EMH vs. Rope Drop

Pinky679

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 1, 2019
I have been hearing people suggest that doing EMH (during the summer) is no longer worth it because there are so many people there for EMH the crowds are actually quite large, and they instead go to Rope Drop at another park. What are peoples opinion on EMH vs Rope Dorp ? Which seems to be better for getting more rides in during those first few hours.
 
We prefer rope drop for the reason you mentioned EMH is busier. I assume the average Disney goer sees it as a special perk but doesn’t realize it’s offered to SOOOO many people. Rope drop IMO is way more effective.
 
exactly what was said before and you mentioned. I purposely schedule my itinerary around EMH and to hit another park instead.
i would assume that about 60%-70% of guests that have EMH available to them take advantage of it. I kept dropping that percentage down too to add in us wise souls who think its more of a diversion, and those who never were early park goers.
 
For various reasons we have tended to be “avoid the park with EMH” park goers and would rather just do a normal rope drop. I’m not as strict about that as I once was, but that’s how we used to frame things early in our Disney travels.

However, I am intrigued by the pending Sept-Oct daily EMHs at MK and DAK. Such abundant 7am EMHs every single day will surely lead to some quality touring time. At least that’s my guess.

But outside of that, I’m OK to leave them out of our plans.
 


For various reasons we have tended to be “avoid the park with EMH” park goers and would rather just do a normal rope drop. I’m not as strict about that as I once was, but that’s how we used to frame things early in our Disney travels.

However, I am intrigued by the pending Sept-Oct daily EMHs at MK and DAK. Such abundant 7am EMHs every single day will surely lead to some quality touring time. At least that’s my guess.

But outside of that, I’m OK to leave them out of our plans.
That has been our plan most years, is to avoid the EMH park. It will be interesting to see what happens with all the EMH this fall at MK and AK and 6 am HS, So this fall, we can't skip EMH.
 
I go to Disney 9/1 - 9/6 and appears EMH is every day except for Epcot on a couple days... I've been trying to plan what we do but I don't know what it's going to look like with Star Wars opening. This trip was booked 10 months ago so we had no idea about Star Wars opening... We have no interest in Star Wars but really hard to plan a strategy... I'm assuming EMH and RD are both going to be a debacle.
 
I go to Disney 9/1 - 9/6 and appears EMH is every day except for Epcot on a couple days... I've been trying to plan what we do but I don't know what it's going to look like with Star Wars opening. This trip was booked 10 months ago so we had no idea about Star Wars opening... We have no interest in Star Wars but really hard to plan a strategy... I'm assuming EMH and RD are both going to be a debacle.

I would try to look on the bright side. At least for MK & DAK. 7-8am EMH (especially ones happening every single day of the week) should provide for some good opportunities to cover some ground in the parks... IF you can live with getting up that early. People in general just don’t want to wake up early and getting there in time for a 7am EMH takes some effort.

But generally speaking, early park openings (either EMH or regular park openings) are incredibly effective at spreading people about.

Granted, everything I just said is a major negative if you’re not a morning person. :-)
 


I would try to look on the bright side. At least for MK & DAK. 7-8am EMH (especially ones happening every single day of the week) should provide for some good opportunities to cover some ground in the parks... IF you can live with getting up that early. People in general just don’t want to wake up early and getting there in time for a 7am EMH takes some effort.

But generally speaking, early park openings (either EMH or regular park openings) are incredibly effective at spreading people about.

Granted, everything I just said is a major negative if you’re not a morning person. :-)
Well thankfully I AM a morning person :) Getting up early is not a problem. So, on EMH that open at 7AM for majority of parks (6AM for Hollywood Studios) what time should I be in line by?
 
I would try to look on the bright side. At least for MK & DAK. 7-8am EMH (especially ones happening every single day of the week) should provide for some good opportunities to cover some ground in the parks... IF you can live with getting up that early. People in general just don’t want to wake up early and getting there in time for a 7am EMH takes some effort.

But generally speaking, early park openings (either EMH or regular park openings) are incredibly effective at spreading people about.

