Can anyone talk about how EMH (esp. at night) went last sept/oct?

[TigerLaw]

The search engine doesn't allow for searches going that far back, but what I am trying to get a sense of is how the night EMH were last sept/oct, as the dining plan was running then as well. Some recent posts have me spooked b/c I really want to do the night EMHs at MK and MGM, but if the crowds are even worse than during the day, what's the point right? for frame of reference relative to last year, the EMH nights during my upcoming trip are from 8-11 at MGM and 9-12 at MK (of course, if anyone wants to chime in on how things went at AK and epcot, so much the better)

thanks for the help!

 

[Robo]

I really want to do the night EMHs at MK and MGM, but if the crowds are even worse than during the day, what's the point right?

The key word is "IF"...

These things change on a day-to-day basis.

Remember that NOBODY can tell you what WILL happen with ATTENDANCE on any given date, any more than they can predict the WEATHER (which WILL affect the attendance much more than EMH.)

Considering its FREE to go... if its busy, just people-watch or hit the exit (where ELSE are ya gonna go at 10pm, anyway?)

But if its not busy... you're ALL SET for EXTRA FUN!

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

It seems that the EMH really pull in people in the mornings, rather than at night. I went to all the EMH on my trip this May and I was walking right on rides at the MK ( Pirates, SM, SM, BTMRR ). I was almost kinda dissapointed cause I felt rushed through some of the really cool line queues.

 

[TigerLaw]

can anyone speak to their experiences w. EMH nights in either sept or oct last year though?

 

[seven dwarfs]

I can not help you with Sept/Oct but we did try MK last Oct/Nov...don't know the exact date. It was very busy. We had less waits during the day. I am not banking on EMH but may try a couple, if they are busy we will leave. I often wonder if it would be worse when it is hot since people take breaks during day. The only EMH we have done on past trips that was not busy for us was Epcot.

 

[PortieOwner]

EMH mornings were busy late last Sept./early Oct. especially at AK.

 

[angel's momma]

We were there last 9/25-10/8.

We did evening EMH at MGM, MK, twice at Epcot, and twice at AK.

It was not crowded at any of them, but Epcot had some major lines. (It was never crowded during the day either, but it did pick up the closer it got to Columbus Day Weekend.)

We did more at MK from 7 pm-11 than we did 9 am-5 on another day. We rode just about everything that night with little or no wait. It was so much cooler then also.

At MGM we went on RNRC & TOT over & over during Fantasmic - just got right back in line. The line wasn't short enough to just stay on the ride, but short enough to just walk back on.

AK we were mainly in Dinoland for DD. She rode Primeval Whirl continuously for quite awhile - didn't even have to get off.

Epcot doesn't have as much available to do, and didn't have FPs running, so lines for TT, MS, and Soarin were all much longer than they had been during the day.

We didn't try any am EMH that trip, so can't compare.

We really enjoyed the evening EMHs, hopefully they won't be as crowded as some reports are indicating.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

We were there for EMH at the MK 1st week of October last year and it was pretty much empty. (Except for Peter Pan, that one is always crowded!) Everything else we got right on, no waits)

 

[disnut1149]

We were there Sept 29 to Oct 4 last year. MK was a madhouse on EMH night. We left after going on a few things. Just too crowded for us.

 

[Robo]

We were there last 9/25-10/8.

We did evening EMH at MGM, MK, twice at Epcot, and twice at AK.

It was not crowded at any of them, but Epcot had some major lines. (It was never crowded during the day either, but it did pick up the closer it got to Columbus Day Weekend.)

We did more at MK from 7 pm-11 than we did 9 am-5 on another day. We rode just about everything that night with little or no wait. It was so much cooler then also...

We were there Sept 29 to Oct 4 last year. MK was a madhouse on EMH night. We left after going on a few things. Just too crowded for us.

We were there for EMH at the MK 1st week of October last year and it was pretty much empty. (Except for Peter Pan, that one is always crowded!) Everything else we got right on, no waits)

So there you have it PROOF POSITIVE!

EMH's are SUPER-FULL and NEARLY EMPTY, sometimes virtually on the same nights!

