Better to avoid morning EMH or not?

[dotcomgirl18]

Tying to plan which parks we will hit on which days. We are two adults in mid-20's who arrive for rope drop and stay til park close. We hit the parks commando style.

For two of our park days, one day will be MK and one day will be AK. Right now I have us avoiding morning EMH based off of crowd predictors. If I were to flip the park days, we could hit morning EMH at both parks instead.

In the past we have done morning EMH and I remember getting a lot done in that first hour (and even second hour after the park opens to all guests)... mainly at AK. I've never planned parks based around crowd predictions before, so should I stick with the predictions and avoid morning EMH, or should I take advantage of EMH?

 

[mom3teach3]

I know people may disagree with me.... but my family goes to Disney World every year or every other year (for the past 12 years) and we have used Extra Magic Hours every time. We get to ride a lot of rides in that time and avoid long lines. With that said.... if it is morning hours we make sure we are on the first bus to the parks (which can be about an hour before rope drop) and we are one of the first families in line for rope drop. Then we venture into the parks for magic hours. I've never used a crowd predictor and don't plan to on my upcoming trip in June.

 

[willowsnn3]

We go several times a year, always take advantage of early EMH, and NEVER even look at crowd predicters.
You can get a lot done in that xtra hour.

 

[surferdave]

If you actually show up for EMH rope drop it can't be beat; I suspect even the crowd predictor people would agree with that. Although I know they recommend hopping somewhere else once that park gets more crowded. I think that's debatable depending on transportation time to the other park.

What you don't want to do is what my family would usually do if I planned rope drop; agree to it the night before but drag and stall in the morning and show up once it's crowded.

 

[CopperWife]

We're another family that gets there right at rope drop when the parks open early. We don't follow crowd prediction charts either, although I will admit we generally don't go during high crowd times.

Have a great trip

 

[HiHoWeGo]

I think you will have a great time in first couple of hours on a EMH morning. The only problem you might have is if you really do stay in that one park all day. Typically the EMH park get more crowded than it normally would be on a non-EMH day. So, you may find that, while the early hours are very productive, the later hours will be very crowded.

That said, you have a couple of alternatives. The easiest is to do as you said and stay in the park. While the more popular rides will likely have long lines, the less popular rides, shows and displays will probably be manageable. Since you should have already knocked out the headliners, this should be a pleasant way to go. Another option is to hop to another park and take advantage of the lower crowds there.

 

[Rosco1]

My family also hits morning EMH. We get SO much done in the first two hours. Then we generally move to another park--or give my son some much loved pool time.

As a side note, night time EMH at Magic Kingdom are our favorite. There in no feeling like walking around MK at 1:00 am and having the park almost to yourself.

Have a WONDERFUL time!

 

[corinascot]

We always go to morning EMH and find it very worthwhile. I don't find the same to be true for evening EMH. We often park hop, though.

We ignore the crowd calendars.

 

[Brian Noble]

I've avoided most EMHs. For the few I've been to, sometimes they've led to a really great day. Other times I've found it necessary to leave the park due to crowds before I was otherwise ready. My sense is that MK and AK can be more successful EMH days---MK because there are just so many darn attractions, and AK because it's EMH isn't that popular. At DS and EP, there are still only a handful of attractions that everyone wants to do, and the crowds build there quickly.

 

[Cookie Princess]

We love the morning EMH and get a ton of attractions done before the real crowds show up at around 11:00. We usually leave the park at around 1:00 and take a hotel break then visit a different park for the evening.

On the other hand, I find the evening EMH sessions to be crowded, but we will still do a few.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We normally avoid morning EMH, most crowd predictors suggest this.

Normally, we get to the Turnstiles an hour before opening. One day the plan was to go to DHS ride TSM then head over to Le Cellier for lunch. Earlier in the week I had such a bad experience at RD at DHS I just couldn't do it. Wasn't worth it. So as I step out of BC at 7:45 AM I say I changed my mind lets go to Epcot. I walk over to the IG and the line was longer than I've ever seen it at opening let alone an hour before. I am so confused until I realize they are just about to open up for 8 AM EMH instead of 9 AM.