Granted, everything I just said is a major negative if you’re not a morning person. :-)

This is very good news for the non-morning person. The earlier the parks open, the earlier a lot of guests will tire out and/or get done and leave. We've had some of our most successful touring results in the evening when it was morning EMH. The key is to not hop into that park too early though.
 
However, I am intrigued by the pending Sept-Oct daily EMHs at MK and DAK. Such abundant 7am EMHs every single day will surely lead to some quality touring time. At least that’s my guess.
me too! I just now noticed all those EMH when adding all our stuff to my spreadsheet for our trip next week. ( I am old school) ! what the heck.. do they realize not everyone like to get up the crack of dawn. I really miss those late might EMHs at MK. do they even have them anymore? I had to double check if I really saw 3 early openings..... for the first week of september
 
Well thankfully I AM a morning person :) Getting up early is not a problem. So, on EMH that open at 7AM for majority of parks (6AM for Hollywood Studios) what time should I be in line by?
For MK and AK I think you’ll still want to be pretty early on the 1st and 2nd with the holiday, but by the 3rd, 6:40-6:45 should be just fine.

I have no idea for DHS if you want to do SW:GE. BUT I’m guessing the rest of the park will be absolutely dead until at least 7:30 though. Our plan is to get there at 6:45 as that’s the best my family will be able to do.
 
me too! I just now noticed all those EMH when adding all our stuff to my spreadsheet for our trip next week. ( I am old school) ! what the heck.. do they realize not everyone like to get up the crack of dawn. I really miss those late might EMHs at MK. do they even have them anymore? I had to double check if I really saw 3 early openings..... for the first week of september

Yeah, as far as PM EMHs, you’re limited to one MK and one EP per week assuming the ‘normal’ schedule. And with the trend of earlier regular closings MK these days, you get fewer really late night EMHs than several years ago. I’ll take a 12-2am EMH any day, but a 9-11 or 10-12 just doesn’t do all that much for me.
 
I read that avg wait times are actually smaller on parks with emh over the day . They might be busier but because of the extra hour or 2 . A lot of people try and ride each ride once in a day and getting a few rides in earlier means there is less competition later in the day for rides . Parks with Longer hours are more popular but also normally means more fastpasses
 
We found our trip this January was MUCH more crowded for AM EMH than in 2014 and 2016. People then would say avoid EMH parks, but we never did and always had a great easy going morning. We would arrive about fifteen minutes to a half hour before open, and be towards the front of the line. The closer to a half hour the better, and it did get a line behind us, but we weren't packed in.

This year when we got there about a half hour before, there were a lot of people there already. HS and AK already were letting people in the parks to be held at ropes inside. Luckily we were going to RNR/TOT, and EE so we didn't deal with the huge crowds, but the lines still built up much faster than we were used to. We could do RNR and EE a couple times just pretty much walking right on, but not this time.

I think avoiding TSL (not sure with SWL opening), FOP, and 7DMT you can still get a few rides in with low waits though. In MK we went to Tomorrowland and road Buzz 3 times walk on (it was a must for my nephew), then went to Pooh and waited 30 minutes. HS we rode RNR once then TOT twice by 820 (when we walked by RNR after TOT it was listed at something like 45 minutes already), and AK we rode EE 3 times, but after the first ride had to wait a little and maybe 15 minutes for the 3rd (we have done 3 just about walk on rides in the past).

I will still go to AM EMH, but there are alot more people than we were used to. We will just continue to get a few rides in on the not quite as popular rides. There would be no way I'd be in that mass of people heading to FOP, SDD, 7D. If I chose to ride those without a FP, I'll get in line at night closer to close.
 
To be honest I feel like EMH is the same as Rope Drops lol. I feel like the attendance is getting bigger and bigger for those hours, year after year 😂 But then again EMH is limited to those staying on Disney Property and during EMH cast members are at each ride to check and make sure you are staying on Disney Property. So in my opinion EMH would be a little more quieter than Rope Drop since everyone even off Disney Property will be at the Rope Drop and that’s when anyone can ride the rides.
 
