides open. It's going to
6:06
be a good night. You can already tell.
6:07
It's kind of a cool little Figment water
6:09
bottle there. It's got the little top on
6:10
it. It's got Figment's face and his
6:12
horns.
6:12
>> How much you think
6:13
>> that is? $49.99.
6:16
>> 64. I was uh I was a little off. Would
6:18
have guessed 50 bucks, but Okay, I guess
6:20
65. Dang, talk about mass exodus right
6:24
here. This is uh everyone's just flowing
6:27
out. Everyone's heading out. So, our
6:29
plan is we're thinking about going back
6:31
to Ratatouille first. That way, we can
6:32
start at the farthest end right at 10:00
6:35
and then make our way back around cuz I
6:36
feel like anyone that's coming in right
6:38
at 10 is going to go over to Guardians
6:41
first and test track first. So, since
6:43
everyone's heading out, we're going to
6:44
go into World Showcase and head back.
6:47
New Ratatouille first. Ratatouille, then
6:49
Frozen, then Test Track,
6:52
and then Guardians. But I like to do
6:54
test track a couple times and Guardians
6:56
a couple times hopefully. That's
6:57
interesting. They were playing the
6:59
basically exit Q music and now it's off.
7:02
Now it's like quiet through here as
7:05
we're walking back. It's now like 9:35.
7:08
I'm curious. They're not supposed to let
7:09
us in line till 10:00. But since the
7:11
park closed at 9:00, will they let
7:13
regular guest or guests with the
7:14
wristbands go in a little before 10:00?
7:17
If not, we'll dip out and come back. But
7:19
we're going to start with Ratatou. And
7:20
we're thinking about doing all four that
7:22
we want to do. all the really busy
7:24
attractions twice before heading on to
7:26
the next one. So, we're going to do all
7:27
four twice. All right, it is 9:35 right
7:30
now. The event's not supposed to start
7:32
until 10:00, but I'm looking over here
7:34
and the wait time says 15 minutes, which
7:38
means there are people going in. So,
7:39
evidently they cut the regular line off
7:41
at 9:00. Even though the event doesn't
7:42
start till 10:00, I think we can go in
7:45
now at a 15-minute standby wait time at
7:47
9:35. So getting a 25minute head start
7:51
on the event. Let's do it. Just confirm
7:54
with the cast member you have to have
7:56
the wristband. So it starts a little bit
7:58
before 10. So it's not 10.
8:02
Early access to the limited capacity
8:05
event. 15minute wait. See if we can do
8:08
two on this before heading over to
8:10
Frozen. Two on this before Frozen. Let's
8:13
go. I think this is going to be a true
8:15
15 minutes. Of course, getting a little
8:17
bit of the the layover from the original
8:19
line. I would imagine the second run
8:22
through there probably won't be as many
8:23
in here because even though everyone in
8:25
here has wristbands, the front of the
8:27
line are people probably that are from
8:29
the the regular line that close at 9:00.
8:32
But maybe not. But either way, 15-minute
8:34
wait. Yeah, I really like this Q- line.
8:36
You're on the you're on the rooftops of
8:38
Paris. You're like looking into the
8:40
sunroof here. You're in Paris. top of
8:43
the rooftops going into the top of the
8:46
restaurant. You're on you're on the
8:48
roof, which I really like the theming of
8:50
this.
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Love the theming in here. AC's kicking,
8:54
too, which is nice, even though the
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sun's down outside. It's It's a little
8:58
humid.
9:00
All right, here is the layout of the
9:01
land. Complimentary snacks and
9:03
beverages. Chose where all of them are.
9:05
Looks like most of them are up near the
9:07
former future world. And then you got
9:09
all the foods and beverages, different
9:11
merchandise. Spin this around. Here's
9:14
the after hours. 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
9:17
Again, we're in line for the first I
9:19
almost said maze. I'm so used to going
9:21
to haunted houses. The first ride
9:24
before 10.
9:27
Here's all the attractions. And then you
9:29
got some entertainment as well.
9:31
Character experiences. And where does it
9:33
say? Oh, here we go. We got the free
9:36
snacks, popcorn, and ice cream
9:38
novelties. Yes. It was just there. It
9:40
was just the Eiffel Tower right there.
9:42
This is a painting rendition of it. But
9:44
yeah, kind of neat to go through this.
9:45
And just like that, we made it to the
9:47
front with 13 minutes to spare before
9:50
1000 p.m. It is 9:47
9:54
p.m. We're getting ready to head in.
9:56
Make it getting ready to head in and get
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on Ratatouille. Ratatouille's
10:01
little We're going to be shrunk down to
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the size of a mouse. We're going to
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shrink down to the size of a ma a mouse.
10:07
We get to the end. What What's the thing
10:09
you do?
