Are EMH worth going to?

[discott71]

I also posted this on the mousellaneous section in hopes of more responses. 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 !

 

[ILuvMulan]

We have done well during the Extra Magic Hours. The only morning one we worry about is for Animal Kingdom. My kids are 9,9, & 11 so staying up for the really late magic hours was a treat and they did really well. I am not sure how a 4 year old would do. Anyway, we went in April and the night that MK had late EMH, we did not even have to wait in a line. Hope it works out that way for you.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I also posted this on the mousellaneous section in hopes of more responses. 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 !

It's all a matter of preference, if getting up early is hard for you and your kids then you may not like it, however, if you can, for example: MK, you can do all of Fantasy Land in that hour. AK, in the summer is blistering hot and you can do the park in 1/2 a day w/ EMH. It's all in what you plan and if you can get up and go early or stay up late till 2am.

We do both and we like both am & pm EMH.

Good luck to you and have a blast!

 

[Desnik]

DH does not like to get up early on vacation. On our adults only trip in July I made him get up early to take advantage of the EMH at MK. We were the first to ride the HM, we rode PoC twice in a row, rode Dumbo and more with no wait and it was fantastic! It was so worth getting up early for.

When we are with our kids it's a little harder to get up early but we always take advantage of EMH evenings at MK with them. We just did this a few weeks ago and we were able to ride Magic carpets of Aladdin twice with no wait. There were no lines for some rides and 20 min waits on others. It was hit or miss.

Personally I think it's worth it, but I have some issues with it. They let non resort guests stay in the park for EMH. They are suppose to check resort id's(they no longer do the wrist bands) to be allowed on a ride. They never checked our id's and we rode a bunch of rides and never saw anyone being asked for id's. This last time it was more crowded at EMH at the MK than I have seen in the past.

My advice would be you can get more done in the morning if you can get everyone there early.

 

[Inkmahm]

We LOVE EMH in the morning. We get the "major" rides done before the park opens to the general public. Very much worth it in my opinion.

 

[Sammie]

mornings are probably worth it, as many hate getting up that early. evenings are usually packed.

 

[Deb & Bill]

EMH in the AM is good. At the MK, I can get on Buzz Lightyear about three or four times in a row before I really have to wait in line. My guys will head to Space Mt (not this summer, though, it will be closed for renovations) while I get fastpasses for Buzz and ride Buzz a few times.

At AK, they will head to Expedition Everest (I'll get them FP for another ride) and then we'll head to the safari.

At DHS, they have usually headed to RnRC or ToT while I go to Toy Story Midway Madness and get FP for all of us on Toy Story.

At Epcot, we'll get FP for Soarin', ride Soarin' and head to TT or M:S after the first ride on Soarin'.

For Evening EMH, my guys will usually hit the parks until closing and I'll head to the villa.

 

[maburke]

I am not sure how a 4 year old would do.

We absolutely love am EMH, especially for the littler ones. We have done all of the best rides in a park by 11am, and then we can have an early lunch or head back to the room for a nap and a swim. If we didn't do that, we'd be trying to push on through nap time, which we have found to be a BIG mistake; it makes everyone cranky.

 

[kaffinito]

I still haven't made it to morning EMH (or rope drop either), but I do love the evening EMH's. The evening EMH for AK is kind of a letdown if you like the animals best, since none of the trails are open for animal viewing. The other parks are really cool (meaning groovy or nifty) later in the evening, and you can see and do a lot with less crowded conditions. My personal favorite is when World Showcase is open to midnight. The buildings and fountains look so very beautiful at night!

For us it's worth staying on site just to get the evening EMH perk.

 

[allshookup]

We are not morning people & since we usually go in August when it's hotter than hades, we tend to hang around the resort, maybe go to the pool & then the parks later in the afternoon. I try to plan my park days & dinner ADRs around whatever park is having evening EMH. It is usually still a bit crowded the first hour or so, but it thins out quite a bit after that. In October we did go for the F&W & at DHS EMH we still had about a 45 min wait for TSM, but considering that the wait times had been up to 2 hours earlier in the day, that wasn't bad at all.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Unless we are going to get there right when EMH morning hour starts, we skip the EMH park for that day. We find it becomes VERY crowded in the morning EMH park very quickly, and the ride wait times are extended because of it. Instead, we tend to go to a non-EMH park that day and hit the EMH evenings a couple of times instead.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

If you can do the EMH, I would highly recommend it. That said, mornings seem to be better (atleast in our experiences), but we are not morning folks. We prefer the night EMH, which have a little more traffic, but you are still able to do a lot.

