EMH Questions

[cbg1027]

When a park has morning EMH, do they have a rope drop kind of deal happening like they do at a normal opening?

How do they check that the people lining up are actually Disney Resort guests?

Is it just up for grabs which attractions are open during the morning EMH? Or are there usually a set few for each park?

Can you get Fastpasses during the Morning EMH?

And regarding evening EMH - how do they get the non Disney resort guests out?

 

[Robo]

1- When a park has morning EMH, do they have a rope drop kind of deal happening like they do at a normal opening?

2- How do they check that the people lining up are actually Disney Resort guests?

3- Is it just up for grabs which attractions are open during the morning EMH? Or
4- are there usually a set few for each park?

5- Can you get Fastpasses during the Morning EMH?

And regarding

6- evening EMH - how do they get the non Disney resort guests out?

1- Sometimes. They always have a "Rope Drop," but not always a formal "Ceremony."
2- They check to see of guests have current WDW Resort key-cards (KTTW.)
3- Nope.
4- Yes.

EMH Attractions List-

MAGIC KINGDOM - MORNING EMH Operating Attractions
Following is my adjusted version of the AM EMH list-revised April 23, 2009
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
"its a small world"
Mad Tea Party
Mickey's Philharmagic
Peter Pan's Flight
Snow White's Scary Adventure
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
New- April 23, 2009 (Likely to stay at least until Space Mtn. comes out of refurb.)
Haunted Mansion
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain


MAGIC KINGDOM - EVENING EMH Operating Attractions
ALL OF THE MORNING OFFERINGS PLUS:
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Splash Mountain
Stitch's Great Escape
Pirates of the Caribbean
Astro Orbiter
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Stitch's Great Escape
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
Tomorrowland Transit Authority -Closed for Refub until sometime in Aug., 2009
Space Mountain -Closed for Refub thru Nov. 21, 2009



EPCOT - MORNING EMH Operating Attractions
Test Track
Spaceship Earth
Living With the Land
Mission: SPACE
Soarin'

EPCOT - EVENING EMH Operating Attractions
ALL OF THE MORNING OFFERINGS PLUS:
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Journey Into Imagination with Figment
Honey I Shrunk the Audience
The American Adventure (limited performances, see EMH Times Guide)
El Rio Del Tiempo-Mexico
The Maelstrom-Norway
O Canada!
Kidcot Fun Stops
Also, a limited number of "Lands" may have certain shops open.

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS - MORNING EMH Operating Attractions
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
Star Tours
Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D
Toy Story Midway Mania

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS - EVENING EMH Operating Attractions
ALL OF THE MORNING OFFERINGS PLUS:
The Great Movie Ride
The Magic of Disney Animation
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Playhouse Disney Dance Party

DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM - MORNING EMH Operating Attractions
Expedition Everest
Kilimanjaro Safaris
It's Tough To Be A Bug
Discovery Island Trails
Pangani Forest Exploration Trail

DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM - EVENING EMH Operating Attractions
ALL OF THE MORNING OFFERINGS PLUS:
The Boneyard
DINOSAUR
Festival of the Lion King (Likely only one performance)
Finding Nemo the Musical (VERY OCCASIONALLY one PM EMH performance)
Primeval Whirl
Triceratop Spin
Kali River Rapids (seasonal)
Kilimanjaro Safari (closes at dusk, so might be available early-on)
Asia and Africa Trails (close at dusk, so might be available early-on)

5- AM EMH-
During AM EMH many (most) of the "biggie" attractions should have their FP distribution open.

And, if you get a FP very early in the AM EMH,
the earliest "return time" can often
be within the EMH period.

Which attractions?

Expect to find the FP Distribution open on:
Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari (DAK)
Soarin', Mission:SPACE (Epcot)
Space Mtn., Peter Pan, Pooh, Buzz (MK)
Toy Story Midway Mania
and many times, Tower of Terror and Rock'n'RollerCoaster (DHS)



PM EMH-

FP's issued during the regular hours are timed so that those guests who have them can ride during regular hours.
(No FP's would be issued during the day that would have a Return Time during PM EMH.)

