Rookie Question re: EMH

[NewbieMouse]

I apologize if this is a very basic question about EMH strategy, but I'm trying to understand how EMH impacts planning. Looking at the Easy WDW recommended parks, it seems like the least recommended parks are the ones that have EMH. I remember reading that EMH can see people to a particular park, hence creating a lot of crowds. But I also remember reading if you have hoppers, you can use those to leverage EMH when it is happening and hop to (or from, in the case if evening EMH) a park that doesn't have them.

Any pointers to threads that really explain this? I am really struggling trying to understand where I shod plan to be, and a lot seems to hinge on this decisions (where to make ADR, where to plan fast passes, whether to hop, etc.)? Making ADRs 6 months in advance and FP 2 months ahead already seems kinda surreal - I am more used to DL style plans!

Any tips, oh helpful DISers? Not big show people, 2 adults and 2 11 year olds, priorities are MK and Epcot, followed by HS, with AK last (although want to see all parks). Morning people so we can easily make rope drop. Will probably have a car and willing to buy hoppers, # of days TBD (6 or 7 depending on the 8th). EMHs schedules are as follows:

Sunday, May 8th: HS am (plane lands at arriving at 4:30 - boat ride to DS?)
Monday, May 9th: AK AM, Epcot PM
Tuesday, May 10th: MK AM
Wednesday, May 12th: MK PM
Thursday, May 13th: Epcot AM
Friday, May 15th: HS PM
Saturday, May 14th: AK AM (check out in AM, heading to Universal resort when done in parks)

 

[siskaren]

I'm not sure I understand your question. It's like you said - EMH parks tend to be more crowded because people think that those are the parks they're supposed to be in, so avoiding those parks will mean lower crowds. If you have park hoppers though, you can start out in the EMH park, then hop over to another park when it gets too busy. (What happens is that people will go to the EMH park even though they're not getting there early enough to take advantage of the EMH hour.)

 

[Alesia]

It's really very simple:

• If you don't have park hoppers (or aren't planning on hopping on a particular day) you should avoid the parks with EMH like the plague.
• If you have hoppers and are early risers, go to the park with morning EMH and then hop to the recommended park around lunchtime.
• If you have hoppers and are night owls, go to the recommended park first and then hop to the park with evening EMH later.

 

[NewbieMouse]

OK, so when it's not a "recommended park", that means not recommended for people without EMH access, and with hoppers you leverage going elsewhere for the hours opposite the EMH?

 

[jon18uk]

As a general rule morning EMH make the park more crowded as you have the guests there early and the "normal" guests. If you have hoppers, go in at 8am and leave at 11am before it gets even busier. If you don't have hoppers then go to a park without morning EMH, as recommended by EasyWDW.

But evening EMH are usually quiet as most parents take the kids back to bed, so anyone in your party who is awake should have short waits late at night.

 

[Alesia]

OK, so when it's not a "recommended park", that means not recommended for people without EMH access, and with hoppers you leverage going elsewhere for the hours opposite the EMH?

The park with EMH will always be the most crowded park overall, but the EMH hours themselves aren't particularly crowded.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

OK, so when it's not a "recommended park", that means not recommended for people without EMH access, and with hoppers you leverage going elsewhere for the hours opposite the EMH?

Basically yes. Morning EMH is a very good time to tour if you can make it to the park by the time it is scheduled to open (though keep in mind that not all rides are open for morning EMH). We usually go to whichever park has morning EMH, go back to the resort for a break/pool/lunch sometime around noon and then, depending on the park, go back for evening EMH or whichever park is open latest. Evening EMH at DHS isn't particularly good because there are so few rides so you still have very lengthy waits. The same applies to Epcot. Evening EMH at Magic Kingdom is very enjoyable, though the first hour or so can still be busy. I've found ALL the parks to be busy between say 10:30 and 6:00, regardless of whether they have an EMH that day.

 

[amylevan]

Even with EMH access, if you don't intend to use the EMH hours, you should avoid those parks. For instance, we are early risers, but we'd still have to rush to get everyone ready in time to make EMH rope drop. And if you aren't there in time to take in the whole hour, it's not worth it. So we hit rope drops at non-EMH parks. We also don't do evening EMHs due to the bedtimes of my little ones. However, once they are big that may change.

 

[Spork24]

I have personally given up on morning emh even though we always buy hoppers. By the time you go to a park for an hour and then hop, you end up spending half your morning on transportation. It just doesn't provide enough benefit for the hassle for my family.

We do love to hop to an evening EMH park.

 

[epcotty]

Which is better: an EMH park with crowds projected to be heavy or a non-EMH park with crowds projected to be even worse?

 

[Alesia]

Which is better: an EMH park with crowds projected to be heavy or a non-EMH park with crowds projected to be even worse?

I'm not sure I understand your question. A park with EMH will always have heavier crowds than a non-emh park.

 

[epcotty]

I'm not sure I understand your question. A park with EMH will always have heavier crowds than a non-emh park.

the non-EMH park would be on a different day with heavier crowds than the previous day where the park has EMH

 

[Alesia]

the non-EMH park would be on a different day with heavier crowds than the previous day where the park has EMH

Well, it does depend on the specific crowd levels, but generally speaking, the rule of thumb still holds.

