7 am EMH?!!

[mco65]

7am EMH at Magic Kingdom every day this past week and being there at rope drop really paid off. We were able to ride the 7 dwarfs mine train which we would likely not have ridden had we not gotten there early.. we had no FP for that ride..

 

[KrazeeK120]

I went to MK at 6 AM on the 24 hour day last year, after our flight having arrived at Sanford at 9:30 PM the night before! I was 15 weeks pregnant, so DH and I split up and he did the "mountains" first thing. They were actually sending empty boats down Splash!

Meanwhile, I rode Pooh, Little Mermaid, and POTC (where there were 2 other people in my whole boat). I was pretty sure I was certifiably insane. I'm sure I looked like a real winner.

When the MK is open super early, you can get a whole lot done in a very short amount of time.

 

[sgc]

With such an early opening do the QS restaurants open early as well or usual time of?

 

[Disneylover99]

With such an early opening do the QS restaurants open early as well or usual time of?

The Starbucks open early, and they get slammed pretty quick.

 

[CaLuCa]

I hesitate to even post because I feel like 7am emh is the best kept disney "secret." We experienced them over Spring break last year and came back at New Year's JUST for them. It is very, VERY hard to get up that early and get every one up and dressed and out the door in order to be at MK by 6:45. (We left SOG at 6:15 and hit the monorail perfectly at the Poly at 6:30.) For reference, it was me (mom), 12yo DD, 5 yo twins, and a just turned 3yo, who is frustratingly not quite 40 inches. Our ride/attraction choices are different than others because of 12yo DD's fear of anything and everything other than Soarin' and the little one not quite tall enough yet. I tried to do things that we could all do together.

Friday, January 1 (this is what we accomplished from 7:00-9:45 when kiddos where begging for real food and not snack bag stuff):
Astro Orbitter x2 (didn't even make us get off)
Buzz
Dumbo
Barnstormer x3 (I had to take each of the three younger ones on it separately, so only I went three times)
Peter Pan
Small World
Carousel
At this point it was 9, and we headed to ETWB and got trapped. I saw a big FP+ group go in and should have suggested we hit something else, but they all love this and acting out the parts. Didn't get our of Belle till 9:45.

Saturday, January 2 (7:00-10:15)
7DMT
Peter pan
Pooh
Astro Orbiter
ETWB
Little Mermaid
M&G Ariel
Carousel
SMall world
Jungle Cruise
Flying Carpets
Tiki Birds

As comparison, on Monday with no emh, we did 7DMT, Peter Pan, ETWB, BTMR x2 (FP+ and RS), Flying Carpets (FP+), Buzz (FP+...had a posted wait time of 75 minutes when we entered!), People Mover, and COP. 9:00-1:30. We wouldn't have been able to do 7DMT unless we had an early breakfast.

The main problem with being up so early is that you have to be super committed if you want to see fireworks. I can make it for a couple of long days, but dragging the littles around for 14+ hours causes a sharp decline in the Magic being had.

 

[Robo]

The main problem with being up so early is that you have to be super committed if you want to see fireworks. I can make it for a couple of long days, but dragging the littles around for 14+ hours causes a sharp decline in the Magic being had.

Many guests have found that they can take a nap break for a few hours during the busiest part of the day (mid-afternoon) and then come back for the evening spectaculars.

 

[ZoeysMommy0308]

How far out do they usually change the hours to 7 am?

 

[Robo]

How far out do they usually change the hours to 7 am?

Between 45 and 15 days, give or take, in advance.

 

[married2mm]

I would love a 7am start.
My dmil would agree, however dh & kids would have a good moan

However-they would understand the benefits & enjoy joining one delighted mama

 

[luvlumpy]

The 7am EMH made all the difference during the week of Christmas. Our bus at the BWI picked up up at about 6:20 and we were at the MK in plenty of time to see the opening show. Once in, main street was practically empty and we could do whatever we wanted in Tomorrowland and then when Frontierland opened up we were at the ropes waiting to be walked over to BTMRR. It was a complete game changer during the holidays. We got so much done and was back at our resort for a rest by 2pm.

 

[cijay]

So is it 7AM for one hour and the park opens at 8 or do you actually get 2?

 

[abja09]

The 7am EMH made all the difference during the week of Christmas. Our bus at the BWI picked up up at about 6:20 and we were at the MK in plenty of time to see the opening show. Once in, main street was practically empty and we could do whatever we wanted in Tomorrowland and then when Frontierland opened up we were at the ropes waiting to be walked over to BTMRR. It was a complete game changer during the holidays. We got so much done and was back at our resort for a rest by 2pm.

