Fun at Earidescent Evenings | DCP Spring 2022

On Tuesday, June 28, 2022, I attended a special event for Disney cast members at Magic Kingdom called Earidescent Evenings. Cast members were given the opportunity to attend either Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or EPCOT for a few hours after the park closed. Each cast member was allowed to bring one guest to the event, so I brought my friend from the Disney Ohana Club. Well, technically she brought me because she drove us to the event. Earidescent Evenings at Magic Kingdom officially ran from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., but we were allowed in the park as early as 7:00 p.m. 

My friend and I arrived about 30-40 minutes before 7:00 p.m., so we had some time to kill. Right at the turnstile to get in, I got a pretty lanyard from one of the cast members. Both sides said “Cast Member Earidescent Evenings,” but one side had beautiful silhouettes of a few iconic pieces at Magic Kingdom including Cinderella’s castle, ‘Space Mountain,’ and the partner statue. The lanyard was glossy with dark blue purplish designs against a purplish pink background. The map was just as pretty; it’s a shame it got beat up throughout the night being stuck in my backpack.

The first attraction we did was one of my personal favorites, ‘Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.’ I wish I could remember the exact jokes from that night, but trust me, the monsters were hilarious! Then, my friend and I got dinner at Casey’s Corner on Main Street, U.S.A. Those corn dog nuggets are so simple, yet they’re so good. After dinner, we rode ‘Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid.’ That Ariel animatronic in the “Part of Your World” scene is creepy as heck, but other than that, it’s a cute ride with beautiful colors and great music.

After that, we met up with a few of my friend’s friends from her most recent Disney College Program. From there on, it was ride after ride, after ride! I’ll admit, it takes me a while to get used to new people, but they were really nice. So that made things a lot easier. Besides getting the Disney parks to ourselves, we also got free food and drinks. After having a blast on ‘Big Thunder Mountain Railroad,’ we grabbed some popcorn, Coca-Cola, and Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwiches!

I tried Coca-Cola for the first time, which was exciting. It was not bad and I finished it fast. Then again, that’s probably because I was really thirsty. I’m not a soda person, so I probably won’t have it again. I just tried the Coca-Cola bottle because it was free.

The next ride on the agenda was ‘Splash Mountain.’ My friend and I didn’t plan to ride that one for Earidescent Evenings, it just happened! We both didn’t want to get wet at night, so we had no intentions of riding it that night. Her friends wanted to ride ‘Splash Mountain,’ though, which I’m glad they did, to be honest, because I love that ride so much! Luckily, I came prepared and brought a trash bag to put my backpack in, so that it didn’t get wet on the ride.

Up next, we rode ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and the ‘Jungle Cruise’ before getting our pictures taken in front of Cinderella’s castle. Another benefit of doing Earidescent Evenings was having free access to the Disney PhotoPass Service. That’s right, we got to have our photos taken by a professional for free!

When we headed to Tomorrowland to ride ‘Space Mountain,’ there was a dance party with Chip and Dale going on! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to say hi to them. It’s ok, though, I was just happy to watch them have a great time dancing with the other guests.

I have a love-hate relationship with Disney World’s version of ‘Space Mountain.’ It is a cool coaster with the rush and special effects, making it feel like you’re in outer space. However, the coaster is really jerky! It’s not nearly as smooth as Disneyland’s version of the attraction. As you can tell by the photo, I was scared for my dear life! No joke, I literally thought I was going to get knocked out of the vehicle; that’s how rough the ride was.

The last ride of the night was ‘Seven Dwarfs Mine Train,’ and I’m not going to lie, it’s not that good of a coaster! It’s too short and the track layout is average. Then again, I shouldn’t be too harsh on it because it’s a kid-friendly roller coaster. It’s not fair to compare ‘Seven Dwarfs Mine Train’ to something like ‘The Incredible Hulk Coaster.’ On the bright side, those animatronics are freaking cool to look at, especially the Dopey one with his diamond studded eyes!

Disney World also played the soundtrack to Magic Kingdom’s previous beloved fireworks show, ‘Happily Ever After’! When I first heard about Earidescent Evenings a couple of months beforehand, I heard a rumor that Magic Kingdom was going to play ‘Happily Ever After.’ However, I thought they were going to play the actual fireworks show at the event, not just the music. Don’t get me wrong, Magic Kingdom’s current fireworks show, ‘Enchantment,’ is beautiful, but it’s not as heartwarming and magical as ‘Happily Ever After.’ Plus the soundtrack for the latter is so good!

And just like that, 1:00 a.m. came quickly! We said goodbye to our friends, took the ferry boat back to the Ticket and Transportation Center, walked to the parking lot to find my friend’s car, and headed back home. Well, she took me back to Flamingo Crossings and she drove back to her place.

Overall, it was an unbelievable event that was one of the highlights of my Disney College Program so far! I’m glad my friend got to come with me because it would’ve been horrible to have attended the event by myself. If it weren’t for her friends, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do all of the rides we did that night. It wasn’t exactly how I thought Earidescent Evenings would turn out, but I’m glad it turned out the way it did because sometimes it’s better to hang out with a big group of people. My friend has been busy with work too, so I’m happy she got to have a night to herself for some Disney fun!

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Take care and see ya real soon!

Lana