Help me with EMH, please!

[sportel]

We are going on our first-ever WDW trip the first week of January. I have read such conflicting advice regarding EMH and it's keeping me up at night!

Our kids are young (7 and 5) and generally early risers, so we are only considering the morning EMHs for Epcot and MK. Should we try and hit the EMH or avoid them? If we hit them, should we stay at that park all day or hop to another park in the afternoon?

Also, we are staying at the Poly. Assuming we are going to do the EMH, what time should we aim to arrive at the park? Approx how much travel time do I need to allow?

I feel as though my dining reservations (breakfast in particular) are contingent on making the right decision regarding EMH - although it is possible I am overthinking it a little!

Any insight, advice and experience would be most appreciated.

 

[KRAGGI01]

Extra Magic hours are definitley worth it, I would get there within the 15 minutes of park opening. I would then hop to another park since EMH tends to make that park busy for the day. However the great thing about January is it is generally not too busy!!!

 

[whacked]

It depends...

Generally I recommend that you go to am EMH if and only if you really can get to the turnstile at least 30 minutes before park opening. If you can arrive early, it's worth it. Then I would leave the park around 11:00, take a break, eat lunch, nap if necessary, then hop to another park for parades and shows.

HOWEVER...

Park hours are often very short, and crowds are typically light in January, which may mean hopping is less necessary, and the park you hop to may close early.

What you will need to do is look at the operating hours while you will be there to see what makes the most sense. Depending on operating hours it may or may not make sense to hop.

Parades and shows (Wishes, Fantasmic, MSEP, etc.) will probably not be scheduled every night, so what park you're in during the evenings will depend on what parades/shows you want to see and are offered on any given night. Hopping can be convenient at times just to allow you to spend enough time in each park and still see all of the evening entertainment offered.

It will likely make little difference what day you go to AK as when crowds are light it is easy to tour in a day, though AK will likely close early so it's not worth hopping to, only from

Hopping also depends on the stamina of you and your kids. As with all advice, your mileage may vary.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

We have found that AM EMH is WELL WORTH IT for MK and DHS IF as previous poster said you are at the gates about 1/2 an hour early...a must for rope drop!
With the right plan you can get most of MK's Fantasy Land done in the first hour as long as you don't let pictures or other distractions on Main Street distract you.
EMH will also help at DHS with TSM line of FPs and/or RnR.
Message me is you want some more tips we have learned.
My kids just turned 8 and 6.

 

[ToddyLu]

Have to agree with PP. AM EMH is great at MK and DHS ( TSM, ToT and RNR). EPCOT not so much. When you get to EPCOT in morning (regular hours) send your DH to get everyone a FP for Soarin right after you get in the gate. He can take all the tickets and get one for everybody. You can take the kids directly to Test Track and wait for him there. That is the way I would do EPCOT in the first 30 minutes of the day there. World Showcase only opens at 11:00 even on EMH days. I think Test track and Soarin are the two not to miss and the others will be easier to do.

You will find that WDW is huge. After the first two days...you won't care about EMH as much and the kids will be a little more tired from the previous day. This is when you will begin making adjustments to your expectations and it will hit that you simply cannot do it all.....and will have to come back.

 

[KeroKero]

Like a few Dis'ers above, I very much so am a believer in being there ar rope drop, especially if its an EMH day! Getting those FP's is essential.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

Have to agree with PP. AM EMH is great at MK and DHS ( TSM, ToT and RNR). EPCOT not so much. When you get to EPCOT in morning (regular hours) send your DH to get everyone a FP for Soarin right after you get in the gate. He can take all the tickets and get one for everybody. You can take the kids directly to Test Track and wait for him there. That is the way I would do EPCOT in the first 30 minutes of the day there. World Showcase only opens at 11:00 even on EMH days. I think Test track and Soarin are the two not to miss and the others will be easier to do.

You will find that WDW is huge. After the first two days...you won't care about EMH as much and the kids will be a little more tired from the previous day. This is when you will begin making adjustments to your expectations and it will hit that you simply cannot do it all.....and will have to come back.

Oh so true about both Epcot AND adjusting your expectations. After a few days the afternoons will probably start to slow down.

AK is usually a rush between the Safari and EE. If you go directly to EE you can usually get FPs and ride then head over to the Safari without too long a standby line depending on the time of the year (January should be a good time). For us seeing Lion King is a MUST!!!

 

[sportel]

Thank you, everyone, for your help!

I think we will plan to hit the EMH in the morning and then hop in the afternoon following a rest.

We are going to AK on NYE and hoping it won't be too busy since from what I've read most people will be at Epcot or MK. Then on Jan 1 we will hit DHS at rope drop - the one benefit of having kids who never sleep in...

I am hopeful that our last 4 days will be slower as that is when we are doing Epcot and MK, but many Ontario school boards will not be returning from Christmas until Jan 9, so it could be busy. (I'm a teacher and this is the closest I've ever got to travelling "off season", so anything less than the pics I've seen of NYE will be a bonus for me!)

Now I think I need to tweak our ADRs, but that's another post!

The more time I spend planning this trip, the more I realize we will need to come back...

 

[SoarinSC]

Just to entice you a little more for AM EMH's, one time at EPCOT we early-risers were greeted by Donald and Co at the rope, then escorted by CMs to Soarin' for the first ride of the morning. A similar thing happened at Animal Kingdom...Mickey and Minnie showed up at the rope in a safari jeep to greet everyone. It's those wonderful little touches that make the trips extra special, so getting to rope-drop is so worth it. Have a great time!!

 

[Disneygal27]

we find EMH to be very helpful particularly at MK. we hit the "open" rides quickly in the first hour (we normally hit most of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland in the hour) and then go to the other lands at regular park opening. I know some families like to also plan a late breakfast at about 1030 and then head back to the hotel for some RnR, or go to World Showcase. our family finds EMH less than productive, but we go in the super busy summers like crazy people since i'm in college and my mom's a teacher haha. as long as you have a park hopper, i say try it out and see how it works for you