For me, the longer line at 8AM vs the 9AM regular opening sealed it for me.

 

[JimmyV]

For us, it depends on what the regular hours are. If the park opens to the public at 8:00 and EMH begins at 7:00, we avoid them. We enjoy the parks in the evening and getting to a turnstile at 6:45 would mean compromising our evenings too much. But if the park opens at 9:00 with EMH at 8:00, we will consider it at MK or Epcot. For us, early hours at AK aren't worth it. We can complete that park easily without the need for an extra hour at 7:00. So we avoid AK on those days. And while EMHs are useful at DHS, that is the park that I would hop out of after the masses pile in. That park does not absorb crowds well at all, so we always go there the crowds are predicted to be the smallest. Or, go early and then leave. But since we aren't big on hopping, we just tend to avoid DHS on EMH days.

 

[GMS]

We do morning EMH for a couple hours, and then a pool/waterpark/nap break and hop to whatever park had EMH the day before. Love it!

 

[nickcirc]

When you do the simple math of how many people are eligible for EMH, It is, has been, and will continue to ALWAYS be a good Idea to do EMH. In less than 1 hour at DHS during EMH, you can ride, Toy Story, RnRC, ToT, and Star Tours and still leave before the park opens to everybody else.

Here at the moment, did EMH yesterday morning, and will of course do it tonight after dinner

 

[magicbob]

We've often used morning EMH. Doing so has allowed us to leave when that park gets very busy and hot. We go back to the resort for some swimming, etc. and then return to the park when the crowds and the heat have started to subside. We've hopped to a different park for the evening on occasion, but we're not big park hoppers. Usually, we just returned to the same park to go on more rides (either hitting the ones we missed in the morning or, more often, hitting our favorites again).

 

[pooh2001]

Early AM EMH = less guests go to the park, teenagers, the under 3 wee ones and honeymooners are still sleeping

Late night PM EMH = lots of teenagers and young adults up till 3 AM and others who took an afternoon nap.

We vote for Early AM EMH - and if you can FP+ and Park hop, do so for 1 PM to 5 PM FP's in another park which does not have a late night PM EMH.
Or stay in the Early AM EMH park and FP+ for 10 AM to 3 PM FP's.

Just our advice and how to best use your FP+

 

[CinqueTerre]

The last 90 minutes of an evening EMH at Magic is heaven on earth. Cannot be beat.

 

[Khara]

It really depends on what you want to do.

Personally, I love to go at slower times when the parks' regular opening is 9 and avoid EMH. If there's a super-urgent RD attraction then, I only have to be at the park at 8 to be at the front of the line. That means waking up at 7 for me, and that's okay for a week.

Any earlier is really pushing it, personally! But if you're a morning person, the earlier the better! A 7 AM EMH is even less crowded than an 8 AM one, usually, because very few want to be heading out of the room at 6.

If you're not sure if you can make it, though...absolutely definitely do not do what my aunts and uncles did on our first trip. They didn't buy park hoppers and booked ADRs for the morning EMH parks...yet they slept so late every day that they always missed EMH, giving them huge crowds with no benefit. If you're not gonna buy a park hopper and you lock yourself into the EMH parks, make sure you can commit!

 

[PinkaMickey]

You have to consider, if you stay on property, the difficulty you will have catching a bus from your resort to a park with AM EMH. We learned this lesson the hard way. Waited for a bus to make it to EMH as 3 buses came by and we never got on because they were already full! Wasted all that time!

 

[glamdring269]

We skipped morning EMH back in October because we were able to cheat with FP+ testing (normal RD + both FP system methods).

We'll likely go back to using early EMH next October. EMH RD and stick around in the park until the lines are longer than we'd like then head back to the hotel for some relaxation before hopping to an evening park and using our FP+.

That's the though as of today, March 16... who knows what FP+ will be like in 7 months!