EMH vs. old E-Ride Nights

[RyMickey]

I used to love the E-ride nights. True, you had to pay extra, but I always thought it was well worth it. Hardly any waits and it was lots of fun walking around the park when it wasn't crowded.

How are the new EMHs compared to E-ride nights. We're starting to plan out our agenda and wondering whether it's even worth it to go to any park during EMH nights (The morning EMH will never happen in our family, so they're out of the question). Are there long waits for the stuff in Fantasyland? Everyone in our family is older and while we love the stuff in Fantasyland, we can't justify waiting more than 20 minutes for anything in that land. What about Space/Splash/Big Thunder Mts? Long waits or near walk-ons. During our E-ride nights, we never waited more than 15 minutes for anything. Are the waits similar?

Thanks.

RyMickey

 

[churchlady]

I'd like to know too!

 

[RyMickey]

Giving this a bump.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

Good question! We will probably make the EMH mornings with the little ones but DH and Aunt Chels will probably want to do the evenings. I could use some guidance on the crowds!

Another bump

 

[dvcmomdeh]

BIG BUMP!!

I have been looking everywhere for E-ride nights during our next visit. Didn't know they changed the name.

 

[RyMickey]

I'm thrilled that I'm not the only one that wants to know the answer to this question, but...does anyone know the answer? Or have we stumped the DisBoards?!?!?!?!?

RyMickey

 

[dizprincess717]

Let's just put it this way... Last week I went to the MK evening EMH. We got there around 7:30 and stood in front of the Castle to watch Wishes. By the time that was over it was around 8:15. In the next 2 hour and 45 minutes this is what we accomplished:

Pooh's Honey Pots, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates twice & looked around the gift shop for presents for my friends, Space Mountain twice, Astro Orbiter, and we walked out at exactly 11pm.

The longest lines were about 10 minutes for Big Thunder and Space Mountain. It was incredible to be there at night though.

However ... It did rain the whole day and only stopped around 7 at night. This was last Wednesday.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

Besides the rain, that sounds great! I wonder if the rain had something to do with it? When we were there in Jan it rained all day (funny, somewhere I read it NEVER rains a full day in Florida - huh!) but nobody was there. Walked right into every attraction - it was truly GREAT!!! I hope it didn't ruin me for any other time!

With a bump for Any other info??

 

[dizprincess717]

I'm guessing that it was in part due to the rain all day. And yes, it never rains a full day in Florida, only like 4 days out of the year. Usually it's just a quick 15 minute shower/tstorm and it's done.

Oh, and I have the ultimate rain story - When we went for Christmas a few years ago it rained for 3 straight days. What are the odds of that?!

However I found that I really didn't care that it rained. The waits were so short. Splash was a walk on and they were even sending boats down empty!

MGM evening EMH was pretty good, too. The wait for RnRC was about 15-20 minutes and GMR was 15 minutes.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Our EMH night at MK was similar to the one mentioned above. Very little waits, we had a blast. BUT, it was raining pretty hard the first hour and it was in early February. I will be curious to see what our EMH at MK will be like the end of April. Our late night at MGM was not so great. There is just so little open in that park that the lines for TOT never got below 30 minutes. We ended up just seeing Little Mermaid and doing some shopping after we rode TOT once and Rock n Rollercoaster once. At Animal Kingdom we had been there all day so we had pretty much done everything except Festival of the Lion King. So we did that (I think they have one show during late EMH) and then left but things didn't look too crowded. All in all MK was our favorite EMH but then that is our favorite park! I have never done an E Ride night so I can't compare.

 

[RyMickey]

Thanks for the replies. Seems like the night EMHs are kinda crowded. I guess we'll take a wait and see kinda attitude...or I'll ask again as we get closer to the summer. Thanks all.

RyMickey

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I'm guessing that it was in part due to the rain all day. And yes, it never rains a full day in Florida, only like 4 days out of the year. Usually it's just a quick 15 minute shower/tstorm and it's done.

Oh, and I have the ultimate rain story - When we went for Christmas a few years ago it rained for 3 straight days. What are the odds of that?!

However I found that I really didn't care that it rained. The waits were so short. Splash was a walk on and they were even sending boats down empty!

MGM evening EMH was pretty good, too. The wait for RnRC was about 15-20 minutes and GMR was 15 minutes.