10:10
Make it again.
10:11
>> Got to go around. We just We get to the
10:13
end, we go.
10:15
>> Give it another loop. One more time.
10:17
>> We got the trackless ride system over
10:19
here happening. A lot of trackless rides
10:21
are now happening across WDW. Ooh. 666.
10:24
That's the most evil road in the entire
10:26
[music] tire park. So, good thing we're
10:28
not getting that one.
10:29
>> Yes.
10:32
What do I have here?
10:34
>> No. A simple
10:36
>> digital screen. Some practical effects.
10:38
[music] Little mixture of both. Nice
10:41
little nice good mixture of both
10:50
of that.
10:50
Not sure. Oh, underneath that underneath
10:51
the stove right now. Not good.
10:55
Oh, it's actually warming up. It's
10:57
actually warming up right now.
11:04
There is ride one. [music] All the
11:04
trackless mice are going by getting
11:06
ready to leave. We're uh unboard right
11:08
over here and get back in lock and see
11:10
if we can get on another one. I don't
11:12
even think it's 10 yet.
11:15
>> I don't think it's even 10 yet.
11:21
>> Going out the exit and then turn around
11:21
and go right back in.
11:25
Right back in. Just like that. It's now
11:28
2 minutes to 10 p.m. I think the line's
11:31
even going to be shorter now. 1 minute
11:33
till 10. And now we walked in and now
11:35
we're in line here again at 1 minute
11:37
till the event starts. Oh, I remember
11:38
this. I remember this picture
11:41
underneath the stove again.
11:49
Ride number two.
11:49
Go, go, go, go, go. So, as it turns out,
11:51
the entire section of World Showcase is
11:53
not open after we exited out of Paris.
11:56
Tried to go around towards Morocco and
11:58
that entire area, but it was completely
12:01
closed off, so you had to backtrack the
12:02
other way. So, it kind of kind of
12:04
thwarted our idea of starting on one end
12:06
and kind of looping around. But that
12:08
kind of explains why the guide map did
12:10
not have any free popcorn or ice cream
12:11
or soda over in World Showcase is
12:13
because World Showcase is not open for
12:15
the entire event. But it kind of feels
12:17
like in a way we're like we're here not
12:20
here completely alone, but not
12:21
completely by ourselves, but it almost
12:23
feels like you're not supposed to be
12:24
here. Like you're like here with such a
12:26
limited amount of people that when
12:28
you're walking around, it just doesn't
12:29
feel doesn't feel right. Isn't it like a
12:32
weird vibe?
12:33
>> It is a weird vibe. In some spots, it is
12:37
nobody.
12:38
But right here, few.
12:40
>> There's a few. I think they got the
12:41
mariachi band out. We're going to try to
12:43
go and do Frozen a couple times. Test
12:46
track is down, which don't know if we're
12:48
going to get on Test Track tonight. The
12:50
only other one of these events I did
12:51
overnight was at Magic Kingdom. And that
12:54
night that I did that, Tron was down. So
12:57
hopefully it doesn't happen here with
12:58
Test Track. Not only have you not done
12:59
Ratatouille, you have never done Frozen
13:02
boat ride.
13:03
>> Nope. How about doing it? Want to do it
13:05
twice? This is definitely a true
13:07
15minute wait. A little bit of a line,
13:09
but not not too too bad. It's definitely
13:11
all inside. Definitely doesn't stretch
13:13
outside. So 15 minutes.
13:14
>> All right, there it is. The old
13:16
maelstrom boats getting on
13:19
Frozen. That was like a grand total of
13:22
like [music] 12 minutes. 12minute wait
13:24
time before it's time to go on on
13:27
Frozen. This is one of the two times
13:30
we're going to go on the Frozen Never
13:31
After. So, we waited maybe 15 minutes
13:34
the very first time, 15 minutes to go on
13:35
it and then ended up getting on the
13:37
attraction and get to see all my
13:39
favorite characters from Frozen going
13:40
all through. You see Olaf, you see Sinn,
13:43
you see Anna and Elsa and all that.
13:45
Definitely I really miss Maelstrom quite
13:47
a bit. I definitely miss Maelstrom, but
13:49
I got to say this is probably a slightly
13:51
better attraction. kind of cleaned up
13:53
what the original Maelstrom was. You
13:54
know, they had the same boats. But I
13:56
really like the Frozen ride. I'm not
13:57
going to I can't hate on it too much. I
13:59
just never really do it that often
14:00
because it's usually like an hour or,
14:02
you know, an hour plus wait time. And
14:04
unless I'm with a group of people or
14:06
someone who's never done it. If I'm here
14:07
by myself, I'm never just going to jump
14:09
in line for for it. But since the since
14:12
the wait time is only like 10 15 minutes
14:14
tops, this is the time to do it. And end
14:16
up going getting off the boat, going
14:17
back through the Q- line, which is like
14:19
another 10-minute wait. We're about to
14:21
get on our second second time going on
14:23
Frozen before 11 p.m. It's 10:57 right
14:26
now. [music] Round two for our second
14:28
ride through row four.
