I did MSSHP and Jollywood Nights this year…
Jollywood, while a Christmas event, was basically an “After Hours” events for DHS…
For purposes of answer your question I’m going to presume you are only visiting the park specifically for the party. This doesn’t take into account that you could RD DHS and then stay all day/night …
The amount of hours of the party versus ticket price is pretty important…
At MNSSHP you can enter at 4pm and stay until 12am = 8 hours for $125 (approx)
DHS After Hours you can enter at 7pm and stay until 12:30am = 5.5 hours for $150 (approx)
(This was the same schedule as Jollywood Night for reference)
I’m a “ride” person too! I’ll see a show sometimes, but for me it’s go-go-go for rides! I’ll stop for, maybe, one photo and one snack.
I felt like I got the most out of MNSSHP…not only was it nearly 3 hours longer, but it just felt more “fun”!
I did wear a costume. I HIGHLY encourage it for adults and kids! I ate sooo much “free” candy I got an actual tummy ache!
Rarely am I a parade person, but I did watch “Boo to You!” I’m so glad I did! Seeing a real horse / headless horseman along with the grave diggers sparking up the streets & more was probably my all-time favorite parade!
I did watch the BIG fireworks show in the middle of the night. It was beautiful, but too packed. I’m glad I saw it, but you could skip it for rides…
I found the queues at MNSSHP to be less than 20 minutes for most rides during the event (except 7DMT & Tron)
After 10:30pm every ride at MK was a walk-on and 7DMT was about 10 - 15 minutes after 11pm…
I was always on the move & you really can’t do everything MNSSHP offers in one night. While I was rushing around, I never felt too rushed. I had enough time to do everything I wanted.
With Jollywood / DHS - The ONLY attraction I waited for at all was Slinky. I walked on EVERYTHING at Jollywood. HOWEVER, I attribute this to there being so many unique “Christmas” only shows and foods that kept people out of the queues. The three shows had a full houses every performance. Plus, there were many exclusive character meetings that people came specifically to do…
When you only have five hours and you spend 45 minutes to meet one character that’s a big portion of “event time” you weren’t in a ride queue.
There are so few rides at DHS that I’m not sure an After Hours Event that has no shows and fewer characters will have enough to pull people out of queues.
I did not get to do everything I wanted at Jollywood even though I did A LOT. I was, literally, running at times to cross the park. I got to “see” SW:GE, but I didn’t get to “experience” it. I did do MF:SR and ToT twice. I was the ONLY person in the entire building at MF:SR - no joke! Me & a CM talked through the preshow and I had a Millennium Falcon all to myself!
The night was more stressful though, in terms of doing as much as possible. I’m glad I was travelling solo!!
I would go back to MNSSHP, but not a Jollywood / DHS After Hours. (Unless they extended the DHS event a couple hours longer…)
If you’d like to read my “full” account of my night at MNSSHP
It’s just the middle “chunk” of my September Trip Report from Halloween Horror Nights / MNSSHP
If you’d like to read my Jollywood / DHS After Hours Trip Report
I was in Orlando for Grinchmas / MVMCP / Jollywood and a lot of us on these forums met each other IRL that week!
Can you kids rush around ALL NIGHT without being tired / moody / grouchy / hungry???
At each event I saw SOOO MANY miserable kids being force to “have fun” when all they wanted to do was sleep. So many kids, literally, lying down on the street & sidewalks while parents were watching shows or trying drag them to another ride…