Please Share EMH Experiences

[chipmunkfan]

When EMH first came out everybody said to avoid it...well now that it's been going on for a while please share your am/pm EMH park experiences:
What park?
am or pm EMH?
Was it very crowded?

 

[disneyfanfamily]

Last year we went to MK during the week of the 4th of July. We used EMH in the morning. We got everything done in Fantasyland. We also rode a couple of things in Tomorrowland. By 11:00 we rode quite a few rides and decided to head back to the resort because of the crowds getting heavier.

We also used early EMH for Animal Kingdom. Again, we rode the Safari ride and Dinosaur without waits. We also did Primeval Whirl several times with no waiting.

We thought am EMH was well worth it. We will do it again next year when we go.

We tried to stay during the pm EMH at MK. It was so crowded that after an hour we left. Maybe if you stayed around for awhile the crowds would slim down. Our kids were 4, 8, 10 so we did not want to stay out too late anyway.

 

[Goofy4]

Evening EMH's may depend a lot on whether kids are out of school. Last month, on a school night, MK evening EMH worked out very well.

2 years ago, as mentioned, MK early EMH in August was just about the only way to see Fantasyland in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[juligrl]

DH and I love evening EMHs in all the parks! We haven't ever hit any big crowds during them and have been able to walk onto most attractions. Never done the morning ones -- it's hard to get DH moving in the morning, although I may take DDs to morning hours myself next time. But we swear by evening EMHs. Plus, it's usually cooled down some by then rather than the morning when it's just starting to get hot.

 

[jann1033]

the morning emh have been around for ages, not sure when they started but it's probably a decade or more. we have always gone at least once per park per trip, get lots done .usually the" big "stuff is what is open so even though we go off season, we never have to wait for it later in the day if it happens to get busy and are to excited to sleep in on a park day anyway. sometimes if we want to eat a big breakfast we do it after emh. like i said, we go off season but it's pretty empty at opening. sometimes we go to mgm emh just to ride tot and rnr then leave when epcot is ready to open.

we have never gone at night . truthfully since we always get there at opening, by normal closing hrs we are tired and ready to leave and go to bed.

 

[kelisshopping]

We just got back from our first trip May 18-29 and the morning hours were definitely the way to go. The evening ones were horrible. We stayed 2 hours later and got on one ride. It was very crowded in the evening. There are no fast passes and all the waits were about an hour.

 

[Dizneydaz]

We usually do the evening EMH. Since we came from CA with the 3 hr. time difference I just can't wake up DD6 to go early. Before I had my DD, my DM and I would do the a.m. ones and they were great. We always have park hopper so once the parks get busy, we'd leave and go back to hotel for a break or to another park.

We LOVE the EMH at Epcot. It's so cool to stay until midnight. That being said, in January when we were there, TT was down for maintenance and the line for Soarin' was huge! We didn't really care since we have the original here and have ridden it many times. MS line was short. Also, since we're dealing with the time change, staying later is not as big of a problem for us as it may be for others.

As far as AK goes, I'm not sure if we'll do evening EMH again. We got there during the Jungle Jammin' parade and we couldn't get to Safari ride-we were stopped about 10' from entrance-so frustrating. We were able to get in line as soon as parade ended, however, since safari ride closed at 5 p.m. we only got to ride once. We were hoping to ride several times. In the past, when AK was open later, we really enjoyed the ride early evening/sunset. If we do it next time, we'll make sure we get there before the parade so we're not blocked.

We have never been there during times of huge crowds. We've never done July or August. Both times in June we thought the crowd levels were manageable. Sept is always great!

We will definitely be doing EMH evenings next trip. I've already looked at the calendar and scheduled some of our meals based on doing EMH.

Hope this helps.

 

[tomandrobin]

We find the the early EMH work best. The only exception to that was the week before New Years some of the parks are open to 3am. Bot many lines that late!

 

[harmonium]

Our experiences with EMH have always been good. In the evenings you see the crowd thin out and the ride lines get shorter. It is almost like having a park-wide fast pass. The morning EMH is the best at AK. Smaller crowds help give you a more personal connection with the animals.

 

[ssdeverell]

Easter 2005, we did morning EMH at MK (no choice as it was every morning) and MGM. I liked both of them as we did get a lot done.

