Morning EMH...to do or not???

[ppan77]

I am going to complain about morning EMH!! I am a detailed planner and cannot stand morning EMH's!! I know it is advised to avoid them and the parks that have them for the day. So normally I would, but of course my first day on our next trip has one at MK. We of course want to start our trip off at MK. Our kids are preschoolers and that's what they are expecting. So do we wake them up and go to an 8am rope drop or do we go to another park that morning?? Also does it tend to make that park more crowded after lunch? We are only their for four days with park hoppers. WWYD?

 

[kimnvbva]

I would do it! If you can try to make a b line to Fantasyland and get most of the more popular rides done by lunch. Then you can go back to the resort and relax for awhile and go back out. We did that and it worked out great! Hope this helps!

 

[Bete]

I would do EMH (early or late); because, you can split your parks if one gets crowded. A good strategy would be to hit MK early and then do Epcot if MK gets crowded.

I find early EMH worthwhile. We usually accomplish 2 to 3 times as much in that one hour. What I like most is getting in early and making it to the back of the park before rope drop for the general public. It usually gives you another 45 minutes in the back of the park before the public catches up.

Now, if your kids don't get up early usually then that could upset the apple cart. Here, a good strategy is start waking them up early and going to bed early a few days before your trip; so, the preschoolers can adjust to the idea.

Four days is not enough for us; it seems like commando style vacationing everytime we take a short trip there. Using the EMHs and park hopping does help lessen that blow. I would use all your advantages.

Try to relax as much as possible before the trip. Have everything packed way ahead of time. You will feel more energized if you begin vacation at home by easing up.

 

[jmclester]

I concur. We love EMH's both early and late!

 

[Robo]

We attend AM EMH at all parks virtually every day that it is offered.

 

[wisblue]

I heartily second the motion to go to EMH at the MK ESPECIALLY if you have small children (and assuming that you can get them up and to the park early).

If you want to start with Fantasyland anyway, morning EMH are perfect. A lot of the crowd will head off to Space Mountain (when it's open) or Splash and Thunder Mountains when they are open for EMH. If you go right to Fantasyland, you can do Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Pooh (3 rides that will have large lines by mid morning) in less than 30 minutes. You can then move on to whatever else you want to do. In 2 hours, you will be able to enjoy attractions that would probably take you 5 or 6 hours if you arrive at the park later.

 

[ajpa]

Do early EMH if you can get there before it opens.
Since that's almost impossible with my dd12 & dh, we avoid the early EMH parks.
We do try to go to the park that had late EMH the night before.
(example, if DHS had late EMH on Sunday, we'll go to DHS on Monday morning).

hth,
aj

 

[scotty s]

We also love EMH's. We prefer the night time EMH over the morning EMH...with the exception of the eraly moring EMH at AK. The animals are always out and moving early. Nothing more fun than being in the park after dark when the crowds are gone!!

 

[henrylovespooh]

I have been in you shoes. My kids are now 8 and 6, but we've been going to WDW since they were babies.

I'm also a detailed planner.

We do the morning EMH at MK - we find that we can get all the stuff the kids want to do before 10 a.m., and then we walk around the park and look for characters and ride second tier rides.

We also get park hoppers, and if the park gets crowded, we go to Epcot, or take a mid-day break. When the kids were preschoolers, we left right after lunch and let them nap or swim to reduce the sensory overload.

I have come to like the morning EMH's, but might not do them without the park hoppers. I love having the flexibility to leave a park if we thinks it's too crowded.

Go ahead and do it.

 

[Ktharee]

MUST DO!!!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

If you have a park hopper ticket, go to a.m. EMH...........then leave that park around lunch time.

 

[BelleRocks]

We did the MK one and it worked great. Did the fantasyland rides, did a BBB, late breakfast at CRT, then a few more rides, then we were tired out and ready for a break about the time it started seeming more crowded.

It was perfect!

 

[lemondog]

Morning EMH at MK was awesome! We rode everything we wanted, and more, and then left around 11am for another park when the crowds started getting insane. Seriously, just that one hour alone is worth it, even if you then hop over to another park for the day.

 

[Sagginit]

sooo worth it. i wasnt sure if i would like getting up early and being strict with myself but it was worth it. i think the day we went it was reverse pysch, all the tour books said to avoid the MK that thursday for crowd indicator and it had EMH. i think everyone did because we had the park to ourselves until about noon it seemed. even showing up for rope drop was great, im glad i listened to the people in the forums about being an early bird.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Once upon a time we did morning EMHs fastidiously. Nowadays it just doesn't seem worth the bother. We arrive before opening at a park which opens at 9am. We too like to do MK on the first day. I still don't think I'd bother with EMH unless it is a very crowded time of year.

It's been my experience that you can do everything at MK in a day even starting at 9. There's no need to run hither and thither just to get it all done in the first 90 minutes. Make those FPs work for you by accumulating sets throughout the day. Know which rides typically have lower queues at what time of day. It's a theme park, not rocket science.

 

[starstruck93]

I would do it! If you can try to make a b line to Fantasyland and get most of the more popular rides done by lunch. Then you can go back to the resort and relax for awhile and go back out. We did that and it worked out great! Hope this helps!

ITA with this!! We were there in Sept. and did this and we walked on every ride in Fantasy land Adventure land and Fronteer land. It was fantastic! We're going back in Dec... same plan this time! Have fun on your trip!

 

[chonga]

Good information to know. We're going in December, and like PP stated, the guidebooks tend to discourage EMH. I might have to revisit this.

 

[ppan77]

Thanks everyone!! I'm not as stressed now. We are going to get up and go to EMH despite TGM's advice!! I think my kids will be happier and we can always take a break before going to Epcot that afternoon. We will be visiting in January..not like its Easter