 

[hakepb]

Unless we are going to get there right when EMH morning hour starts, we skip the EMH park for that day. We find it becomes VERY crowded in the morning EMH park very quickly, and the ride wait times are extended because of it. Instead, we tend to go to a non-EMH park that day and hit the EMH evenings a couple of times instead.

Agreed. I usually try to avoid the EMH parks.

It is a vacation, I'm not going to wake up early to make a morning EMH (I do not try to change my internal time zone)

Although I do try to hit some of the evening EMH hours. My last park day this October was an EMH at MK and the lines all night were the same as the normal park day lines had bee all trip. I attributed the lack of slowdown to a long mid-day shower (more people had a need to go at night) and there were fewer EMH's because of MNSSHP (Which meant more "regular" guests flooded that night.

The most disapointing thing about evening EMH are the fast-pass lines. I think they should not start issuing the EMH fast pass times until EMH starts. I went to a DHS EMH and found there were no TSM fast passes left...

 

[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 !

 

[allshookup]

Agreed. I usually try to avoid the EMH parks.

It is a vacation, I'm not going to wake up early to make a morning EMH (I do not try to change my internal time zone)

Although I do try to hit some of the evening EMH hours. My last park day this October was an EMH at MK and the lines all night were the same as the normal park day lines had bee all trip. I attributed the lack of slowdown to a long mid-day shower (more people had a need to go at night) and there were fewer EMH's because of MNSSHP (Which meant more "regular" guests flooded that night.

The most disapointing thing about evening EMH are the fast-pass lines. I think they should not start issuing the EMH fast pass times until EMH starts. I went to a DHS EMH and found there were no TSM fast passes left...

I didn't realize they had fast passes at evening EMH? Everytime I've gone the fastpass machines are covered over. Is that just because they are already gone before EMH even starts? I didn't even think the fast pass line was open?

 

[hakepb]

I didn't realize they had fast passes at evening EMH? Everytime I've gone the fastpass machines are covered over. Is that just because they are already gone before EMH even starts? I didn't even think the fast pass line was open?

TSM had the fast pass line and was taking fast pass tickets (but when FP's are "sold out" they cover the machines. It was annoying how many FP users they let through where the lines merged.
I guess Fast Pass may not be on all EMH rides. I recall Thunder Mountain Railroad only had a normal line open, no FP line

 

[Sammie]

There is no rhyme or reason to FP during EMH, it is hit or miss if they are allowing them to be used.

 

[ser]

I used to do EMH, but have stopped, because they just fed my "park mania" and I found I wasn't relaxing enough. That said, you can really get in a lot of attractions with no lines, and they really do work. So if you don't go to WDW very often and want to hit everything, or if you like to hit the rides then go back to the pool to relax, they are very effective. Perhaps try it, but don't do it every day or you may find yourself exhausted.

 

[allshookup]

TSM had the fast pass line and was taking fast pass tickets (but when FP's are "sold out" they cover the machines. It was annoying how many FP users they let through where the lines merged.
I guess Fast Pass may not be on all EMH rides. I recall Thunder Mountain Railroad only had a normal line open, no FP line

There is no rhyme or reason to FP during EMH, it is hit or miss if they are allowing them to be used.

Okay I guess we seem to always miss when they are allowing FPs. Thanks!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Okay I guess we seem to always miss when they are allowing FPs. Thanks!

Don't feel bad...we miss the FP machines being open too. Maybe we're cursed. Actually, we always seen them open during morning EMH, but never evening EMH. I will definitley keep my FP as a souvie though if I manage to get one at 11pm for a return time of say 12:30am...I would find that quite a novelty.