Hi Catherine. What a great question! Thanks for asking us here at planDisney.
Disney After Hours Events at the
Walt Disney World Resort are a ton of fun. You get to experience the parks after they have closed to most Guests. Only people with tickets will be able to experience the parks once the event begins and you usually get to experience attractions with a much shorter wait. While I have not yet done this type of event at
EPCOT or
Disney's Hollywood Studios, I
have done it when it was offered at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park and there were areas of the park where it felt like we had the whole park to ourselves! And not only that, certain treats and bottled beverages are included in your ticket to the event. And you can likely forget about the sunscreen because you'll be out at night after the sun has gone down!
While your question is a great one, it's also a difficult one to answer. Crowd levels are very dependent on the time of year, the day of the week, and a bunch of other different factors. Sometimes you can get a sense of how busy it will be by checking the
Theme Park Reservation Availability Calendar as your date gets closer.
Unlike
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at
Magic Kingdom Park, the park hours during the day for general ticket holders are not usually adjusted much for After Hours Events. Since the park closes early for
holiday events, some Guests are deterred from going to Magic Kingdom Park during the day because they see that the park will close earlier and the
nighttime spectacular will only be shown for party Guests. However, since those really aren't factors with After Hours Events, it's not likely these events will have much of an impact on the regular daytime crowds. However, since Guests attending After Hours Events can enter the parks earlier than the start time of the event, the park can feel a lot busier toward the end of the regular daytime hours as both day Guests and Guests attending the event will be in the park.
Catherine, I hope that I have helped you with your planning. If you should have any other questions, please
feel free to reach out again in the future.
Even miracles take a little time,
Matt