Lesson Learned: Don't try to be early on EMH morning

mickeyluv'r · Jul 2, 2015

Three thoughts:

One, hopping on the resort monorail might be an option on such days. It goes by the resorts, but also goes to MK.

Two, what if an offsite guests has an early ADR?

Three, the experience of one day doesn't mean that's always the way the monorail operates. The monorail is a notoriously fickle thing, especially this summer when it is operating on limited hours.

Even when we stayed ONSITE. and ON the monorail loop- transportation to MK via monorail has often been unreliable. AFTER our stay, myself and others posted about the monorail being down, but during multiple stays- in short- we had no advance warning of any kind. Nor were we offered any refunds, despite our resort missing it's most important perk.

Jadyreen1282 · Jul 2, 2015

mshanson3121 said:
Yeah, thanks that's so helpful. And SOOOOO easy to just magically pull off when you have two children and strollers full of stuff and four other members of the party that maybe don't want to go walking around for 45 minutes.

Sorry. Just trying to offer alternatives.

JimmyBean42 · Jul 2, 2015

mshanson3121 said:
Yeah, thanks that's so helpful. And SOOOOO easy to just magically pull off when you have two children and strollers full of stuff and four other members of the party that maybe don't want to go walking around for 45 minutes.

Sorry you got some not-so-magical responses, but I think the poster on this one was genuinely trying to be helpful.

So my question is this. For EMH in the PM - is that open to everyone or just resort guests? We typically avoid EMH but was just curious.

bbjunkie · Jul 2, 2015

JimmyBean42 said:
Sorry you got some not-so-magical responses, but I think the poster on this one was genuinely trying to be helpful.

So my question is this. For EMH in the PM - is that open to everyone or just resort guests? We typically avoid EMH but was just curious.

Just resort guests. They won't kick you out of the park, but if you are not a resort guest you will not be able to go on rides. They have you tap the tap stiles.

JimmyBean42 · Jul 2, 2015

bbjunkie said:
Just resort guests. They won't kick you out of the park, but if you are not a resort guest you will not be able to go on rides. They have you tap the tap stiles.

Thank you. Good to know. Appreciate it.

Robo · Jul 2, 2015

bbjunkie said:
Just resort guests. They won't kick you out of the park, but if you are not a resort guest you will not be able to go on rides.
They have you tap the tap stiles.

Remember that many attractions don't offer FP+ so those attractions don't have tap stiles.
So, there are CMs stationed at the queue entrance with portable MB readers
which reveal if you are an on-site WDW resort guest.

maxiesmom · Jul 2, 2015

lugnut33 said:
LOL at all the people Disney-shaming the original poster.
Two years ago at Christmas time the MK had EMH every day for a week solid and they let us take transportation over to the gates and even let us in at around 7:30. During the holiday seasons it's not like you are going to avoid it all week long. This must be new policy.

It is not a new policy. I have been at the TTC when they were asking guests if they were a resort guest or had an ADR. If you had neither, they were not allowing you to go any farther.

mshanson3121 · Jul 2, 2015

mickeyluv'r said:
Two, what if an offsite guests has an early ADR?

They let you through if you have an ADR

lugnut33 · Jul 2, 2015

maxiesmom said:
It is not a new policy. I have been at the TTC when they were asking guests if they were a resort guest or had an ADR. If you had neither, they were not allowing you to go any farther.

Weird the didn't do that 2 years ago.

maxiesmom · Jul 2, 2015

sharona said:
What if you stay on site but are driving to MK instead of the bus? You can't go to EMH?

You will have to show you are a resort guest.

lugnut33 said:
Weird the didn't do that 2 years ago.

I had that happen more than a few years ago. Must be one of those weird things that depends on the CM/Waxing of the moon/What color your pants are.

JimmyV · Jul 2, 2015

On the one hand, chasting the OP for posting their experience isn't warranted. If this isn't news to you because you know the ropes, you can always just move along. On the other hand......seeing that the OP has over 1,000 posts, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that they have read up on basic touring strategies. Still not an excuse for rudeness. But it might explain why the responses came out the way they did.

larryz · Jul 2, 2015

AngiTN said:
If there is 1 rule every one on the Disboards knows it's this one.

