EMH impact on crowds?

Fantasia79 · Jul 23, 2016

I'm hearing two different things, so I thought I'd see what people's experience is.

What impact does Extra Magic Hours have on the crowd levels at a park? For the sake of consistency, let's say late June.

Feel free to comment and answer this poll!

toolmanjan · Jul 23, 2016

I've always found that the park with morning EMH is always busier through out that day.

sharonabe · Jul 23, 2016

Are you sure the conflicting reports are about the same thing? Extra Magic Hours (EMH) are for all resort guests and DO impact crowds at the park that is having them. Early Morning Magic (EMM) is a paid extra event with limited numbers that does NOT impact the park that is having them.

SA mom · Jul 23, 2016

Our experience seems to be that EMH park in the morning seems very crowded. We usually park hop after the first few hours in that park. I think the same is true in the evening, the few hours before closing, that park is very crowded. I have friends that stay off property and go to which ever park had EMH the night before.

Alesia · Jul 23, 2016

If a park has EMH (especially morning EMH) that park will be much busier than the other parks from about lunchtime on.

jkh36619 · Jul 23, 2016

In my experience, if you stay onsite, take advantage of emh. If you're offsite, go opposite paying attention of any special events. An example is if MK has emh and Epcot has festival of flowers going on, you may want to hit HS that morning if your staying offsite. If staying onsite, go tak advantage of emh at MK

shyjade · Jul 23, 2016

SA mom said:
Our experience seems to be that EMH park in the morning seems very crowded. We usually park hop after the first few hours in that park. I think the same is true in the evening, the few hours before closing, that park is very crowded. I have friends that stay off property and go to which ever park had EMH the night before.

I agree with this. We enjoy the EMH park for the first few hours and then hop to a different park. We find the park that had the EMH the night before is usually a great choice.

AshleeH · Jul 24, 2016

We stay on property, but I try to avoid EMH like the plague. We hate the crowds, so it's good system. Even people not staying on property will often go to an EMH park during the regular hours, for reasons I cannot fathom.

wdw&sonny · Jul 24, 2016

Most people staying off site do not pay attention to EMH. Remember the people on these boards are highly informed, excessive planners and relatively few in number. MOST people are off site and MOST are unaware of EMH.
Therefore, in general, there is an even distribution of people to all parks every day. EMH only adds people. So, the EMH park tends to be more crowded. BUT, the EMH hours alone are less crowded since the on-site guests are fewer than the off-site guests.
Conclusion: Go to EMH hours, but don't stay at that park during peak hours.

Donald - my hero · Jul 24, 2016

I pay close attention to the EMH and go to the park that has them THE NEXT DAY because most people don't go to the same park 2 days in a row. We sleep late (heck, who wants an alarm clock on holidays!) so AM hours have no appeal and tend to leave well before the PM hours are even starting most days (as my kids say that cause WE'RE OLD)

HatboxHaint · Jul 24, 2016

Donald - my hero said:
I pay close attention to the EMH and go to the park that has them THE NEXT DAY because most people don't go to the same park 2 days in a row. We sleep late (heck, who wants an alarm clock on holidays!) so AM hours have no appeal and tend to leave well before the PM hours are even starting most days (as my kids say that cause WE'RE OLD)

Edited to remove some vitriol: Sounds like a wonderful strategy for a relaxing vacation! :tilt:

georgina · Jul 24, 2016

I love EMH for the first few hours also. People who don't like to get up early will be even less likely to get up an extra hour early. I find it very helpful for AK and MK myself, unimportant for my personal Epcot touring, and I usually end up doing the evening EMH at HS.

Hopefully · Jul 24, 2016

HatboxHaint said:
That sounds like a good touring strategy if you like spending hundreds of dollars on theme park tickets and only going the couple hours that are the most miserable.

Narrow minded and rude.

Nancyg56 · Jul 24, 2016

HatboxHaint said:
That sounds like a good touring strategy if you like spending hundreds of dollars on theme park tickets and only going the couple hours that are the most miserable.

I guess I have the same good strategical plan in place too. The first time we went command was the time we did that. I am an early riser by nature, and that does not change in Disney. What does change is my daily routine because I am on vacation. We enjoy the parks until early afternoon ad then get the heck out. WE may or may not return at night. If we plan evening hours in a park for evning entertainment, we do not beat feet to get to that park early. We seldom visit for less than 8 days so I figure b the end of my trip, factoring in the entire cost of my trip, I have gotten the value from my purchase. As a family we refuse to stun hoe needing a vacation from our vacation, as happened the first time we visited. I do not find the middle of the day miserable unless I am tired from an early arrival. If I start getting peevish, which seldom happens, we take a break.

Nancyg56 · Jul 24, 2016

HatboxHaint said:
That sounds like a good touring strategy if you like spending hundreds of dollars on theme park tickets and only going the couple hours that are the most miserable.

You seem to have leaped to the conclusion that a family that does not arrive for EMH and that leaves before park close is only in the parks a few hours in the afternoon. We NEVER have used EMH, morning or evening, NEVER go from RD to park close, and somehow we manage to enjoy evey attraction, show, and event that we want to. We very seldom crawl back to our room so tired we cannot maintain a pleasant disposition, and always leave Disney feeling as though our money was well spent. I think that we all have personal touring styles, and know what works best for our families. If you asked me to drag us all out for EMH I woudl have a mutiny as almost all my family members have to be at work way early (My DH has started at 3 AM several ties this week and has not returned home until after 8PM) no way would we enjoy what your touring style entails, but I woudl nto insult you for it.

