advice on Extra Hours nights

[Kimi313]

Trying to plan our trip and meals for a summer trip. Last year we did not take advantage of any late night hours at the park. This year since we have more time to plan I have already figured out what park we want to start off at each day, then back to hotel for a break, and now should we go to the park that has extra magic hours and should we avoid these parks because of crowds. Any advice would be so appreciated!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

We never avoided the parks with the EMH at all during Easter week (one of the busiest times of the year). We adored EMH at nights and will forever utilize them. We leave late in the day and relax as well. Most can be done during EMH.

 

[Samsma]

I am also interested in this. We are going in June and TourGuideMike says to avoid EMH evenings like the plague. I would really like to hit the one at EPCOT since we are staying in that area and would just walk back to the Swan. Someone tell me he's wrong about EPCOT evenings!

 

[drew2wdw]

I am also interested in this. We are going in June and TourGuideMike says to avoid EMH evenings like the plague. I would really like to hit the one at EPCOT since we are staying in that area and would just walk back to the Swan. Someone tell me he's wrong about EPCOT evenings!

I don't have an answer for you, but I have the same situation! We're going to be staying at the Dolphin and our last night there will be an EMH evening in EPCOT. I think that would be a great way to spend our last night (it's my favorite park) but TourGuideMike indicates we should stay away! But, being the rebel that I am , we'll probably try it anyway!

 

[Kimi313]

bump please. would really love to hear from some people who have been to EMH at night especially during the summer months.

 

[noladave]

We went last February (and going again Feb 24 - Mar 1), and EMH is both good and bad. Crowds walking around the parks are much smaller, but attractions can have long wait times.

Bad:
Animal Kingdom - not sure what EE will do to this EMH, but when we were there last Feb, it got dark by 5:30/6:00, so the only attractions open were a bug's life and Dino. Bug's life was a walk in (about 5-10 minute wait), but Dino ran out of FP's, and was a 45-60 minute wait. Dino land was really the only open area. Later in the summer, the safari and other attractions MIGHT be open until dusk/dark, so that would help spread the crowds.

Epcot:
bad becuase FP's for both TT and Mission Space were way into the night (11:30 at 9:00pm), and wait lines were very long. Now that Soarin has been added, that might help spread things out. Other attractions are literally walk-in such as Shrunk the Audience and Figment.

MGM
Better, but again, the 2 big ones - Rockin Roller Coaster and TOT are packed, but many of the other attractions are walk in, to very short wait times.

MK -
Probably the best of the bunch, at least when we were there. We did 2 things - 1, while the parade was on, we concentrated on Buzz and Space mountian. Once EMH hit, we concentrated on the other major attractions, and it worked out well.

If you don't get additional answers (I'm sure you will), I will udpate once we get back in about 10 days.

 

[Robo]

I am also interested in this. We are going in June and TourGuideMike says to avoid EMH evenings like the plague. I would really like to hit the one at EPCOT since we are staying in that area and would just walk back to the Swan. Someone tell me he's wrong about EPCOT evenings!

My answer is another QUESTION for YOU...

If you "avoid" the EMH, what will you do OTHERWISE?

NOBODY can predict what a given body of people (guests) WILL do or will NOT do on any given evening.

Sometimes they are busy, sometimes they are not.
My personal experiences have been the exact OPPOSITE of noladave's above, (MK was an absolute ZOO!) so there are no "absolutes" in these things.

EMH's are FREE.
You can easily just go and SEE what's happening.
If its too busy, then... go back to the hotel room, people-watch, shop?
If the park is NOT too busy... have some fun.
If you're too tired to go to the EMH, its a moot point anyway.

 

[InstImpres]

I find EMH evening hours at MK great, if they are late. We did "3AM night" and it was basically walk on for all the rides. We had the characters to ourselves (with about 5 other families) in front of the castle at the end of the night. It was an evening DD will never forget. She tells people that was the best part of all of her trips (10+).

As for EMH morning, I do avoid that park as I think more people with young children are out early and with no hopping passes it makes these parks more crowded - IMHO

 

[noladave]

one thing that I implied, but did not specifically state, was that in Feb 2005, EMH was still fairly new. Disney continues to experiment on what days are best for what park, and your experience MIGHT differ than mine.

It's still my opinion that EMH is worth it, but you have to pick and choose what you plan to accomplish during EMH.

Again, I can update this when I get back in about 10 days, and tell you what differences/changes have been made in the past year.

 

[maggiew]

Just thought I would add the reminder that you aren't supposed to share Tour Guide Mike info. Now that he is a DIS sponsor, I especially think we should respect that.

This question could easily be asked (and answered) without discussing TGM info.

Sorry, I am not normally a person who would say this. But for some reason with the TGM logo at the top, it just persuaded me to chime in.