I thought rule #1 was to always go left...?

Lisa loves Pooh · Jul 2, 2015

mshanson3121 said:
Yeah, thanks that's so helpful. And SOOOOO easy to just magically pull off when you have two children and strollers full of stuff and four other members of the party that maybe don't want to go walking around for 45 minutes.

It is actually a helpful suggestion. Some people don't like to stay idle. And if you arrived too early for an EMH you could not use, knowing that something is close by that you could do is a valid suggestion.

Not to toot my own horn, but we also have the stroller brigade. So I feel your pain. Heck, I don't even has the tram because of it.

To me--walking to Poly would be way easier a distraction than standing idle at a closed monorail station with the stroller brigade asking why we aren't riding the monorail non-stop.

Everyone is walking around of hours on end that day anyway. What's another 45 minutes?

Lisa loves Pooh · Jul 2, 2015

Rosebud123 said:
Thanks for posting. Ouch to some of the replies. It never would have occurred to me that they wouldn't let you on the boats or monorails! I find that shocking.

I was surprised as well. But it makes sense. The area would become far too congested with off site guests and make it difficult for on site guests to get to the turnstyles to access EMH. By cutting the artery, the congestion stays at TTC for most of that EMH hour.

Lisa loves Pooh · Jul 2, 2015

sharona said:
What if you stay on site but are driving to MK instead of the bus? You can't go to EMH?

You can. The bypass is to walk to the Poly and use Poly transportation.

FYI (not sarcastic, just genuinely for hiur information), MK is the one park it is advised to not drive to since you must park at TTC and would not have any advantage due to the transportation requirements. Sounds like in EMH mornings, that is especially true since the transport is shut down.

magicbob · Jul 3, 2015

cakebaker said:
While the general consensus is you should avoid Emh parks If you're off site, we found on those days we used emh's the lines didn't start backing up until just about the same time they would have on a day that didn't have emh.

At a 9am opening, standby times started building around 10-11 am. On an emh morning, lines started forming around 10-11.

We were on site so a morning emh gave us that extra hour, but offsite guests got the same amount of time enjoying short lines as they would have with a 9am opening.

The "general consensus" is based on 30+ years of experience by countless veterans and statistical analysis of past crowds/wait times.

Because EMH parks draw many onsite guests to take advantage of this perk, the EMH park IS more crowded and waits will be longer. Years and years worth of objective data show this to be true. With morning EMH in particular, unless you are eligible for EMH (and even you are eligible, you need to arrive early and actually take advantage of the extra morning hour), it's NOT a good strategy to go to an EMH park unless you actually go to EMH.

Your subjective and anecdotal account is not representative of what most people have experienced over the years. The crowds and wait times have been measured for years. Although you may have experienced a day where (at least your perception was) lines did not get long until 11 am, that simply cannot negate years of data that indicate it is not a good strategy to visit an EMH park (especially morning EMH) unless you take advantage of the EMH. Even then, most people recommend hopping to a non-EMH park once the crowds start to pick up, because that EMH park WILL be more crowded. It's a proven fact.

I'm sure you have well-meaning intentions of "reassuring" people, but you actually do a disservice to newbies by dispensing such bad advice.

I'm not attacking you personally. Simply pointing out that your post will likely be interpreted by newbies as saying not to worry about whether the park has EMH... just go anyway. In terms of Theme Park STRATEGIES, that's poor advice. You will likely now go into a defensive tizzy, but I will not reply again. I refuse to get sucked into "breaking the rules" and getting reported/banned.

My only intent is to provide good advice to less experienced visitors to assist in making their trip as successful as possible.

Phil Dunphy · Jul 3, 2015

I agree with above ^ i think the other poster also said they never stay off Disney resorts so I dont think they can really say what those who stay off can enjoy they are making big assumptins lol!

