Better to avoid park on EMH even if resort guest?

[goodeats]

My ADR window opens up on Monday and I just realized October hours have been posted so I updated my itinerary spreadsheet with actual hours/emh versus what occurred the same week October 2014. To my chagrin there were quite a few changes. If I'm not planning on making the rope drop I should definitely avoid that park for AM EMH, correct? For instance I had planned on AK on Wednesday after MNSSHP, but that's the AM EMH and I doubt we would or would want to make the 8 am opening!

What about for PM? Are the EMH worth attending. I know the AM hour is if you can make it, but are the PM? I noticed Thursday is the PM EMH at Epcot - I'd imagine the F&W booths will be extra crowded for dinner that night.

Also, are the Hours/EMH likely to change between now and October?

 

[Robo]

PM EMH:

MK yes
Epcot no

 

[Robo]

Some hours and events WILL be increased.
EMH days rarely change (but have on some occasions.)

 

[eyehartdisney]

If you aren't going to take advantage of the AM EMH, don't saddle yourself with the heavier crowds for the rest of the day. Pick another park. If changing everything around is too much of a hassle, don't bother. It's going to be fine, one way or another. PM EMH for anything but MK just generally isn't worth it. Too few headliners, and the lesser attractions aren't open. During the party season I generally pay much more attention to which parks have the evening entertainment than the EMH, though. If wishes is only showing three times in a week, my money's bet is MK will be much more crowded.

 

[goodeats]

Yes, we're only going to MK in the morning on the day it closes at 7pm. We'll only go at night for the Halloween Party. A LOT of time will be spent in World Showcase as this is an adult trip. Can't wait! Ok, I think I'm going to switch out a few things and definitely avoid AK EMH and Epcot on Thurs for dinner. No biggie.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

We love PM EMH at Magic Kingdom and do every time we go.

 

[sky13]

If you're not making the AM EMH rope drop then I would probably avoid that park.

Last week I did AM EMH rope drop on a couple of days then hopped to a different park once the crowds got insane. (On one day I even rope dropped MK at 7am EMH, then hopped to Epcot and kind of made rope drop at 9am.)

I did the 1-3am EMH at MK last Saturday and it was completely worth attending. I've posted elsewhere about this but from midnight to 3am that day I got on 12 rides and did 3 character meets. The longest queue I stood in during that time was about 5 minutes (for Big Thunder Mountain and Cinderella and Rapunzel), pretty much everything else was a walk on (including Anna and Elsa and Peter Pan).

 

[tstottle]

It's great to read about the PM EMH at Magic Kingdom. We only have two Disney park days this year and I am trying not to be temped to attend evening EMH at MK and then the next morning go to AM EMH at AK to ride Everest before we park hop. Crazy I know! Someone talk me out of it! I LOVE the parks at night but I also love the short lines in the early morning. My family has a hard time keeping up though and I don't want them all to have a tired grumpy day!

 

[disneycrazy2004]

It's great to read about the PM EMH at Magic Kingdom. We only have two Disney park days this year and I am trying not to be temped to attend evening EMH at MK and then the next morning go to AM EMH at AK to ride Everest before we park hop. Crazy I know! Someone talk me out of it! I LOVE the parks at night but I also love the short lines in the early morning. My family has a hard time keeping up though and I don't want them all to have a tired grumpy day!

I am not sure when you are going but we go every year at the end of August and find that you can ride Everest pretty much with no wait at the end of the day ( an hour before park closes ). It is my daughter's favorite ride, one year we were able to go on it 6 times in a row...Crowds really thin out before the park closes.

 

[JanaDee]

We love PM EMH at Magic Kingdom and do every time we go.

Us, too, but MK is the only place we go to for PM EMH. I've never once used an AM EMH.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I have usually stayed away from the morning EMH. The evening ones are alright, but as has been stated before other than the MK, there really aren't too many good options. I will say if you do rope drop during an AM EMH, then you can get a lot of attractions in by about noon.

 

[tstottle]

Disneycrazy2004, you are right. We are going mid July, so higher crowds than you, but, we have experienced that before too and we always go during summer break, and have also had good luck heading to AK when it starts storming, fighting through the crowds heading out, then getting on Everest as soon as the rain is over. I will keep that in mind. We weren't going to do AK at all due to our short visit, but we all love Everest. I am trying to decide if it is worth it to go over just for that (and one member of our party has never been there, so he would see a bit of it), and thought that during a time when no other parks are open would make me feel like spending the time would be OK. But the before-closing plan could work if we are tired and ready for a break on the bus ride over!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I look at all EMH this way...if I'm paying the premium to stay onsite, I'm going to utilize the perks that come with it. While I'm sure everyone's crowd tolerances are different, I've found the whole "EMH noticeably boosts crowd levels" to be an exaggeration/scare tactic. MK is the best park for evening EMH and I've found both DHS and AK to be great with morning EMH. Epcot is the only park that I'm kind of meh on EMH in general.

As for park hours changing, it has been known to happen. Geez, I've been in MK and have had an extended hours announcement go out over the PA system just before FoF. So, sometimes you just have to roll with the changes.