The crowd level for the day is an average of all parks. On a day where the crowd level is a "5" the parks without EMH will be in the 2-3 range and the park with EMH will be more like a 7 or 8.

During Christmas, it's a bit trickier. MK will have EMH every single day and will be insanely busy. If I were planning a trip during Christmas, I would choose the days for all the other parks first and then put MK into the gaps.

 

[msmama]

If you're looking at easywdw, scroll down past the calendar and read his reasonings for why he picks the parks he does. I find that information more useful than any of the actual numbers.

And remember, a good/realistic touring plan is going to be better than any actual numbers or anything, which you seem to know. Get there as early as possible, get long lined rides out of the way first (or FP+) etc.

 

[amylevan]

Which is better: an EMH park with crowds projected to be heavy or a non-EMH park with crowds projected to be even worse?

I would say there are other factors that play in.

Is it a morning EMH and are you eligible? i.e. do you not have access to EMH and it is a morning EMH park? Getting into a park at 9 when EMH started at 8 means you are an hour "behind" the crowds. Lines will have started to build before you were even eligible to be in the park.

Is it an evening EMH and you only want to spend the morning at a park? Hit it at rope drop and get out before the crowds start building and you would be ok.

Is it the EMH day the day before a holiday weekend when crowds are expected to skyrocket? I would say do the EMH.

 

[NH-to-FL]

We are also morning people so when we stayed on site we always went to the park with the morning EMH. You can get a lot done in that first hour. Of course given our early start we also leave the park around the middle of the day for a rest. We always got hoppers so we could hop to whatever park we wanted after our rest.

Once we shifted to staying off site we follow easyWDW recommendations and avoid the morning EMH park.

 

[epcotty]

Well, it does depend on the specific crowd levels, but generally speaking, the rule of thumb still holds.

The crowd level for the day is an average of all parks. On a day where the crowd level is a "5" the parks without EMH will be in the 2-3 range and the park with EMH will be more like a 7 or 8.

During Christmas, it's a bit trickier. MK will have EMH every single day and will be insanely busy. If I were planning a trip during Christmas, I would choose the days for all the other parks first and then put MK into the gaps.

I would say there are other factors that play in.

Is it a morning EMH and are you eligible? i.e. do you not have access to EMH and it is a morning EMH park? Getting into a park at 9 when EMH started at 8 means you are an hour "behind" the crowds. Lines will have started to build before you were even eligible to be in the park.

Is it an evening EMH and you only want to spend the morning at a park? Hit it at rope drop and get out before the crowds start building and you would be ok.

Is it the EMH day the day before a holiday weekend when crowds are expected to skyrocket? I would say do the EMH.

Thanks for the advice. We rarely stay there as we're close enough to drive. We're trying to decide on when to go to HS in December, which has 1 EMH day 2 days before crowds get really crazy (maybe even the EMH is preferable in that case though)

 

[NewbieMouse]

It's really very simple:

• If you don't have park hoppers (or aren't planning on hopping on a particular day) you should avoid the parks with EMH like the plague.
• If you have hoppers and are early risers, go to the park with morning EMH and then hop to the recommended park around lunchtime.
• If you have hoppers and are night owls, go to the recommended park first and then hop to the park with evening EMH later.

I hate to drag this one up again, but given the rule of thumb, which park do you get your FP+ for if you hop? We will have hoppers and can be either early risers or night owls (or both!). This planning is killing me! If there's anyone out there that just loves telling people what parks to go to given their dates and priorities let me know. I like planning but this is too much for me

 

[siskaren]

I hate to drag this one up again, but given the rule of thumb, which park do you get your FP+ for if you hop? We will have hoppers and can be either early risers or night owls (or both!). This planning is killing me! If there's anyone out there that just loves telling people what parks to go to given their dates and priorities let me know. I like planning but this is too much for me

Most people will hit their first park at rope drop and book FP for their second park, since ride wait times should be short for the first couple hours. For what park to go to on what date, check the crowd calendars at easywdw.com.

 

[Travis B]

I hate to drag this one up again, but given the rule of thumb, which park do you get your FP+ for if you hop? We will have hoppers and can be either early risers or night owls (or both!). This planning is killing me! If there's anyone out there that just loves telling people what parks to go to given their dates and priorities let me know. I like planning but this is too much for me

An example - say AK is the lowest crowd park one day, and MK has nighttime EMH. I would make early afternoon FP+ at AK so I could go to AK in the morning, hit some attractions while things are less busy, have lunch, then do (or re-do) the attractions I had FP+ for. Then I would maybe return to the hotel for a nap or break, relax for a while, and head out for dinner, ultimately ending at MK in order to take advantage of EMH and lower wait times. We've had amazing luck at MK specifically after Wishes - walking on most things and waiting less than 10 minutes even for headliners like 7DMT. You'll make FP+ at the park that doesn't have EMH if you're going to hop. You'll make FP+ for the busier time of the day if you plan to use EMH and stay at the same park all day. I like to be aware of EMH and know that it's an option - if I feel like doing more I'll go, and if not we'll skip it. Don't stress too much - I know it seems like a lot of planning, and it can be, but you don't have to schedule out every minute of every day, although some people do that. I prefer to set a general outline and make FPs, and then leave the rest a bit flexible so it can change depending on how I feel that day. I like to write everything out on paper, set a general outline, and then change and refine the plans as time goes by.