Maggie

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

We tried the evening EMH at the Studios last June and it was a nightmare. We were fortunate that we overheard a CM saying that the Fast Pass machines for TOT would re-open for the EMH. We grabbed our FP right away. After riding TOT the next FP return was way into the night and all the wait times on the board were crazy. We just gave up and went back to the hotel.
We were also in AK and Epcot two early evenings the nights they were scheduled for EMH. The crowds at both parks just kept building so we decided against staying for the EMH.
I imagine during a slower season the evening EMH is great. During the peak seasons the lines are almost as long (or longer) than during the day.
Still better off getting to all the parks early (EMH or not). You can get so much done in a few hours in the morning before the big crowds arrive.

 

[ajleone]

Just thought I would add the reminder that you aren't supposed to share Tour Guide Mike info. Now that he is a DIS sponsor, I especially think we should respect that.

This question could easily be asked (and answered) without discussing TGM info.

Sorry, I am not normally a person who would say this. But for some reason with the TGM logo at the top, it just persuaded me to chime in.

Maggie

The way I see it you've paid for a service-now what you do with that info is up to you. More importantly ,however, is that what the OP shared is the same thing most of the guides say- so nothing new there.

As for EMH in my experience they are usually great, but have had a couple times where they were over crowded and not really worth it.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

We went the week of the 4th last year. We did early EMH at MK, AK and Epcot. Those worked out great. We did most everything we wanted in that 1 hour. We tried evening EMH at MK one night and it was TERRIBLE. It was so SO busy. We did not stay long, which might have been our problem. If we would have stayed a little longer, it might have thinned out. (We had kids that were getting tired and could not stay until 2:00, or whenever they closed)

 

[cdpa4d]

I really never understood why you should avoid Evening EMH. I know crowds can be greater, but I think it is worth the chance to see if crowds are high.

My typical strategy is to avoid the park that has Eveining EMH during the day. If you think about it, people who have non-park hopper passes will go to the park with Evening EMH so they can be admitted to the evening event. Remember, if you can't park hop you must go to the park with Evening EMH if you wish to attend the Evening event. So the park with Evening EMH willl, more than likely, be busier during the day.

If the MK has Evening EMH, I would go to AK during the day and then hop over to the MK for Evening EMH. If it was extremely crowded during the EMH then I would leave and go back to the resort. Wasting 30 minutes of travel time to check the Evening EMH park is worth it IMO. Just my two cents.

 

[Robo]

If it was extremely crowded during the EMH then I would leave and go back to the resort. Wasting 30 minutes of travel time to check the Evening EMH park is worth it IMO. Just my two cents.

That's my logic as well.

All of this discussion of "WILL there be a problem on (blank) night when I go..."
is generally meaningless because... who KNOWS?

It costs nothing to GO and SEE.

Yogi Berra-ism:

"That place is so crowded nobody goes there anymore."

 

[goofy4tink]

Having done the 'old' E-nights, as well as the 'new' EMHs, I do like the E-night better, but that's gone. So.....I haven't done the morning EMHs in awhile now. But I have done the evening EMHs several times since last spring. Yes, they can get crowded. BUt if you go with the attitude that it will be crowded but I will have a good time, then you should be fine. There are no more EMH times that you are going to have the park to yourself, so to speak. Those days are gone. One thing you can do, that I found to work pretty well, is to head to the park that had EMH the previous night. Most resort people were at that park the night before, so the morning should be a lot less congested.

 

[pplasky]

We hit one EMH(late) for each park except MGM last August. We didn't find it bad at all. The later you're willing to stay, the less crowded it seemed to get. We are planning on doing them again this August, including MGM. If it's too crowded leave, you have nothing to lose. We always try to do the most popular rides during morning EMH, than at night if we see them okay, if not we do things that have little or no wait.

 

[dopeyfordisneyworld]

I agree with the two of you. I will see for myself when I get there on Saturday!!

Can't wait!!!

 

[maggiew]

The way I see it you've paid for a service-now what you do with that info is up to you. More importantly ,however, is that what the OP shared is the same thing most of the guides say- so nothing new there.

As for EMH in my experience they are usually great, but have had a couple times where they were over crowded and not really worth it.

Well, I don't quite agree. When you sign up at TGM, you agree to not share the info. It is also listed on almost every page to "remember you agreed to not share info" or something like that.

Also, I was not really referring to the OP. I was referring to the people that said "TGM says to avoid EMH" etc.

I don't want to get in a debate. Like I said, I normally do not say things like this. But I felt since TGM was a new sponsor, we shouldn't scare him away.


Maggie

 

[BAST]

I am also interested in this. We are going in June and TourGuideMike says to avoid EMH evenings like the plague. I would really like to hit the one at EPCOT since we are staying in that area and would just walk back to the Swan. Someone tell me he's wrong about EPCOT evenings!

Please correct me if I am wrong - I do not think that Swan and Dolphin guests get EMH privilges (but I do not know this for sure). I don't care either way - just don't want those guests to be disappointed.