Why do you guys avoid the parks with EMH?

[yolie912]

Just wanted to know.....

We were thinking of going to epcot when they have the night time EMH???

Thanks

 

[crazyoldmaurice]

Simply because the crowds are heavier on that day, generally. If it is a morning EMH, the crowds are heavier most of the day, and if it's a night time EMH, the crowds pick up as it gets later in the day. If it were an evening EMH day, but you are wanting to go to that park in the morning, it probably wouldn't be too bad. And I do really think the bigger "all day" impact is for parks that have a morning EMH.

 

[RMulieri]

We don't...I think most people that do not Park Hop will skip them .Simply because by noon the am EMH park is jammed( which is when we hop to another park).PM Emh are also busy.

 

[brooker]

Just wanted to know.....

We were thinking of going to epcot when they have the night time EMH???

Thanks

We have been to DW twice in the last 4 years and made a point of going when EMH were on. We thought it was great and certainly no busier than any other time.

 

[Bagheera23608]

I know how you feel, OP. I plan on taking advantage of EMH and park hopping when we go in September. With the hours so short, there really isn't much choice. I do feel like I am breaking some unspoken rule, tho.

 

[mooneyda]

I usually skip the morning EMH simply because I usually travel with brother and his family and they are usually noit ready by the time the park opens .I usually do the evening EMH though. As for crowds I think it all depends on the time of year you go I go in Sept and I have not had to wait to long to get on anything

 

[yolie912]

Good to know... I really hope the crowds are great in September =)

 

[robinb]

I go during pretty busy times of the year and I avoid them because there are too darn crowded. Especially, the nighttime EMH which also goes way too late for me. By the same token, the parks open unusually early when I go and morning EMH is simply too early for me. Who wants to be at the MK gates at 6:45 in the morning? Not me! I usually to go to a park that has NO EMH that day and prefer one that had an Evening EMH the day before.

That being said, I did have fun when I stayed in the MK until 3 am on 12/30/07 .

 

[luvgoing2disney]

It's a "to each his own" kinda thing, but we ALWAYS use EMH, especially the morning ones. To us, it's just better getting to the parks when the crowds are smaller and you can do several things before official opening hour.

 

[MainStFan]

I think most people would say that if you have a park hopper and can get to the morning EMH when it starts, then take advantage of it and move to a non-EMH park once things get crowded.

However, on my trip I found that the late EMH days were terrible. A lot more people gather at these parks thinking that they will stay up late.

We were at the Magic Kingdom last week on a night where it closed at midnight and had EMH from 12:00 - 3:00 a.m. (!!). It was our final night, so I really wanted to finish there even though we weren't planning to stay for the late EMH. Big mistake ... the park was absolutely JAMMED when we finally left around 11:30 pm. I mean it was like the middle of the afternoon. At one point we were stuck in a crowd in front of Crystal Palace and LITERALLY DID NOT MOVE FORWARD for 15 minutes. People were starting to lose their tempers around us... and this was at 11:00 pm. There were waits of 90 - 120 minutes at some of the rides even at 11:30 pm.

 

[tjknitz]

We are going in Sept - I did not purchase park hoppers. It will be my first trip to WDW and I decided to save the money on park hoppers, if I need them when I get there, then I will buy them then.

Anyway, with that being said, I plan on using AM EMH for my AK day and EP day. When we do AK, I have every intention of staying all day until closing (the park closes at 5pm) I don't plan on going to another park, just calling it a day and spending time at the hotel swimming, etc. On my EP day, I plan on arriving early, doing lunch at Sunshine Seasons and then going back to the hotel to rest for the afternoon. I will come back into the park for my 5:45ADR at Coral Reef and then tour World Showcase at night. The rest of the days I am going are non EMH days, BUT I am going to DHS on a night that is showing Fantasmic! which will probably be just as bad, if not worse, than an EMH day

Hoping Sept has lower crowds!

 

[Praying Colonel]

Just wanted to know.....

We were thinking of going to epcot when they have the night time EMH???

Thanks

We've tried it both ways, and it works better for us to go to a park the day after it has an evening EMH. We find crowds are generally lower in that park that day.

