EMH or no EMH.. that is the question!

[mhingher]

I'm very confused. I thought EMH would be awesome, so I plan on going to a non EMH park in the AM, and then heading to the EMH evening park in the late afternoon. (AM EMH won't work, too early for us!) Is this a good strategy? I've read some posts about avoiding EMH parks all together... We'll be there 3/5-3/12, which I hear will be more crowded than usual... should I take another look at my plan???

 

[fam4jc]

Good questions... I don't really know. I guess you'll just have to wait and see when you get there and try out your strategy. I would imagine that it will have a big impact on crowd levels but I'm just not sure. You are going before we are - when you get back be sure to post how it worked out for you. Thanks, and have a WONDERFUL trip.

 

[2x_dis_dad]

The night time EMH's are awesome. The parks are way less crowded than morning EMH's. I would definitley make sure to go to the night ones instead of the mornings.

 

[BCV23]

The night time EMH's are awesome. The parks are way less crowded than morning EMH's. I would definitley make sure to go to the night ones instead of the mornings.

Which evening EMHs have you tried? TIA!

I'm very interested in this too. We have always avoided EMH when they were only offered in the am because the parks got so jammed and people seemed to get bunched in one part of the park as well.

Hoping that things might be different now.

Does anyone have any experience on days when there are both evening and am EMHs. Is the am one is less crowded now?

 

[snappy]

We were in WDW last week, it was supposed to be quiet but was not, due to the Superbowl crowd, Mardi Gras folks from Louisiana, cheerleader groups,
etc, quite a few visitors from England.

We went to MGM on Tuesday am for EMH. The only attractions open were Muppet #D, RNR, Star Tour, and TOT. We grabbed fastpasses but found the standby lines long since not much was open. It got busy fast.

We also went to MGM for pm EMH on Thursday. We arrived around 6:30,
I again thought the standby lines were long. The CM's were still accepting fastpasses for awhile, then quit. I think fastpasses were still available as well for a while but I may be wrong. Fantasmic was filled, so maybe the overflow was hitting the same attractions as us. Three more attractions were open, in addition to the above, The GMR, Playhouse Disney, and Little Mermaid.

The only other EMH we took advantage of was MK, morning on Friday and evening on Wednesday. I thought it was busy both times. Again, there are limited attractions open in the am, only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are even open. You could use fastpass at some in the evening, others you could not. Not sure why it is inconsistent.

We did better Saturday morning at MK, not a EMH morning. We originally were not planning on going here so we were pleasantly surprised. We did get there before opening (maybe 20 minutes at the gate waiting) but it was not all backed up like we have sometimes seen it. It was crowd sparse for awhile, maybe until noonish. We hopped to AK then, where it had been EMH morning. It seemed rather quiet there, maybe everybody had gotten tired and left. We did not stay long, we got too wet on Kali Rapids and fled the park.

All said, I was not too impressed with EMH, but I am willing to give it another chance. Just adjust your expectations.

 

[ujpest_doza]

We were in WDW last week, it was supposed to be quiet but was not, due to the Superbowl crowd, Mardi Gras folks from Louisiana, cheerleader groups,
etc, quite a few visitors from England.

Schools in England broke up last weekend for mid term break, hence a lot of English visitors.

 

[Tonyspad]

From my expierence the morning hour is impossible to police. There is alaways a way for offsite guests to get in early for the AM hour. Which is NOT the case with the PM EMH, it requires a room key which gets you a wrist band plus it is three hours long! Pass on the AM and do the PM..

 

[BCV23]

Except from snappy's description, the evening EMHs sound crowded as well. Have you had good luck with an evening EMH, Tonyspad?

It's sounding like avoiding them all together will still be our strategy.

 

[disneyw/kids]

When they say EMH for pm for MGM and the hours listed by disney says it closes at 8:30 does that mean MGM stays open 3 hours after 8:30 pm? Just wondering how long it would stay open?

 

[Aroura]

I would without a doubt do the evening. We were there at one of the very busiest times, during the 4th of July, and doing the evening hours were still great. We got right on splash, and so many others. *tear*. wish I could be there now.

 

[BCV23]

[]I would without a doubt do the evening. We were there at one of the very busiest times, during the 4th of July, and doing the evening hours were still great. We got right on splash, and so many others. *tear*. wish I could be there now.[/QUOTE]

I don't think the evening EMH had started in July although I know there was a trial in May. Do you think this was the e-nights? I liked those too the couple of times we did them over the years. Did you have to pay $10 or so? If so, that was enights, not EMH.

 

[swilphil]

We were there a few days after July 4th. They did not have evening EMH, but they did E-nights where a certain number of tickets were sold to onsite guests to stay in the park after hours. They only sold a few thousand tickets, so the parks seemed empty.

 

[MinnieM3]

We are like the OP. Except we'll be there during Spring break. I've planned to go non EMH parks in the daytime and then go to the EMH park that night. It'll be crowded, but we're WDW vets! We went at Thanksgiving and were shocked that when MK was open late (til midnight) the crowds left in DROVES after the last parade and DS16 and I felt like we had the park to ourselves! Cool!

 

[LegoMom3]

...how do they work the evening one? I mean, if it's for resort guests only, and the park has been full of anyone and everyone all day, how do they get the non-resort people out? I haven't been there for this yet so I'm still trying to figure it all out!

 

[snappy]

Not sure how they get them out of the park, but the CM's check for a wrist bracelet before letting you on a ride.

 

[the kabuki]

Were there Jan 5-11th, did EMH pm at MK & MGM. Was terrific!!! At MGM, park was empty and MK had no waits for anything.

 

[pumpkinfish]

This was a good question to ask. I was interested in EMH since this is our first complete onsite stay. DH is SOOOOOOooooo excited about being in the park when it is...*gasp*...DARK! Since we have always visited in Sept, the parks always closed at 7:30 or so (except Epcot), so he has never ridden Splash Mount. after dark! I am going to enjoy this! Plus, all the families with kiddies will be tucked into bed!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

I am also very interested in the EMH and how it works out. We have used EE in May before and we thought it worked out well, but only for a few hours, then we hopped to another park. I don't know if that works for other times of year, like summer. I have been worried that evening EMH would result in big crowds because a lot of people without hopper tickets may choose that park plus many others will hop on over to take advantage of the evening hours. Could get ugly.

I know only time will tell for certain how it all works out. But it makes it soooo hard to plan days and make PS. What are others doing about making PS when you don't know yet whether to use EMH or avoid it?

Jackie

 

[the kabuki]

This was a good question to ask. I was interested in EMH since this is our first complete onsite stay. DH is SOOOOOOooooo excited about being in the park when it is...*gasp*...DARK! Since we have always visited in Sept, the parks always closed at 7:30 or so (except Epcot), so he has never ridden Splash Mount. after dark! I am going to enjoy this! Plus, all the families with kiddies will be tucked into bed!

Don't be too sure about the kiddies being in bed. Mine are 11,7, & 3 and we stayed until the park closed on EMH nights. And they were still rarin' to go. Plus, they were the first ones up in the morning. Strange to think these are the same kids who are tired by 8pm and can't be woken up for school in the morning!

 

[LegoMom3]

My then-8, 4 and 2 yr. olds were up until 11pm every night we were at WDW last fall! They would never be up that late at home so it's ultra-cool to them to be up late AND at Disney!! It's vacation after all.