EMH late arrival ?????

[DISUNC]

When the parks have EMH nights, In order to get the wristband do you have to be in the park before the 'official' closing?

In other words....If we want to go to MK on a EMH night, and the official closing is 11:00pm, can we enter the Park at Midnight and still get in for the last 2 hours?

Yes, We are staying onsite.

 

[KayakDaddy]

I was at last Thursday's Evening EMH at Epcot. As you know Epcot normally closes at 9 PM with Illuminations with key attractions staying open until midnight during EMH.

They had a wristband station staffed by about 4 or 5 castmembers right where you came in through the International Gateway. The sign there said they would be giving out wristbands there from 7 PM - 10 PM (which is after normal closing time).

If this practice holds true, I would say you can probably arrive at MK shortly after normal closing time and still get an EMH wristband. Last year we arrive at MK for EMH just before the normal closing time. I felt like a salmon trying to swim up a waterfall trying to fight my way into the park against the flood of people exiting. That wasn't too much fun.

In theory, evening EMH's ar a great idea. In my experiance, it can be fustrating and inefficient, but I can't seem to help myself from going back (I guess it beats just sitting at the hotel). I've found that if you do it right, you can do about twice as much during the 1-hour morning EMH than you can do in the three hour evening EMH. Last Thursday at Epcot confirmed this belief. We exited the Coral Reef at about 9:40. We tried to go to Turtle Talk with Crush and immediatly balked at the CRAZY line. It was much longer than I had seen it earlier in the day during the general admission time. We then balked at the 50 minute wait for Soarin. We ended up doing Journey into Imagination, Honey I shrunk..., and the boat rides at Mexico & Norway.
We were able to walk right onto Test Track right before midnight though. It was pretty cool since I've never done TT at night.

 

[Robo]

Here's how EMH works for all parks.

Look up the POSTED open and close times for any day, any park.
Only WDW resort guests staying on-property will be allowed EHM privileges and it COSTS NOTHING EXTRA to attend the EMHs.
There are slightly different situations for MORNING and EVENING EMH's.

-------MORNING EMH FACTS--------------------------------------
If it is a MORNING EMH, then WDW resort guests staying on-property will be allowed entry to THAT park on THAT day starting ONE HOUR before the posted opening time.
At least ONE person in your party should have a room key-card with them (sometimes EACH person needs to show one) to verify your current hotel status and gain entry.
So, only WDW resort guests will be ALLOWED INTO the park.
Once inside, only selected attractions will be open.
See the official WDW website for the latest attractions that will be open during EMH.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/extraMagicHour?id=CalendarExtraMagicHoursPage

-------EVENING EMH FACTS--------------------------------------
If it is a EVENING EMH, then WDW resort guests staying on-property will be allowed to stay and ride attractions at THAT park on THAT day for THREE HOURS after the posted closing time.
You do NOT have to be in the park BEFORE scheduled closing time.
You CAN enter the park at any time during EMH and still get a wrist-band.
You can leave and re-enter the park at will (just like any normal time).

(So, YES, if MK is sched. to close at midnight, the EMH will run til 3AM! Yep, that's 3 in the morning. No, its not a mistake, that would be 3 full hours after the posted time. 3AM for a posted 12mid close-time. 3AM, yes sir!)

EACH guest (except for very small children) will need to show a room key-card to a CM at special "EMH kiosks" set up in various locations throughout the park, and a wristband will be snapped on by the CM to each adult and child. Children older than 3 will be issued a room key when you check in if they are listed on your ressie. If they are not listed you will have problems if they don't get issued a room key. Make SURE the check-in desk issues each person a room-card.
The ride CMs at the parks will check for these wrist-bands at each attraction before allowing guests to enter the queue.
So, even though non-resort guests may still be INSIDE the park, only those with wrist-bands will be allowed to ride any open EMH attractions.
See the official WDW website for the latest attractions that will be open during EMH.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/extraMagicHour?id=CalendarExtraMagicHoursPage
--------------------------------------------------------------------
You can enter the parks for EMH EVENINGS anytime... during "regular" hours, or even during the actual extended EMH hours.
This 1-hour morning EMH and 3-hour evening EMH rule applies at all 4 parks. Enjoy!

 

[jcanary]

The hours that are posted on the disboards, do they already include the late EMH's or not? If I remember correctly I thought these boards said that MGM closed at midnight or 11 on a night we were there in May, when in fact the EMH ran to that time. We are going again in August and some friends are going and I want to make sure I tell everyone the correct explanation.
thank you all.
One example on August 20 MK is listed as being open until 10, does that mean EMH will run until 1am.

 

[Robo]

One example on August 20 MK is listed as being open until 10, does that mean EMH will run until 1am.

That's what that means.

The hours posted on the official calendar (and DISboard, unless otherwise specified) do NOT include EMH.

And they should not, because those hours are for the general public and EMH is only for WDW resort guests.

You will always "add" the EMH (early or late) hours to the official posted times.

 

[DISUNC]

Thanks!

 

[jcanary]

I thought it was that way.