EMH at AK - anybody done it recently?

[disneyNJ]

Hi,

Like many others, the changes in the EMH are totally messing up our touring plans for our July visit! But it seems as if the AK will be open late the Tuesday evening of our vacation and we were thinking about doing it.

I have a few questions, though, for anyone who has recently tried the night time AK EMH.

First, how were the crowds? Were you able to see and do a lot without long waits? Was fastpass available - and necessary?

The park is due to close at 7 PM - does that mean AK will stay open 3 extra hours until 10 PM? What about the safari - will that stop at 7 or will it be open longer, since there should be light until 8 PM?

How about food - are the counter service establishments like Tusker House and Pizzasafari open? How late?

Is the bus service okay that late at night? We are staying at the Swan and can take any Epcot resort bus back to the hotel. But we also have a rental car, so if bus service was very slow, I'd drive.

Thanks so much for all of your help!

Disney NJ

 

[Vivianne]

DH and I did AKL evening EMH. We did Bug's Life, the last Festival of The Lion King show (got there early) and rode Dinosaur for the second time that day. It was much more crowded during the day than the evening. Earlier in the day, we were debating getting in line for Kilimanjaro Safaris which was very long. Just as we were going to leave, a father and his son gave us their fastpasses. We had a good day. We had a rental car. It was a breeze going back to the resort.

We ate late lunch at Tusker House. At the time, 3:00 lines were short. I found EMH schedule. While we were there, EMH the park was closed at 5pm. EMH ended at 8pm.

The attractions open for PM EMH were:

Discovery Island Trails
It's Tough to Be a Bug
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Pagani Forest Exploration Trail
The Boneyard
Dinosaur
Festival of Lion King = 1 show at 5:30 pm
Kali River Rapids
Primeval Whirl
Tarzan Rocks - 1 show at 6:15 pm
Triceratop Spin

When you check-in ask the CM for the latest EMH schedule. That way you can plan ahead. They may have made changes for future EMH.

 

[disneyNJ]

Thank you, Vivianne for all this very useful info. You answered all of my questions. I think it will be worth it to try the AK in the evening for the EMH. Most of our favorite attractions will be open and hopefully it won't be so darn hot. We have always found the AK to be the hottest of all the parks - by early afternoon we are practically melting!

I will also take your advice and asked the CM for the latest EMH schedule when we check in. I only hope that Disney doesn't keep changing the days for this perk! We were originally planning to try MK on Wed night, but now they are offering EMH evening hours on Mon and Fri, two days we were planning on doing other things.

Thanks again!

Disney NJ

 

[Vivianne]

You're very welcome.

I also found the AKL was hot and humid. I couldn't figure it out because the days before and after felt fine to me. Is it the location?

I recommend you shoot for what you love at this park and then if you have time, do the other attractions and use fastpass. Of course, Festival of The Lion King is not to be missed. Get there early so you're guaranteed to see it. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Not so much for the food but for the atmosphere. As for having a car, we drove it to all the parks and we stopped at Walmart so we had cases of water in a cooler in the car. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[heatherj]

We did EMH at AK about 2 1/2 weeks ago. At the time the park was open till 5:00 so it lasted till 8:00. It was WONDERFUL!!!! I didn't see any of the restaurants open though. And only a few of the gift shops. We walked right on the Safari and my boys rode Kali River Rapids 2 times in a row without getting off - no people waiting so the CM just asked if they wanted to ride again - of course they did. Rode Dinosaur 2 times and walked on. It was great - we could walk real slow and enjoy the atmosphere which is lost sometimes in the crowds.

Bus transportation was fine. Didn't notice any difference between the EMH and day hours.

All in all - I had my reservations about even going - but it was the best EMH of the whole trip.

Heather

 

[disneyNJ]

Thanks Heather for sharing your experience with EMH. It was great to hear that it worked out so well for you - I'm hopeful we will also have a positive experience.

It seems that MK and Epcot are the two parks with the biggest crowds for EMH thus far, so maybe it will be okay at AK in July. I'm wondering if the summer heat will bring more crowds to AK at night, since it is so hot during the day at this great park. But I'm willing to take a chance - I would not want to miss visiting AK on this trip.

I was concerned about food vendors being open late and will have to assume they might not be - perhaps we should eat a late lunch that day, so we won't be too hungry in the evening??? Or maybe we could arrive at the park between 5-5:30 and have an early dinner???

We are going on this vacation with my brother and his family and they have never been to AK before, so I'm sure they will want to try as many of the attractions as we can (and not waste time eating!). I'll have to see what everyone else feels like doing that day - I certainly believe in planning, but I also realize you have to make adjustments as you tour.

Disney NJ