Do we take advantage of Extra Magic Hours or not?

[candmforever]

for the first time we are staying on site at ASM....and I wanted to stay on site to take advantage of all the benefits of doing so. however, as we talk about it, we think we will plan our days in which park according to EMH's...but instead of going to the park w/ the EMH, we are trying to avoid it. We just hear that it is so packed at those parks that day, and it's just more important to us to have a less crowded day and less waits. DH points out that he thinks 8-10 or 12 hours in any park is going to be enough for us regardless of which one is staying open later. We have a 2.5 and 4.5 yr old that hang in there real well, so I'm not worried about their stamina....but i'm just wondering if it's wise to purposefully plan to skip EMH in favor of lesser crowds. We're going in the 1st wk of OCt, which is when we went last time and it was pretty pleasant. Crowds were low enough, wait lines were ok, but we also didn't stay on site back then (2 yrs ago) and b/c we didn't stay in a resort, we knew to stay away from the parks that had the EMH. We also don't have the park hopper option on our tickets. We just never use it. So it's not like we can go to one park then hop on over to the park w/ EMH.

What are your thoughts on this? Should we plan TO or NOT TO hit the parks w/ EMH?
Melissa

 

[abaldacci]

I would do mornings and leave evenings alone if you have park hoppers! If you don't have hoppers leave emh alone all together,IMH O

 

[candmforever]

this is what i was thinking.....we don't have PHs

 

[Alexander]

We always do the EMH in the mornings. We get there early, as many people don't, and we ride and ride and ride. We usually leave the parks before lunch time when it gets really busy. We can do almost all of Fantasyland before the park officially opens on an EMH morning.

 

[candmforever]

So Alexander, my question is, if for instance, MK is opened early in the morning, will it be opened in the evening too...which in my mind, makes teh crowds build? I agree to get in early if they're opening early, I just don't want to get stuck in the crowds awaiting the evening EMH.

 

[tripplanner2]

We were just there from July 12-25. In our experience, the mornings were no problem, actually a pleasure. The evenings were a NIGHTMARE! We also did not have the hoppers and were traveling with a 6, 4, and 13 month old. The day was not a problem either with the EMH's. The problem came when other parks started to close and everyone started to hop over to the park with the EMH's. The only night we were there late enough to witness this was at MGM after Fantasmic. All day we saw every show we wanted and rode every ride without waits. We went to see the early Fantasmic show and when we came out MGM was an absolute madhouse. We thought of staying until we saw the crowd and opted to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool instead.

 

[candmforever]

Thank you very much for confirming my worries, we will definatley be avoiding EMH!
M

 

[DisneyDotty]

So Alexander, my question is, if for instance, MK is opened early in the morning, will it be opened in the evening too...which in my mind, makes teh crowds build? I agree to get in early if they're opening early, I just don't want to get stuck in the crowds awaiting the evening EMH.

Go to www.touringplans.com for ideas regarding use of EMH. Personally, we avoided EMH's like the plague, and never waited more than 15 min. for any attraction when we were there in June.
Talked to some people who went to a park that had an EMH and said the park was mobbed.
Good luck and have a great trip!
p.s.--you didn't ask for this, but I'll give you my opinion anyway --Consider investing in the PH option. It made it so much easier to be flexible ie--you could go to the morning EMH and leave for another park when the crowds get too big.

 

[rt2dz]

When we were there in May, the EMH in the mornings were mobbed--the evenings dead. And, except for one day, it was different parks that had EMH (not the same park in the morning and evening). EMH can be a nightmare or really wonderful. We would try it and move on if it didn't work. We tended to do was park hop if it got really crowded. I would take advantage if you could--what is the cost difference? It might be well worth it. Of course, if cost is a major issue, that time of year does tend to be slower, but with free dining maybe not so much this year... There will also probably be a lot more on site people.

 

[candmforever]

The cost difference to add the park hopper is 35.00 a ticket, or in our case, $175.00. I have the trip paid for already, and I don't have 175.00 to throw that way.......and little desire to. My kids don't want to leave a park once we're there either, just not condusive to our trips usually. We'll just avoid them.......

 

[gonemousin']

Avoid the EMH parks if you can. We were there in May and they were mobbed (morning and night, especially EPCOT) - we had the park hoppers and we switched parks twice because it was just too painful. So, since you're not doing the park hoppers, I would say err on the side of caution and plan to stay away. Just my $.02.

Lori

 

[chamonix]

We have been in October and will be there again.
I agree with the person upthread who said that you should definitely go to the park that opens early. In my experience, you can ride everything you want to ride if you get there early before the crowds really build enough to make the lines long. I never stand in line longer than 15-20 minutes--ever.

I don't know about the late night extra hours because we haven't done them, but am pretty sure no park opens early AND stays open later. It will be one or the other. (look at the schedules, they rotate) So, my advice is: go to the early morning park. Do everything before noon. Leave and go swimming or whatever later in that day. Go back to that same park that evening because most of the early birds who stayed all day are pooped and have left--but since you took a break, you can go back for more if you care to do so.

 

[Joanna71985]

MK had a couple of times where they had a morning AND an evening EMH at MK. But usually (for right now) it's: MK- M(evening), W(morning), F(evening). Epcot- S(morning) + M(evening)/ Th(evening). MGM- S(evening) + Tu(morning). AK- Tu(evening) + Sa(morning). This is for the week of 7-31 to 8-6. I believe that once it gets back to the "slow" season MK will go back to 1 evening EMH. But for right now it's 2. I say stay away, stay away, STAY AWAY from MK on an evening EMH. It has been getting a lot more crazy at MK. The problem is that since the other parks, especiallly AK, close earlier, everyone goes to MK. Because on an EMH nightm, the park can be open til as late as 2 am. It won't be AS crazy as on a holiday or mid-summer day crowds. But it's still pretty crazy. Just some helpful info.

 

[candmforever]

Wow, that's great info, thanks!

 

[Joanna71985]

No problem! I live to serve.

 

[NotUrsula]

Honestly, I think what's ruining EMH is the non-hopping option; guests are trying to get the most bang for the buck by choosing the park for the day that has the longest open hours. Since they can't hop, they end up staying no matter how bad the crowds might be. Add in a hot summer, and this no-hopping thing is a recipe for overcrowded evenings no matter where you go.

We did an MK EMH in early June, and it ran from 11pm - 2am. The first hour was very crowded, but we hit every mountain in the final 45 minutes; much of the crowd just gave up shortly after midnight. We'll still be using EMH, because the parks just don't have enough night hours without it these days, and they are at their most magical at night.

We're still using up our old hoppers, but when we have to go to MYW, we'll be springing for the hopping option. IMO, Being able to easily choose an alternative park on the spur of the moment is what makes WDW and USIOA such special experiences; you can move around to get the best experience on any given day.

 

[rt2dz]

= Being able to easily choose an alternative park on the spur of the moment is what makes WDW and USIOA such special experiences; you can move around to get the best experience on any given day.

I have to say, I agree completely. There is just no better way to say this.

 

[lgazz]

The last time we went to WDW, we used TourguideMike's services. (I don't know if I'm giving away any priveleged info with this post, but...) He recommended to ALWAYS take advantage of the morning EMH EXCEPT during the Easter break week. Then he recommended going anywhere other than the EMH park.
We followed his advice for the Easter week and had a great experience...We watched people flow onto the bus for the EMH park in the morning like a herd of cattle. When our bus came (to take us to a different park), there couldn't have been more than 10 people waiting to get on!