Do you use or avoid extra magic hours?

[lenshanem]

AVOID! A matter of fact I planned our entire spring break trip so that we don't hit any of those parks that day!

 

[disfountainofyouth]

Early entry-Yes!
Evening extra hours-No. No! No!!!

 

[fkj2]

I can't imagine the circumstances under which I'd use the morning hours but I LOVE the extra hours at night, esp. in Dis Studios!

 

[zurgswife]

We have always used EMH's in the morning I've tried one evening and it was at easter week last year and it was so packed I gave up...I might try the evening one again when I arrive in 2 weeks...

 

[La2kw]

We avoid EMH. I like to sleep in on vacation. Evening EMH's are too crowded.

 

[DrTomorrow]

We sometimes use the EMH-AM, mostly at the MK or Studios. We love to be at the parks at rope drop, then head "Home" for a PM break, so EMH-AM often works out for us.

We rarely use the EMH-PM - only at the MK, and even then maybe once a trip. IMHO the problem with EMH-PM at any park is that, while they keep the non-guests off the rides, they can't really shoo them out of the parks (why would they when they can spend $$$ on food and merch.?) and the parks stay crowded. The two exceptions: MK when you can EMH late - midnight or later; and AK when it gets dark early so you can see AK lit up.

 

[Stuart D]

Maybe my memory is playing tricks but am I right in saying that in May 2005 they had two Spectralmagic's on EMH nights. One for everyone, and one for residents only ?

 

[Master Grayson]

We never do EMH evenings always to crowded for us. It seems the best thing to do is hit the park that has the EMH the next morning early and its always empty.

 

[Sammy]

Just back from our trip and went to EMH for the first time ever. We've always avoided the early entry/EMH park like the plague, but this time, wanted to try them out. Here's my experience:

Evening EMH at AK: really nice, not crowded at all. Got to ride the safari in the cooler late afternoon hours (5:00 pm or so), and saw many more animals than I've ever seen previously. The park is really pretty lit up at night too. Of course, you can't see any animals once it gets dark, so you are limited at that point unless you want to hang out in DinoLand (which we DO NOT)!

Evening EMH at EPCOT: NEVER AGAIN!!!! I truly think it was more crowded that MK on a Saturday during the Holidays!! It was insane! The thing about EPCOT is that there is lots to do in the World Showcase even without an EMH bracelet, so the crowds never dispersed until after 10:00-11:00! Crazy.

Evening EMH at MK: Also crowded in the evening until Wishes at 9:00; once the fireworks were over and people realized they couldn't get onto any rides without a bracelet, the park cleared pretty fast. We had the best time at this EMH! We usually travel in the off-season, so MK is closed by 7:00 or 8:00. What fun to be riding tea cups or Dumbo at midnight!! We would definitely brave the early crowds to do this EMH again....but this is the only one.

Sigh....just back last Tuesday and I miss it already!

Sammy

 

[Blue&Gold]

We have 2 boys (ages 6 & 4) who wake up early enough to watch the ducks jump in the Luna park pool for their morning swim, so we have no problem getting to the parks early... We do AM EMH at MK and Epcot then get out by mid-day for our turn on the Keister Coaster! Haven't really tried the PM EMH yet-the boys kind of self-destruct around 8:00 or so. We did MNSSHP last fall and while it was a great experience, we had to spend the next day recovering. On a different evening at MK, we were walking to the BWV bus while folks were streaming in at 8:45ish---most of the inbounds were young teens. One of the reasons I've become such a DVC fanatic is that I'm looking forward to the time when I can trust my boys to be comfortable enough to say "Hey Dad, we're heading over to MK for the late hours" and I'm comfortable enough to let them do it!

 

[mickeywho?]

We avoid them at all costs! We arrive at the park before the rope drop and head out with our plan from there. On this last trip we were at MK for rope drop - headed to fantasyland and then frontier land and were finished all the rides by 11 (with no lines so we rode a couple of our favourites twice). We thought we wouldn't be finished this early (we thought it may take until 1pm) so we decided to work on our list of "to do's" from our day 2 plan at MK. Overall, it meant 1.5 days at MK instead of 2 - more time back in the pool for us! Anyone that we chatted with back at the hotel that went to MK for am emh had a much different story to tell. We were there during value season - that may make the difference.

 

[d-r]

We have a two year old, so typically we are up early and leaving the park at lunch time for a nap anyway, so we do some morning early entries at MK. We just think of it as the opening time for that day. We don't do the evening ones. I really liked it a whole lot better when they had the ticketed "e-nights" that you paid a little extra for. We have went to one of the free evening hours a while back and it was too busy to be any fun. The old way was much less crowded and much more fun, imho.

 

[jonesm34650]

We normally do the PM EMH due to I normally vacation with my kids in the summer mostly and this way you can go later and stay out of the sun.

Mark

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have used both morning and evening EMH, and have found both very useful. We never stay in the EMH morning park past noon though. We found the EMH evening park gets crowded just before official park closing, but once the off site folks leave, it is wonderfully exclusive! I suspect the time of year of a trip might make a difference. We tend to travel in off peak seasons, so it works well for us.

 

[Stitch1404]

Maybe I had some kind of strange experience that was a one time thing, but we loved evening EMH. One night we walked straight onto Test Track and then straight onto Soarin' which I totally didn't expect! At Magic Kingdom we rode Space Mountain twice in a row due to no wait and at MGM Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Rollercoaster both had 10 minute waits. This was 2 weeks ago, but when we went during Christmas week last year during evening EMH the wait times were still pretty much cut in half. It seemed like all the families with little kids vanished after about 10. We don't get up early enough for morning EMH, but we go to the evening ones every time they have them!

 

[jesszac610]

We always use the AM hours, it really helps to get in the parks early fast pass that really cool ride, and wait for a short while for the other cool ride. As fas as the Eve EMH can't say been really thrilled with them. Last June, every EMH was completely crazy!! Way too many people, not able to do anything but walk around (barely). However, this past Feb. we used the MK EMH and we had very minimal wait for anything! I think it's a timing thing!!!

 

[keishashadow]

IMO, AM EMHs are more sparsely attended than the evening hours.

By noon we've usually hit all the major attrac. & have FP's for return later if we desire.

Like spending afternoon @ pool, napping, whatever.

 

[MickeyCrazed]

AVOID them like the plague!
The morning EMH's are just too early... The evening EMH's are just too crowded!

 

[Doug7856]

I've enjoyed reading these comments. I'm surprised by all of the "avoid like the plague" comments regarding the evening hours. For our July visit the parks were VERY crowded, yet the evening hours at the Magic Kingdom were wonderful, especial about 20-30 minutes into the EMH. I guess it just leaves more room for us, but we just did not have a negative experience!

 

[sajetto]

We only do the MK Evening hours. All the times we've done it we loved it, but the others we would avoid from past experience