EMH - What's the planning theory?

[vicarrieous]

Is it better to arrange your schedule to hit these extra hours or no? What is the planning theory behind this?

This will really only affect us on two days of our trip. One day will offer morning EMH at AK and then another day morning EMH are offered at MK but we weren't scheduled to be there that day. I could flop two of my days, but I have heard conflicting thoughts on if or how to utilize these.

I will be traveling with two small boys (5 & 2) if that makes a difference and we are morning of a morning family then a late family.

 

[tlmadden73]

Just like any theme park, the earlier you can get there and get going, the better. You can usually get on more rides in the first few hours than you can during the mid-day.

I am hoping to hit MK with the EMH on my next trip, but may be a struggle to get my family up and moving (and have breakfast and get on a bus) early enough to make it worth going for that day. I figured we'd need to be ready to go an hour before the park actually opens ... could be tough.
If you can't make it right at the start, it doesn't seem worth it going to that park that day (as it would be more crowded by the time you would get there).

 

[minnie mum]

The theory I subscribe to: either be at the gates waiting for EMH to start, or don't go at all. And only do EMH mornings if you have PHs, and hop to the recommended park as soon as the crowds build around late morning.

 

[kaetra]

With FP+ I bet EMH makes the park even busier since people plan 60 days out to go to the EMH park with every intention of getting up at 6am or staying up until 2am. Then when the day comes to cash the check their plans wrote, they might not actually do the EMH hours, but they go to that park anyway because that's where all their FP's are scheduled.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

It really depends.

I'll use Magic Kingdom as the example.

So for Magic Kingdom, you basically have "tiers" of rides and attractions.

Tier 1: New or immensely popular rides - These will have huge wait times from the time the park opens until it closes. You need a FP+ for these attractions.
- 7DMT
- Anna and Elsa

Tier 2: The Main Rides - These are the most popular rides in the park. You can get on at a reduced wait time during EMHs but they can get up to 60-90 or even 120+ minutes when the park is busy.
- Space Mountain
- Thunder Mountain
- Splash Mountain

Tier 3: The classics - These rides have been around a while and have a cult following. You can walk on the rides during EMHs but will wait about 60 minutes when the park is busy.
- Peter Pan
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Winnie the Pooh
- Haunted Mansion
- Dumbo
- Buzz Lightyear

Tier 4: Hit or Miss - if the park is crowded and there are huge wait times, these are the rides that will have a high wait time due to guest overflow. They're great rides, don't get me wrong, but don't normally see long wait times
- Teacups
- Small World
- Astro Orbiter
- People Mover
- Barn Stormer


I'm not sure how tall your boys are, and therefore, I can only speak from personal experience.

We go to MK every year for Xmas. There's a morning EMH and we always try and get to the park starting at 7am but never make it in time. We get there by 7:30am for the last half hour.

I'd recommend a FP+ for 7DMT. Even though we arrived for morning EMH, the wait time was still about 90 minutes! The only way you're going to get on the ride without waiting that long is with a FP+. Plain and simple.

I doubt your boys will want to see Anna and Elsa (maybe they will?) But I'd recommend selecting the rest of your FP+ from Tier 2.

When we arrive for the last half hour, we'll go on the rides from tier 2 and 3 that we didn't get FP+ for. So for last year, we did a FP+ for Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and Peter Pan (we had a FP+ for 7DMT a few days later.) When we first arrived at the park, we walked over to Space Mountain. It was a 20-minute wait. By the time we finished on Space Mountain, the park was open to the public. We walked over to Adventureland and went on Jungle Cruise. The wait time was already at 30 minutes, but anything below 45 is pretty good for Jungle Cruise.

After, we grabbed a QS breakfast. After breakfast we redeemed jumped on Small World, which was 20 minutes, followed by Haunted Mansion, which was 10 minutes (somehow.)

By now, it's around 11am and the park is starting to get packed. Ride wait times are creeping up pretty quick. Space Mountain is at 120 minutes, Thunder is 90 minutes. We have a FP+ for Thunder, so we redeem that. After Thunder Mountain we grab lunch. Then, we redeem our FP+ for Buzz. Buzz is around 60 minutes. After Buzz we watch the castle show and a parade. We redeem a FP+ for Peter Pan and we leave the park for the rest of the afternoon.

We leave in the afternoon and take a break before dinner. You may do this as well and give your boys a rest.

So some cliff notes (haha)
- Try and get a FP+ for 7DMT
- Tackle the Tier 2 and 3 rides during EMH and early in the day
- It doesn't really get packed until 10am or 11am.
- Set your FP+ for the afternoon. That's when the park will be most crowded. Get the most popular FP+s in the afternoon and tackle the other rides in the early morning.

Now for DHS and EPCOT and AK, where they ACTUALLY tier the FP+ selections, there's a lot more strategy involved.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Eat just makes staying on site more appealing use it if it works for you and you plans.

 

[lauradis]

I love pm magic hours. Less children more adults.

Am one I will only do at ak.

Ride whatever we want that has the smallest line. Run to next one and yes we are silly it's the only time we run to rides.

But then I do have the sleep in group now.

 

[vicarrieous]

Thanks all! After looking at everything, the biggest draw for us is Wishes at 8pm versus 10pm on the other MK scheduled day we have. Schedule wise, we had an offsite visit to the WWOHP and the next day was MK which was our last vacation day. I could swap the two so I could have EMH and wishes at 8am, but I sort of want our last day to be true disney versus HP since that is more for DH than the boys. Guess I will have to weigh it out, but all your input helps!