EMH - Avoid?

[ursalita]

Hi there! Just started planning my trip in April. For the first 4 days of the trip I planned the parks based on their EMH. For example, Wednesday the 22nd we're doing AK because they have the extra hour. I just took a look at the crowd calendar on EasyWDW and it's saying to avoid that park.

Should I go back and replan those days, cancel and re-book ADRs? I'd love to hear what more experienced Disney travelers would do.

Thanks!!

 

[moriaw76]

I always use EMH. I never understood why people avoided them.

 

[Barbanellie]

It is my understanding that most calendars don't recommend EMH, but mostly for offsite people.

We loved the EMH, especially the evening ones as we're not early risers, but we really took advantage of that extra morning hour at AK, I think my mom rode the safari three times that morning, twice during EMH and then once later with a FP.

 

[ChicagoMom]

Remember that you're paying for the EMH if you stay on-site.

We always use them for MK and we've not found that the park was overly crowded on EMH days but we've never been at peak times.

Honestly, while I really appreciate the advice on EasyWDW, I've found that if you use their recommendations to schedule your park days, you miss out on a lot of good things like EMH, longer hours, parades and fireworks.

I think if you're at WDW during a time that is no insanely crazy, you'll be just fine at the least recommended park.

 

[Robo]

Never attending EMH's because they will be "too crowded or overly-stressful,"
is like never eating grapes because they will be "too sour."

CAN be that way.
Doesn't HAVE to be that way.

Each EMH experience can be different.

We always go to AM EMH (virtually every day of the trip
that we did not do a PM EMH late the night before)...
never ONCE regretted an AM EMH... they are amazingly
empty and easy to ride the open attractions.
If that park then starts to fill 2 to 3 hours later...
We're happy with "doing" that park for the day and we
can HOP elsewhere or do lunch and take a rest until
later.

PM EMH's are a mixed bag. I've been when they were
"packed"... but on other nights (sometimes within the
same trip), the crowds were basically so low that it
was like "free rides" on all the open attractions.

The rule seems to be, it is far easier for guests to
STAY UP at the end of the day, than it is for them to
GET UP at the start of the day.

Generally speaking:
Expect a PM EMH which begins before 10PM to be much busier than one that begins much later.
Expect the first hour of PM EMH to be busier than the last hour.

Those who have attended PM EMH's and say that "they
are too crowded" are right... but that may have been only on the nights
they have attended.
I can say from personal experience that EMH's CAN be
virtually empty, or overly full... or somewhere in-between for attendance,
often within the same week.

The crowd situation at PM EMH can change so much (either way,)
that saying it was "like X" on a given night, can have little relation
to another night in the same time-period. So, you
simply "won't know unless you go."
It's similar to saying
that you attended on a given night and it rained, so
guests should never go on that night because it will
probably be rainy.

But, it can all boil down to your particular timing.

If you just consider that EMH's are FREE to attend...
You might just take a chance.
If it's too busy, just people-watch... or hit the exit.
(Where ELSE are ya gonna go at 10pm, anyway?)

But, if its not busy... you'll be ALL SET for EXTRA FUN!

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[Kristina4109]

We avoid EMH but I know others who love them. It all comes down to if you really, REALLY think you can get there for the Early Morning EMH's and if you really, REALLY think you'll stay for the Evening EMH's.

What happens to some people is that they plan to be at a park for early entry, but they take too long eating breakfast, getting dressed, etc. or they're just too darn tired to get up that early because they were up late the night before. So by the time they get to the park they might have missed some or ALL of that extra time completely. Then the park will be jammed because so many people choose to go to an EMH park. You missed the benefit.

Same thing for the evening hours - many people will go to a park fully intending to stay late and get those benefits, and then they are wiped out by the end of the day and go back to the hotel. So they went to a park that probably was the busiest out of the 4 parks for that day because so many people went there because of EMH, and then they missed the benefit.

