Are EMH really that bad!!!!!

[zscfan]

Ok, so my plan is: arrive 9/14, stay at the resort that night, then MK on 9/15 with MNSSHP that night. Then, AK on 9/16 and Epcot on 9/17. I found out that AK had PM EMH on 9/16. Should I switch the day that I'm going to AK to avoid the PM EMH????

I have my plans set, so I really don't want to switch, but if the park is going to be packed that day, it might be a good idea. I could probably switch my ADR's as well (Tusker House dinner and San Angel Inn lunch).

Let me know what you guys think! Thanks!

 

[rotlex]

We never hit a park that has EMH, EXCEPT for Animal Kingdom. I'm sure others might disagree, but, we always hit the evening EMH at AK. For some reason, it has just never been as crowded at that park as others during those times.

It's also, IMO, a really cool park to be in later in the day. Everest is awesome at dusk, as well as the safari. Also, lines seem to be minimal, and well, we just really like it.

Other parks however, we avoid like the plague on those days, LOL.

 

[seashoreCM]

(not quite on topic)

Morning EMH is very bad only when you don't go to it when it starts.

In this case choose a different park.

Doesn't Kilimanjaro Safari close down shortly after Animal Kingdom's evening EMH starts? Actually going early to AK's AM EMH makes sense because you get to see the animals on the Safari in their morning activity.

 

[Lynn5700]

We never have a problem with PM EMH. Love them!!! I don't think they are crazy crowded at all.

 

[rotlex]

(not quite on topic)

Morning EMH is very bad only when you don't go to it when it starts.

In this case choose a different park.

Doesn't Kilimanjaro Safari close down shortly after Animal Kingdom's evening EMH starts? Actually going early to AK's AM EMH makes sense because you get to see the animals on the Safari in their morning activity.

I think the latest we ever rode the safari was right before 7pm. It was really nice, and the animals were very active. (Probably got some of the best pics I ever had on that trip).

 

[Nermel9]

I personally love the EMH's, both the morning and night ones. I don't understand why people avoid them, it's a perk of staying on Disney property! I didn't have a problem with crowds in those parks on the EMH days, in fact, once the parks closed to everyone else and it was just EMH people, the parks seemed pretty dead. I look forward to using the EMH's again this trip!

 

[arielmomma]

We never have a problem with PM EMH. Love them!!! I don't think they are crazy crowded at all.

I agree. Escpecially in mid-September. We went during that time last year and the pm EMH were dead! We walked onto almost everything!

Have a great trip!

 

[darkkskyzz]

It has been years since I have been to Disney and used the EMH, looking forward to all of it!

 

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

We have never had problems with evening extra magic hours at any park. Animal Kingdom EMH are great. You get to see AK at night which it has a totally different atmosphere. You must experience this. There is not that many rides open but just to be there at night is awesome.

 

[geenerbell]

We love EMH mornings. We try to plan to hit any that are available our week. You can accomplish so much that it will make the rest of you day totally relaxing and unstressful. We get to the park around 7:30, do all the headliners and then have a late breakfast TS around 9:30. The late breakfast allows us to skip lunch and thus avoid all the lunch crowd chaos. We then do an early dinner and avoid the dinner crowds as well. Works like a charm.

 

[Pancakes]

This past trip, we didn't have park hoppers so we planned our park days with EMH. We found that the parks were busier during the day with EMH. (We went to EPCOT one day with no EMH and found it to be less crowded...maybe that was a coincidence )

Next trip we hope to have park hoppers so we can go to a park with no EMH for the day, then go to the other park that offers it at night.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I personally love the EMH's, both the morning and night ones. I don't understand why people avoid them, it's a perk of staying on Disney property! I didn't have a problem with crowds in those parks on the EMH days, in fact, once the parks closed to everyone else and it was just EMH people, the parks seemed pretty dead. I look forward to using the EMH's again this trip!

I completely agree with you. We always plan our trips around EMHs. We love both the morning and evening ones....my DH especially loves the evening EMH when we are at MK til 3am. The most we have ever waited for a ride during evening EMH was 35 minutes and that was on TSM, other than that the ride lines are not bad at all. Plus the parks are so pretty at night with all their lights on.

 

[Ktharee]

I agree. Escpecially in mid-September. We went during that time last year and the pm EMH were dead! We walked onto almost everything!

Have a great trip!

Totally agree! When crowds are low even during peak hours in September, avoiding EMH seems ridiculous. Stick with your plan, you'll have a great time!!

 

[Technosavant]

EMH crowds vary. I've done some where things were almost deserted and you could ride the most popular attractions without much wait. I've also done some where they were the absolute longest waits of the entire trip. I'm not sure there's any rhyme or reason to them. If the parks are very crowded during the day, EMH is likely to be worthwhile. If they aren't, they may well be more crowded during EMH.

We don't schedule around EMH either way, but we will usually try to hit some outdoor attractions during them- things like Test Track and Tower of Terror have a different feel at night. Indoor attractions like Soarin' and Haunted Mansion, not so much.

 

[lauris87]

In my opinion... morning EMH's are golden... did it every day when I was there last week.

However, I will be re-thinking evening EMH for my next trip. I will definitly do evening EMH for Animal Kingdom... that was very successfull.

But... I thought evening EMH for every other park was madness! There really was no benefit for being there at midnight. I thought that would help us get on the headliners... but... with no fast passes in the evening.... and the wait times 1-2 hours for rides like test track and toy story mania..... it was not beneficial at all. Also... when MK was open until 2am one night... I could not believe the amount of people arriving at 10pm... it was madness! We could barely exit the park because so many people were arriving. I would think any other park would have been better to go to than that one.

 

[shafke]

The last EMH we did at the MK ran from 10pm - 1am. The evening started off very crowded... the EMH started right after wishes so I am guessing quite a few people decided to hit a couple of rides rather than fight the crowd to the exit.

Immediately after Wishes we hit HM with no wait. By the time we got off of that there was a huge line.

We then hit a few Fantasyland rides. By around 11:30 the crowds started to disappear.

In the last 1/2 hour from 12:30 - 1:00 we were able to get on PotC, Splash, and BTMRR.

I would think that if you can last the entire evening the EMH evening is worth it.

 

[Faldred]

I personally love the EMH's, both the morning and night ones. I don't understand why people avoid them, it's a perk of staying on Disney property!

It's a "hopper" vs. "non-hopper" matter, typically. Without park hopper tickets, you're "stuck" with whatever park you choose to go to first -- if EMH is causing large crowds during the non-EMH portion of the day, you're stuck dealing with them, or simply leaving.

With hoppers, hitting AM EMH then hopping to a non-EMH park (or hitting a non-EMH park then hopping in for PM EMH) makes a lot of sense.

 

[DebbieB]

I've been to a couple of AK evening EMH's and they were not crowded. I don't think it's as big an attraction as the other parks.

 

[zscfan]

Thanks for all of the input......I'm going to stick with my plan. It does seem cool to be at AK in the evening hours.....

Thanks again!!!!

 

[brp]

It's a "hopper" vs. "non-hopper" matter, typically. Without park hopper tickets, you're "stuck" with whatever park you choose to go to first -- if EMH is causing large crowds during the non-EMH portion of the day, you're stuck dealing with them, or simply leaving.

With hoppers, hitting AM EMH then hopping to a non-EMH park (or hitting a non-EMH park then hopping in for PM EMH) makes a lot of sense.

This is what I was wondering reading this thread- is it specifically the EMH hours that are problematic, or the regular hours during EMH days due to the promise of EMH (and really thinking about evening EMH here). Seems like some experience of both.

Cheers.