As you can tell from some of the answers in this thread (and others), there are folks who love EMHs, and that's the great thing about WDW--there's more than 1 way to have a great experience. I'd encourage you to try it both ways and see what works for you.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I think it depends on when you are visiting. We tend to visit in the summer and school holidays like Thanksgiving week & Christmas. So, from our experience, the MK early EMH are awesome. One year we went at Christmas time and we did the early EMH and rode a ton of rides. However, it started at 7 am so, we had to get up at 5:45 am to get to the park in time. Anyways, we had family with us that were staying offsite so, they joined us after the hours were over and guess what we had to leave at 10 am because the place was PACKED. We rode two rides from 8 am to 10 am. I'm sure it was because it was Christmas week. However, if EMH are in the evening I avoid that park like a plague. It just isn't worth it for us. Usually it is crowded from around noon until the start of EMH and then, after that it is better but then, you spent the day suffering the crowds. So, not worth it.

 

[Baltazar]

We have always gone to a park that had Evening Extra Magic Hours, that was how we picked the park we were to go to.

One thing I did notice, that bus stop at the resort was always the busiest in the morning. The one that had extra evening hours the day before is the shortest.

 

[mcraige]

We always take advantage of EMH, and hop from park to park accordingly.

 

[WriteDisney]

Last September we planned everything around the EMHs for the most part. We found that getting to the parks early was worth it, we could fit in quite a few rides. Mostly during the day at all the parks, wait times didn't get too out of hand (with the exception of Toy Story Mania, which was just craziness all day). We waited maybe 20 minutes at most, if even that. We had several bad experiences during the night EMHs.. we waited forever for Soarin one night during EMHs. It did seem like more people were going to EMHs, maybe because of the short hours.

This time were not worrying about it. We planned to do a few morning EMHs, but not all of them. Only MK night EMHs, which seems to be worth it.

I don't know why it seemed like the night EMHs were so bad. When we went in February 2007, they were totally worth it... we got so much done. But maybe because the hours were shorter, or more people were there who had planned everything out (not just the holiday crowd.. but maybe more Disney veterans go in Sept?)... or maybe the EMHs are just becoming more popular. I don't know. Every story is different though. I've heard some say they really liked the EMHs from last Sept.

 

[natnelliesmom]

We were at the Magic Kingdom last week on a night where it closed at midnight and had EMH from 12:00 - 3:00 a.m. (!!). It was our final night, so I really wanted to finish there even though we weren't planning to stay for the late EMH. Big mistake ... the park was absolutely JAMMED when we finally left around 11:30 pm. I mean it was like the middle of the afternoon. At one point we were stuck in a crowd in front of Crystal Palace and LITERALLY DID NOT MOVE FORWARD for 15 minutes. People were starting to lose their tempers around us... and this was at 11:00 pm. There were waits of 90 - 120 minutes at some of the rides even at 11:30 pm.

YES... .but by 1:00 am the park is EMPTY!! We rode SMtn 8 times in a row with no lines or wait, and had all the characters to ourselves. And yes, the characters are out until 3:00 am!
Those extra late EMHs are the BEST! This was during spring break in March, and the MK was really empty after midnight.
-Sarah

 

[Bagheera23608]

I would do just about anything to have MK open till 3AM. Shannon is NOT a morning person, but I will do it for WDW. But if I had the choice.......

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

All I can offer is my experience from our 2 week stay this month. We followed UG and avoided EMH everyday except our last night...all I can say is wow..the difference was huge.
The park (MK) stayed open until midnight and there were also nightime EMH..it was super crowded! Of course it may have also been worse since it was a Friday (locals not having to work the next day maybe?)
Anyway, the difference was very noticeable compared to our other days. On one non-EMH night when the park stayed open until midnight we were walking on rides..it was great! We thought that might happen again since the park stayed open until midnight again..but no way..not with it being a Friday and EMH..didn't happen!!

 

[blondemom]

We did the evening hours in Epcot two years ago (July). We spent the day at MK, and then hopped over to Epcot around 9 p.m. When I tell you, there was NO ONE there! It was just crazy! My then 9-year old son and I rode Test Track twice in a row without getting back on line, Soarin' was empty, we rode Nemo a few times in a row. It was just fabulous!

On the other hand, MK on it's late night was just a madhouse (same trip). Pirates had 1/2 hour wait, Jungle Cruise wait was impossibly long, etc. I guess it just depends.

That's why we get the hopper option. If it is too crowded, we go somewhere else!