EMH vs First Hour in another park

[Coral Reef Diver]

EMH is great, but wouldn't the first hour in another park give you the same "short lines" experience.

 

[anorman]

Of course it would. Also, unlike emh, all the rides are open. I was quite disappointed the first time I "took advantage of" morning emh at HS. There were only a couple of attractions/rides open and was hardly worth the trouble of getting on the go so early. I have never bothered since.

 

[Delirium]

I've never understood the attraction of morning extra magic hours. Whatever advantage you gain in the first hour is offset afterwards. Even if you hop to a different park around lunchtime, the touring from 9-12 is still negatively impacted by the extra crowd. This is just my opinion. Many others swear it's a great time to tour.

 

[mom2rtk]

The earlier the EMH hour is, the more valuable it is. You have to consider human nature and the desire for people to sleep in.

That said, the only EMH we regularly use is MK.

 

[Jack & Monica]

I will post the dissenting view. I like the advantage of the EMH especially when going to the parks in the most crowded months (i.e. the summer, Christmas, and spring break). My strategy has always been to take advantage of the EMH and get at least 3 key rides in. I then use my three fast passes (scheduled over 60 days ago) to experience the best attractions. We then are ready for a nice lunch and then a break at the resort pool.
If needing to get autographs is a part of your plan, this may not be a good option, however. My daughter is just past the age where the character meets are a critical part of our stay at WDW. Allelia!
I guess the bottom line is that EMH are a tool that is available to implement in your overall plan. It depends on your group size and age and when you are visiting the park. I can definitely envision several times when avoiding the EMH would make sense.

 

[gatorlisa]

The thing about the morning EMH is that it's an hour earlier than normal park opening. There are a lot of people who do not wish to get up early on vacation, so between those people and the fact that the EMH is open only to WDW resort guests (vs. the first hour of normal park opening which is open to everyone), I believe the AM EMH allows you to get more done with little to no wait.

 

[wrmiller13]

We are huge AM EMH fans!! Especially the 7am ones at MK!! We can get the majority of Fantasyland accomplished and then move on to Splash and BTM with low wait times, then use our 3 FP. Love, love, love the MK AM EMH!!

 

[oktxregulators]

We hate EMH because a good majority of people are trying to go to the same place for just an hour of extra time. I believe more people go early then stay late. We usually go to another park that does not EMH but always stay for late hours which is nice because so many people go back home or to their resort.

 

[Coral Reef Diver]

I've never understood the attraction of morning extra magic hours... the touring from 9-12 is still negatively impacted by the extra crowd.

That's my take also. The EMH is great, but after that "exclusive hour", the park becomes more overwhelmed than the others.

I envision most of the on-site guests remaining at the EMH park after EMH ends. Then add in 1/4 of the off-site guests and its a standstill.

 

[Shanti]

EMH is great, but wouldn't the first hour in another park give you the same "short lines" experience.

The rope drop hour is always productive. Morning EMH are definitely more useful than the rope drop hour at Magic Kingdom, though. MK is so popular and has so many rides, that EMH are more helpful to MK than to any other park.

 

[Tomh]

I've done the morning EMH a couple of times. I think it is a bit less crowded than the first hour at the other parks, however, in my experience, a park that has morning EMH is going to be more crowded the rest of the day. My take, if you have park hoppers, and you are willing to do that morning EMH, and then when the park starts to get crowded, hop to another park, it is probably well worth it. If you are not park hopping, then I would probably steer clear of morning EMH, and just do rope drop at another park.

 

[jsmla]

I will post the dissenting view. I like the advantage of the EMH especially when going to the parks in the most crowded months (i.e. the summer, Christmas, and spring break). My strategy has always been to take advantage of the EMH and get at least 3 key rides in. I then use my three fast passes (scheduled over 60 days ago) to experience the best attractions. We then are ready for a nice lunch and then a break at the resort pool.

That's pretty much my experience as well. I'm a chronic early bird and love morning EMH but I have an AP and am almost never in the EMH park by lunchtime. I might feel differently if I couldn't hop.

 

[Coral Reef Diver]

OP here. This is what I've learned...

• I was quite disappointed the first time I "took advantage of" morning emh at HS. There were only a couple of attractions/rides. (anorman)
• I've never understood the attraction of morning extra magic hours. Whatever advantage you gain in the first hour is offset afterwards. (Delirium)
• The only EMH we regularly use is MK. (mom2rtk)
• My strategy has always been to take advantage of the EMH and get at least 3 key rides in. I then use my three fast passes. (Jack & Monica)
• A lot of people who do not wish to get up early on vacation, so you to get more done [at the EMH park] with little to no wait. (gatorlisa)
• Morning EMH are definitely more useful than the rope drop hour at Magic Kingdom. (Shanti)
• EMH is a bit less crowded than the first hour at the other parks, but is going to be more crowded the rest of the day. (Tomh)

You WDW fans and DIS members are so helpful. This is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Coral Reef Diver]

,,, and I like Shanti's avatar. Minnie is my one and only, the girl of my dreams.

 

[adelaster]

Is there a best place to find out what rides are open? We are planning on maybe attending one in December for Animal Kingdom.