August trippers- Help with plan!

[Gorechick]

This is my first trip with my twins who will be 7. My husband and I have been to WDW 2 times on our own. There is so much more to think about and so much has changed since our last stay in 2004. I'm using EasyWDW as a guide to park days. We've also had good luck in the past making use of EMH AM hours in the August heat. We want to spend the bulk of our time at MK and Epcot and will relax at resort in the afternoons most days. Here's what I have so far:

8/18 Morning- HS AM EMH, Evening- MK
8/19 Morning- MK, Evening- MK
8/20 Morning-AK AM EMH, Evening-Maybe Epcot
8/21 Morning- Rest Day at POR, Evening- Maybe MK
8/22 Morning- MK, Evening-Epcot
8/23 Morning- MK, Evening-Epcot
8/24 Morning- Epcot, Evening - Maybe HS

There seems to be more evening EMH hours than AM ones, not sure if my kids will be up to being out later. Don't think I can get them to nap in the afternoons. Any advice appreciated!

 

[3pletprincesses]

with my triplets, I try to avoid the EMH as much as possible. Those specific parks are more busy on those days. We instead prefer to do parks that have no EMH , have an early breakfast before rope drop, make it to rope drop, head back to the resort for afternoon breaks/swim and return to the park around dinner time. It makes it for a much more rested happy family.

 

[jedi jen]

I definitely agree about afternoon breaks. We tour early, break and do something in the evening. Our morning touring is the best....few lines and less crowds. We did AM EMH our first trip in July and had a great time. We were usually done by noon and it did get crowded by then. Now I avoid AM EMH to give us more time to rest at night. We get to rope drop in a park that does not have any EMH to benefit from less crowds--since people will be going to the park with EMH. It is up to you. Since my kids are older, they like evenings and don't necessarily want to get to bed early to make AM EMH. It is easier for us to get up if we get that extra hour sleep.

 

[Liv4Dis]

We have found that in order to reduce time waiting in lines, the key to Disney is to arrive at the parks at opening time (8:00 if they have early morning hours or 9:00 if not). You can get in 3 or 4 rides and have some fastpasses in hand before most people are showing up at 10:30 or 11:00 ... and we are not morning people EXCEPT FOR DISNEY ... and no one who knows us believes us

 

[Sandi S]

I'm planning an August trip with my herd, and I do not plan to do EMH in the morning. With 4 kids, it is too much headache to make it worthwhile. My kids can be great night owls, though, so evening EMH have some serious appeal - esp. with the bigger ones (DH may take the little two back to resort if nec.). When I was at DL in 2009, my then 7 & 8 year olds made it til past midnight just fine.

I do plan to take afternoon breaks for rest/swimming.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

We have had better luck avoiding EMH parks than using them. We tried it but found that we got just as much in during a morning at a non-EMH park as we did using AM EMH, plus we got the extra hour of sleep. You do need to be at the park at RD, but if you're prepared to make an AM EMH, that shouldn't be a big deal for you.

That's generally my planning start-point...check out the EMH times and cross off those parks for the day. As PPs have said, it's a matter of preference for you and your family. Our personal experience, though, is that it doesn't really pay off.

Have a magical trip - you're going to LOVE seeing Disney through your children's eyes!!