What do you get when you combine a late-night Disneyland trip with all of the romance of a Disney movie? It’s simple: you get Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts’ Nite! Come be our Valentine and join us on this Bella Notte for a celebration of Disney, love, and all things Valentine’s-related. Whether you bring your new love, lifelong soulmate, or your churro-loving best friend, there’s a lot this special event had to offer. Although tickets have sold out for the remaining night (tonight), here’s what we enjoyed during this year’s Sweethearts’ Nite.
Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts’ Nite 2020
This specialty ticketed event was from 9PM-1AM, but you could check-in as early as 6PM and mix with the general day crowds. Once you’ve checked in, you’re given a lanyard and a map that displays rare character meet and greet opportunities, special photo ops, showtimes, merchandise locations, and brand-new food options for the evening. Tickets for the event were $109 per person and offered two nights to choose from. There were still tickets on the day of the event for last night, February 12th, but the event on the 13th sold out pretty quickly. While it never hurts to check at the park to see if they add a few more tickets today, we called and were told that no tickets were available. If this is something you’d like to attend next year, be sure to keep an eye out for the announcement to snag tickets early!
Sweethearts’ Nite Merchandise
There’s a handful of special Sweethearts’ Nite merch, including some new options. You can find couples mugs (think Beauty and the Beast, and Wall-E and Eve), lightweight long sleeve hoodies, and a NEW Sweethearts’ Nite Pin. I highly recommend heading to Launch Bay first if you’re hoping to purchase the collector’s pin. The 2-piece limited edition pin was gone before we could get to it!
Royal Ball at Small World
This was our favorite experience of the night. If you are looking for a way to meet a lot of characters at once, and take photos with them to keep a magic memory for years to come, this is where you need to go! Also, this is something you don’t need to wait in line for, which is great for a special event like this, where almost every experience and ride has long waits.
Showtimes are at every hour and last for 30 minutes. The Royal Ball is hosted by the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merriweather, and they’ll be dancing the night away along with all of their guests. You can waltz with you favorite Disney couples like Aurora and Prince Phillip, Jasmine and Aladdin, Snow White and her Prince, Cinderella and Prince Charming. And there are a few unconventional guests like Gaston, Maleficent, Anastasia and Drizella, but all are welcome to attend the Royal Ball. I could have stayed here all night long and danced to my heart’s content!
Disney Couples Meet & Greets
Be aware that these lines are long! Before getting in line for any meet and greet, pick and choose who is on your priority list to visit. We waited an average of 30-40 minutes per couple. The good news is, most of these couples are in Fantasyland (around the Matterhorn) and close together.
Disneyland has done a great job providing free PhotoPass for all of their guests at this After Dark Event. This is really important because lighting can be tricky on a camera or phone, and no one wants a too-dark photo after waiting in line for so long. Here is who you can meet: Milo and Kida, Hercules and Megara, Anna and Kristoff, Ariel and Prince Eric, Rapunzel and Flynn, Mulan and Shang, Tiana and Naveen, and the main Mouse himself, Mickey, dressed as a Dapper Dan with his Sweetheart Minnie.
Backdrop Photo-Ops
It wouldn’t be a Disneyland After Dark event without special photo-op locations. Around the park, you can find sets of some of Disney’s cherished love stories from The Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid, Tangled and Aladdin. These lines can also be long depending on what location you go to, but they move much faster than a meet and greet queue. Most of these photo-op spots have more than one background set up to help clear out the queue.
My personal favorite was the lantern scene from Tangled, and it’s nicely tucked away in the Fantasyland Theatre so most people don’t see it. It’s so pretty!
Sweethearts’ Nite Fireworks
For a special celebration of classic Disney love songs, be sure to watch the fireworks show. The show features “Bella Notte” from Lady and the Tramp, “Tale as Old as Time” from Beauty and the Beast, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid, and “True Love’s Kiss” from Enchanted. This is something you don’t want to miss!
The projections along Main Street are a nice touch of whimsy
Sweets and Snacks
New sweets and churros seem to have quite a few things in common. They all seem to be strawberry, chocolate or cherry flavors and colored pink of course! We had the chance to try the Pucker Up Sour Cherry Churro in Tomorrowland with Cream Cheese dipping sauce and we couldn’t quite decide if we loved it or liked it. It has a definite sour first bite which is mellowed out a bit when combined with the sweet cream cheese dipping sauce.
