On Thursday night the Disneyland Resort continued its Disneyland After Dark series with 90s Nite! This ticketed event allowed guests to relive some of their favorite Disney memories from the 1990s. This was done with music, characters from movies during the era, characters from the Disney Afternoon, merchandise, and of course food!
Guests entering the party could get their tickets, wristbands, maps, and if Annual Passholders their buttons in Tomorrowland’s Starcade starting at 4:00 PM. The main gate entrance opened for party goers at 6:30. Disneyland closed at 8:00 and the party technically began at 9:00 but things got started a bit early. Some characters, merchandise, and food became available before the party began at 9:00.
Characters/Photo Ops
The line for Goofy and Max was already over an hour long shortly after 8:00 with Goofy arriving not much later. Max showed up later in his Powerline finest. The guests in line and around the area went wild! It definitely was a very popular photo location throughout the night. Walking around the park, it was quite apparent that the characters were incredibly popular. Many had fairly long lines as guests enthusiastically attempted to get photos with their favorite Disney friends. Some of the most popular seemed to be the Darkwing Duck/Don Karnage location, The Hunchback of Notre Dame location, and Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers on Main Street, USA. Other character and photo locations throughout the park for the event included:
Adventureland
- Baloo – Louie
- Indiana Jones
Critter Country
- Mulan – Mushu
Fantasyland
- Belle – Gaston
- Darkwing Duck – Don Karnage
- Hercules – Megara – Hades
- Disney Afternoon Avenue Photo Opportunities
Frontierland
- Pocahontas – Meeko
- Clopin – Esmerelda – Phoebus
- Timon – Rafiki
Main Street, USA
- Chip – Dale
- Scrooge McDuck – Launchpad McQuack
New Orleans Square
- Fantasmic! Monkeys
Tomorrowland
- Goofy – Max
Photopass was on hand at most of these locations throughout the night. The pictures taken by Photopass were included with the price of admission to the party. There were also photo circles found throughout the park during the party. Also, there were stamps for the Disney Afternoon Avenue photo location maps that added a bit of a quest element to the evening.
Entertainment
There was also entertainment to be enjoyed throughout the evening. The highlight easily was the Disney Afternoon After Dark fireworks show. This fireworks show celebrated the music and memories of the Disney Afternoon. It was a lot of fun and the guests seemed incredibly enthusiastic about different parts of this show. It worked its way through most of the main Disney Afternoon shows before ending with i2i from A Goofy Movie. Other entertainment offered included DJ Wendy in the middle of the Hub, The Sound on the Mark Twain, and a Punk/Rock band in Tomorrowland.
Food
For Disneyland After Dark – 90s Nite, there were also multiple special food offerings to be found. Many of these seemed like they were pulled straight out of the 1990s and some of them seemed inspired by this decade. They included:
Adventureland
- Tropical Imports – Tropical Punch Dip Pickles
Fantasyland
- Red Rose Tavern – Pepperoni Pizza Bagel Twist, Grey Stuff Shake
Frontierland
- Churro Cart – PB&J Churro
- Popcorn Cart – Cheddar Cheese Bacon Popcorn
- Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante – Fry Bread Tacos
- Stage Door Cafe – Savory Corn Churro
Main Street, USA
- Churro Cart – Churro with Cherry Pie Dipping Sauce
- Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor – Choco-cones
- Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe – Bagel Pizzas, Donut Holes Nachos, Toasted Strawberry Strudel
- Refreshment Corner – Circle-Up Hot Dog
New Orleans Square
- Churro Cart – Ranch Dusted Toasted Corn Churro
- Mint Julep Bar – Cherry or Sour Apple Dip Beignets
Tomorrowland
- Alien Pizza Planet – “A Better Place” – Asian Chicken Salad, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Coke Vanilla Bottles
- Galactic Grill – Fried Food Basket
Some of the food became available at 8:30 and the rest was available at 9:00. Most of the food locations had fairly long lines throughout the night. The food the DAPS MAGIC team did try was enjoyable enough and worth the value, although the length of the line could be debatable.
Merchandise
The merchandise for Disneyland After Dark – 90s Nite was incredibly popular. Lines for the pins were stretching through Tomorrowland well before the party began. On Main Street, USA the line to the merchandise for the party was even longer! Merchandise included a 90s Nite Event Pin, 90s Nite D-Tech Phone Cases, and 90s Nite T-Shirts.
Thoughts
Disneyland After Dark – 90s Nite was quite a fun night. It was definitely an evening full of surprises. Several times throughout the night the skies opened up and the rain came down. This forced some changes for quite a few of the photo locations as efforts were made to get characters out of the rain.
It FELT like there were more people at this party than the last Disneyland After Dark. However, this also might have just been that guests were more concentrated on the same things this time around. That being said, there were a LOT of fairly decent sized lines… unless you were going on attractions.
There weren’t as many entertainment options at this event, but there did seem to be more character locations. The Disney Afternoon After Dark fireworks were definitely a highlight. Seeing Indiana Jones exploring the exterior queue of his attraction was also pretty awesome. Really, most of the character locations and interactions were really awesome and an entire story could be written just about those! The food was enjoyable, the entertainment good, and judging by how long the lines were for merchandise, Disney got that right as well.
Overall, Disneyland After Dark – 90s Nite was really an enjoyable evening. There was plenty to do, lots to see, multiple things to eat, and even things to buy. Despite the rain, it seemed like most people were having a blast. In fact, in some ways, it added to the adventure of the evening! This was an event that the DAPS MAGIC team was glad that we attended. We had lots of laughter, made multiple happy memories, and had a great night at this event! We are definitely looking forward to the next one!
