EMH: Worth it or Not?

[dizprincess27]

Hey everyone,

First let me share with you that I'm going back 4/6 - 4/14 YAY - Woot


I'm so excited can ya tell but my question is do you all think the evening EMH is worth going to or not? I probably won't take advantage of the early morning EMH except perhaps for a water park (tip I read on the boards) but I used to love going to evening EMH on a few of my previous trips.

What is the opinion on whether I should re-arrange my schedule around them which isn't a big deal but is it a good plan?

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Samsma]

I find the best one is EMH morning at MK. If you have small children FL is a breeze, as is Tomorrowland. Definitely worth getting up early. We had everything done by 1:00 when the crowds become unbearable. But we are usually there in summer, so this might make it necessary.

 

[Robo]

I always go to AM EMH (virtually every day of the trip that we did not do a PM EMH late the night before)... never ONCE regretted an AM EMH... they are amazingly empty and easy to ride the open attractions.
If that park THEN starts to fill 2 to 3 hours later... WHO CARE'S?
Were happy with "doing" that park for the day and we can HOP elsewhere or do lunch and take a rest until later.

PM EMH's are a mixed bag. I've been when they were PACKED... but on other nights, they were just like the AM's... "free rides" on all the open attractions.

Those who say they attended PM EMH and say that "they are TOO CROWDED" are right... but ONLY for the nights they may have attended.
I can say, from personal experience, that they CAN be EMPTY, FULL or in-between.

So you simply don't KNOW unless you go.

And considering its FREE to go... if its busy, just people-watch or hit the exit (where ELSE are ya gonna go at 10pm, anyway?)
But if its not busy... you're ALL SET for EXTRA FUN!

 

[ColoradoDis]

We're trying the EMH for the first time in October. In the past, we've been there for Early Entry and bouth E-Tickets for those special nights.

This trip, we arrive at MCO at 3:30 and have reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner - so we're going to stay at the MK to try an evening EMH. Hope it's not too crowded. But it won't matter, it'll be our first day and we'll just enjoy being back in the "World".

 

[steffali]

Just a silly question. When are the days for EMH? We will be there Jan.28th-Feb. 3rd. will it be different days different parks????????

 

[Robo]

Just a silly question. When are the days for EMH? We will be there Jan.28th-Feb. 3rd. will it be different days different parks????????

Go here for the OFFICIAL WDW Calendar:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/parkhours/index?id=MKCalendarParkHoursMonthlyViewPage

Pick your Park. Pick your Month.
>>CLICK ON on your DATE.<<
Disney publishes dates and times approximately 6 months in advance.
Make sure to check back often, as times and events are subject to change as the actual dates get nearer.

For EMH, click on the WORDS > "Extra Magic Hours" < on the official calendar page.
Or click HERE:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/extraMagicHour?id=CalendarExtraMagicHoursPage

 

[mmmears]

MK is a great EMH morning, for the reasons posted above.

The water parks, too.

MGM is good if you want to go on both RnRC and ToT -- you can get both done before the rest of the park opens up! But later, it will get crowded, so leaving around lunchtime is a good idea.

 

[dizprincess27]

So then the question is I do an itinerary based around EMH or not? I would like to do a few more rides and be able to walk around and be in the park longer but I would really like it if the shops are open then too.

Does anyone know if they are open during EMH? I forgot to mention that we probably won't take advantage of AM EMH because we aren't morning people at all although we try to get there before 10:00 a.m.

 

[dianemb]

How about the night EMHs?

 

[dizprincess27]

That is what I'm saying is it worth to change my schedule around the evening EMH's or not. Are the shops open too cause that would make it worthwhile I think

 

[BostonTink85]

We just got back from a trip to WDW and we avoided most EMH nights, except for one - MGM. I had made dinner reservations at Sci-Fi for 7:50 pm so by the time we got seated ate and left it was close to 9:30, so EMH had been going on for a little over an hour. It didnt' seem too crowded which was a pleasant surprise. They were blasting classic Disney songs with more upbeat tempos and everyone was really enjoying that, little singing and dancing. We didn't actually try and get on any rides since everyone was stuffed but walking around it was a very manageable crowd. By the time we left around 10:30 it seemed that a lot of other people were leaving too, so I'm guessing that last hour was going to be pretty empty.

