Do we need a plan for PM EMH at MK?

[VS85]

My BF and I are starting our trip on a Saturday in July when the MK has evening EMH (open until 2am I believe). We decided to have a late dinner at California Grill at the CR (currently have 8:50 res) so we can watch the fireworks from the restaurant. We thought once we're done, we can walk from the CR to MK to enjoy the late hours at the park. Neither of us are too keen to walk around in the hot sun in the middle of the day, so we thought this might be a more relaxing way to get little dose of the parks on our arrival day. Question is - do we need to do a lot of planning for an evening EMH, like FP+ and such? I am really trying to go with the flow, but I would like to ride the Mountains, HM and maybe the new SDMT. Other than that we want to stroll around, window shop, and just enjoy the ambience. I have never been to an evening EMH at MK before. What can I expect and how much should I plan?

 

[Lucius Best]

Guessing park close is midnight if EMH is until 2am. You cannot get FP+ during EMH, only standby lines will be open. But you could definitely get FP+ for 9pm-10pm/10pm-11pm/11pm-12am if you wanted to. Note with FP you can return up to 5 minutes early or 15 minutes late, so just make the first FP for something you don't really care about because you might not make it.

And if you are committed to staying until park close, lines can get really short during that last hour. You could probably get in multiple rides on mountains after 1am. Note that posted standby wait times might be considerably inflated towards end of the EMH. At park close on last trip, 7DMT had posted 40 minute wait, we were on in 10 minutes.

 

[VS85]

Thanks! Glad that we can be more relaxed about the experience and not so "commando." With 3-4 hours in the park, we can probably get those few rides crossed off the list. Are the shops open during evening EMH? What about food places, if we wanted a late night coffee or ice cream?

 

[gdrj]

Are the shops open during evening EMH? What about food places, if we wanted a late night coffee or ice cream?

Yes and Yes.

 

[Tomh]

I don't think you really need a "plan" like a touring plan. The park tends to get quieter as the evening hours wear on, making many of the non headliners a walk on, or close to it.

It has been my experience that during the emh, the food and beverage offerings start to dwindle as the night wears on, and by the last hour, are pretty scarce.

 

[Lee & Kerry]

You be looking at very minimal wait times if not just walk on.

 

[jolene63]

Evening EMH are awesome! You will get so much done. We always plan our trips so we will be there for at least one evening EMH at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Lucius Best]

Are the shops open during evening EMH? What about food places, if we wanted a late night coffee or ice cream?

I wouldn't wait too late to shop. And like a previous poster said, food places (especially smaller places/food carts on outskirts of the park) can start closing well before park close. We noticed that on last trip on evening at MK without EMH.