Are EMH worth going to?

[discott71]

Our first DVC stay is coming up in May and I'm trying to plan our park days. For those that have had the experience, will it be worth it for my family to hit the parks during EMH? My kids will be 10, 6, & 4. I see in the mornings it's only for 1 hour (kind of early for only 1 hour?) and the evenings an extra 3 which seems nice. Are you able to get a lot done during these times that you normally wouldn't? Are lines shorter? Less crowded? Thanks in advance for your help !

 

[Metsoskil]

You'll get lots of different opinions on this.

I can't speak for evening EMH, as my kids are young, and can't handle that yet.

As for EMH mornings, my opinion is, don't go unless you have a hopper and are willing to leave the EMH park by 11 to go somewhere less crowded. The EMH park is much more crowded after 11, but before then you can get a lot done. Basically you have an hour more than normal rope drop before the park is crowded. But after that, it's twice as crowded.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

we are going to do alot of mornings when we can this trip, which means be at the park 30 minutes prior to the opening!! uggh! I heard you can book breakfasts during EMH prior to the park opening, anyone know if that is true?

 

[Metsoskil]

we are going to do alot of mornings when we can this trip, which means be at the park 30 minutes prior to the opening!! uggh! I heard you can book breakfasts during EMH prior to the park opening, anyone know if that is true?

You can get ADRs for breakfast before the park opens regardless of whether it is an EMH morning or not. In fact, it is much more of a benefit to schedule an early breakfast on a non-EMH morning. You get into the park before it opens, have breakfast, and then are right in the front for rope drop.

We've done CRT twice w/ an 8:05 ressie on a 9 AM opening day, and it was great.

 

[spiceycat]

I like EMH hours - but then allergic to the sun - so can't be out 11am to 5pm (sometimes at 10 am - depends upon the sun)

so EMH hours allow me to enjoy the park. Now sometimes the rides have long lines - but just wait. Of course with kids 6 & 4 year old you can't wait.

the best times are when the MK closes at 11pm or 12am - then it is open until 2am or 3am - and those times the early hours are still crowded but after 1am - most are gone.

the morning hours are generally worth it for me. but have an annual pass so park hopping is not a problem. I agreed these parks after EMH hours are the most crowded.

sometimes Epcot can be worst at night. Especially soaring and test track - just depends.

 

[murcor]

As for EMH mornings, my opinion is, don't go unless you have a hopper and are willing to leave the EMH park by 11 to go somewhere less crowded. The EMH park is much more crowded after 11, But after that, it's twice as crowded.

This is my opinion too....

Actually I avoid EMH and go somewhere else less crowded

 

[tjkraz]

I usually schedule around the EMH mornings. 8am is too early to be standing at the front gate while I'm on vacation. That means setting an alarm for 6:30am. No thanks!

We will do the EMH nights if the spirit moves us. Results seem to vary wildly--you'll hear that a park was "great" one week and swamped the next week.

The EMH night at Animal Kingdom is pretty cool. Normally guests are out of the park around dusk. Even Dinoland looks pretty cool when it's all lit up after dark.

 

[Dean]

Most experts recommend doing EMH AM if and only if you're there when you open the gate then going somewhere else mid to late morning. Otherwise they suggest you simply go somewhere else that is likely to be less crowded. I'd concur with that recommendation.

 

[ebenmax]

Our experience with EMH has been WONDRFUL!! We arrive a little before the time when the park opens and head in the direction of our favorite rides...fast pass one and ride the other. When I took my step-daughter into Fantasyland at MK while my DH and DS went to Space Mtn., we rode eight rides (all of the favs) in less than 45 mins.!! By that time it was almost 9:00 and Frontierland opened...headed straight to Thunder Mtn. and fast passed Splash. I can't think of a more effective way to do it for us.

We always leave those parks around lunch time, but then again, we have done most/all of what we planned by then. We highly recommend EMH, but it is early!!

 

[CPTJAK]

Our first DVC stay is coming up in May and I'm trying to plan our park days. For those that have had the experience, will it be worth it for my family to hit the parks during EMH? My kids will be 10, 6, & 4. I see in the mornings it's only for 1 hour (kind of early for only 1 hour?) and the evenings an extra 3 which seems nice. Are you able to get a lot done during these times that you normally wouldn't? Are lines shorter? Less crowded? Thanks in advance for your help !

EMH is usually crowded but we really like the nights, you can do a lot of rides at epcot, esp when staying at BCV or BWV. Morning EMH we go somewhere else and usually low crowds at other parks.

 

[bangzoom6877]

In July when we went, our kids were 3 and 1. We did the EMH mornings only at MK and AK. They both worked very well for us. Both mornings, the park opened at 8AM instead of 9AM, and we arrived between 7:15 and 7:30AM...not a problem for us as we and the kids are normally early risers. We did leave the park by 2PM at the latest, even the other 2 parks on the non-EMH days because it was hot and we knew the kids would need that afternoon break.

I will tell you one thing...we did EVERYTHING we wanted to AND THEN SOME!!! DH never thought he would get to ride Expedition Everest at AK, but he did! We were there for early morning EMH, rode the safari first (in the first vehicle of the day!), then I took the kids into DinoLand USA, grabbed FPs for Dinosaur while DH went and rode Everest. The kids enjoyed more of the kiddie stuff in DinoLand (no lines!), then DH met up with us at Festival of the Lion King...we arrived there at exactly the same moment but coming from different directions, it was actually kind of funny. We saw the show and loved it! It was a 10AM show I believe (we of course had arrived early). We then went back to Dinosaur (FP time was up) and took turns riding (kids are too little for it)...then we went to Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. There is one example...we did do a few more things after lunch but left that park at around 1PM. But we did everything we had planned!

