Bloomin' EMHs

[k-herm]

I thought I had a pretty good plan for my off site trip in October, using Simon's busy/quiet days info in his book.

Then I see Disney's EMHs have been posted for October, and damnnit, they clash.

Simon says Fri quiet for MK; Disney makes Fri an EMH day for MK.
Simon says Sat quiet for AK; Disney makes Sat an EMH day for AK.
Simon says Sun quiet for MGM; Disney makes Sun an EMH day for MGM.
etc.

Now, of course this makes sense for Disney - they don't want highs and lows of attendence, but it makes things a bit awkward for me. But, hey, it just makes it more of a challenge I guess.

And from what I read on another thread, the EMH days can be really busy, so I suppose I would be better chosing an "average" day [from Simon's list] than a "quiet" day that has EMH... And I've got the Food Festival to consider too.

This is part of the fun, right?

 

[UKDEB]

Bear in mind that Simon's 2005 book was published last October before Disney even announced the new EMH schedule. My number one rule has always been to avoid EMH's at all costs and it's always served me well.\

As you've got Simon's book, you're eligible to sign up for his Personalised Itinerary Planning service for £10. We did so for our trip earlier this year and it's well worth it.

 

[wilma-bride]

I have to say that I note that EMH always seem to fall on the 'quiet' days. I suspect this is probably Disney's clever way of trying to get more people into those parks that would ordinarily be quieter those days.

Last year, certainly, we just went by the 'quiet' day info from the Brits Guide. We were not aware of the EMH days before we went and didn't notice that any of the parks, with the exception of MK, were particularly busy.

 

[Celestine]

If you're not staying onsite, one tip is to visit the park that had EMH the previous day (esp. if it was a pm EMH). If you're onsite, use EMH & then hop to another park at about 11am when the crowds build up. I don't know what dates in Oct. you are visiting, but don't forget Columbus w/end (8/9 Oct) will be busier & you also have to factor in MNSSHP which will increase crowds at night for Fantasmic & Illuminations (I'm guesing the last point, but it seems logical).

We're going again this Oct. & went in 2003 staying offsite & otherr than Columbus Monday, & the first day of F&W, all parks were completely manageable with vbery few queues to talk of.

 

[kazzie]

'Scuse my ignorance but what is EMH?

 

[Night-train]

Extra Magic Hours; extended opening for Disney guests, one hour before normal opening time and three hours after normal closing on selected days.

 

[wicket2005]

Simon has updated his quieter days, etc on askdaisy.net under park updates.

We followed the plan from here in July and didn't have any problems for the park of the day. We only hit EMH when we jumped around not following the schedule.

 

[Strommie]

I have already done our plan using Simon's advice in the book, so will now have a look on askdaisy to see if I need to change things around a bit!!

 

[SimonV]

UKDeb and Wicket are spot on - the new EMH system completely threw the book's Busy Day Guide out of whack on Jan 1 this year Thankfully, the website gives us the opportunity up up-date important changes like this: http://www.askdaisy.net/orlando/park_updates.htm

We have also just been to an Animal Kingdom extra magic hours evening and we didn't notice too much in the way of extra crowds in the afternoon, which we would have expected. It's Tough To Be A Bug was a 10-minute wait, Dinosaur about 25 mins (and it broke down when we got to the front of the line!) and Primeval Whirl 20 minutes. None of the shows looked over-subscribed and, while that park is always difficult to get around when even moderately busy, it never felt uncomfortable before 5, when EMH kicked in. And Maharajah Jungle Trek was just wonderful, with not many people going round and one of the tigers really having fun in their pool! Great to watch.

For Disney guests, EMH evening at AK is a MUST. We reckon you can do EVERYTHING on offer, including Festival of the Lion King and Tarzan Rocks, so it is well worth doing. The Safari ride wasn't advertised as open but it WAS, and it was another great ride at about 6 in the evening - a lot of animals out and about, including giraffes almost within touching distance of the truck. In the 3 hours we did: Primeval Whirl (about 6 times!), Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River, dinner at Pizzafari (SO quiet - just wonderful!) and ITTBAB. Everything was listed as a 10-minute wait, but Primeval Whirl was so quiet the boys got to stay on three times in a row. We took time out for a meal and didn't stop for either show, but we estimate if you went like this:

Safari, Lion King, Tarzan, PW, Dinosaur, Triceratop Spin, Kali River, ITTBAB, (and the Boneyard, which was the only other attraction working)

you would fit it all into the 3 hours. And we also noticed so much more detail walking around the park in the last hour or so when there seems hardly anyone around (actually, it was a bit of s surprise to see hundreds of people leaving at the end - where were they all??!).

A very useful exercise for all concerned.

 

[Clare D]

We only have 3 days at Disney before we leave for the coast. I had booked for the Crystal Palace on Friday 7th Oct with MNSSHP for that night, Saturday EPCOT and Sunday AK. Guess what EMH come out and surprise surprise we hit MK on the am EMH
At least we will be able to have a good breakfast and check out the crowds and we can get to go on the rides we miss later on that evening.

 

[fizz13]

Don't panic yet Clare D, I've heard am EMH is a lot quiter than evening, and if its a MNSSHP day, that means that a lot of people will wait to go into MK later with their special ticket for the party which they can't use till 4pm at least. In january, am EMH was very quiet and we knocked off Fantasyland in that first hour. Enjoy,

Claire xx

 

[Clare D]

Thanks Claire for the update - fingers crossed. Hopefully DS (nearly 3 when we go) won't be too worried about any queues after having breakfast with Pooh et al.
Clare x