Early Magic Hour

[WDW JKL]

We will be staying at BWV during mid December and thinking about using the EMH feature and would like hear about your experience. We also have 2 toddlers 2.5yrs old so we want to come back for a nap.

Can we drive to the parks or do we have to use the Disney transportion?

Is it necessary to use the EMH feature during this time period?


For those of you that stayed at BWV and took advantage of EMH:

What method of transportation did you use for each of the parks and how was your experience?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[dianeschlicht]

It depends on which parks you want to go to. With toddlers, the EMH works good for the MK if you plan to leave that park mid morning and go elsewhere. It is mostly Fantasy Land things open during EMH at MK, so you can easily do all those things and then head out to a different park, since MK will be extra crowded from the early entry. We always use Disney transportation, but then, we always stay at OKW. Driving to the MK means you still have to take the monorail or ferry from the TTC near the parking lot to the MK. If you take the bus, it will drop you right off at the entrance to MK, bypassing the TTC.

If you are going to other early entry parks, Disney transportation is easy, or you can walk as in Epcot and MGM. With two toddlers, I would assume you have strollers, so walking through the parks is not so big a deal.

 

[PKS44]

If you are going to use BWV transportation plan AT LEAST an hour before you want to get there...BWV Buses during EMH are few and far between and loaded with guests from YC/BC/BCV before they ever get to BWV....if you walk out and the bus is there and not full you can take it...but if it is not I would drive. I have found that it routinely takes 45 minutes to an hour to get anywhere on Disney buses from BWV.

 

[mom2rb]

We did EMH at AK in Sept. NEVER AGAIN!!! It was so crowded. By the time we were done with the Safari my kids and my husband were ready to go back to the hotel. We had to go back another day to see the rest of the park. On the other hand when we did EMH at MK it was wonderful. My boys got to ride Dumbo,Winnie-the-pooh and a few others all in the first hour and then we could move on to the rest of the park.

 

[DVCTiff]

Hi WDW JKL - My husband and I tried EMH a couple of times during our honeymoon in October, and we just found everything EX!

 

[DVCTiff]

Hi WDW JKL - My husband and I tried EMH a couple of times during our honeymoon in October, and we just found everything EXTRA crowded. Especially if we were trying to come in toward the end. Animal Kingdom was the worst like Mom2rb said. You'd have to get there right at the beginning. Another thing that slowed us down once (we quickly learned) was the security guards who make you open your bags. Since it was just the two of us, we could run around without so much as a camera case so we could go right in. With toddler paraphenalia. I'm sure you're going to have to wait in line. Just be prepared that it may be more early than magic.

 

[jaysue]

With toddlers, use EMH for MK - the rest of the parks not such a clear benefit given your circumstances unless you guys are going to child swap at the rides then if you love TOT and RNR at MGM you may want to do EMH there as well - I am thinking if you want that mid-day break, EMH should work for you

The issue with the AK I think relates to something on the order of 90% of the guests head to KS first thing and then the rest of the park so the trek to Africa is very very busy - once away from KS, there is lots of room

On our recent trip, DW took DS#1 on KS and I took DS#2 on the PFT (forest trail) and we were the first guests on the trail and able to speak to a number of CM's and see a lot of animals in their morning routines - it was very nice

thanks
jaysue

 

[Doug7856]

I am a travel agent and do a good deal of Disney business. I recommend to my clients that they avoid the park that has early entry unles they plan to leave the park before noon. It has been my experience that the park with early entry just fills up. Many resort guests go to early entry and then when the regular public shows up, it is just too crowded. Early entry does work if you plan on leaving before noon.

We now have a two year old, so on our next trip we will probably use early entry for MK and then leave for nap time and go to a different park for the afternoon/evening.

This is just my opinion, but we use the early entry schedule to avoide the park with early entry. This works well for us.

 

[CarolynFH]

With toddlers who wake you up early anyway this may not be an issue, but if you don't live in the Eastern timezone you need to take that into account. We found that it was easier for us to avoid the EMH park each day and go to one of the others at opening time. That way we were getting out of bed at normal time as far as our bodies were concerned, instead of an hour early, which is heresy for us on vacation! If you're there when the park opens, even MK is not too crowded that early on a non-EMH day. The exception to that is Monday, when it's not EMH at MK but attendance sure seems like it is!

 

[ArnyVee]

In case some were wondering....

EXTRA MAGIC HOUR INFO

DAILY SCHEDULE

Sunday - Magic Kingdom
Monday - Animal Kingdom
Tuesday - Disney-MGM Studios
Wednesday - Epcot
Thursday - Magic Kingdom
Friday - Animal Kingdom
Saturday - Disney-MGM Studios


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ATTRACTIONS OPEN DURING EXTRA MAGIC HOUR

Magic Kingdom:

Astro Orbiter
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
"it's a small world"
Mad Tea Party
Main Street Vehicles
Peter Pan's Flight
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Space Mountain
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
Tomorrowland Transit Authority

Epcot:

Spaceship Earth
Test Track
Universe of Energy
Mission: SPACE

Disney-MGM Studios:

Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Star Tours
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Disney's Animal Kingdom:

Discovery Island Trails
It's Tough to be a Bug!
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
The Tree of Life

 

[DVC Mary]

MK too! We head straight for Dumbo, hit everything we want in Fantasyland, have DH or me, grab FP for Buzz while we are in still in Fantasyland. Sometimes we hit Toontown & a bit of Tomorrowland. Then we either get out right away or have a late PS breakfast at Crystal Palace.

The trick is to get out of the EMH park by late morning. We head back for a quick swim & nap before heading out to a different park mid-afternoon. This way we avoid the hottest part of the sun w/ my fair skinned little ones.

The advice for AK about getting FP for KS & hitting the Pangani Trail is excellent advice. We have done the same thing. We also ususally send someone to get FP for KRR.

Have a great trip!

 

[WDW JKL]

I think we will try the EMH at MK and leave early for a nap. We might try it at AK and if we do then we will definitely take the advice of getting a FP for KS.

Sounds like based on PKS44's experience, we may need to drive instead of taking the bus.

 

[Stelson]

In our experience, I would not do MGM on EMH. We ran out of things to do & ended up just waiting around for shows to start & other rides to open. TOT & RNR were the only things open & DS (too small to ride, as your 2.5 year oldswill be) got tired of the switching off after the first couple times.

MK, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot worked great for early morning for us, but MGM has limited offering to keep younger ones amused in the early morning.

 

[DVC Mary]

I agree. We don't go to MGM EMH either w/ the kids. We did as EMH at MGM alone w/o kids. It was delightful. We hit all the big kids rides & then did a great lunch at Brown Derby--love that Cobb Salad.

But you can go later to EMH at MGM & be there for the 1st show of Playhouse Disney, but I don't think it's worth it. I prefer to get to MGM in the pm, in time for the parade, hit some rides, do a dinner package at Mama Melrose & see Fantasia. We sit way at the top. The kids don't find it as scarey & then we get out asap, if not a few minutes early to get to the beginning of the crowds.