EMH at AK at 7 am? Seriously?

[roadtripper]

Hi all--
My sister wants us to head to AK on PRESIDENT'S DAY for EMH at AK (at 7 AM!), in the hopes that they will hit EE, the safari, and the Lion King show before the park gets crowded. My thought is that the resorts will be at capacity, and loads of people will have the same idea. We love AK, but maybe not enough to get there for 7 AM with every other resort guest at WDW. Our plan is International Gateway to Epcot at opening (9AM) for Soarin, TT, and MS. Stroll around WS before it's open, maybe catch Maelstrom and Mexico (Ok, my son likes Mexico ). Back to the pool for lunch and little umbrella drinks . Who is going to do a better job at avoiding the mob and remaining stress free? Me or sis? Please understand there's no sibling rivalry at work here , just looking for honest opinions!

 

[safetymom]

I know with Soarin the soft openings were later in the day not at opening.

 

[Lizzybee]

I had the absolutely brilliant idea of going to AK for EMH on the Saturday before Easter AND had an ADR for Donald's at 7:40am. The plan was to get there, go on the Safari and then grab breakfast. WHAT WAS I THINKING?????? We stayed at POR and I'm pretty sure 90% of POR and POFQ guests had the same idea about EMH at AK and the Safari. The busses were so late (We got to the depot about 6:15am and I'm guessing they filled up at POFQ too quickly to get to POR) we were late for our ADR. It ended up being no problem at all as far as they ADR went but I think almost everyone who entered the park had gone to the Safari ride there was a huge line before the park even opened. We ended up grabbing FPs for the Safari after breakfast and had a good time...until about 1pm. A HUGE thunderstorm came through and drenched us all to the bone. We waited in a store for awhile for it to "blow over" but by 2:30 it wasn't even letting up so we decided to leave and the line back to the resort was through the queing area and all the back to the front of the bus area. We ended up taking a bus to CBR then MGM and back to POR.
I know that's extreme but I just think EMH at AK is a waste of time in general, maybe my personal horror story can help save your sister from herself. In general I love early EMH, just not at AK. Good luck and have fun at Epcot.

 

[GarrettJD]

I've never been a big fan of either the morning or evening EMH-- every time we've went to one, it's been an overcrowded mess. I like your idea of going to Epcot instead-- then I would go to AK the next day. That's just me, though

 

[roadtripper]

Thanks all--
Now will someone suggest how to tactfully share this with my sister?

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

You will not be permitted to "stroll around WS before it's open". WS is roped off until the 11am opening. You can enter and exit via the International Gateway but you will be steered away from WS via the ropes and Cast Members.

As safteymom noted about soft opening for Soarin' being later in the day....the same was true for Mission: Space. During the day it was closed off but when evening approached they moved the barriers and let us ride. I wouldn't count on EE being opened early in the morning until after the official opening of this attraction.

 

[cyndilou01]

well, if I were to go early with all the other guest, I would fast pass the Safari and do something else, even get a cup of coffee and watch everyone else standing in line... Now with Everest opening soon... that may take some of the crowd as well... Time will tell...

I say as long as the family is together having a good time, enjoy....

 

[Shells9]

I'd do it, and ride the safari as many times as possible. The animals are really active in the morning; I bet you'd have a few great safaris!

 

[kejoda]

Thanks all--
Now will someone suggest how to tactfully share this with my sister?

you can't be tactfull with a sister(at least not to mine) just tell her this was the advice from the Dis experts and leave it at that. If they're anything like my family they will learn the statement "I got it from the Dis" is the final word.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

Hi all--
My sister wants us to head to AK on PRESIDENT'S DAY for EMH at AK (at 7 AM!), in the hopes that they will hit EE, the safari, and the Lion King show before the park gets crowded. My thought is that the resorts will be at capacity, and loads of people will have the same idea. We love AK, but maybe not enough to get there for 7 AM with every other resort guest at WDW.