Does the whole park open at 7am or just certain parts.

 

[pastorels]

HI! We are going over easter break (3/28 - 4/2). We generally go during low season so this is going to be an experience! Is it pretty probable that MK will open at 7am all week? Also, Will the other parks open at 7am as well? (Epcot & AK specifically.) Thanks!

 

[asbyrneva]

Does the whole park open at 7am or just certain parts.

Fantasyland and tomorrowland are open (and obviously mainstreet) Most if not all of everything is open in those lands. number of posts and sites can tell you what is opening during morning EMH - some attractions are different than in PM EMH.

HI! We are going over easter break (3/28 - 4/2). We generally go during low season so this is going to be an experience! Is it pretty probable that MK will open at 7am all week? Also, Will the other parks open at 7am as well? (Epcot & AK specifically.) Thanks!

Probable sure guaranteed no. I've seen Epcot have a day that is 8am EMH but I haven't seen a 7 am there. Looked back at a few peek crowd times in calendars. Animal kingdom has been known to have a 7am about once or twice a week during peak times but I haven't seen it everyday.

You can check wdwmagic calendar information and can check historical times for your potential dates.

 

[AngiTN]

It's been 2 years since we were visited WDW and I've never heard of EMH at 7 am! I've been following the park hours for our upcoming trip for as long as they've been posted and never expected them to go this early.

1. Is this because bigger crowds are expected? We'll be there over MLK weekend.
2. This means we need to be at the bus stop at 6 am??
3. Has anyone experienced 7 am EMH, does this deter people from going?

1. yes
2. yes
3. no

 

[redsbe]

I'm truly not being snarky here, but this is exactly why 7am EMH is so awesome...you are in definitely in the majority! But it really isn't the same early advantage. There are more people who will be there for 8am regular opening (including off-site) than 7am.

I agree that earlier means less crowds, but even on 10 scale park days you can get plenty done at RD in the first 1-2 hrs even with 9am opening. My point was that you will "pay a price" trying to make a 7am EMH, especially with kids, if they were up late the night before, or by mid afternoon on the 7am EMH. It is all about maximizing hours in the park and if need you to get the kids a sleep by 10p or 11p the night before in order to get up by 6am to make 7am EMH you have lost 1-2 park hours the day before. Then after a 7am EMH if you need 1-2 hr travel/mid afternoon nap time or short evening that day, those are additional lost park hours.

 

[redsbe]

Normally, we avoid it too. But you just can't avoid it when travelling to the MK during the second half of December when they have 7am EMH for 14 days in a row.

True, we have never visited WDW/DL over Christmas, Easter, peak Spring Break weeks or July for that reason - impossible to avoid crowds and lost park time even with EMH - due to crowds. Getting our family to vacation for a week that included needing to get up multiple days at 6am for 7am MK RP would make for a horrible time and certainly not worth the added travels cost during those times of the year. When kids were younger (before HS) we took them out of school off peak season, when older we would go right at end of school year in early June or right before school year started in mid August -perhaps not ideal (hot and some crowds) but certainly better than 9 or 10 scale crowds!

 

[Ryansdad0727]

Is this only a MK thing? We will be there during spring break as well after two July visits, and we love the parks in the morning!

I have been to AK twice now for 7 am EEMH. The animals are moving around quite a bit during that time.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I dislike posts that say something like guests need to be at the bus stop by 6am. For us, the most stressful part of any WDW vacation are the parts where we feel we have to be a particular place at a particular time. (ADR's)

We find a much happier and less stressful approach happens when kind of attempt to make rope-drop-ish...but don't stress out when something beyond our control (weather stops the boats, bus not arriving) causes us to arrive a little after rope drop, or slightly later than we'd hoped.

Personally though, we usually find late hours to be far more useful than early hours. We can usually get a TON done the LAST two hours of the night at MK, especially on days we're willing to skip the fireworks/parades.

Also, well, we'll suck it up if it is expected to be cold, hot or rainy all day, but sometimes waiting out a downpour makes our overall day much happier. Our day is far from ruined if we arrive after park opening.

 

[starsweeper]

Yes, my 4 kids and I hit MK with a 7am EMH at least twice during Easter week. We completed everything we wanted to do by 2-3pm both days. We loved it!

I had a double stroller that's difficult for buses so we took a taxi from the hotel at 6:45am and were in park no later than 7:15am.