14:31
>> And row four. There it is. It's time to
14:33
go back on the former Maelstrom boats.
14:36
There's the Northern Lights up there.
14:38
And there's the southern boat.
14:40
Back of the boat.
14:41
>> Back of the boat.
14:42
>> A little more intense back.
14:45
All right. Lot more intense.
14:51
I didn't realize you went backwards so
14:51
long.
14:53
First you got to go frontwards to go
14:55
backward. Then you go to the backwards,
14:57
then you go front.
14:58
>> The whole thing. The whole thing.
15:06
First time I've ever done Frozen. Two
15:06
times in 20 minutes.
15:15
All right, it turns out that test track
15:15
is down currently. They went down around
15:17
9 9:30 before the event started. In
15:20
fact, we met a couple in line for
15:21
Ratatouille and they said they were in
15:23
line, had to get out of line and went
15:24
over to Ratatouille. We went back by and
15:27
sadly the ride is not going to be open
15:29
the rest of the event. So, we're not
15:30
going to get two rides on test track,
15:32
but perking up just a little bit. We
15:34
ended up getting some waters, get some
15:37
popcorn. I ended up getting a little
15:39
buttery popcorn and uh and a Dani water
15:41
and heading over to Guardians of the
15:43
Galaxy. Going to go on Guardians now.
15:45
Waiting in line. Probably going to be
15:46
about 20 25 minute wait on Guardians. So
15:49
in line for Guardians now and going to
15:51
do try to do two rides on Guardians
15:52
while we're in here. So Guardians time.
15:56
Mine's not too bad. It did kind of stop
15:57
though, but we got
16:03
We're in the line now. We're at Now
16:03
we're at a halt.
16:06
>> Does anyone know what they call
16:07
themselves?
16:08
>> Disappointment.
16:19
>> [music]
16:19
>> You made it.
16:20
>> All right. Try to do this one twice.
16:23
Don't know if we'll get to do it twice.
16:25
I don't think we'll be able to do this
16:27
twice and then get over and do Saurin
16:29
twice. We're going to take Saurin and
16:30
it's going to take the place of test
16:32
track. We might not have time to get
16:36
over to Saurin. But I think it's more
16:37
important to ride this two times than it
16:40
is to go over to Saurin. This is
16:42
definitely maybe even I think the plan
16:44
of attack was perfect.
16:46
We could even do this three times if we
16:48
wanted. We want it, but definitely
16:50
twice. Let's go with the two and see how
16:52
much time we got.
16:54
Agreed. Now, you could come here and
16:57
ride this all night and get all five or
16:59
six songs. Would there six songs? Five
17:00
songs, I think. So, if you could ride it
17:03
all night and get lucky enough to get
17:05
all six songs. That would be an
17:06
undertaking, though.
17:16
I love this attraction.
17:16
>> One of my one of my favorites.
17:20
I haven't been on this in a while, to be
17:21
honest. I don't know if I've been on
17:24
this this year.
17:26
Maybe I have.
17:33
Now, I did go on Crush's Coaster when I
17:33
was in Paris, and a lot of people said
17:35
that had never been on this and have
17:36
been to Disneyland Paris or Crush's
17:38
Coaster, like, "Oh, it's the same ride
17:39
technology, and I will agree, it's kind
17:41
of a more say archaic, but an older
17:44
version of this type of ride
17:45
technology." Nothing compares to this.
17:47
This is far more superior than Crush's
17:49
Coaster. Just Just saying. Crush Coaster
17:51
is fun, but this is this is next level.
17:53
All right, we ended up getting September
17:55
on our first ride. To be honest, that
17:57
might be the first time I've ever gotten
17:58
September.
18:01
The free snacks continue. I got a little
18:03
fruit bar. You're getting your very
18:05
first Mickey bar ever.
18:07
>> And you know what? Complimentary along
18:09
with the price of the ticket. Can't
18:10
[music] go wrong with that. Cheers.
18:15
>> What?
18:17
>> I think we might get evaced.
18:20
>> No, maybe not. They're closing the door
18:21
up here.
18:39
This may put a damper on our two two and
18:40
two challenge.
19:05
>> All right, our two for two for two for
19:05
two challenge. It's going to happen.
19:07
Back on ignited.
19:09
>> This is not
19:22
That's weird. The door still open. The
19:22
door is still open over there. [music]
19:26
Close that door first before we get the
19:27
effect. Here we go.
