EMH - to do or not to do?

[DisneyNewbie83]

Hi, we're planning on going to WDW from 4/14 - 4/20. I'm making myself go crazy deciding if I should change my current schedule.

Right now, I'm using easywdw crowd calculator to figure out what parks I should go to. However, I'm wondering if it would be worth changing it around and going to some parks that do have EMH. We will not have park hoppers so that won't be an option.

We're looking at a morning EMH at Animal Kingdom, a morning EMH at Magic Kingdom and either a morning or evening EMH at Epcot.

Also at the time of the trip, our kids will range from 5 to 8. They are pretty adjusting but they do need their sleep so I would try to balance that aspect of it as well. This is our 2nd family trip to WDW but last time we stayed off site so didn't have to worry about this. I also need to figure out if I need to try to change my ADRs!

I really would appreciate any opinions! TIA

 

[eXo]

I just asked a very similar question wit a very similar topic and got a wide range of responses.

To boil it all down though, the general advice was:
group A: don't do EMH
group b: do EMH, and then bail with park hopper

there were a few unique voices in the crowd that said they did EMH and stayed all day and it didn't bother them much, but it *does* have an adverse affect on the day in that the 'mid day rush' occurs earlier and lasts longer.
I'm not sure what your ADR's are set for, but I def. would not do a breakfast ADR on the same morning of an EMH park. I'm guessing that is not your intention, but just in case....

Ultimately, if you want to do EMH, I understand the following is necessary to make it worth it:
Be there 30 min before EMH starts. Any time spent screwing around or getting to the parks after EMH starts is time better spent sleeping in and just going to a different park.
Be prepared for a busy late morning and mid afternoon. Don't expect to get a ton done at this time unless this is when you have FP+ for. Try to set your FP+ for late morning to early afternoon, that way you can still possibly grab a few more FP+ after you use your third one.

Ultimately - just my personal advice - don't sweat it too much. Your basically trading the ability to be super productive in the morning for a more crowded afternoon. Just by spending time looking at crowd calenders and talking to folks on here, you are already ahead of the game. Almost every question I have asked here has two camps of people, those who never would and those who always do. It has taught me that as long as you are on the ball with your ADR's and FP+, Disney pretty much works about the same for everyone after that.

I have yet to find a magic bullet that totally changes the game. Don't let the folks on here who are trying to squeeze the utmost "fun" out of every second of the day make you feel like your 'less than optimal'. Either use EMH and make the most of your morning, or avoid it and know that your entire day at another park will be a bit more relaxed.

Personally, since I do have park hopper, I am going to take advantage of EMH and then just play it by ear from there. I'll have a back-up park in mind for every EMH day.

All of the above is for morning EMH though. My kiddos are too little for midnight to 2am or whatever the late EMH are.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Personally I skip the morning EMH...one hour just isn't worth the lines at the resort bus stops, and the early morning...at most, you get one additional ride in.

But we almost always take advantage of the evening ones, usually can do a lot more...but then DD is a teen, and was 10 on the last trip, so had the energy for staying up later.