EMH at AK worth it?

[MelDeb]

Hi all- I am really struggling with EMH at AK. Thinking positively and assuming I can get a FP for FOP (a big assumption, I know, but if we don’t get one, we’ll be skipping it as my husband wont deal with the crowds/waiting for it!) is it still worth it to do EMH at AK? I was thinking to do Navi and then the safari during EMH. We’ve always traditionally avoided EMH based on general advice that those parks are over crowded on those days (my husband really can’t take crowds, so I do everything I can to avoid it so the kids and I can come to Disney!) but touring plans shows it as a 5 for this Saturday vs. HS as an 8, so I thought maybe it was worth trying. Any thoughts?
This is a Saturday in April, overall day of 7.

Many thanks!

 

[Spencer Wright]

YES!

From my experience in August, at least %75 of people flock to Pandora, so the rest of the park is pretty empty.

 

[KelNChrisKYDis]

We did morning EMH on a Monday in October, and we arrived about 40 minutes prior to rope drop, so we could do FOP. We had a FP for later in our trip but knew we wanted to ride more than once. I'd say 80% of the people flocked to Pandora, and of those, about 60% went to FOP. We were on the ride by 8:10 and heading to the rest of the park by 8:15. I'm super glad we did that, because the wait time for the rest of our trip were always 2+ hours, at times, over 3. After FOP we did everything else we wanted, with minimal wait times. It was an early start, but it was worth it. I can't speak to EMH in the evening, if they still do those, I know they did when Pandora first opened. (Or at least were open later.)
If you're not interested in Pandora, you can do a lot of stuff in that time. We walked on Everest, Dinosaur, and Triceratop. We only waited about 20 minutes for the safari.
I will say though, even though we were there at rope drop, there were still a ton of people and, taking into account the time we waited for transportation, waited to get through security, through admissions, in line to get into the park, in line to get into Pandora, and in line for FOP, we still ended up with a 2+ hour wait, it just wasn't in the queue.

 

[MelDeb]

Thank you so much! This is so helpful- my husband is not a Disney or a line person like me and the kids (7 and 9) so he’s okay getting somewhere early if it will avoid crowds and lines. I hear your point that getting there early still requires time- so I appreciate that and favor it in. I think if we can get there at 7:30, head to Navi (avoid most of the crowd), head to the safari and the rest of the park, and then back to pandora for a FOP FP, then I might have a good balance of doing our best to avoid the crowds and keep my husband sane! Thank you for the advice and feedback!

 

[Sara_H]

That’s pretty much what we did last week. Did Na’vi right away because we had a fastpass for FoP later in the day...we walked right on Na’vi which is good because if I would have waited in a long line I would have been disappointed. The ride is short and kind of boring IMO. FoP however is amazing!! After we did Na’vi we walked right on Dinosaur twice, did some rides in the Dinorama area then did Everest twice with a short wait.

 

[MelDeb]

Thank you! I had originally planned on trying to get a FOP FP in the early morning and then RD Navi, FP fop and be done with Pandora. But then I realized if I do an EMH day, that won’t work. I’m glad to hear it worked having an FOP FP for later in the day and doing the rest of the park. My kids mainly like the shows there vs the bigger rides- so this is a tough park to plan.

 

[Muskegon78]

Hi all- I am really struggling with EMH at AK. Thinking positively and assuming I can get a FP for FOP (a big assumption, I know, but if we don’t get one, we’ll be skipping it as my husband wont deal with the crowds/waiting for it!) is it still worth it to do EMH at AK? I was thinking to do Navi and then the safari during EMH. We’ve always traditionally avoided EMH based on general advice that those parks are over crowded on those days (my husband really can’t take crowds, so I do everything I can to avoid it so the kids and I can come to Disney!) but touring plans shows it as a 5 for this Saturday vs. HS as an 8, so I thought maybe it was worth trying. Any thoughts?
This is a Saturday in April, overall day of 7.

