Crowd calendars or extra magic hours?

[CarolinaDD1997]

Ive been looking at crowd calendars, and they usually tell you not to go to the parks that have EMH that day!

My family usually loves to go the days that a park has EMH so we can stay up late or get to enter to the park first!

So what do you guys recommend? is it better to go to a park when there's less people around (what the crowd calendars recommend) or go to the parks that have EMH that day?

thanks!

 

[matheke]

Going to EMH works best if you have park hopper tickets so you can hop out of the morning EMH park when it starts getting crowded. Same thing in reverse for evening EMH.

EMH at crowded times of the year is completely different than at slower times.

 

[kay1864]

Follow the calendars (especially easywdw's). Morning EMH are fine (lots of people don't use them because it means getting up an hour earlier), but Evening EMH can easily add 20,000+ extra guests during the day. Crowd calendars say avoid parks with Evening EMH, and I've always had excellent results following their recommendations.

 

[Robo]

So what do you guys recommend? is it better to go to a park when there's less people around (what the crowd calendars recommend) or go to the parks that have EMH that day?

to the DISboard, CarolinaDD1997!


Never attending EMH's because they will be "too crowded or overly-stressful,"

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 hour of PM EMH to be busier than the last hour.



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.



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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[CarolinaDD1997]

to the DISboard, CarolinaDD1997!



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Hello!! thank you! Your advice is great! You've convinced me , ill go to the EMH
I haven't been to Disney World since 2013 but before that Ive been every year for 6 years! Its just now that im at disboards I saw that people also had the strategy of crowd calendars, so I wasn't sure what was best!
We always do EMH, I completely love them! I like staying really late. And when we do go early, the parks are completely empty! I once ride Splash Mountain like 3-4 times in a row without even getting out of the car, cos there was no one on line!

Thanks again!!

 

[TPrice]

Like Robo said: your milage may vary.

We were there the first week of January, and we took advantage of PM EMH at MK one night. Was the best time of the whole trip. We did Splash Mountain and BTMRR 4 times each that night. On each ride we pretty much walked right on to the ride. Maybe waited 5 minutes at most for BTM.

Also, as many on this board point out, take advantage of the time during the parades. Lines seemed to be much shorter while ELP is going on.

 

[Little Green Army Man]

The crowd calendars are for those who are staying offsite as well. You certainly don't want to go to a park with EMH, if you aren't able to participate in them.