AK - AM EMH's - should we or not?

[lily2521]

The day we have scheduled for AK has EMH's, crowd level 4. We don't have park hoppers. Park hours with EMH's are 8-6 that day.

I'm not sure if we should go for the first hour to take advantage of the EMH's or not? Or if we should sleep in a bit and show up around 9-10?

I read that during EMH's all that will be open for the first hour will be EE, Safari, and TriceraTop Spin. Of these the only one we'd do would be the Safari. Can't do EE because of kiddos height, and we don't do spiny rides well.

If we don't do EMH's, we could FP Safari, Kali and FOLK that day
If we do EMH's, we'd hit Safari at RD, and FP Kali, FOLK, and Nemo

We want to do trails and stuff too at AK, are those open during EMH's? Can't decide if the extra hour of sleep might be worth it, or if we should get there for RD to utilize the EMH's?

 

[Alesia]

Without hoppers, you should avoid the parks with EMH. But if you are going to go to AK anyway, then yes, you should be there when the park opens. The lines are only going to get longer as the morning goes on.

 

[lily2521]

Without hoppers, you should avoid the parks with EMH. But if you are going to go to AK anyway, then yes, you should be there when the park opens. The lines are only going to get longer as the morning goes on.

We are avoiding the EMH parks for most days we are there, this is actually the only day we're not, based on our schedule it's the only day we can fit in AK. I know some people say it's a 1/2 day park, I don't think that's the case for us at all. We want to see the shows AK offers, we want to see the trails, and all of the animals, etc.

 

[disneybliss2]

We like EMH days, but only if we can hop out of the park midday. I'd plan on going a different day.

I'm not sure that the Maharaja jungle trek is open, but the Pangani forest trail is open during EMH.

 

[lily2521]

We like EMH days, but only if we can hop out of the park midday. I'd plan on going a different day.

I'm not sure that the Maharaja jungle trek is open, but the Pangani forest trail is open during EMH.

We really can't schedule it for a different day. We are on a short trip, and this is the only day we can make it to AK

 

[disneybliss2]

We really can't schedule it for a different day. We are on a short trip, and this is the only day we can make it to AK

Sorry! I misread your post. I thought you were trying to decide between EMH on that particular day or a different day entirely that was non EMH. After closely reading your post, which I should have done the first time (sorry!), I change my mind. Since you're definitely going to AK that day, you should go ahead and be there for EMH. You'll be able to do the Safari and knock if off your list. You'll also be able to do the Pangani forest trail also. I never think it's wise to show up after EMH and join the masses. Instead, by arriving for EMH you can at least enjoy the perks of the added time without as many people. The later you go, the more people show. Once you're through with the things on your EMH list, you can get in line for other attractions, which will put you ahead of other people who haven't yet entered the park.

 

[lily2521]

Sorry! I misread your post. I thought you were trying to decide between EMH on that particular day or a different day entirely that was non EMH. After closely reading your post, which I should have done the first time (sorry!), I change my mind. Since you're definitely going to AK that day, you should go ahead and be there for EMH. You'll be able to do the Safari and knock if off your list. You'll also be able to do the Pangani forest trail also. I never think it's wise to show up after EMH and join the masses. Instead, by arriving for EMH you can at least enjoy the perks of the added time without as many people. The later you go, the more people show. Once you're through with the things on your EMH list, you can get in line for other attractions, which will put you ahead of other people who haven't yet entered the park.

Ha...it's okay. Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of the safari right away. And I read the animals might be more active in the morning?

 

[cinderkelly]

We did EMH at AK and were Really happy we did. The park is beautiful early in the morning and it's nice to be able to walk around without huge crowds. We rode EE 3x first thing ( I know you have small kiddos who can't ride but you could do kid swap if you wanted to ride) and then headed to Safari. By the time the park opens for regular hours you'll have done some of this things already that those folks will be heading towards.

 

[Viteh]

One thing to keep in mind if you are doing the safari at RD, is that some animals don't come out that early. Like the lions for instance.

 

[newestkg06]

We're struggling with this decision too. I think we're going to go for it, but start with Everest first (and do child swap) and then do the Safari, Pangani, and Lion King. Without EMH, we were thinking of starting at Safari first, but then it's hard to make the 10AM Lion King. With EMH, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

 

[disneybliss2]

Ha...it's okay. Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of the safari right away. And I read the animals might be more active in the morning?

