EMH in heat is it worth it or crowded?

[MinniMama]

We usually do EMH in every park except Epcot - but we travel in spring this trip the heat is an unknown- is it very crowded for the first few hours or very hot early in the parks ? It is worth it or should we avoid EMH parks?

 

[harperwi]

I've not been in August either (edit: I originally read your post wrong and thought you were going in the spring - oops!). If you would like to find out what the historic temps have been for the past several years for the week you're going, visit this site:

Weather Underground

There is a link on the main page to historic hi/lo temps for specific cities. It will give you a feel for what you can expect. I believe the low temps for August are around the mid 70's, so expect the mornings to start out warm with the 80's coming up fairly quickly.

As for EMH being crowded or not, there are two schools of thought (probably more than two, but I'm only going to cover two for you).

One is that the EMH is a great way to commando a bunch of rides right away, but since the park is typically more crowded that day as time wears on, it's a good idea to prepare to hop to another one when the masses descend.

The other is that EMH parks should be avoided altogether, and that you should visit a park on the day after it had EMH. This way you lose that extra hour, but you make up for that loss by having smaller crowds.

Of course, there's no infallable way to tour WDW. For example, the MK has EMH on Sunday, so if you follow rule #2 above, you'd visit it on Monday. But the MK is traditionally visited first by guests arriving over the weekend, so Monday can still be very crowded.

I guess I would say that your having to deal with large crowds would depend on these factors:

1) how flexible your itinerary is. If you find yourself surrounded by guests, are you willing and able to bop over to another park to see how things are there? Or are you married to your plan and wouldn't think of leaving?

2) how well you manage fastpass, and how well you take advantage of slower times of day for the big E-ticket rides. Do them first thing, do them last thing, and check them out during parades.

The better prepared you are the better off you'll be, crowd-wise. Remember that even on a busy day, it's possible to see and do the things you consider "must do" attractions.

I hope this has helped!
Jon

 

[lucysdad]

We were there in June and did early entry at MK. It was great. We rode every Fantasyland ride a 4 year old could want two or three times in a row with a very minimal wait. Then we headed over to ToonTown when it opened and rode Goofy's Barnstormer before heading back to the hotel around 11 A.M. That said, the early entry at AK was crowded, crowded, crowded. Perhaps that is due to a more limited number of attractions. Maybe it was just the day. Anyway, remember it is your VACATION! If you feel like getting up and getting to EMH is not a problem, go for it or do what my husband (this is Lucy's mom) and son did and sleep in.

 

[gracelrm]

We were at WDW last week and did the EMH most every day. We felt it was worth getting up early for. Our plan was to be there for the extra hour, stay at the park until 11:00 or 12:00, return to hotel for rest and swimming, and then hit a different park for the late afternoon/evening hours. This worked well for us and our three kids. Our only complaint was with the transportation to EMH. Sometimes we were there by 7:20 and busses wouldn't show up until 7:45 or later. It was disappointing to be ready to go that early and still not be in a park until 8:30

 

[MinniMama]

Thanks we usually do go early and plan to leave if it is too crowded and I was told you have to be at the bus for 7:10 but we are on the momrail and will only need the bus for AK. We are flexible so I think we will try for the EMH and if its crowded or hot leave! Thanks!!