Angel Ariel · Jul 3, 2015

Phil Dunphy said:
I agree with above ^ i think the other poster also said they never stay off Disney resorts so I dont think they can really say what those who stay off can enjoy they are making big assumptins

I agree as well. While I have no doubt that the pp's account of her day is accurate, I do think that hoe the crowds disperse in MK now, since A&E and SDMT, are an anomaly in the grand scheme of things. Those two attractions are taking the brunt of the crowds every morning, emh or not, and it is leaving the other areas empty...but there is no way to know how long this phenomenon will last. Will ot continue when the frozen ride and m&g in epcot open and those become the "omg must do" attractions the way a&e and sdmt are now? There's just no way to know. So, IMO, in the grand scheme of things it is still smart touring strategy to avoid morning emh if you can't go to EMH. But, for now, if you find you *have* to go to a park with morning emh as an offsite guest, then take note of the crowd patterns and zig where everyone zags and hopefully you will avoid the crowds as much as you can.

Mickey&Mouse · Jul 3, 2015

magicbob said:
The "general consensus" is based on 30+ years of experience by countless veterans and statistical analysis of past crowds/wait times.

Because EMH parks draw many onsite guests to take advantage of this perk, the EMH park IS more crowded and waits will be longer. Years and years worth of objective data show this to be true. With morning EMH in particular, unless you are eligible for EMH (and even you are eligible, you need to arrive early and actually take advantage of the extra morning hour), it's NOT a good strategy to go to an EMH park unless you actually go to EMH.

Your subjective and anecdotal account is not representative of what most people have experienced over the years. The crowds and wait times have been measured for years. Although you may have experienced a day where (at least your perception was) lines did not get long until 11 am, that simply cannot negate years of data that indicate it is not a good strategy to visit an EMH park (especially morning EMH) unless you take advantage of the EMH. Even then, most people recommend hopping to a non-EMH park once the crowds start to pick up, because that EMH park WILL be more crowded. It's a proven fact.

I'm sure you have well-meaning intentions of "reassuring" people, but you actually do a disservice to newbies by dispensing such bad advice.

I'm not attacking you personally. Simply pointing out that your post will likely be interpreted by newbies as saying not to worry about whether the park has EMH... just go anyway. In terms of Theme Park STRATEGIES, that's poor advice. You will likely now go into a defensive tizzy, but I will not reply again. I refuse to get sucked into "breaking the rules" and getting reported/banned.

My only intent is to provide good advice to less experienced visitors to assist in making their trip as successful as possible.

I agree with this. Plus, it's hard to argue with many years of historical data. While going to an EMH park as an offsiter may sometimes be unavoidable, the best advice I’ve read on multiple Disney related websites is to avoid the EMH parks if you’re an offsite guest. Even as an onsite guest, we’ve chosen to avoid the EMH park- due to the extra crowds.

magicbob · Jul 6, 2015

Mickey&Mouse said:
I agree with this. Plus, it's hard to argue with many years of historical data. While going to an EMH park as an offsiter may sometimes be unavoidable, the best advice I’ve read on multiple Disney related websites is to avoid the EMH parks if you’re an offsite guest. Even as an onsite guest, we’ve chosen to avoid the EMH park- due to the extra crowds.

Most people advise to avoid a morning EMH park altogether, even if you're onsite and eligible to take advantage of the perk. That's because many feel that the extra crowds are not worth the benefit you get from that extra hour.

Also, many people intend to do EMH, but end up being late and not taking advantage of it, but they go to that park anyway because that's the park they planned on going to that day. This is almost certainly even more true now under FP+. People will not want to forfeit their reserved FPs, so they're more likely to bite the bullet and go to the park they pre-planned, even if they took too long getting ready or whatever and missed EMH.

I've often gone to morning EMH and then left that park when the hoardes arrive. If you make the commitment to arrive early so that you are in the park as soon as EMH begins, you can get a LOT done before those crowds arrive. But once they do, you may be better off hopping away from that park.

One of the popular new strategies emerging with FP+ is to hit a park at RD (or EMH if you're eligible), leave for a break when it gets crowded, and hop to a different park for the afternoon/evening where you have FPs reserved.

Lesson Learned: Don't try to be early on EMH morning

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

1971 Castle in the Hub: Your lights are on!

The Mean Squinty Eye Works

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

The Mean Squinty Eye Works

Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas.

Rogue Five

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Go Carolina Rams!

DIS Veteran

Mouseketeer

DIS Veteran

Share this page