Easter hours (finally!) updated - 7am EMH, need help with ride strategy

crowls

Mouseketeer
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Jun 11, 2014
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Yahoo - the mouse has finally updated the hours for 7am EMH! (Great for those of us wanting to get a jump start). Now for the planning - as this is our first trip the only reference I have is the threads from Christmas and last year to understand crowd levels. How busy are the parks from 7am -8am?

I.e. can anyone tell me of their experience, wait times, expectations? Is it reasonable to assume I could knock out all of the major Fantasyland attractions before 9am? Does AK ever open EMH at 7am?
 
I'm in the same position. Going to be in the parks Monday through Wednesday before Easter. I know for sure we will be doing the seven am EMH on Tuesday. I'm torn about trying for A&E if we can't get a FP. I'm thinking I could get through most of tomorrowland and much of fantasyland before 8:30 or so. I'm thinking about using FP for some of the rides in frontier land in the late morning. Any advice would be great though. I've never done EMH before
 
Over the years we have done a number of 7 AM EMH at Easter and Christmas. You can do a lot between 7 AM and 10 AM.

Our approach has been to go to Space Mountain, then Buzz, then maybe one or two quick rides in Fantasyland (choosing from Dumbo, Barnstormer, Little Mermaid, Pooh, Teacups) and then hitting Peter Pan at around 7:40-7:45 with the idea of getting off of it before the rest of the park opens at 8. Of course, the mine train will change the early pattern. We might start there, then hit SM and Buzz and then go to PP if it's getting closer to 8. If we can do 2 EMH days in one trip, we will do a lot of the other things in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland the second day.

We like to be in position to go toward BTMRR and Splash when the rest of the park opens at 8.By doing that, we can usually do those 2, then POC, JC, and HM in less than 2 hours. So, by 10 AM we will have done what we consider our top 8 rides and still have time to do a couple of other things with short waits before lunch (which we usually have early when we get to the park before 7). Then we can slow down and do some of the "anytime attractions" after lunch. We usually don't make our FP reservations until after 5 PM, and those are usually at a different park. If we get tired, or if the park gets too crowded for our tastes, we may take a break back at the resort before hitting the second park.

Those are great days!!

If you want to focus on Fantasyland, I would think you could do most of the attractions there before 8:30, though I wouldn't do IASW too early because it takes so long and will still have a reasonable wait up until 10 or 11, if not longer. If you want to do both, you would have to do the mine train and PP quickly because the lines there will build up fastest.
 
When we have done this (last time was 2012) the first order of business is fantasyland. Or at least MY first order of business. They have moved Dumbo since then so I would do PP first, then Pooh, Dumbo, Small World, Philharmgic, maybe Little Mermaid depending on line. Once I have my favorites out of my system I can do everything else.
We will be there the Wednesday before to the Wednesday after Easter. I have MK plans on Thursday and Tuesday. The first day I used my fastpasses for Splash, BTMRR, and preferred viewing for MSEP. The second day I have Splash and HM in the morning--planning on going to the resort in the afternoon and have an Ohana reservation at 8, so I booked a 10-11 PM Mine Train because I have not ridden it at night yet.
Of course YMMV--I don't like Space anymore because it is rough on me, so if you want to ride that you could replace HM or MSEP with it. We've been there enough that there aren't any "must dos" for me except getting my Fantasyland fix.
I LOVE the look of MK when the sun is coming up, though.
Daisyx3
 

This is great information - thank you everyone for your help!! I am drafting my plan now.......can't wait!!! :)
 
We did a 7am EMH just before Christmas, and had finished most of Fantasyland by 9am. We hadn't done ETWB or 7DMT yet (had FPs for later) but we had done everything else, including second rides on a couple.

I don't know how the crowds Easter week compare, but it was definitely less crowded than the 8am EMHs I had done at other times of the year. I don't think we waited more than 5 minutes for anything those first couple of hours.
 
In our experience, the number of people waiting at the gates for a 7 AM EMH opening at Christmas or Easter is a small fraction of the number of people waiting for an 8 AM EMH opening at other times of the year. If we are taking a bus from the resort, and one comes just as we get to the stop, we have gotten to the park as early as 6:30. At that time you can easily count the number of people there because it is fewer than 50.

For an 8 AM EMH you have to decide if you want to line up by the RR arches to be one of the first ones in or stand in the center to get a good look at the welcome show. For a 7 AM opening you can stand in the middle to watch the welcome show and then drift over to the arches and still be one of the first ones in. It's not just the first hour either. When the park opens for everyone at 8, there are fewer people coming in than for a 9 AM opening. So, the benefit of arriving at 7 continues until at least 10-11 AM. By then, you can do almost every major attraction in the park with a short wait. I wouldn't schedule any FPs any earlier than 11, even if I was planning to stay in the MK all day.

Maybe the addition of the mine train and Anna and Elsa will make the crowds larger at 7 AM, but the simple reality seems to be that there aren't that many people willing to get up early enough to get to a park by 7 AM. And a certain percentage of the people who would like to do it, won't quite make it in time for the 7 AM opening.
 
With that early a EMH at MK the crowd level even at Easter should be fairly manageable.

I would hit all of your must do rides early when the crowd levels are light and save your FP's for later in the morning when the crowds start to build.

Have fun planning:thumbsup2
 
For everyone who has done this (especially with smaller elementary kids), what time did you leave during the day? I'm considering leaving on Tuesday March 31 by 4 (we have lunch reservations at 1) for the day. We plan on doing the 7 am EMH the next day too but leaving at one and maybe coming back around six. Does that seem reasonable? What is the likelihood the park would be in a phased closing?
 
SO does anyone know when Anna and Elsa meet begins with this. Would it be 8 am. I am thinking its better to wait the 2 hours later in the day and get a bunch of things out of the way. Don't want to waste time when the park is empty but I'm not sure. is everyone booking later in the day fastpasses then? Thinking I am going to change mine that I had in the morning.
 














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