19:32
All the [music] way inside the lighted
19:33
ring.
19:34
Somebody's not standing inside the
19:36
lighted ring.
19:38
It's not me. [music] I'm inside the
19:48
>> All right. I got to show this. You can
19:49
only see this. This cosmic generator
19:52
only lasts for a brief second and it's
19:54
going to completely disappear. Get
19:56
ready. It's going to be gone in like 3,
19:58
two, gone. It's gone. Say it's gone.
20:01
Round two.
20:06
That is the star number. [music]
20:20
>> Got September the first round. Curious
20:20
to see what song we get. This is one of
20:22
only one photo showed up so far. Frozen
20:24
photo. There's me looking very stoic.
20:28
There's Jim looking very happy. Very
20:30
happy. All right, this is interesting.
20:32
We had the back row on the first ride.
20:35
Now we're the front row on the second
20:37
ride.
20:39
So back on on first,
20:43
first on the second. Didn't Bob Uker
20:46
always used to say that? Must be in the
20:48
front row.
20:50
>> Did Bob Yuker say that? Did you
20:52
>> And then they would set him in the nose
20:53
bleed.
20:55
>> Oh,
20:55
>> there it is.
20:58
>> Row one, please.
21:01
>> Table for two. Row one, please.
21:04
Let's go talk. Let's go talk. And look
21:07
at this.
21:09
>> Make sure your hat too.
21:11
>> Best remove them. Best remove.
21:15
>> It's interesting. Disneyland the other
21:18
day. I went to Mickey Minnie's Runaway
21:19
Railway and they will not launch the
21:22
train, trackless train if you have a
21:25
camera. But here at Disney World,
21:28
we're on the most extreme thing ever and
21:31
everyone just films on it. Can uh
21:35
I don't know. I wonder what song we're
21:36
going to get. I'm thinking it's going to
21:39
be
21:44
I don't know.
21:44
>> Flock of seagulls.
21:45
>> India. Flock of seagulls.
21:46
>> That's going with you going with Iran?
21:48
>> Yeah. Iran.
21:50
>> Iran. Or everybody wants to rule the
21:52
world.
21:52
>> No.
21:53
>> You don't like that one? I love that
21:54
one, but I don't think you're going to
21:55
get it.
21:56
>> I'm saying everybody wants to rule the
21:58
>> Going with Tears for Fears, huh?
22:00
>> You're going with Cheers for Fears, but
22:01
I like both of them.
22:02
>> I'm going with uh
22:03
>> Going with Ivy. I'm going with uh
22:05
Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
22:07
You're going with Ivy.
22:08
>> We got Conga.
22:09
>> I don't want that one.
22:11
>> I don't know the other I'm going to
22:12
leave that one on the table.
22:14
>> All right, we got September again.
22:16
September two times in a row. And that's
22:18
going to do it for today
22:20
from the after hours of event. First
22:23
after hours event at Epcot was really
22:25
good. Got to do two rides
22:29
on three different attractions, a total
22:31
of six rides. Had some snacks, had some
22:33
popcorn,
22:35
some beverages.
22:38
All in all, a good time for the price. I
22:41
think it was around $150 a person.
22:44
They get you in. So, let's say you're
22:45
not an annual passholder.
22:48
If you're not an annual passholder, you
22:49
get in at 7:00 p.m. So, you basically
22:52
have a park day from 700 p.m. to 1:00
22:54
a.m.
22:56
And after 10 p.m., you get front you get
22:59
access to the rides without having to
23:00
wait.
23:03
Of course, we didn't get here till 9:00,
23:04
but still wouldn't have made much of
23:07
difference with the wristband getting in
23:09
before getting into the locks. But if
23:12
you were here on vacation and you didn't
23:13
want to, you know, pay for yourself and
23:16
a group to come in all day and then also
23:18
purchase the Lightning Lane, you could
23:21
do the after hours event. And really,
23:23
you could probably get We did two two
23:26
rides per attraction. If you just did
23:28
one, you could knock out way more. Only
23:31
thing is not everything was open.
23:34
But nonetheless, still a good time
23:36
heading out.
23:39
You got spaceship spaceship Earth off in
23:41
the distance. You know, I don't think
23:42
Spaceship Earth was running the whole
23:43
night,
23:44
>> right?
23:46
>> It was closed when we got here.
23:48
>> However, we did all the stuff that
23:49
normally has an hour, hour and 15
23:51
minutes plus wait times.
23:54
>> Twice.
23:55
>> Twice. Two time. What did we do? What
23:56
did we do?
23:57
>> Rode them all twice.
24:04
Worth it. Thanks for watching. See you
24:04
in the next video. The vlog
24:07
is over.
24:09
Nailed it.