AK: Use EMH morning or evening???

[Fabooliss]

Planning our trip for early next February:
We have planned one morning at AK on the EMH morning, but now have noticed that they have EMH in the evening when we are there too. My DS will be napping from approx 1pm to 3:30 so since we will be at a Value resort we won't be able to go back unless they are open late (closes at 5pm while we are there).

For less crowds and better views of the animals, what would be better:
arriving at 8am and staying until just after lunch or arriving around 4pm and staying until 8pm (assuming it is open the full 3 extra hours).

Thanks!

 

[BMEngineer]

EMH in the morning. Sure it is early but the crowds are less, the temp is nice and also animals are more active in the morning verses the evening. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[newholidayx2]

we're planning on trying both
night next Wed the 16th and morning Mon the 21st

 

[sistertrip]

I'm not a morning person, so I tend to do the Evening EMHs. Last year I enjoyed AK in the evening as the sun was setting. Kali River Rapids was a blast when it was getting dark, and the tree of life was beautifully lit up.

 

[PortieOwner]

We went to AK EMH (morning) last September and it was pretty lousy. Huge jostling crowd to get through to get to the Safari ride, but once that ride was over little else was open at the AK. We did the Africa nature hike and Lion King show before leaving for the day. The park seemed much, much more crowded that day compared to the other times we visited.

Portie

 

[Dizneydaz]

We did EMH evenings at AK last Sept. and were slightly disappointed. Here's why-we arrived while the Parade was going on and we tried to get to Safari ride. Unfortuntately, we got stopped just before the ride entrance and had to wait for the complete parade to go by. (There are no breaks in the parade) We were finally able to ride KS about 4:50 p.m. Also, unfortunately, KS does not stay open later so we only got one ride in. We were looking forward to riding it later in the day like we remembered from when the yfirst opened ang they stayed open til 7 p.m. It was a bummer!

Had we known that the parade would block us, we would have arrived earlier and then been able to ride KS several times (with very little crowds as most people will be blocked by the parade). We did see the last Festival of LK and it was as good as usual. I think they only show one more additional one during EMH. Also rode Dinosaur-small wait.

All in all, I don't plan on doing evening EMH at AK again, but if I do, I'll get there earlier. Of course, when we did it, EE wasn't open yet-that might be reason enough to do it!

Here is the list from www.allearsnet.com showing what is open later.

Animal Kingdom:

Dinosaur
Expedition Everest
Festival of the Lion King
It's Tough to be a Bug
Kali River Rapids (Seasonal)
Primeval Whirl
TriceraTop Spin

Dining Locations


· Flame Tree Barbecue - Closes at 8 p.m.
· Pizzafari - Closes at 8 p.m.
· Rainforest Cafe
· Restaurantosaurus - Closes at 9 p.m.


As far as EMH Mornings-they are tough for us (mostly for my DD6) since we come from Calif. and the 3 hr. time diff. makes getting up early a problem. But it does make staying up late easier!

 

[Fabooliss]

OOOoooo! I didn't think to look and see if KS was open late. That was why I wanted the EMH in the evening. I think we'll plan on morning then, although I'm possibly rethinking the EMH day if it is that crowded! Hmmm... extra hour vs extra people... what to do!
I'd like to hear what others have found about how much more crowded it is.
newholidayx2: Have a great time!!!! Can you let us know how it went?


Thanks!!!

 

[clonetothebone]

I would avoid both of them. Our experience with EMH both morning and evening is that the parks are so crowded you don't get much accomplished. IMHO, it is better to just be there at rope drop on any non EMH day.

Now having said that, if you still want to go on an EMH day go to the morning one and then bail as soon as the park gets jammed.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Morning EMH is probably going to give you the opportunity to do more things in February. In the evening, it will probably get dark. Once it gets dark at AK, that severely limits what you can do. The KS ride always closes at dusk, the train to Conservation Station still runs, but believe me, it's a pretty spooky, dark walk from the train to the building! And of course, there's not much to see in the Oasis area. The only fun part after dark is that the Tree of Life looks beautiful lit up. I rode TS 3 times just so I could see the ToL. Also, I got my picture taken with Pooh and with Tigger with no wait.

 

[ItGirl753]

We had a great time with EMH in November. Definitely use the morning EMH at AK. When we were there we were told the animals were going in, just as they do everyday (but no one else here mentioned that?) so there was less to see and some rides weren't open. I was very disappointed! We left and went to MK!

 

[Lizzybee]

Early EMH at AK was a COMPLETE waste of our time when we went. It was a Saturday and it was the day before Easter, but those weren't the only issues. Maybe it's a bit better now with EE open, but when we were there 90% of the people ran to the Safari and even with EMH, we had to get fastpasses because the standby line was pretty long by the time we got back there. We didn't run back there my parents are senior citizens. I am a believer in using early EMH at MK for sure, but especially on a Saturday I wouldn't bother with early EMH at AK.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I avoid the crowds, go where EMH is not, AM and PM.