EMH During Busy Season

[auntkelly]

If a park is scheduled to open at 8am for Extra Magic Hour, will the park ever open to resort guests prior to 8am if the day is expected to be a high traffic day?

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

EMH is only for resort guests. Unfortunately that means ALL Disney resorts. And that always means lots of people.
Unless they specifically decide to change a time and open the park earlier, the answer to your question would be no.
But check at your resort when you check-in for EMH of all the parks.

 

[tjkraz]

Since "Early Entry" returned as "Extra Magic HOUR", I don't think I've ever read a post from someone claiming that the attractions began running prior to the 8am EMH time. Under the "Early Entry" program, the opening hours were a bit more flexible, but that's long since gone.

That said, the parks should start letting people through the turnstiles prior to the actual park opening time. For example, at MK they will let you enter the park and get as far as Main Street. At 8am the ropes will drop and all EMH attractions will officially be open. So, there is still some benefit to being at the gate 20-30 minutes prior to the official opening time. If you arrive at 7:55, you're likely to be behind a pretty big crowd.

 

[auntkelly]

Thanks for the information. From an earlier post, I learned that the non early entry parks will sometimes open early on busy days. We'll be at the parks during Thanksgiving Week. I'm starting to think it might be better to show up early at one of the non early entry parks and hope it opens a little early, rather than trying to fight the crowds at the designated Extra Magic Hour Park.