If we had more time at this event we would have loved to try the Chocolate Strawberry Beignets in New Orleans Square. Also, we wanted to note that Oga’s Cantina was announced as walk-in only during the After Dark event, and you cannot make reservations. But don’t stay in the cantina too long when there are so many unique things to do at the event itself!
Sweethearts’ Nite D23 Members-Only Gift
Visit The Golden Horseshoe to find a special tribute to Walt and Lillian’s 30th Anniversary Celebration. Be sure to show your D23 Membership Card to receive a special gift: a reproduction of their 30th wedding anniversary invitation. It’s a sweet and touching tribute to the Walt and Lillian, and it fits in perfectly with the rest of the celebrations around the park.
Rides and Attractions
All of Disneyland’s rides were open with the exception of Rise of the Resistance. Most rides have a very short line, or no wait time because guests are busy enjoying other opportunities around the park.
Disneyland After Dark Sweethearts’ Night – Final Thoughts
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our After Dark Sweethearts’ Nite experience, the main thing we would change is the soundtrack playing throughout the lands. There were around 12 songs playing in an endless loop, and after 6 hours, it was a bit exhausting. But the meet and greets had plenty of variety, the fireworks were a blissful change of pace, and the Royal Ball was a fun memory we would love to repeat over and over again. We’re already looking forward to going back next year!
2020 Spring Ticket Savings
Disneyland raised ticket prices this week. Don’t pay full price! We’ve got single-day and multi-day tickets at the 2019 rate for a limited time and spring sale packages for less as well!
Kids Spring Sale
For a limited time, Get Away Today is offering savings of up to $86 on 3-Day Disneyland Tickets for kids ages 3 – 9. Valid on travel now through May 21, 2020, this deal is good on all 3-Day tickets, including 1-Park per Day, Park Hopper and tickets with Disney MaxPass. Tickets must be used within 13 days of use or on May 21, 2020, whichever comes first. It is the lowest price you’ll see on child tickets this year!
Best of all, these savings can be combined with other offers! Include a hotel with your vacation package and you can use code MICECHAT for an additional $10 in savings.
Southern California Resident Offer
This Spring, Southern California residents can save up to $106 on adult 3-Day Disneyland tickets for travel now through May 21, 2020. For residents who reside in zip codes 90000-93599, 3-Day Disneyland tickets for both adults and children can be purchased for less than $67 per day – that’s LESS than purchasing directly with Disney and includes downloadable coupons a free Chatbooks photo book. Or, upgrade to Park Hopper tickets with or without MaxPass. Either way you’ll save $106 per adult and $86 per child.
These tickets can be used any time between now and May 21, 2020. Come for Rise of the Resistance and Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival. Consider adding a discounted hotel stay and enjoy a fun-filled and affordable staycation. Get this deal HERE for a limited time.
Disneyland ticket and MaxPass prices were raised this week
But you can still get last year’s prices with our partner Get Away Today! By buying with them now, you can save up to $75 per ticket! Here are the details so you don’t miss out:
- Save up to $75 over gate prices by booking your Disneyland tickets with Get Away Today by Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 11:59pm MT
- Buy now, or lock-in your prices for just $175 down with Get Away Today’s Layaway Plan
- If you’ve already purchased your tickets, or if they’re on a Layaway Plan with Get Away Today, you’re already locked in!
- The Kids Spring Offer on 3-Day tickets for travel by May 21, 2020 are now up to a $111 per ticket savings!
- The SoCal Ticket offer on 3-Day tickets for travel by May 21, 2020 are now up to a $131 per ticket savings!
- You can save even more with my promo code when you book a 2-night stay with at least two tickets.
Here are the exact savings based on ticket type over the current gate pricing:
- 2-Day Park Hopper or 1-Park per Day: $15 Savings
- 2-Day with MaxPass: $25 Savings
- 3-Day Park Hopper or 1-Park per Day: $15 Savings
- 3-Day with MaxPass: $30 Savings
- 4-Day Park Hopper or 1-Park per Day: $20 Savings
- 4-Day with MaxPass: $35 Savings
- 5-Day Park Hopper or 1-Park per Day: $50 Savings
- 5-Day with MaxPass: $75 Savings
(When calling, mention MiceChat so you get your special rates and deals!).
Let’s Hear From You
Did you attend Sweethearts’ Nite this year? Sorry you missed out? Are these late-night events something on your to-do list? How are you spending Valentine’s Day this year? Let us know in the comments!
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