Oh and to answer the question, all the MGM shops we passed were still open when we were leaving.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I like the evening EMH. Our family is basically lazy, we don't like getting up early and hitting the parks right at opening. We would usually sleep in and stay late in the parks. Usually the first hour or so is fairly crowded but it slacks off later. I think alot of people plan to stay for all of it but get tired and head back to the room.

Just wanted to add, evening EMH parks are usually busier during the day. If you have a Park Hopper pass, I would go to a different park then go to the EMH park just for EMH.

 

[Redbudlover]

One thing to keep in mind as you plan your itinerary is that not all the parts of the park or the rides are open during EMH. When I went to AK last year I quickly discovered I couldn't get on the Safari or into a couple of other places. Also a lot of places there closed. I had made my whole plan around spending a lot of my AK time during EMH - and was so disgusted I just left. Reading these boards the past couple of days I noticed that the rides closing seems to happen in other parks as well.... Don't miss out on something by planning to do it during EMH.

 

[dizprincess27]

Thanks everyone. I think I will plan my itinerary around them to a certain degree b/c it will give me a bit of extra time at night to do some of the attractions again and being in the park itself or the shops is better then laying around my room.

 

[SoosieQ]

I loved the evening EMH but we did not plan our days around them. We usually go in Sept when it is hot so it is nice to go back to the pool in the afternoon to rest and then go back at night. We found that most of the shops and restaurants in the far reaches of the parks were not opened during EMH. I too am not an morning person so the evening EMH worked out very well.

 

[kirkharrod]

We skip the evening EMH's and then go to the park that had the EMH on the morning after. Everyone has stayed at that park late the night before, so the crowds are way down the next morning!

 

[NJDad18]

We just got back last Saturday (8/26) and tried to do the evening EMH in MK...big mistake. It was packed. Never again, it's just not worth it. We did do the EMH in the morning at Blizzard Beach and that worked out well. DW and I miss the E-ticket nights where you pay the $15 pp and have the park open to 1 am. You would ride Space Mtn. come out and get back in line and were riding again in less than 5 minutes. Those were the days...

 

[ktbugsmom]

My experience with evening hours (January 2006 and August 2006) is that they were kind of crowded. MGM was terrible in January - waited 40 minutes for the Great Movie Ride! (silly me - the next visit to MGM on that trip it was a walk on!) We tried AK and Epcot in August. AK seemed okay, but the rain came in and shut down Expedition Everest... it has been about a 20-30 minute wait.

We prefer the extra morning hours. Seems most would prefer to sleep in and stay later. We are the opposite. In fact, my daughter and I made it until 9:30pm at Epcot and had to leave. (It was open until midnight - so we did not make it long!)

Also, as an FYI - the lines for the bracelets were crazy long. And, they are VERY strict on the room keys. My BIL grabbed the wrong room key (his son's key since they have the same name) and they would not let him get a band. Don't get me wrong, it is a good policy, but we just didn't think we needed the kid's room key (oops) - so thought we only needed adult keys. Luckily, I had my daughter's key and my sister had 2 keys - but my BIL had to watch while we did a couple rides at AKL. He lived!

 

[Cool-Beans]

I used to love the EMHs...when they were in the morning. The night ones are a problem for us because:

1. They are a little too crowded. Line for Space Mtn. was 60 minutes an hour and half into the night EMH. Ug.
2. We can't burn the candle at both ends.

So, we stick with morning EMHs, but now there aren't so many. The one thing that always pushes my decision to stay offsite back to Disney is the EMHs, but I'm really thinking it isn't worth it.

And I'm probably the only one who gets bugged by this...but I don't like the bracelet. Can't stand anything that isn't super-loose around my wrist, even watches. I get why they insist on putting them on the way they do (so you can't slip it off and share with others), but still don't like them.

 

[tomerin]

We skip the evening EMH's and then go to the park that had the EMH on the morning after. Everyone has stayed at that park late the night before, so the crowds are way down the next morning!

this is exactly what we plan to do on our next trip. we did mk emh night hours on our last trip and i con honestly say "NEVER AGAIN". i am sure it isnt too bad during off peak times but the last time (peak time)we went it was just positivly horrid!!!