Many thanks!

We are doing it this Friday. EMH RD NRJ, then headed to EE for hopefully multiple rides before Dinosaur. We then have EE, Safari, and FOP fp. Hoping it goes well

 

[ChristineOH]

Thank you! I had originally planned on trying to get a FOP FP in the early morning and then RD Navi, FP fop and be done with Pandora. But then I realized if I do an EMH day, that won’t work. I’m glad to hear it worked having an FOP FP for later in the day and doing the rest of the park. My kids mainly like the shows there vs the bigger rides- so this is a tough park to plan.

If you make your FP for FoP for around lunch time, you can combine that with eating at Satu'li Canteen. It's REALLY good!

 

[MelDeb]

That’s a great suggestion! Thank you!

 

[Sara_H]

Just a note - I tried to get FoP fastpass early in the day because we didn't plan on spending too much time at AK, but even though FoP was the first fastpass I attempted to get, 2:30 PM was the earliest time I could get. So just be aware that with FoP, you should be happy with whatever time you get.

 

[MelDeb]

Thanks- that is an excellent point and I will certainly take what I can get. I now have a great plan thanks to everyone here for my AK day!

 

[asumom]

We did rope drop on AK EMH this past Monday. Our bus from POP was a little late but we got there and through security just as they were opening the gates at 7:30am (for an 8am EMH). They walked everyone half way to Pandora where we waited another 10 minutes or so. Then walked us all the way to the FOP line. Walked all the way through the queue and off the ride by 8:06. Then, rode Navi and the Safari. Walked off the Safari just before 9am. So 3 main rides during the EMH! After that, we walked over to Everest and rode single rider (no wait.....was only a 10 minute wait on standby anyway). I was skeptical about AK EMH but it was wonderful!

Even if you have a FP for FOP at another time or day (like we did), if you are there at rope drop (meaning about 45 minutes before opening), you might as well do FOP and then walk over to Navi. We ended up doing FOP 4 times (2 fast passes, 2 rope drops); it is so good you will want to do it more than once.

 

[WaterLinds]

If we do EMH rope drop but are at the back of the crowds (so, at the tapstyles before park open but not at the front of the crowd, and not racewaking when it's time to go in), is FOP still a manageable wait? I don't think I'm going to get our group coordinated to get there very early, and with young kids and a stroller we aren't going to hustle the way some rope droppers will once we get in. Trying to decide if it's worth considering or not--we have FP so will get one ride, but doing a second sounds appealing--as does getting Navi in.

 

[asumom]

If we do EMH rope drop but are at the back of the crowds (so, at the tapstyles before park open but not at the front of the crowd, and not racewaking when it's time to go in), is FOP still a manageable wait? I don't think I'm going to get our group coordinated to get there very early, and with young kids and a stroller we aren't going to hustle the way some rope droppers will once we get in. Trying to decide if it's worth considering or not--we have FP so will get one ride, but doing a second sounds appealing--as does getting Navi in.

see post below........

 

[asumom]

We were at the back of the ticket booth before opening....so not at the front of the line. When they start letting people in, the middle lines will go faster because lots of people merging into the lines to the far left and right. My husband had a bum knee so we weren't that fast but we stayed to the side rather than the middle of the pack and that seemed to get us near the front.. Is everyone in your group riding FOP? If not, I would have those not riding meet up with those who are after the ride. No need for everyone to follow the pack. The others can walk leisurely into the park and check out the tree of life and trails and even the gift shops while you ride.

 

[kdisser]

We did morning EMH at AK in December with huge success! No we did not care to do FOP (don't care to straddle where others have LOL), but there was already a 2 hour wait by the time the park actually opened at 9...yikes!! But we rode Dinosaur...4 times, we love it and was down for refurb the year before, made up for lost time. Rode primeval whirl, EE, and headed to Pandora for our Navi FP along with regular it only being 9 o'clock. We went in with a list of what we wanted to do within reason, obviously it is easy to do dinosaur back-to-back when it has no line whatsoever. That's our favorite thing to do, if there is no active line we ask to ride again and they have always let us. We have done it on Pooh, Nemo, Dumbo, and People Mover as well.