So, if the regular hours FP's "run out" during the day, when PM EMH begins...
that means that there would "suddenly" be 3 additional hours of time in which they COULD issue new EMH FastPasses.

WILL that happen?

Depends on the crowd situation.

They DO offer FP during PM EMH...

BUT... not for EVERY one of the PM EMHs and not on every attraction that's open.

Whether any given attraction will have FP during a PM EMH totally depends on those who manage the rides for that PM EMH.

It can change with each PM EMH or during the EMH, with no advance notice, so it does no real good, for the purposes of prediction, to say if they DID or DID NOT on any previous PM EMH.

IF the FP machines are operating during PM EMH, they "start again" at the beginning of the EMH.

If you had a "left-over" FP from earlier in that same day, and they where operating the FP queue, the CMs would likely honor it.

6- They don't.
But to ride attractions, each guest over the age of 2 yrs. must
show a current WDW Resort key-card at the
entrance to each and every ride queue.

 

[cbg1027]

Wow, thanks for all the info!

I've never done EMH before. Should I make use of them? The Unofficial Guide suggest avoiding parks on EMH days because it actually makes it more crowded. Has anyone else found this to be true? I'm going during times of traditionally low(er!) crowd levels to begin with. Opinions?

 

[TheGoofster]

The last time we went to WDW it was also during a lower crowd level, and so we took advantage of quite a few EMH (mostly mornings, a couple of evenings).
Our experience was that it was well worth it. I suppose that there were more people there than normal, but because it wasn't a high crowd level time period, it really didn't make that much of a difference.

From what I understand, going to an EMH during a busy time can be quite difficult, but I think if you go during a not-so-busy time than it would be worth trying it. If you try it on one day, and it seems like the park just gets too crowded, than you could avoid doing it the rest of the week, but I would suggest at least giving it a try. It really is pretty neat being able to be in the park even for just a little while when non-resort guests can't be there.

 

[g-dad66]

Wow, thanks for all the info!

I've never done EMH before. Should I make use of them? The Unofficial Guide suggest avoiding parks on EMH days because it actually makes it more crowded. Has anyone else found this to be true? I'm going during times of traditionally low(er!) crowd levels to begin with. Opinions?

Whether EMH are worth it or not, if you are staying onsite but don't have Park Hopper tickets, is a very debatable topic.

But I think most everyone agrees that a park will be busier on its EMH days than on its non-EMH days. Also, if you're not going to use the EMH, it makes sense to avoid the EMH park. If you have Park Hoppers, then using EMH is usually a good idea, because you can hop to another park if the park becomes too crowded (particularly after using morning EMH).

I think you have to think about whether either morning or evening EMH times work out well for your family's schedule (are you early birds? are you night owls?) Also, weather can be a factor (in August, we hit every single morning EMH in order to get as much done as possible before the afternoon heat).

 

[cbg1027]

I'm going with a friend who has only been to Disney once a really long time ago. I have an AP, but we just got my friend Mark a base ticket, so we can't park hop. We're going in mid December so weather won't be an issue.

I'm by no means a morning person, but I'm always there for rope drop! Mark will go along with whatever I plan

So what I'm wondering is, would it benefit us to go to a park on on morning EMH day? Do you think we'll be able to fit more in by using the morning EMH? Or will that extra hour be negated by extra crowds?

 

[Robo]

would it benefit us to go to a park on on morning EMH day? Do you think we'll be able to fit more in by using the morning EMH? Or will that extra hour be negated by extra crowds?

Hoppers and EMH make a valuable set of options.

If you attend AM EMH, you can get a lot accomplished before the crowds of sleepy-heads finally arrive,
but, if the EMH park then gets too busy, you can, at that point, buy the Hopper upgrade ($52, plus tax) for the base ticket, and hop to another park.

That way, you don't need to buy the Hopper upgrade unless and until you need it.

If you prefer not to take a chance on the EMH, go to a different park than the one offering EMH.
Many suggest going to the park that had PM EMH the night before.

We have done each of those options (AM EMH or avoid AM EMH) and each choice had advantages and drawbacks.

In general, we prefer attending the AM EMH and we always choose the ability to "Park Hop."