HatboxHaint · Jul 24, 2016

Nancyg56 said:
I guess I have the same good strategical plan in place too. The first time we went command was the time we did that. I am an early riser by nature, and that does not change in Disney. What does change is my daily routine because I am on vacation. We enjoy the parks until early afternoon ad then get the heck out. WE may or may not return at night. If we plan evening hours in a park for evning entertainment, we do not beat feet to get to that park early. We seldom visit for less than 8 days so I figure b the end of my trip, factoring in the entire cost of my trip, I have gotten the value from my purchase. As a family we refuse to stun hoe needing a vacation from our vacation, as happened the first time we visited. I do not find the middle of the day miserable unless I am tired from an early arrival. If I start getting peevish, which seldom happens, we take a break.

I think I actually read the post I quoted wrong in my initial response....After re-reading I see now they meant they don't take advantage of AM or PM EMH's. I originally interpreted the post as meaning they get to parks late and leave early which would not be a very great touring strategy. After rereading I see that they stay into the evening but just not for PM EMH. Sorry if I hit a nerve....

nwalden · Jul 25, 2016

We always stay on property ( DVC ), and we always avoid EMH parks as they tend to be busier. We even plan our dining reservations around avoiding EMH's. and fast passes of course as well. We only take advantage of EMH parks if we're only at WDW for a day or two which is rare. On a 7-10 trip the extra hours aren't required and avoiding crowds makes for an easier time

Nancyg56 · Jul 25, 2016

HatboxHaint said:
I think I actually read the post I quoted wrong in my initial response....After re-reading I see now they meant they don't take advantage of AM or PM EMH's. I originally interpreted the post as meaning they get to parks late and leave early which would not be a very great touring strategy. After rereading I see that they stay into the evening but just not for PM EMH. Sorry if I hit a nerve....

I accept your apology, but I have to say that I still do not understand why you said that. Everyone has their own touring stategy and their own vacation priorities. If some families find that 3 or 4 hours in the middle of the day suits their style, why insult their decision? They know perfectly well how much the tickets cost and they know exactly what they want to do while they are in the parks. For many people the parks are a secondary concern and spend much more time enjoying the resort and activities that are available while onsite. The very best touring strategy is teh one that works well for your family.

HatboxHaint · Jul 25, 2016

Nancyg56 said:
I accept your apology, but I have to say that I still do not understand why you said that. Everyone has their own touring stategy and their own vacation priorities. If some families find that 3 or 4 hours in the middle of the day suits their style, why insult their decision? They know perfectly well how much the tickets cost and they know exactly what they want to do while they are in the parks. For many people the parks are a secondary concern and spend much more time enjoying the resort and activities that are available while onsite. The very best touring strategy is teh one that works well for your family.

Yes, again sorry for coming off as hateful or overly critical.

I guess it just brings out a bit of fire in me whenever someone posts about how they only like to spend a little bit of time in the parks each day when the tickets are so expensive that many cannot afford to even purchase one day at the park for their family. When you spend as much time planning as many of us on disboards do to maximize our value it's a bit of a slap in the face for someone to insinuate that they purchased thousands of dollars worth of parks tickets, resort nights, food costs, travel etc...to just sleep in and drop by the parks four a couple hours during peak times. It's a bit like buying an item for $1,000 to $2,000 and treating it as dispensable. Which many people would find shocking, if someone bought a $1500 washer/dryer combo, ran a couple loads thru it and then set it out at the road. Now if the poster of a "sleep-in/leave early" post prefaced that with they have an AP and they go several weeks a year or they live in Orlando then that is a different story then a few hours day on a frequent basis is all they need to maximize their value. But I guess I look at it from the perspective of a middle class family week long vacation standpoint if the poster does not preface their comments otherwise.

HatboxHaint · Jul 25, 2016

Nancyg56 said:
You seem to have leaped to the conclusion that a family that does not arrive for EMH and that leaves before park close is only in the parks a few hours in the afternoon. We NEVER have used EMH, morning or evening, NEVER go from RD to park close, and somehow we manage to enjoy evey attraction, show, and event that we want to. We very seldom crawl back to our room so tired we cannot maintain a pleasant disposition, and always leave Disney feeling as though our money was well spent. I think that we all have personal touring styles, and know what works best for our families. If you asked me to drag us all out for EMH I woudl have a mutiny as almost all my family members have to be at work way early (My DH has started at 3 AM several ties this week and has not returned home until after 8PM) no way would we enjoy what your touring style entails, but I woudl nto insult you for it.

I read their post wrong. my apologies. I agree that the parks can be enjoyed without the EMH. I do believe in maximizing your value for such an expensive product that does not necessarily include EMH tho.

EMH impact on crowds?

What impact does EMH have on crowd levels?

More crowds at the park offering EMH

More crowds at other parks

No effect

DIS Veteran

Love DVC Vero Beach

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

<font color=blue>Aww yes. The dreaded "mouse hand"

GrimGrinningGhost

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

GrimGrinningGhost

Earning My Ears

DIS Veteran

GrimGrinningGhost

GrimGrinningGhost

Share this page