EMH and MNSSHP --- go to that park, hop, or avoid?

[goNsoon2WDW]

I have heard many times to avoid the park with EMH and whenever there is a hard ticket event, but I'm not quite sure if this is still the case. Can someone help me understand why this might (or might not) be the case. On top of EMH and MNSSPT we also have to navigate the Food and Wine crowds.

We are going in a couple of weeks and had planned on taking advantage of the EMH and hopping. Is this a good plan? Are just the parks with morning EMH the ones to avoid or is it evening EMH parks as well. I'm looking for some thoughts from those with experience.
TIA

 

[Robo]

We love AM EMH and attend as many as we can.

If that park does get busy later, we hop to another one.

 

[Farps]

This is always our plan, morning EMH then hop to a less crowded park ! Have a great trip

 

[subtchr]

As far as the parties go, my understanding is that early on party days, MK is great. And if there are a lot of parties scheduled in a week, any NON-party day will be crowded, because it's often either the only one or one of a couple days that someone who is not going to a party can see Wishes and MSEP.

For example, we are visiting the parks four days, December 8-11, and do not plan to attend a MVMCP. There are parties the 8th, 10th, and 11th, so our only chance to see the nighttime stuff is the 9th.

We plan to visit MK on the 8th, from RD to about 4, when the party crowd arrives. On the 9th, we are planning DHS during the day, and MK just in the evening.

Our military salute tickets include hopper, but even if they didn't, we'd pay for them, especially during party season.

 

[minnie mum]

I have heard many times to avoid the park with EMH and whenever there is a hard ticket event,

The advice to avoid the park with EMH is given because that park will usually have the biggest crowds that day. So if you aren't staying on site (and are thus ineligible for EMH) or if you don't have PHs, it makes sense to instead go to the recommended park on one of the crowd calendars ( we use easywdw.com) But if you are staying on site and have PHs, then its great to go to the EMH park, as long as you get there early enough to take advantage of that time, and then hop to a recommended park for the rest of the day. For evening EMH, it makes sense to spend most of the day at a recommended park and just hop to the EMH park for the last 2-3 hours.

Going to MK during the day on a party day is actually recommended. The park tends to have low(er) crowd levels because of the shorter hours. So you can see and do a lot because the lines are so much shorter. Some of our best days at MK have been on party days.

 

[goNsoon2WDW]

I appreciate all of the input. We are planning on going to EMH for morning and evening opportunities during our trip. Should we still plan on arriving 30-45 minutes before opening?

 

[Robo]

I appreciate all of the input. We are planning on going to EMH for morning and evening opportunities during our trip. Should we still plan on arriving 30-45 minutes before opening?

Always early.

For AM EMH, I'd say 25-30 minutes before is fine.

 

[undertheseadisney]

Looks like I've (hopefully) planned my days right. We're doing MK on a party day and going for the nighttime shows on a non-party night. On the party day we are hopping over to HS because we have Minnie's Holiday and Dine reservations.

 

[tcherjen]

Love EMH!!

 

[subtchr]

Looks like I've (hopefully) planned my days right. We're doing MK on a party day and going for the nighttime shows on a non-party night. On the party day we are hopping over to HS because we have Minnie's Holiday and Dine reservations.

This is exactly what we are doing. First day is a party day, so doing MK until about 4, then DHS in the evening for Merry & Bright Dessert Party and Fantasmic. Second day, the only non-party day of our visit, is DHS until late afternoon, then MK at night to see Celebrate the Magic, Wishes, and stay for evening EMH. Hope it works out well for both of us!