Avoid EMH?

[gonzo138]

From a couple of posts - it looked like people avoid parks with EMH. Is that true? Do those parks just get too crowded?

Thanks -
Stacey

 

[maxiesmom]

It depends on if you are talking morning EMH or nighttime EMH. In my experiences morning EMHs are incredible! So few people are willing to get up early on vacation that most rides are a walk on for the first 90 minutes. And that holds true even during busy times such as Spring Break for the 4th of July.

Nightime EMHs are not so great. Unless you can stay for the whole thing. The first hour or two are usually busy. However, the last hour is usually pretty good, as most people just give up and go back to their resorts to sleep.

 

[Robo]

Never attending EMH's because they will be too crowded
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 90 min. of PM EMH to be much busier than the last 90 min. of PM EMH.

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.

On one particular trip, we went to a PM EMH at DAK on a Wed night and a PM EMH at MK
on a Sun night (early Spring visit.)
Both of those EMH's were so empty of guests that we could have
stayed on many attractions and ridden over and over.
This included Splash, BTM, and Pirates (and many more) at
MK, and Exp. Everest, Kali, and Dinosaur at AK.
What's interesting is that the crowds during the day at these parks were
pretty heavy... but, within the first hour of EMH, those crowds simply
"evaporated."

However, 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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[Queen2PrincessG]

I've never understood the avoid EMH concept. Everytime Ive gone it's been perfect and totally worth the early wake up or the staying up late.

 

[missesdisney]

I agree with previous poster that it can depend and morning EMH are good IF you are there before they open the gates for the EMH and take advantage of that early hour.

However, if you are staying off site and do not have EMH privileges (which as I sit in a Residence Inn in Lake Buena Vista typing this I do not) you will likely want to avoid the EMH park. Nothing is absolute though - if Epcot has EMH evening and we are just wandering countries - we go. If it's off season and we know it's not really that crowded on an EMH day to begin with - we go (this is not the case this holiday weekend). If you want to go and see a parade and it's an EMH day - go.

You have to weigh a lot of things.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Welcome to the dis, Stacey.

I and many do avoid emh parks. I prefer lower crowds, makes the day easier, emh equals higher crowds. If on a mission, emh, on a vacation, low crowds.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

I've never understood the avoid EMH concept. Everytime Ive gone it's been perfect and totally worth the early wake up or the staying up late.

I think the "avoid EMH parks" strategy is only relevant to those not staying in a Disney resort. If you can take advantage of actually vistiting a park during the EMH, you do it without hesitation. However, if you're only able to visit a EMH park during normal park hours, you try to avoid it.

 

[Hootch]

do AM EMH and bug out early afternoon when it gets really crowded. There is a lot that can be done the first two hours or so.

This trip we actually hopped to MK in the afternoon of an AM EMH day. I was shocked at how short the lines were when we got there at around 5:00 PM. The crowds may have been impacted by the 105 degree heat index that day.

 

[torinsmom]

Definitely avoid EMH days if you are staying offsite. If you are staying onsite, use them to your advantage. My sister and her family like to sleep in on vacations, but I convinced them to try it one day and just take a nap in the middle of the day. She was amazed at how much we got done!

 

[TisBit]

Great answers from above. If you are off site, you avoid EMH like the plague. If you are on site and not planning on getting to a park for early EMH, I would avoid it...everyone already has a jump start on you. Evening EMH parks will typically be more crowded with people that do not have park hoppers and plan on taking advantage of the EMH.

About 2 hours before EMH starts, attendance will certainly swell as the guest with park hoppers are coming in and the off site guest have not left yet. This will typically last an hour or an hour and half into the EMH....then crowds will really begin to thin out as families with young kids are leaving, people doing rope drops are gone, etc.

As Robo pointed out, sometimes this is not a big deal. Say that park attendance on and EMH day is 10% more....if it is an off peak time and there are only 20k people in MK, you won't notice an extra 2k people. But if it is summer night on a typical high park attendance day and there are 60k people....that will add about 6000 people and the already bad crowd will just feel awful.

 

[think-like-tink]

We do the AM EMH in MK. Last summer, we were able to do all the attractions that was open and line up not long after the rest of the park opened up.

 

[bicker]

From a couple of posts - it looked like people avoid parks with EMH. Is that true? Do those parks just get too crowded?

It depends on the time of year and the specific park. Regardless, the way I tell friends and family about it, you should either do EMH or avoid it. The one thing you shouldn't do is ignore it.

 

[DebbieB]

The only time I've done morning EMH is when I went in the summer. It's good to get up early before it gets too hot & crowded. Then leave around 12:00 or 1:00 when the rest of the crowds pour in. Take a break and then head to another park (assuming you have a hopper). Evening EMH is usually very crowded.