EMH Complaints?

[foodiddiedoo]

I've seen a lot of casual posts complaining about EMH decreasing or being shortened, and over all my visits I haven't really registered this. Can someone tell me what's happened and for how long it's been going on?

 

[mom2rtk]

First big step was cutting it from 3 hours to 2 a while back.

 

[dlavender]

Here's a snapshot of the month of June over the years:

June 1-30th 2012 - 426 Included hours + 35 EMH= 461 (Wow, EMH)
June 1-30th 2013 - 431 Included hours + 13 EMH = 444
June 1-30th 2014 - 461 Included hours + 11 EMH = 472
June 1-30th 2015 - 469 Included hours + 12 EMH = 481
June 1-30th 2016 - 425 Included hours + 14 EMH = 439
June 1-30th 2017 - 396 Included hours + 13 EMH = 409

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Did there used to be two parks in a day with EMH too, or am I completely remembering incorrectly?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Seems like there used to be a lot more night time ones.

 

[sharonabe]

Both AK and HS used to have evening EMH. Now neither of them do.

It does seem like there used to be at least one park each day with either early or late, so you could take advantage of EMH every day if you so chose.

 

[Colleen27]

Only MK and Epcot have evening EMH; it used to be all four parks. They're two hours now, compared to three up until a couple of years ago. And when it comes to the MK, the regular hours tend to be short on EMH nights so instead of the late nights we used to get, it is just a normal length day with the onsite-guest-only restriction in the last two hours.

In Jan 2012, with crowd levels of 1 to 3 according to Touring Plans, evening EMH ran until 1am at the MK. In March 2011, with crowd levels 4 to 6, MK EMH ended at 3am. This year, EMH ended at midnight over 4th of July and 1am over Easter.

ETA: I think the cuts have been more obvious to those of us who like the late hours. There's still 4-5 morning EMH most weeks, and they're the same 1 hour they've always been, but there's less and less for night owls at WDW (pool hours are shorter than they used to be too).

 

[Capang]

Seems like there used to be a lot more night time ones.

Yep. And we really miss the super late MK emh. Those were so much fun.

 

[stormer]

Night extra magic hours were great when they were three hours. We enjoy sleeping in and going to the park at after lunch so we loved the late hours. Now when they are two hours they are still crowded and not offered anywhere near as often.

 

[Haley R]

We went last year in March and loved the 2 am closing at mk one night.

 

[Dracoa Dragoon]

We were in MK till 2am Halloween Week in 2015...

It was glorious.

 

[CAS239]

Did there used to be two parks in a day with EMH too, or am I completely remembering incorrectly?

Still generally it's one park with AM emh and one park with PAM emh

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Only MK and Epcot have evening EMH; it used to be all four parks. They're two hours now, compared to three up until a couple of years ago. And when it comes to the MK, the regular hours tend to be short on EMH nights so instead of the late nights we used to get, it is just a normal length day with the onsite-guest-only restriction in the last two hours.

In Jan 2012, with crowd levels of 1 to 3 according to Touring Plans, evening EMH ran until 1am at the MK. In March 2011, with crowd levels 4 to 6, MK EMH ended at 3am. This year, EMH ended at midnight over 4th of July and 1am over Easter.

ETA: I think the cuts have been more obvious to those of us who like the late hours. There's still 4-5 morning EMH most weeks, and they're the same 1 hour they've always been, but there's less and less for night owls at WDW (pool hours are shorter than they used to be too).

Thanks for the clarification. I have been going in the "off" season the past few visits (April, January, February) and not summer or fall, and had just noticed the parks seemed to be closing "early" but assumed it was due to not being the summer time. Now that I think about it, I really do remember being able to stay in the park past midnight on my September and summer trips of yore. One of the saddest things is that it feels like eating dinner at a sit down restaurant is wasting precious ride time because no park is open past 9. I bought tickets for the DAH event just to get to stay in the MK later, but that stinks I have to pay a premium for that luxury.