Personally, I agree with your sister, although the only things that are scheduled to be open for early EMH are Discovery Island®Trails, It's Tough to be a Bug!®, Kilimanjaro Safaris®, Pangani Forest Exploration Trail®. I think that there are too many people who run from one ride to another with their hair on fire and tell people that they "do AK" in less than a half a day. AK is a park that you need to slow down to experience. I've been there too many times to count, and speak to people who have been there several times and they don't even know Conservation Station exists.

As far as thinking the parks are crowded for early EMH...well, that's just a mindset that people get into when they see that they didn't get there quite early enough to be on the first bus, boat, monorail to get to the parks. Think about it--the transportation starts running for all of the resorts at basically the same time. I have probably worked 100+ early EMHs bringing guests to the busiest park in the world and it never fails that I hear "wow it is really crowded today" when they see the line waiting to get in. What they don't think about is that while there might be a couple thousand guests outside, there is NOBODY inside, when just a few hours later there will be the same line only there will be 20 times that many inside. People also sleep in at WDW . You can tell the ones that do--they are the ones with the crying kids, complaining about the &**#$@ lines.

When I have family or friends in town, we normally FP the safari, then explore and take our pictures before everybody else gets there (I like having the parks as backgrounds instead of somebody elses family )

 

[roadtripper]

Time for an update--
I broached the subject one more time (I'm nothing if not persistent ) and they are set on the 7 AM at AK. I guess we will go our separate ways that day. I have a sneaking suspicion that they may end up joining us at Epcot when they discover how few attractions are open during EMH. Now to make sure they don't open the lockoff door and wake us all up at 6!

 

[disneyjunkie]

I love your sister's plan. I'm planning to do the same thing during our Easter trip.

 

[DisneyGeek2000]

in the hopes that they will hit EE, the safari, and the Lion King show before the park gets crowded.

Lion King show is definitely not open for EMH, and most likely EE won't be either.

We have done AK very early and love to do it that way, its much cooler at that time of day (why does AK feel so hot? much hotter than the other parks?) - we do Breakfast, Safari, the walking trails, ITTBAB, get our photo taken at a few spots, then find out when the first Lion King show is - hit Dino land when it opens, and then asia, do the rapids, try and stay dry, and then go to the Lion King show.

When we do it this way, we can be done by noon, 1 at the latest, we even grab a quick bite at Pizzafari.

We have done it other ways that take much longer, but the heat really gets to us in AK.

We are early morning people all year, so it works out best for us this way.

Michael

 

[roadtripper]

We love AK in the AM, too, and have used a plan similar to yours, DisneyGeek. It has always worked well for us, too. I am curious to see how EE will affect our touring plan, and will report back on our plan and sis's plan in a few weeks when we get back (if she is still talking to me ).

 

[eblack0409]

DH and I are planning for EMH at AK as well....hoping to get to ride EE!!

 

[TnTsParty]

We have done EMH AM 2 times at AK but never right at 8AM it was more like 8:30-8:45 ~ but no matter what there is ALWAYS a back up getting in the front gate.

 

[paigevz]

I only read the first few responses, but our experiences at EMH AK have been fantastic! It didn't get crowded until about 11 am........we'd generally just keep touring until about 2 and then we were done.............
We did get there right before the early opening time, and they were always already letting folks in.........by the time some of the other posters got there, we'd have moved on from Safari and FOLK, which were pretty big draws, and we'd get to Dinosaur about 8:30.
In fact, last trip I realized we'd never stayed long enough to see the AK parade, so we purposely stayed longer for it!
But, this was before most people bought non-hopping tickets, too.
I'm a bit worried about evening EMH, though. We have to go to AK on my son's 4th birthday, as that's his request, but it's also evening EMH. I'm afraid it'll be super crowded!

 

[cyndilou01]

early morning is best to see the animals playing and eating... I would still go early at least for the safari, and then if it is to much for you then leave and go get breakfast and wait for another park to open and head out...

 

[AJKMOM]

Until the official opening in May, I thought everyone had to be a DVC member or have an annual pass to ride EE. Is that still true?