However, if you are absolutely sure you'll be able to get up that early or stay that late anyway (maybe your family naturally wakes up at dawn or stays up until midnight) then go for it. You will be able to enjoy some great attractions with shorter lines than usual.

Some people chose to do a park only during their EMH and then spend the rest of the day at another park. (For example, if the MK can EMH in the morning, they'll start their day at MK, and then take the monorail to Epcot during regular hours, or if the Studios has evening EMH, they'll start the day at AK and then take a bus to the Studios in the evening.) This can work, but I've always found it too much trouble to hop in this way. Hopping can be time consuming and I'd rather spend that time in a park.

So really it comes down to your family and what you think will work for you. There's really no "one answer" on how to approach EMH.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We prefer to be at or close to park opening at the low crowd park for the day. We do enjoy lower to higher crowds, feel we get more done at a more leisurely pace.

 

[RyMickey]

If we don't plan on utilizing am EMH's, we tend to avoid that park at least in the morning. So, if MK has an EMH on a Tuesday morning that we're not attending, we won't go to MK until the evening (if at all). Any am EMH's we have attended have been helpful, but we aren't morning people, really.

For PM EMH's, while I'm sure there's some difference in the crowd level on nights where there is an EMH in a particular park, we typically don't notice a discernible difference. Like Robo said, if you end up staying and it's a zoo, just leave.

I noticed in your signature that you're heading down for Spring Break. If it were me during that busy time, I'd take advantage of the am EMH, leave that park around 11ish and then head to another one. I'd save my Fastpass +'s for that second park I'd be attending that day.

 

[itchin2go]

We avoid them, for the most part, even when we have stayed onsite.

That said, here's a simple rule: If you're going to be there for all or most of the EMH period (whether early or late), it *can* be great. If you're going to miss most of the extra time, avoid the EMH park.

It *can* make things busier, so if you're not getting the benefit of it, go elsewhere.

I think part of the reason the guidebooks and websites say to avoid them is because people plan to attend the extra hours, and then don't end up doing it. If that's the case, it makes no sense to go to the EMH parks.

 

[HopperFan]

I think it depends on your group makeup and park expectations. We LOVE night EMH but we are all adults and would rather go way late and sleep in. If you have young ones and up early then using it in morning could be huge. In May we were in MK for EMH am to get in line for 7DMT which was down, we stayed in line, so we watched Fantasyland swell that hour, saw no advantage as lines were long after the first 15 minutes. I could see us doing AK early.

 

[k1koala]

Something else to take into consideration for EMH that I did not see mentioned, is that not all rides are open . If you are looking to hit certain rides during EMH, make sure you review the list of rides that are open for both the am and pm EMH. I remember the first time we arrived to am EMH, only to find my DD's two favorite rides were not running during that time. However, there are many that are running and you can ride over and over. Last year my DD & I rode Expedition Everest 5x in a row and the Safari twice before the park was opened at regular hours. So the EMH can really be to your advantage if you have a game plan. However dont plan on riding Splash or Big Thunder at MK in the am, because they are not running.

For some people this is really important when taking into account whether or not to do am or pm EMH....

 

[RUSTYGATOR]

The first couple hours of MK are usually good. EMH are questionable in my mind at least for MK. Often in the late summer MK opens a little early at 8:40 or so on regular days. On EMH days it opens 40 minutes earlier at 8:00, but as the poster said before me, not everything is open and that which is open is not always up to full speed. Only Tommorrowland and Fantsyland are open for EMH. Last years we tried to ride the speedway and only 1 of the 4 lanes was open but by 8:30 everything seemed to be up to full speed.

 

[ursalita]

Wow! Thank you for all the responses! It sounds like I could go either way as long as I plan it right. Our EMHs are morning for MK, HS and AK and I don't think we'll have any problems making it on time. For Epcot they are evening hours which we can also do since we're just a short walk away at the Yacht Club so we can take a break if we need one. I think I'll stick with my original plan and not go through the hassle of cancelling my ADRs.

Thanks again, everyone!