Are EMH really that crowded?

[Earningmywings]

We will be going back to WDW for our second time in Sept (first time was 2017 Presidents’ Day week). We book onsite to enjoy the benefits of early FastPass+ booking and so on, but question EMHs. Every site says to avoid the parks on these days since it increases the crowds. With that being one of the reasons to stay onsite, are the crowds really that bad during EMHs? Last year we did not go to any parks during these days. Also for the evening EMH, is there a way for them to allow only resort guests in, since everyone is already there? Thanks for your opinions.

 

[sharonabe]

We will be going back to WDW for our second time in Sept (first time was 2017 Presidents’ Day week). We book onsite to enjoy the benefits of early FastPass+ booking and so on, but question EMHs. Every site says to avoid the parks on these days since it increases the crowds. With that being one of the reasons to stay onsite, are the crowds really that bad during EMHs? Last year we did not go to any parks during these days. Also for the evening EMH, is there a way for them to allow only resort guests in, since everyone is already there? Thanks for your opinions.

The parks are not more crowded DURING the EMH hours. Those hours are actually really nice. The problem is they tend to be more crowded the rest of the day since most onsite guests choose to visit that park that day. Personally, we use the early EMH hours, stay at that park until noon or so and then hop to another park.

As to the late EMH, once the EMH hours start, the only people who can enter are those staying onsite. However, anyone already in the park before the EMH starts can stay in the park and shop or eat; they just can't enter any attractions.

 

[Robo]

Never attending EMH's because they will be "too crowded or overly-stressful,"

is like never eating grapes because they will be "too sour."



CAN be that way.

Doesn't HAVE to be that way.



Each EMH experience can be different.



We always go to AM EMH (virtually every day of the trip

that we did not do a PM EMH late the night before)...

never ONCE regretted an AM EMH... they are amazingly

empty and easy to ride the open attractions.

If that park then starts to fill 2 to 3 hours later...

We're happy with "doing" that park for the day and we

can HOP elsewhere or do lunch and take a rest until

later.



PM EMH's are a mixed bag. I've been when they were

"packed"... but on other nights (sometimes within the

same trip), the crowds were basically so low that it

was like "free rides" on all the open attractions.



The rule seems to be, it is far easier for guests to

STAY UP at the end of the day, than it is for them to

GET UP at the start of the day.



Generally speaking:

Expect a PM EMH which begins before 10PM to be much busier than one that begins much later.

Expect the first hour of PM EMH to be busier than the last hour.



Those who have attended PM EMH's and say that "they

are too crowded" are right... but that may have been only on the nights

they have attended.

I can say from personal experience that EMH's CAN be

virtually empty, or overly full... or somewhere in-between for attendance,

often within the same week.



The crowd situation at PM EMH can change so much (either way,)

that saying it was "like X" on a given night, can have little relation

to another night in the same time-period. So, you

simply "won't know unless you go."

It's similar to saying

that you attended on a given night and it rained, so

guests should never go on that night because it will

probably be rainy.



But, it can all boil down to your particular timing.



If you just consider that EMH's are FREE to attend...

You might just take a chance.

If it's too busy, just people-watch... or hit the exit.

(Where ELSE are ya gonna go at 10pm, anyway?)



But, if its not busy... you'll be ALL SET for EXTRA FUN!



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[Shanti]

We will be going back to WDW for our second time in Sept (first time was 2017 Presidents’ Day week). We book onsite to enjoy the benefits of early FastPass+ booking and so on, but question EMHs. Every site says to avoid the parks on these days since it increases the crowds. With that being one of the reasons to stay onsite, are the crowds really that bad during EMHs? Last year we did not go to any parks during these days. Also for the evening EMH, is there a way for them to allow only resort guests in, since everyone is already there? Thanks for your opinions.

EMH are great- you can get a lot of rides done in a short time during them for two reasons:

1. Only a limited number of guests are allowed on the attractions
2. There are no FastPasses in use to slow down the lines

Those website articles tend to be written by locals who rarely stay onsite, so they typically don't get to enjoy the benefits of EMH. Their theory is that the rest of the day at those parks is busier than non-EMH parks, but I've actually never noticed that during our visits in recent years. Maybe it was true once upon a time, but these days it seems that people plan park visits more around their FP+ plans than around EMH. You yourself are one example of that trend.

I recommend you give EMH a try, and see for yourself how useful they can be.

 

[Shellyb84]

We take advantage of morning EMH almost every day. We can get a good bit done in that hour, then use our fastpasses and leave. We're typically leaving a park by 12-1PM anyway. We don't use evening EMH much, mostly because we don't like to stay up late since we get up very early in the morning. As Robo said, we've experienced crowded evening EMH and times when it's almost empty, within the same trip.

 

[AFwifelife]

We always do morning EMH by "RDing" it (we are there super early, get let in as soon as they let people in). You can get a ton done then we usually do some morning FPs, unless we are trying to hit something popular at a different park in the afternoon, and leave right around 11-12 when the park starts to really fill.

 

[kniquy]

since everyone is already there?

The best way to take advantage of EMH is to have park hoppers. So you go to the morning EMH do some of the rides until 10am and then move on to another park for the rest of the day. As for the evening EMH -- non resort guests can hang around and shop and eat, but will not be allowed on rides past the start of evening EMH -- with that said -- if EMH is at 9:00 they can get in line at 8:59 and still get on the ride, so lower waits might not come until later.

Park hoppers are the best way to utlize emh otherwise the only benefit to emh is getting in a little earlier or staying in the same park a little later.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

22ish trips and 13+ years later, we still to EMH every trip. My 2 cents:

• Early EMH are a no-brainer -- always a good use of time
• We then hop to another park around midday so that we don't experience the increase in crowds that might linger for the day in the early EMH park
• We almost always do later EMH, but crowd-wise it's more of a mixed bag -- sometimes crowds are a good deal lighter, sometimes not too big a difference. I think the biggest discrepancy is in MK, and depends a lot on how late REGULAR park closing is (i.e. last hour of EMH is generally less crowded if the park closes at 11pm than 10pm)

 

[CAS239]

Park hoppers: do emh
No park hoppers: avoid emh

 

[Tomh]

We have done EMH with no park hoppers. Sometimes the park is more crowded during the day, but certainly it is not always a deal breaker. As Robo said, EMH (especially evening) can be pretty crowded, or they can be pretty empty, and sometimes they can be pretty crowded early, and pretty empty later (this was particularly true when they ran for 3 hours, but even now it happens). Lines, although sometimes (on the crowded nights) long, tend to move much faster due to there not being any FP line during EMH, so even when it appears crowded during EMH, it is likely that you will be able to get a lot of ride time in.

 

[Earningmywings]

Thanks everyone! This is exactly how I assumed it would be, that’s why I was confused about avoid these parks as the sites had said. We will be having park hopper and while this is only our second trip, we feel much less worried about doing everything this time around. Thanks again.

 

[WillowRain]

I don't think we did EMH morning, but we did MK Wed night both times, and it was AWESOME! And especially being that it was super busy for January, it was totally dead every night after fireworks.