Rope Drop? I Say PM EMH

[FmrCastMembr]

First let me start off by saying that I mean no disrespect to the Rope Drop connoisseurs. If you can accomplish it and it works for you, that's awesome. I just want others that might be coming to our little community for the first time for some info and/or tips to understand that there are options.

I don't like getting up early. Especially on vacation. Add to that, my partner is epileptic and early mornings are a strict no-no. We were just at the World the week before Easter, one of the busiest times there as you all know. It was also her very first trip there. We did everything she wanted to do and then some thanks to the PM Extra Magic Hours. If you are a night owl and it's a crazy time at the Mouse's House, there will be plenty of opportunity to take advantage of the late hours. If they don't have a lot of EMH's, it's only because it's not so busy and there's no need to necessarily do Rope Drop everyday or use any other touring plan.

We did 3 a.m. Magic Kingdom nights almost every night. We would stay at another park til it closed, then head over to MK. Even when MK didn't have PM EMH, it usually was still open til 1 a.m. One night at Hollywood Studios we rode the new Star Tours late at night (about 9:45) then booked it over to Toy Story Mania and had maybe a 15 minute stand-by wait!

For those of you not staying on property and therefore unable to use the EMH, I ask you, why are you staying off property?? EMH is just one of the many reasons to stay at a WDW resort. I've never stayed anywhere else...

We had a great trip! Stayed at All-Star Sports. Requested a room close to the main building for my GF and they more than honored that request. The room was right on the corner of the closest non-preferred building. The new fridge worked GREAT. Had a bottle of water from the car that had gotten hot. Put it in the fridge and by night it was ice cold! Had a few extra special magical moments as well that made it an amazing first trip for her. I have definitely turned her into a WDW fanatic and she can't WAIT to go back!!

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

Thank you for your PSA!

I agree. I think it's very important for people to know that waking your family up at a time they are not use to every morning is not needed to have a great vacation. Rope Drop at MK is fun because of the show but there is no reason to get there early EVERY day.

We are night owls and EMH are more valuable for us than Rope drop.

I also think buying into the touring guides is a rip off. You can plan and be savvy and save your money ask someone here. Buy a Frommers or something similar but that other stuff is a rip off.

 

[WLSILVERCREEKSPRINGS]

We do both, but like PM EMH the best, however our experience has been that there are some rides that still have too long of a wait during PM EMH and we do them at rope drop

 

[carmiedog]

I'm thinking about bed by 9:00 so late emh wouldn't work for me. I'm watching the boards for advice and reassurance from all you midnight owls, though, to help out a friend who is planning their first trip this summer. Unlike my family they're used to being up late. I went over there this morning at 9:30 and dad and teenage son were still in bed. 8:00 is considering sleeping in late in my house. I want them to have an awesome trip but it will be totally different than the early breakfast ADRs and rope drops my family is accustomed to. And they tend to run frantically late for things anyhow, so I don't want to put stress on their vacation. I'm trying hard to look at park touring from a different angle, but it's not easy for the control freak in me!

 

[FmrCastMembr]

Queen - I'll never pay for a touring plan. I don't enjoy my every minute planned for me. Our first year in 2005 was a trial run, so to speak. I learned a lot that first trip and still learn every time we go. I go with the flow. We go to a best park for each day and wing it from there. Like I said, we walked right on a lot of stuff.

Silver - you're right. There's still some things that have longer lines during PM EMH's too and I've found that most restaurants will not be open so eat early!

carmie - This is definitely the place to be! I've learned so much on these boards and use as much as I can while we're there. Your friend is going during the summer? Ooo. I'm sure that probably has something to do with the fact that's the only time they can go?

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

We like the evening EMH's too but I confess, I swing both ways - I like morning EHM's too

Now that DS is a teen, mornings are not much in his vocabulary anymore so I can usually get him up for one or possibly 2 RD's and then he's done. The rest of the trip is him sleeping in and staying up late. 2 of my favorite photos from our last trip is him eating a Mickey bar under the clock on Main Street - its dark and the clock is positioned at 2:00 the other photo, same scene, different clothes, same snack reads 3:00 so yeah, we stay late with the rest of the night owls

I don't find DHS very productive on evening EHM & with TT closing this summer, I would guess Soarin will be so mobbed I don't think Epcot EHM nights will be good for us in August. Anyone have a different opinion on evening EMH's at those parks? Thanks!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Since we're three hours behind eastern daylight time, we don't "do" early mornings. Evening hours make more sense because they don't seem that late.

Vampira, creature of the night.

 

[cmpeter]

We debated staying on site for our upcoming trip for the EMHs. But, we have time share that will allow us a two bedroom with kitchen for free vs paying for a "hotel" room onsite. The extra cost just isn't worth it.

I do worry about getting my kids up early for rope drop, especially since we are coming from the west coast and will have to deal with the time change.

 

[Csaks]

We love night EMH's. Tried the rope drop thing a few times but it isn't for us.
Nothing like the MK in the dark.