Sept 2005, we did evening EMH at MK and Epcot. MK worked really well. We arrived a little after 8:00 and followed the parade down Main Street. Turned into Adventureland and had it and Frontierland almost all to ourselves. We walked on JC, PoTC, SplMtn, BMTR and then walked over to FL. It was a zoo! We just walked on out and were back at the hotel by 10:00. I think it is worth it if you do not follow everyone to TL and FL first thing.

Epcot was not so great. We went straight to TT and got on within 10 min. Walked over to Soarin and it was already a 40 min wait, so we left. We had already done everything that day, so it did not seem worth it.

We are going back in Sept and are skipping all EMH to see if there is a difference.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Evening EMH's may depend a lot on whether kids are out of school. Last month, on a school night, MK evening EMH worked out very well.

2 years ago, as mentioned, MK early EMH in August was just about the only way to see Fantasyland in a reasonable amount of time.

Thanks for the tip about MK evening EMH. It makes sense! The one time I did MK evening EMH, it was packed and I swore I'd never return at that time. But it was when school was out-I think I'll give it another try on my September trip, when school's in session. Evening EMH at MGM was very crowded too. I was so discouraged by the crowds, I left after 1 1/2 hours. I've been to Evening EMH at AK twice, and crowds have been virtually non-existent both times. Once I went into the restroom in Asia, and no one else came in the whole time I was there. Now that's a wierd feeling I've never experienced at WDW!

 

[flynnibus]

The thing about evening EMH is unless you already picked up fast passes.. forget about skipping lines. So the problem is the biggest rides.. still have the biggest lines and you have no chance of skipping them.

So they are great if there are no crowds.. and great for getting on the 'lesser' rides.. but don't count on them for riding the 'A' rides. Morning EMH are good simply because of less crowds and less time for lines to build. I also found it annoying that not everything (most importantly food) doesn't stay open late. So morning EMHs are the est 'bang for buck' I think.

We found EMH at BB to be extra great. get a good sitting area and no wait for the slides.

 

[shyjade]

It's an evening EMH at AK the day we arrive at WDW (late September). We're planning on starting at MGM because in all honesty, there's not much there we care to see. Would it be worth it to head over to the AK in the evening and take advantage of the EMH? The "normal" close time for AK that particular day is 5pm; will the Safari ride (and other "A" list attactions) still be running during the EMH?

 

[mrrigby]

My wife and I are arriving on August 10th. I expect we will reach our hotel (CR) by 1:00 p.m. On that date, there are Morning EMH at MK and Evening EMH at EP. My question is whether we should avoid both parks altogether becausing we are arriving mid-day, or do you think that MK will be less crowded by the afternoon because more people will head to EP for the evening hours?

 

[MeggP]

We went to EHM in the a.m. and p.m. last week. We got lots done in the a.m.! I highly recommend it. We did the MK pm on Sunday of Memorial day weekend only because we thought it would be fun to be there until 2 am and it was our last time at a park before heading home. I didn't go expecting it to be less crowded. In fact the first 2 hours seemed more crowded than during the day hours. The last hour we walked onto any ride we wanted and rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder RR over and over. I wouldn't do pm again but definitely would do the a.m.!



MeggP

 

[MeggP]

We had a day like that last week...we went to the early morning MK and left early afternoon and went to Epcot which had the pm extra hours. It was crowded at MK when we left so I don't know if it got better later. Epcot was reasonable in terms of crowds --we left around 9 or so before illuminations...but we were in world showcase not FW where there may have been more crowds. I think you could go to Epcot for a few hours and enjoy WS
MeggP

 

[ptrbryant]

We were there May 15-23 and the evening EMH at MK was wonderful! It was amazing how much of the park cleared out and it felt truly magical being able to walk on many rides and see MK lit up so late at night. We were at the topof the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House at about 11:45 p.m. and the views were incredible!

Note: We homeschool, but I believe our dates were prior to most schools being out.

Karla B.

 

[Spoodleink]

We did the PM EMH at MGM last year during free dining last year. There were very short lines for rnr and tot. We just went there so we could ride them a bunch of times and probbably did both about 5 times each. I am planning on doing the same thing this year when we are there for free dining