EMH - avoid?

[MamaMeggie]

Hello all! I am a Disney newbie (one trip two years ago) and have waited a bit late in booking our next trip - but as of yesterday we are going Feb 9-14 for my son's birthday (yay!). Our first trip was for my daughter's 5th birthday, so I'm hoping to make this trip less princess focused . I need to figure out parks and meals in the next couple of days so I can make ADRs.
We arrive on a Thursday and won't go to a park that day. Friday will be our first park day, and both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios have EMH that day - MK early and HS late. My first choice for our first park of the trip would be HS since he'll be 9 and loves Star Wars. I want him to be able to do Jedi Training - oh, also his favorite ride in any park is Toy Story.
Would y'all avoid HS with late EMH hours that day? We are staying on property, so we can use them, and also we will have park hoppers if that makes a difference.

 

[Hootch]

In general, we only go to EMH if we have park hoppers so we can go to another park. EMH, whether morning or evening, adds to the crowd levels. The late EMH may have less impact for your morning, but people without hoppers that go to that park will stay there for the day.
It does impact crowd levels. If you are planning to stay only for a few hours, the impact will be small. In the early afternoon should be when you see the impact.

When you do decide to go to DHS, get there early. Jedi Training is popular and the slots fill quickly. You may want to be at the gates 30-45 minutes early to be at the head of the line. Currently, they are allowing people with early ADRs to sign up before they eat. Whether that continues is up to Disney.

Star Tours should also interest your son. There are multiple scenes for each segment so the ride is worth doing more than once in my opinion.

 

[Belleandtinker]

In general, we only go to EMH if we have park hoppers so we can go to another park. EMH, whether morning or evening, adds to the crowd levels. The late EMH may have less impact for your morning, but people without hoppers that go to that park will stay there for the day.
It does impact crowd levels. If you are planning to stay only for a few hours, the impact will be small. In the early afternoon should be when you see the impact.

When you do decide to go to DHS, get there early. Jedi Training is popular and the slots fill quickly. You may want to be at the gates 30-45 minutes early to be at the head of the line. Currently, they are allowing people with early ADRs to sign up before they eat. Whether that continues is up to Disney.

Star Tours should also interest your son. There are multiple scenes for each segment so the ride is worth doing more than once in my opinion.

I agree - to actually take advantage of EMH, you have to be there prior to park opening. We normally grab and go breakfast then eat it while we wait to get inside. For us, we'd rather wait outside the gates than in an attraction line.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I agree - to actually take advantage of EMH, you have to be there prior to park opening. We normally grab and go breakfast then eat it while we wait to get inside. For us, we'd rather wait outside the gates than in an attraction line.

Totally agree. We have pretty much only hit EMH for early morning since the off site friends are not there. Well do late night if it's till 1 or 2 but that seems to be not available anymore.

 

[MamaMeggie]

Thanks!! This is really helpful. We'll do AK our first park day and save HS for his actual birthday. I anticipate lots of time spent seeing Star Wars things!

 

[Farps]

We always have park hoppers so we go to all early EMH and when the park starts to get busy we hop to another park. That's the beauty about park hoppers you can get in quite a few rides in the first 2-2 1/2 hours without using your FP+ and then use your FP for the second park.

 

[MamaMeggie]

Thanks! If MK has an early hour, can you schedule breakfast before that?

 

[bobbyshawatl]

I have a trip scheduled in October. We arrive on a Wednesday, and the MK has EMH until midnight. Even though the crowd calendars do not recommend this park due to the EMH, we're still hitting it, so we can stay out late on our first day. So, I do expect higher crowds, but feel if we hit the park late afternoon, catch a dinner (already have an 8:30 reservation at the Skipper Canteen), watch the fireworks that are scheduled at 10:00, se can grab a few rides before the park closes.