Is that the kind of "specific" info you were looking for?

 

[CPM]

I think during food and wine the nights are busy. I usually go mid Oct. and it's always been packed at night.

 

[angel's momma]

So there you have it PROOF POSITIVE!

EMH's are SUPER-FULL and NEARLY EMPTY, sometimes virtually on the same nights!

Is that the kind of "specific" info you were looking for?

Just to clarify - we attended MK on 9/28.

We weren't there the same night as disnut1149. (Actually, disnut1149's dates don't seem to match for when MK's PM EMH was that week )

 

[frannn]

We were there 10/7-10/17. The first late night we did at MGM was so packed we only went on The Great Movie Ride and I think one other thing. The second one (our last evening at WDW), we were able to do GMR, Muppets, Mermaid, ST, and I think one other thing before going back to the resort. The lines were pretty short. I think Columbus Day was the Monday right after the first EMH we did, so that might explain the crowds.

 

[Glendamax]

I was in Magic Kingdom Sept. 2005 during EMH. The crowds were great! It was a little more busy in Fantasy Land though. But it was really odd walking around in Frontier Land with hardly any people!

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I was there in the evening. It was so nice that I regretted that the ony time I did this was on my last night.

 

[Lanie]

We went last year in the middle of September, and these are my impressions:

Mornings: Every morning EMH (we did them at all the parks!) are our favorites, and I believe they are the least crowded hours of any day!

Evenings:
MGM was PACKED!!!!! Usually the MGM crowd aroung the biggest attractions is more of a teen/young adults crowd, and they don't mind staying late, so that is my explanation... The wait time for RnR as well as ToT after Fantasmic was over an hour, no FP given. We waited 45 min to ride the Great Movie Ride (it was our first evening, so we really wanted to ride something!)

MK: Not too bad, but not as great as the morning EMH.

AK: It was completely deserted 1 hour after the EMH started...It was a little eerie...

Epcot: The wait for Soarin' right after Illuminations was over an hour, and the FP were GONE after 1/2 hour. MS was basically a walk on, as were most other rides. TT was 20 min.

Hope it helps!!!!

 

[kittythepoohbear]

During my trip last Sept. 9- 13, we utilized EMH at Epcot and MGM. Both were rather uncrowded and we loved it. At Epcot, we were able to walk in and get a river side table at San Angel Inn right after Illuminations for a late dinner. Then we walked on both Rio del Tiempo and Maelstrom. We made our way to Future World and rode JII and then on to Soarin. This was the biggest wait of our entire trip - about 30-40 minutes, but we expected it since the ride is new. The best part was walking around Epcot at midnight. We bumped into Pluto near Innoventions East. There was no line so we were able to get a picture taken without a wait. The lines for the buses were not as bad as we thought either.
At MGM, we rode Star Tours twice without a wait. We saw MuppetVision 3D and walked around a bit. We didn't go on ToT or RNRC (I am a chicken) but the lines didn't seem horrendous for those.
I definitely plan on utlizing EMH again this trip.

 

[TigerLaw]

thanks for the insights everyone-if anyone else wants to chime in, please do so!

 

[chigirl]

We were at WDW 9/12-9/19 last year and the EMH for MK was on the Saturday we were there, if I remember correctly. It was MOBBED!!!! This was during a week when Monday-Friday we were saying to ourselves "Is this place open?" because the crowds were soooooo light. Then Saturday came and MK was mobbed during the day and at night.

WDW may have been extra light that week because this was just after Katrina and maybe people cancelled their plans???

But I was surprised at how packed the park was on the Saturday and during EMH. We were spoiled, to say the least, by the lack of guests so we couldn't handle the crowds on the weekends!!!

 

[princessjv]

We were there LY Oct. 4-13 (We caught the tail end of free food). EMH in the A.M. were very managable and P.M.'s were CRAZY. We felt MK was the worst, ride lines were 40 minutes +! It was also hotter/more humid than the bejeezers!

 

[Glendamax]

I also wanted to add that I did use touringplans for crowd levels, so that might have contributed to the light crowds I experienced last year. I doing the same this year too!