 

[Haley R]

Thanks for the clarification. I have been going in the "off" season the past few visits (April, January, February) and not summer or fall, and had just noticed the parks seemed to be closing "early" but assumed it was due to not being the summer time. Now that I think about it, I really do remember being able to stay in the park past midnight on my September and summer trips of yore. One of the saddest things is that it feels like eating dinner at a sit down restaurant is wasting precious ride time because no park is open past 9. I bought tickets for the DAH event just to get to stay in the MK later, but that stinks I have to pay a premium for that luxury.

I also bought tickets for DAH. It just made more sense to me and I'm okay paying the extra, but it does stink that it has to be that way.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

When they cut the evening EMH to two hours, it started to become less worth the effort to go back if you leave the park in the afternoon. I think that was a big step in changing my WDW habits. We used to be a family that bought package vacations 1-2 times per year and always stayed on site. When the cost went up and value went down we bought APs, make frequent shorter trips, and started staying offsite at nicer places for less money. I'm sure I'll be back onsite sometime and will take advantage of EMH, but I'm in no hurry

 

[Colleen27]

I also bought tickets for DAH. It just made more sense to me and I'm okay paying the extra, but it does stink that it has to be that way.

I'm going to get tickets too, assuming they don't sell out (it has to be last minute because I'm upgrading to an AP when we arrive and the discount is substantial - about $150). But I can't say I don't mind. I do mind. I really hate that Disney pretty much shuts down the parks and the pools by 8pm (9 for Epcot), and the only way to enjoy some nighttime fun is to pay a ridiculous upcharge for DAH.

 

[Haley R]

I'm going to get tickets too, assuming they don't sell out (it has to be last minute because I'm upgrading to an AP when we arrive and the discount is substantial - about $150). But I can't say I don't mind. I do mind. I really hate that Disney pretty much shuts down the parks and the pools by 8pm (9 for Epcot), and the only way to enjoy some nighttime fun is to pay a ridiculous upcharge for DAH.

I didn't know the pools closed so early until recently. That seems a little ridiculous to me, especially on nights when it's warm enough to be outside. If I'm paying all of that money to be on-site, I should get to enjoy the amenities.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I didn't know the pools closed so early until recently. That seems a little ridiculous to me, especially on nights when it's warm enough to be outside. If I'm paying all of that money to be on-site, I should get to enjoy the amenities.

I think part of the reasoning for early closure of amenities is to push guests toward Disney Springs and other revenue-producing spots on property. If you don’t have a car they’ve pretty much got you cornered.

 

[Colleen27]

I didn't know the pools closed so early until recently. That seems a little ridiculous to me, especially on nights when it's warm enough to be outside. If I'm paying all of that money to be on-site, I should get to enjoy the amenities.

I can sort of understand it. It is a byproduct of the move to having lifeguards on duty at all times. I used to lifeguard and can't imagine trying to do it in the dark, especially in a setting with as many young kids and inattentive parents as WDW, so when sunset is 5:30 or 6 o'clock a 7-8pm pool closing doesn't feel unreasonable from that angle. But I REALLY miss the days when they simply closed down the slides and other features, let the lifeguards go off duty, and posted the pool "swim at your own risk" at night. When I was at ASMu with DD in December 2013 the pools closed at 7pm, so we basically never got to use them even though we hit an unseasonably warm week with highs in the upper 80s.

 

[Haley R]

I can sort of understand it. It is a byproduct of the move to having lifeguards on duty at all times. I used to lifeguard and can't imagine trying to do it in the dark, especially in a setting with as many young kids and inattentive parents as WDW, so when sunset is 5:30 or 6 o'clock a 7-8pm pool closing doesn't feel unreasonable from that angle. But I REALLY miss the days when they simply closed down the slides and other features, let the lifeguards go off duty, and posted the pool "swim at your own risk" at night. When I was at ASMu with DD in December 2013 the pools closed at 7pm, so we basically never got to use them even though we hit an unseasonably warm week with highs in the upper 80s.

If they're putting a sign up they wouldn't be liable so I wish they would bring that back. We have NO interest in Disney Springs. We have been twice and were super bored both times. Neither DH nor I are shoppers and that seems to be the biggest thing to do there. We've eaten down there, but nothing has stuck out as amazing. I just don't see the value in my time being spent there.