EMH - a perk or not?

[cheryterese]

On past trips we've avoided parks on EMH days because we've stayed offsite and all touring plan sites I consulted said to avoid because more crowded. This trip we'll be onsite and I'm wondering if EMH is really a perk or if that park should still be avoided for the day because EMH makes it more crowded even though being onsite allows us the early access?

 

[dclpluto]

On past trips we've avoided parks on EMH days because we've stayed offsite and all touring plan sites I consulted said to avoid because more crowded. This trip we'll be onsite and I'm wondering if EMH is really a perk or if that park should still be avoided for the day because EMH makes it more crowded even though being onsite allows us the early access?

If you do not have park hoppers avoid. If you have park hoppers good to go once in a while imo.

 

[Abatts]

I agree.. if you have park hoppers I think they're a good way to go.. If no park hoppers, then avoid even if you're onsite.

 

[chris benton]

I also agree with using emh with hoppers. Best usage, imo, is Early EMH (getting there for emh rope drop, is very important.) Then hopping to a less crowded park if your first park gets congested.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

For us, EMH are a DEFINITE perk.

Our way of maximizing benefit:

1. Early EMH: arrive as early as you can possibly get in; then hop to another park around midday
2. Late EMH: we don't start the day in that park -- we hop to it later

 

[loves to dive]

We use them but only if we happen to be up early and happen to be at the park for early EMHs or aren't too tired to stay awake for evening EMHs. We don't consult crowd calendars and, frankly, most of the time don't even know when there is an EMH. We just go to what park we want to go to when we want to go, we do always have park hoppers though. Again, not sure it would make a difference since like I said, we rarely know when they are.

 

[BalooFan]

I take advantage of morning EMH, but always have park hoppers and leave the park around lunchtime. You can get a lot done, especially at MK.

 

[Abatts]

I will say our trip without park hoppers we experienced a huge crowd at AK. It was not supposed to be an EMH day. But somewhere it was published that it was.. So there were TONS of people who came because they thought it was EMH day and I guess just stayed since they were already there. We definitely wished we had park hoppers that day to get out of the craziness that was there.

 

[NJ Goofy]

We use them for late EMH by hopping to that park around regular closing time and then staying to EMH closing. It's a good way to get in a late night especially when the parks all close around 9:00 pm or earlier.

 

[tlmadden73]

Depending on your family makeup, it is a definite perk.

I've used the morning ones and despite the "avoid it" mentality, I think you can get MORE than enough done in that first hour before the park opens to make up for any extra crowds later.
When I went to MK in 2015, we didn't try to rush in a lot of rides, but still got in 4 different rides (including multiple rides on the same ride) (after a leisurely stroll up main street, pictures, etc.) . .plus since you are already deep in the park at park opening the wait times from 9-10 am are pretty minimal as well.

We just went back to resort in the afternoon and avoided those crowds, came back for dinner and stayed until fireworks and I never found it "too crowded".

So while it is probably better to do with hoppers, it definitely isn't bad without if you KNOW the afternoon could be busy.

I found it so much a perk, my group is doing a throwaway room at Fort Wilderness so we can take advantage of EMH at Hollywood studios (not the only reason we got a throwaway room obviously) . It will help the boys can get first dibs at Jedi training and help avoid the issues of Tiering. My young family plans on just using EMH to hit all the rides at DHS and then hopping over to MK (where are fast passes are scheduled).

 

[angierae]

I'm a big fan of late EMH and hopping to the park that's open the latest after the park we've been in during the day closes.

 

[nursejackie]

For us it's the only reason we stay onsite. We go in December including Christmas for around 16 days when there are plenty of EMH. We follow the early morning EMH most days as you can do so much in that first hour. I think the only reason they tell people who are staying offsite to avoid them is because when you enter the park at normal time there will already by queues at the most popular attractions.

We would not stay onsite if they ever stopped them.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

Park hoppers and EMH are best friends, because you can take advantage of the extra hour and then move to a different park where there are less crowds. I would go for it! That hour, whether its in the morning or night, is so so nice and you can get a ton done!

 

[CAS239]

EMH imo are the biggest perk of staying on site. Really imo it's the only reason I would stay on site.

Take advantage of low waits, then hop when it's busy

 

[cheryterese]

Wow, thanks, so helpful all! I guess we will be using Park Hopper and EMH for the first time this trip!

 

[brooke789]

We have early risers, so we plan ours days based on EMH. We've always had park hoppers, so we do hop to another park after it's busy!

 

[Harambe]

Wow, thanks, so helpful all! I guess we will be using Park Hopper and EMH for the first time this trip!

You get so much done in the morning EMH, and you can save your FP+'s for your afternoon park.

Just be aware that only certain rides are open in each park during EMH, so plan accordingly!

 

[ruthies12]

You get so much done in the morning EMH, and you can save your FP+'s for your afternoon park.

Just be aware that only certain rides are open in each park during EMH, so plan accordingly!

Where can the information be found for what rides are open?

We've always stayed on site but always avoided EMH parks because we do not have hoppers. It's such a pain for us to move parks because we use Disney transport and have a stroller and scooter in our party so we've never paid the extra for hoppers.

I stayed on site at Universal and their early entry is a joke, they only have 2 rides open so the lines for those two things were insanely long. Where I live our local theme park advertises early entry for pass holders (which I am) but again, only 3 rides open in the whole park so it's totally not worth it to get there early cause the lines for those 3 rides are really long.

I'm curious to see a list of what all is open at each park for EMH if anybody could tell me where to find that? I wonder if we could do what we want during EMH and then do the other things like shopping or playing sorcerers during the afternoon.....

 

[starjazz]

We're going to take advantage of EMH this year, but without the park hoppers. I can't justify the $240 for my family of four. We'll work the EMH as best we can, and then deal with whatever crowds it brings. I wonder if there are some stats on the impact of EMH comparing two otherwise similar days. Someone must have the metrics somewhere, no?

 

[Accident]

If it's a morning EMH and you love rope drop, it's an extra hour with even less people before the non-rope droppers appear if you can wake up early enough for it. For AK in the hot months it'll help you get out of the park by noon when you really start to get baked alive. Animals also tend to not run around crazy in heat so those months, it might be the best time for the safari in my opinion.

Night EMH I agree on the avoid if you don't have park hoppers, consider it for a couple more hours after another park you were at that day closes and you're not ready to call it a night.

Of course MK on a monday is the exception. No clue why this park is so popular on mondays..