Yes, in our experience the animals are more active in the morning.

One thing to keep in mind if you are doing the safari at RD, is that some animals don't come out that early. Like the lions for instance.

\

We've gone on the safari multiple times on various times of the day. Each safari ride is different as far as what animals are out, how close they get, etc. We've actually only seen the lions first thing in the morning though. We find they stay away in the afternoon--in our case anyway.

 

[tcherjen]

We did. Walk on the rides is what we enjoyed.

 

[lily2521]

We did EMH at AK and were Really happy we did. The park is beautiful early in the morning and it's nice to be able to walk around without huge crowds. We rode EE 3x first thing ( I know you have small kiddos who can't ride but you could do kid swap if you wanted to ride) and then headed to Safari. By the time the park opens for regular hours you'll have done some of this things already that those folks will be heading towards.

How does the child swap work? I'd actually like to ride it if this is a good option for us, especially if we can do it in the AM, and Safari before park opening.

 

[lily2521]

We're struggling with this decision too. I think we're going to go for it, but start with Everest first (and do child swap) and then do the Safari, Pangani, and Lion King. Without EMH, we were thinking of starting at Safari first, but then it's hard to make the 10AM Lion King. With EMH, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

This sounds like exactly the same plan we may do if we do EMH's. I like the idea of being able to do EE for DH and I too!

We've gone on the safari multiple times on various times of the day. Each safari ride is different as far as what animals are out, how close they get, etc. We've actually only seen the lions first thing in the morning though. We find they stay away in the afternoon--in our case anyway.

Because we're doing all day, we actually thought of doing the Safari at RD, and then get a FP to do it again later in the day. Is this silly?

 

[disneybliss2]

Because we're doing all day, we actually thought of doing the Safari at RD, and then get a FP to do it again later in the day. Is this silly?

We always ride the safari at rope drop using standby and then use a FP to ride it again later in the day. We enjoy seeing the animals twice. The ride can be very different the second time depending on the animals.

 

[cakebaker]

How does the child swap work? I'd actually like to ride it if this is a good option for us, especially if we can do it in the AM, and Safari before park opening.

The rider switch pass is very simple to use. Go to the CM at the entrance to the ride with the non-rider and ask for a rider switch pass. If you are using FP+, only the rider(s) going first will need them. You'll be given the rider switch pass and the first rider(s) get in line. After they finish, up to 3 people can use the rider switch as their FP+. You don't have to use the pass right away if you choose not to. It's good at least for the entire day, usually longer.

If you aren't using FP+, the first rider(s) just get in the standby and the process is the same for the rider(s) using the pass- they would enter the FP+ line.

The easiest way for me to look at is that the rider switch pass serves as an anytime FP+ for up to 3 people.

 

[cinderkelly]

How does the child swap work? I'd actually like to ride it if this is a good option for us, especially if we can do it in the AM, and Safari before park opening.

Cake baker described it well but you may not even need to bother with getting a switch pass. We had our 7 year old with us so our whole group headed straight to EE first thing ( veer right if you can thru dinoland after you go thru the turnstiles) to get there. myself, DS and DD all got in line for the ride and walked straight on while DH and youngest who didn't want to ride waited. There is a neat place to stand and wait and watch the ride just to the right of the entrance. When myself and the older kids got off the ride DH and youngest met us at the ride exit and DH and older kids went while I watched with our youngest. It worked out great, all those who wanted to ride got to do so within like 10-15 minutes, no waiting.
We then all headed to safari and had about a 5 minute wait. Probably the only time this would work is during EMH so I would definately say go early if you can manage to get the kiddos up early.

 

[beldred]

Early EMH is totally worth it if you can get up early enough to be there before RD. My family is not really morning people but we were there last year during Presidents Day week and the crowds were INSANE (we're used to off season trips). So we decided to do early EMH at AK to see if it improved our trip. It was great! The worst part was standing still in the cold waiting for the open. Once we got inside it was like Disney in the old days. The park was quiet and clean and we could stroll and look at things without a crush of people rushing around us, got on rides with a less than 10 minutes wait. It was so relaxing. We had our FP's booked all for after 11am so by the time the park was getting crowded, we were using fast pass lines. I hate early mornings, but I will definitely do that again.