EMH in Sept what should I expect?

[crazymomof4]

We've never been a park hopper family. So since we only ever did one park per day, we've always avoided EMH parks. In Sept we will be staying at BC and so got hopper option bc of the close proximatey to Epcot and DHS.

We will be doing a few morning and evening EMHs (doing another park for most of the day but either beginning or ending our day at the EMH park.)
So, what can we expect? I know you can't do FP+ for EMH so, what are the wait times like in Sept EMH? How much can you get done? Family of 3 adults and teens 17 and 14

 

[mesaboy2]

September is generally one of the least crowded months.

 

[crazymomof4]

yes, we've enjoyed low crowds many times by visiting in Sept. But we are still "EMH virgins" and have no idea what to expect sharing the park with *just* wdw resort guests. Like is does morning EMH in Sept mean that Soarin is a walk on? 30min, an hour? Honestly, have no clue what to expect.
One of our days we are going from AK's 5pm closing to MK on the night when MK has night EMH from 10-midnight. I am picturing walk-ons for those 2 hrs since many people, even those who are resort guests will want to get their kids in bed before that time. Am I going to be disappointed?
It would be nice to have a general idea of what to expect.

 

[eyehartdisney]

It depends on the park. Epcot, in your example, is the worst park for EMH, because there's just so little to do (6 attractions.) TT, living with the land, mission space green and orange, soarin', and spaceship earth. Which means that every single person is going for one of those six attractions. Sure, you have thousands less people there, so you're competing less, but you're also competing for less.

Epcot has always been a waste of a rope drop, unless you are fast and efficient. Magic kingdom, on the other hand... I routinely do the entire headliners, plus many of the secondaries before noon on EMH days during sept. Oh, and I should mention that in all my time going to disney, I've only used 6 fastpasses. That includes fp-. I do most of my touring before noon, and after 6, and I get to do more in that amount of time than most people do all day.

 

[snowweisz]

yes, we've enjoyed low crowds many times by visiting in Sept. But we are still "EMH virgins" and have no idea what to expect sharing the park with *just* wdw resort guests. Like is does morning EMH in Sept mean that Soarin is a walk on? 30min, an hour? Honestly, have no clue what to expect.
One of our days we are going from AK's 5pm closing to MK on the night when MK has night EMH from 10-midnight. I am picturing walk-ons for those 2 hrs since many people, even those who are resort guests will want to get their kids in bed before that time. Am I going to be disappointed?

Nope. That is exactly what you are going to get. It's definitely true that tons of parents want their kids in bed and not on MK at midnight, so that absolutely makes a difference.

Where an attraction like Enchanted Tales is a 45 min wait (at best lol) during the day, it's a walk on at 11:30 pm. You can do 3 mountains in one hour. Even Peter Pan can be a walk on! An attraction like Tower of Terror is a 10 min wait during evening EMH. Toy Story can be 20 mins...

And honestly? The parks are absolutely stunning at that time, with so few people in them. It's a great experience.

Keep in mind tho, that evening EMH are quite exhausting! If you wanna be in the park at 1 am, you will probably need a mid day break, or a late start because it can get exhausting.

Good luck!

 

[crazymomof4]

It depends on the park. Epcot, in your example, is the worst park for EMH, because there's just so little to do (6 attractions.) TT, living with the land, mission space green and orange, soarin', and spaceship earth. Which means that every single person is going for one of those six attractions. Sure, you have thousands less people there, so you're competing less, but you're also competing for less.

Epcot has always been a waste of a rope drop, unless you are fast and efficient. Magic kingdom, on the other hand... I routinely do the entire headliners, plus many of the secondaries before noon on EMH days during sept. Oh, and I should mention that in all my time going to disney, I've only used 6 fastpasses. That includes fp-. I do most of my touring before noon, and after 6, and I get to do more in that amount of time than most people do all day.

Thanks This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for!
We also do must-do attractions before noon and after 6 and leave the busy afternoons for either shopping or just wandering and enjoying the details and atmosphere of the parks or or sitting on a bench and people watching or doing non-headliners like Swiss Fam Rob Treehouse or Ellens Energy Adventure.

 

[crazymomof4]

Nope. That is exactly what you are going to get. It's definitely true that tons of parents want their kids in bed and not on MK at midnight, so that absolutely makes a difference.

Where an attraction like Enchanted Tales is a 45 min wait (at best lol) during the day, it's a walk on at 11:30 pm. You can do 3 mountains in one hour. Even Peter Pan can be a walk on! An attraction like Tower of Terror is a 10 min wait during evening EMH. Toy Story can be 20 mins...

And honestly? The parks are absolutely stunning at that time, with so few people in them. It's a great experience.

Keep in mind tho, that evening EMH are quite exhausting! If you wanna be in the park at 1 am, you will probably need a mid day break, or a late start because it can get exhausting.

Good luck!

This makes me excited! We did 2 trips b4 kids ('87 and '88) Then for years after we always had to have a stroller/diaper bag, etc. Then as soon as the youngest was out of a stroller my mom (who came with us for many trips) started needing a w/c for the parks.
So..... this is the first wdw visit in 26 years that we will be stroller/wc free and have no little ones who get tired and cranky or need naps and we also won't need to be mindful of "over-doing it" with mom. Just DH and I and DS's 22 and 17 and DD14! All die-hard wdw fans who are ready to take it to the limits!!! Gonna be a great trip!!!