Actually lots of hotels get it that are not Disney owned now and is what is causing the issue. Simple $$$ play as Disney knows these people are unlikely to stay on site and they likely get a huge check from the hotels for allowing it.

Wow never knew that 😲 thank you for telling me :-)
 
This is our 1st trip and decided to do a.m. emh 2 days. Its August and I am jumping at the chance to get in earlier with how hot it is. We also have a good crowd calendar outlook since we go the week before Star Wars opens so hoping for low crowds. Wish us luck🤞🤞🤞
 
Rope drop was better for us last week (mid August). We successfully rode FOP two mornings in a row. One of the first on the ride. In parking lot at 7:25AM. Bag check opens at 7:30AM. Waited at turnstile until 8:05AM, then they opened up park. Walked briskly, but didn’t run to second rope at the bridge to Pandora. We were appx 5 rows of people back. At 8:22AM cast members slowly escorted us to queue. No waiting at all, continuously walked through the queue to the ride. Out by 8:55AM. One day we rode Kali River Rapids twice when it opened at 10AM. Walked right on first time. Second time had a 20 minute wait. Another time we rode River after FOP and waited 10 min in queue.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train we waited about 30 minutes in the queue, but it was moving continuously, so it didn’t seem long. Got to Magic Kingdom at 8:20AM. Ate Starbucks breakfast. At 8:50AM walked toward stage in front of castle. Watched the morning show. Already a sea of people in front of us waiting for rope drop. At 9AM rope drop we let the first group of folks go first and then joined behind. We were standing in line in front of Winnie the Pooh ride by 9:02. Finished with ride by 9:30AM.

Another day we rode Big Thunder Mountain twice in a row the same morning. Arrived at MK at 8:15ish, ate breakfast, watched morning show and walked through Adventure Land at 9AM rope drop (least crowded rope drop area). Took shortcut through bathroom underpass to Frontierland. Met up with a second rope group. We were about 15 rows of people behind ropes. Walked onto ride within 10 minutes. Rode a second time immediately after with 5 minute wait time.

Slinky Dog Dash was easier to ride at closing for us. Park was closing at 9PM. We got in line at 8:20PM waited 30 min to get on ride. Immediately got back in Standby line at 8:50PM and waited about 15 minutes.
 
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Rope drop was better for us last week (mid August). We successfully rode FOP two mornings in a row. One of the first on the ride. In parking lot at 7:25AM. Bag check opens at 7:30AM. Waited at turnstile until 8:05AM, then they opened up park. Walked briskly, but didn’t run to second rope at the bridge to Pandora. We were appx 5 rows of people back. At 8:22AM cast members slowly escorted us to queue. No waiting at all, continuously walked through the queue to the ride. Out by 8:55AM. One day we rode Kali River Rapids twice when it opened at 10AM. Walked right on first time. Second time had a 20 minute wait. Another time we rode River after FOP and waited 10 min in queue.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train we waited about 30 minutes in the queue, but it was moving continuously, so it didn’t seem long. Got to Magic Kingdom at 8:20AM. Ate Starbucks breakfast. At 8:50AM walked toward stage in front of castle. Watched the morning show. Already a sea of people in front of us waiting for rope drop. At 9AM rope drop we let the first group of folks go first and then joined behind. We were standing in line in front of Winnie the Pooh ride by 9:02. Finished with ride by 9:30AM.

Another day we rode Big Thunder Mountain twice in a row the same morning. Arrived at MK at 8:15ish, ate breakfast, watched morning show and walked through Adventure Land at 9AM rope drop (least crowded rope drop area). Took shortcut through bathroom underpass to Frontierland. Met up with a second rope group. We were about 15 rows of people behind ropes. Walked onto ride within 10 minutes. Rode a second time immediately after with 5 minute wait time.

Slinky Dog Dash was easier to ride at closing for us. Park was closing at 9PM. We got in line at 8:20PM waited 30 min to get on ride. Immediately got back in Standby line at 8:50PM and waited about 15 minutes.
Thanks for the play by play it is nice to hear how things work, I didn't realize that AK opens so early on a non AM EMH day. Did you do any AM EMH day to compare how those work out vs just doing RD?
 

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