 

[mitsu13gman]

I definitely have to agree with FmrCastMembr on this one. We've had AMAZING luck using the evening EMH at Magic Kingdom, but even with a party of three able-bodied adults (and no kiddos) early mornings just aren't in the cards. Once we're rolling though, late nights just kinda follow for us.

I truly admire the groups that can get themselves out for Rope Drop. My plan for our upcoming trip initially included one Rope Drop, but when the actual EMH's were announced, it was better for everyone if we just stuck to the evening EMH's.

And honestly, I crisp up a little too quickly in the sun - I can run around non-stop at night!

 

[gert]

We're early risers (and afternoon nappers!) so rope drop works well for us. Vacation is just too short for me to sleep in =)

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

We LOVE the PM EMH! Teens just do not get up early... at least not in our family...

I've planned our next (MAY 2012 ) Visit completely to visit PM EMH parks each day of our trip.

We've done this before and never had a problem....

Hugs,
Mary

 

[kdkbrebel]

love the pm EMH's as well. We do sprinkle in a few rope drops also. Best of both worlds.

 

[eliza61]

Welcome to the dark side, padawan!!

Thanks for the great thread. My worst family diseny vacation was actually my first one, I had read all the advice here on the boards that swore if I didn't do rope drop I wouldn't get "any thing" done, If I did not have a touring plan I would be doomed to walk aimlessly around and if I didn't have adr's for every day I would be doomed to eat burgers all week.

Imagine my surprise when we went back the following year and:

• did not do 1 rope drop yet manage to ride all the rides at least twice and without standing in line for an hour.
• Made only 1 adr yet manage to find a ts restaurant every single day to eat at.
• Did not have a plan outside of park hours and weather report, yet never wander around at all

.

Now I totally admit that I do not visit during holidays or spring break so it makes it easy.

It's always nice to realize that you can go to disney without going commando and still have a great vacation.

 

[Disney Fool]

I usually do whatever suits the situation. If I am bringing young children, then early morning is best but even with naps, little ones are hardly able to keep their eyes open until 3 am. and they wind up missing everything anyway. If we're a party of adults or with older teens, evening EMH are a must and a blast. However, there is a caution here to newbies: Magic Kingdom is not ALWAYS open from midnight to 3 a.m. This is usually reserved for very busy times, or during the summer and at peak vacaiton weeks. If you go during mid January, or other off times, parks close much earlier, around 7 p.m. and if there were a EMH it would be until 10 p.m. One other thing, during very busy times, Toy Story Mania may not be a walk on whenever you go. Don't depend on being able to just walk on at the end of the day--sometimes it's still a long wait.

 

[Bonniec]

I'm lucky because I live here, but even if I didn't there is no way I could get DH and the kids out of bed. They like to sleep in and boy are they resentful if I make them get up on vacation, lol. My smallest will get up but he's usually nauseated in the morning. I tried a rope drop once with just he and I but it was a pain.

I also hate touring plans too. We are much mroe go with the flow kind of people. In January (right before we moved over) we stayed a week off site and had an ADR everyday. It was the first time we ever did TS. While it was nice, it took so much clock watching to get to each place in time. I'm amazed that people will do more than one TS everyday. Personally, I think it's so much better to just snack your way through the world.

Maybe I just hate planning.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I used to love evening EMH, and I can't wait until DS is older and we can be out late again! I agree the evening EMH is great for those that don't want to wake up, but you really have to stay to the very end to reap the walk on benefits.

I always thought of evening EMH as the anti-rope drop, where you do all the less popular rides first and then work your way up to the E-tickets as the crowds start to die off.

There are a lot of people who will attempt Evening EMH, but very few will make it to the bitter end,

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

It sounds like PM EMH worked out great for you. During peak times when it is till 2-3am it does empty out alot.That's just another plus of WDW parks for me, you can have great success for early birds or night owls when they have extended hours. Unfortunately that isn't the case when we go during value season. EMH's are insane them with earlier hours and lots of guests taking advantage of them. One day when the kid are older I'd love to hit a time when MK was open till 3am with them and have it all to ourselves.

 

[Disneynut71]

I have done AM and PM. I am not a fan of AM...I did the rope drop once and it was nice to see...been there done that..I need to sleep in. We love the PM as it is busy for awhile, it does get better as Midnight comes around. We have been able to ride rides multiple times without having to get off. Kids love it! I plan my week around EMH (as I don't buy hopper's anymore)

 

[fairestoneofall]

we do a little of both. my kids and DH just don't want to get up early every single morning of the trip. so, we don't. but the two older kids can handle staying up late, so we do. i just kind of go by how they're feeling. as long as they're happy and fine, we're good. running them ragged would be a no-no.

but PM EMH are not always easy. we did one on our last trip and the park was PACKED. but DD really wanted to be in MK when the clock struck midnight and it was "officially" her birthday. so, my sister and i stayed with her (we were ALL so tired, but did it for her). the next morning, we took it a little more easy and didn't get there at rope drop.

it's funny because later in the week, it wasn't PM EMH, but the park was open until 11 pm (not super late), but EMPTY.