 

[WaterLinds]

We were at the back of the ticket booth before opening....so not at the front of the line. When they start letting people in, the middle lines will go faster because lots of people merging into the lines to the far left and right. My husband had a bum knee so we weren't that fast but we stayed to the side rather than the middle of the pack and that seemed to get us near the front.. Is everyone in your group riding FOP? If not, I would have those not riding meet up with those who are after the ride. No need for everyone to follow the pack. The others can walk leisurely into the park and check out the tree of life and trails and even the gift shops while you ride.

The younger kid is too small, but we might do rider swap so then he would have to be with us too. Definitely something to keep in mind, though, since we do have the FP later we might not all do it this time.

Good to know even without hustling you still had a relatively short wait! We'll have to talk it over and see what everyone wants to do. Thanks for all the details, that helps a lot!

 

[MelDeb]

This is all so helpful! My kids don’t like the dinosaur rides, so I was debating whether we would be able to do Navi and Safari before park open, and it sounds like that is definitely doable. Then I was debating if it was even worth it to do EMH at MK because then what do we do from 9-10 if I can’t get the FOP FP for that time- but some of your feedback reminded me that just walking around and seeing the park relaxed, maybe seeing some characters, etc before a show is so important. Last time we were pretty tired at AK and didn’t take the time to really look around- so it would be nice to be able to relax and do that. Now here’s hoping I get a FOP FP!

 

[asumom]

This is all so helpful! My kids don’t like the dinosaur rides, so I was debating whether we would be able to do Navi and Safari before park open, and it sounds like that is definitely doable. Then I was debating if it was even worth it to do EMH at MK because then what do we do from 9-10 if I can’t get the FOP FP for that time- but some of your feedback reminded me that just walking around and seeing the park relaxed, maybe seeing some characters, etc before a show is so important. Last time we were pretty tired at AK and didn’t take the time to really look around- so it would be nice to be able to relax and do that. Now here’s hoping I get a FOP FP!

Yes, definitely take the time to enjoy Animal Kingdom. So much to see and do besides the rides (of course, get those done, early, if possible, and then relax and enjoy without stress!). The animal trails are great; your kids will enjoy Rafikis planet watch, go on the safari again if possible (it's different each time). Now, with FastPass+, everyone is walking around looking at their phones for the next fast pass....lol. I like that we were able to get on the popular rides without waiting, but I do miss the old way of touring; seems it almost lures you into just the rides....you must resist! EPCOT is another place to definitely take time to wander around the world and take in some of the "street" entertainment. There is some kind of "passport" for the kids to keep them occupied while touring the world. Have a great time! (keep trying for the FOP; check multiple times daily; that's how I got 2 of them before my trip)

 

[Davey Jones II]

Hi all- I am really struggling with EMH at AK. Thinking positively and assuming I can get a FP for FOP (a big assumption, I know, but if we don’t get one, we’ll be skipping it as my husband wont deal with the crowds/waiting for it!) is it still worth it to do EMH at AK? I was thinking to do Navi and then the safari during EMH. We’ve always traditionally avoided EMH based on general advice that those parks are over crowded on those days (my husband really can’t take crowds, so I do everything I can to avoid it so the kids and I can come to Disney!) but touring plans shows it as a 5 for this Saturday vs. HS as an 8, so I thought maybe it was worth trying. Any thoughts?
This is a Saturday in April, overall day of 7.

Many thanks!

Are you staying on site? If you book as soon as your 60-day window opens, you should be able to get FOP fast passes, especially if you start by booking your last days first.

As for EMH, you can get a lot done in the park by showing up that early, and then park hop if/when AK gets to crowded.