At MK...we went straight to Fantasyland for the kids as soon as the park opened (we had gotten there at 7:15AM). We walked right on to Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Tea Cups, Snow White, etc. We had done everything we wanted to and the kids wanted to in Fantasyland by 8:20 and still had 40 minutes until regular park opening when we were going to head into Frontierland for Big Thunder. So we decided to go to Tomorrowland and my older son got to do the Indy Speedway which he loved (still talks about it!). We walked around, took another walk through Fantasyland and had a very nice hour overall, seeing more than we anticipated. We then headed to Frontierland at rope drop, and by this time (9AM), there was a 40-minute wait for Peter Pan! We were so glad we had already gone on it! We went to Big Thunder, I rode then DH rode and I took the kids to the little play area near Splash Mountain. Then we went into Toontown and my older son rode the Goofy roller coaster twice...VERY short line! We eventually made it back to Tomorrowland. DH had a FP from the morning but we had some time...we went to Cosmic Ray's for lunch and did the Carousel of Progress. Then DH went on Space Mountain. That ended out day at MK. It was around 1:30 or 2PM at the latest. We headed back to the room, then returned to MK for a 6PM dinner ADR at Crystal Palace, looked around some of the stores on Main Street and enjoyed more relaxing time at the park before heading back.

We had a great EMH morning experience. Would do it again in a heartbeat, but only if we got there just as early. As my kids get older we would probably take advantage of evening EMH, but only if the following day was a day off from the parks.

 

[photobob]

We usually don't go the the morning EMH. I can get everybody up and out the door to a park by 9 am, 8 am is a different story. I like to go to a park the day after morning EMH was held there. I am a big believer in getting to a park by rope drop and doing the major rides early by use of short standby lines and fastpasses. We go with a plan for early in the day and go at a fairly brisk pace until lunch. Then we slow down have a nice TS lunch and head back to the resort for naps and/or swimming. We usually go back to a different park for a two or three hours in the evening.

 

[Inkmahm]

Morning EMH CAN be pretty early. Last March, we did EMH at the MK and it was still DARK outside when the park opened. We have pictures of us on Main Street that look like they were taken in the late evening rather than early morning. Dawn happened while we were riding Buzz.

My family uses that as the example of how early I get them up to go to the parks. Getting there BEFORE dawn as opposed to just getting up before dawn.

 

[Anal Annie]

We take advantage of them on every trip. LOVE the morning one at AK!! The trick on the morning ones is to "get in and get out". We go to AK at 8:00 and usually ride Expedition Everest about 4 times before the regular park hours start at 9:00. We fast pass the safari AND EE one more time...then as soon as the regular park guests start gunking everything up we head over to the Kilamanjaro ride (it's usually getting pretty hot by then anyway and we're ready to get wet). The fast passes for EE go REALLY fast so we love that we can get so many rides in on it before the lines are bad and before the clock has ticked too far on it. We usually hang around AK until lunchtime, riding Dinosaur, maybe watch Nemo and get our fill of the park atmosphere. We used the DDE card (now TIW) so it was worth staying thru lunch as it's accepted all over the place there. Sometimes we'll get a FP for something for after lunch and let the clock tick while we're eating...THEN we get out. By then the place is jam packed. So we either hop to another park or we go back to our resort and have a pool afternoon before heading back out for the evening. We also like using it at Epcot in much the same manner. The World Showcase doesn't open until like 11:00 or something. So we hit Test Track and Soarin as often as possible and hit Mission Space once (DS is good with one time on that one per trip). Because there's not as many rides at Epcot we don't seem to accomplish as much. But by the time the World Showcase opens we're pretty much done with the rides. Again, we might pick up one more FP to use after lunch. We head over to the World Showcase for lunch then again, we leave for another park or a pool afternoon.

We like the evening EMH at MK & Hollywood Studios provided we're not trying to get up early to hit one of the morning ones at either AK or Epcot.

We also really enjoy the morning EMH at the water parks. Those are awesome too. You get your pick of a spot to put your things and can ride just about everything by lunchtime. Actually, we DO ride everything by Noon at BB and can finish TL by 10:30 or 11:00. The water parks get packed by the afternoon and if you go early you can avoid lines on just about everything. Once again, we eat lunch and move on to another park for the afternoon.

We see using the EMH's as a way to maximize our time and to accomplish as much as possible. (But then again, yes, we're the commando types!)

 

[bobbiwoz]

I thought morning EMH at MK was certainly worth it with our DGC...we had 2 of them, didn't even get to rope drop, there was a problem with one ticket, and still we did lots before the park got crowded, and we did leave. This was during a late June trip.

Bobbi

 

[discott71]

Thank you everyone - this has been extremely helpful and informative! I think we'll definitely be working in EMH in our trip - sounds like it's well worth it. Like the fact some are evenings as long as we're not getting up early next day. Also, this has convinced me to get the park hopper so we can take advantage of EMH in the a.m., go "home" for a bit and hop to another park! Thanks again everyone !