Oh, how I pray for rain next Christmas! I don't care if everyone's wet and miserable...I'll be happy!
Oh, and I even forgive you for being a Yankees fan...GO SOX!

 

[birdiesunshine]

We did emh at the Magic Kingdom on our last trip which was feb 26 - march 5 and we had four adults and 3 kids age 2, 4 and nine and we were able to do alladin, pirates, splash mountain(which is about 18minutes long with no wait which there was none) big thunder country bear haunted mansion skip peter pan and did pooh space mountain buzz lightyear astro orbitors and we left by 11 but started around 6pm saw no fireworks and had to get wristbands which took a little time and ate a bite to eat at pecos bills cafe after we did pirates. the weather was good just a little cold. I think e-ride was better but for free its well worth the trip. e-ride nights seemed less crowded to us but there are a lot of factors for why that could be.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

Birdiesunshine:

Wow, you got alot done! That is great.

I'm sure now that it is free you get more of a crowd, the Eride probably kept more budgeters away (it does add up for a family of 4 or more).

Looking forward to experiencing ourselves in Nov! Great info herre!

 

[tomerin]

if memory serves me correct the EMH late was a trial run last spring(may). when the summer season arrived the trail run ended. i havent heard if the current EMH late hours will continue into the summertime. i think that the ad for Magical Express may have some reference to extra hours but i am not sure.

my family became a big big fan of the e-ride nights last summer. in fact we went 4 times during our stay. we were able to budget this into our trip expenses because we knew ahead of time when the e-ride nights were being held

i honestly hope that the late EMH will continue into the summer. but i really dont know if WDW will continue to offer this. why offer these extra hours to guests if the parks are going fairly full anyway. i did contact WDW and the answer i recieved was that the park hours for the time period i asked about, july, havent been posted yet.

i know this may sound crazy but even if the emh late hours are extended into july i still would pay to go to e-ride nights in MK.

 

[rkrivas]

I agree that being free is one reason that EMH will be more crowded than e-nights. The other reason is that Disney sold a limited number of tickets (I think it was around 5,000) for each e-night, so you knew that there wouldn't be more than that number in the park.

 

[churchlady]

Can anyone explain to me about getting the wristbands for the EMH at night? How, when and where do you get them?

 

[UrsulasShadow]

Can anyone explain to me about getting the wristbands for the EMH at night? How, when and where do you get them?

This is from the AllEarsNet website.
Evening Extra Magic Hours typically extend three hours beyond a park's scheduled closing time. You'll need to obtain a wristband at the theme park by presenting a valid Key to the World Card at one of several designated locations no sooner than two hours prior to park close.

NOTE: There has been some confusion regarding the new Magic Your Way tickets and Extra Magic Hour. If your Magic Your Way ticket DOES NOT have the Park Hopper option, you will NOT be able to visit more than one park per day. This means that if you want to take advantage of Extra Magic Hour, you must be sure to visit the park offering it that day or evening.

Example: You visit Magic Kingdom in the morning. Epcot is the Extra Magic Hour park of the day. You MAY NOT go to Epcot that evening if your Magic Your Way ticket does not have the Park Hopper option.


However, I'd love more details, too, such as where those locations are for each park. Can anyone enlighten?

 

[sters]

Besides the rain, that sounds great! I wonder if the rain had something to do with it? When we were there in Jan it rained all day (funny, somewhere I read it NEVER rains a full day in Florida - huh!) but nobody was there. Walked right into every attraction - it was truly GREAT!!! I hope it didn't ruin me for any other time!

With a bump for Any other info??

A little off topic, but we went and it rained steady for 6 of the 7 days we were there! Never again in Septemeber!

 

[DHSsenior007]

When we were there last night, my friend and I went crazy! We did both the EMH Mornings and Evenings.

Back on topic, I like the old E-nights better, but since those are gone, EMH evenings are worth staying up late. Last week, WDW was having a Dance/Cheerleading competition, so it was pretty crowded, but I think the longest we waited during EMH was about 20 minutes or so.

ETA: You can pick up wristbands either right inside the front gates, or other stations in the parks. There will be signs marking out directions or you could ask a CM.

Oh, and you can get a wristband after the park closes. You just show your room key whenever you walk up to the turnstiles.

I hope this helps!