EMH - worth it?

[slbgnb]

I've never gone to EMH before, as we usually stay off site. With staying on site, is it worth it to do EMH or does everyone do it and so therefore just makes the park super crowded? Before I always went to a different park, because the other parks would be less crowded....Thanks!

 

[Alesia]

Unless you have parkhoppers, avoid the parks with EMH.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

If you have hoppers go for the morning extra magic hours then hop to another park when that park starts filling up. As for the evening EMH we never miss the ones at the MK because lots of families with younger children don't dare try to stay until 12, 2, or 3 am depending on time of year so the park really empties out by the end of the night.

 

[MasterGracey84]

I would also encourage you to consider the time of year you would be touring the parks. Evening EMH are typically more crowded and especially at peak season. Morning EMH are your friend. Arrive early and beat the crowds... Best wishes.

 

[DVCcurious]

I've only gone to EMH twice and I had completely different experiences.

The good:
Easter week 7 am EMH at magic kingdom were amazing. anna and elsa and 7 dwarfs immediately had 1 hr+ waits. All other rides including Peter Pan and Space Mt had no wait until about 8am.

The bad:
Sunday of MLK weekend 10:00-12:00 evening EMH. In that period I rode space and saw a huge line when I exited so I went to Frontierland and rode Thunder and then EMH were over. Everything had massive waits.

So my assumption is that it's hard to get up early for morning EMH so they are great. It's easy to stay up until 12, so those EMH are terrible. I think a 12-2AM EMH would see low crowds, but 10-12 evening EMH are terrible.

 

[5Hfan]

Earlier morning EMH were good even Christmas week at MK, but we did leave the park mid afternoon once it was nuts (had our fast passes scheduled for late morning early afternoon ). The midnight EMH park was still pretty busy but not as insane as mid day, and the ones until 3 am were great just as they had been a previous trip in June!

 

[Asc341]

I think EMH are worth it!

 

[LisaCM614]

I've never gone to EMH before, as we usually stay off site. With staying on site, is it worth it to do EMH or does everyone do it and so therefore just makes the park super crowded? Before I always went to a different park, because the other parks would be less crowded....Thanks!

Our touring used to avoid the park with extra magic hours too. As other people have mentioned an Easter Week 7AM is a great time to head to the Magic Kingdom. The trick there is that you do have to get to the Magic Kingdom before 7AM to really take advantage of it. If you can't get your family to the Magic Kingdom before the time the Extra Magic Hours start, then it is not worth it. Other guests will already be in the park and you'll be behind them! If your family doesn't mind getting up early then this is the way to go.
My kids just recently got to the age when we can enjoy evening Extra Magic Hours. This past Spring Break we made our FP+ times for after dinner in the Magic Kingdom. We had a nice dinner, enjoyed the anytime attractions, used our FP's for the headliners and then it was time for Wishes. After Wishes the park was closing to day guests and we saw the lines go down dramatically we were able to enjoy more and more attractions as the night went on. It was so much fun. We slept in the next day - we were wiped out!
Yes, use Extra Magic Hours if you can enjoy late nights or early mornings. I'd say still avoid those parks if your family doesn't fit in those categories!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Never had long lines at EMH during September. Is it worth it? Considering it costs nothing for resorts guests....

 

[slbgnb]

We never park hop, but tend to arrive at RD for every day. We could def get to park early enough in the morning. My kids are older now (14, 12, 9) by trip time. We've never stayed late, but now that the kids are older, that might be an option. I just wonder if it's best to go the less busy parks since EMH is such a huge drawer. We'll be there in July 2016. Hard to decide..... Thanks for all the advise!

 

[Maze Runner]

Last year we changed out strategy and avoided EMH parks. It seemed to work well, and we are doing that again this November.

 

[bc7ate9]

We always hop to MK when they have PM EMH (we are major park hoppers anyway). We only had a 15 minute wait for Peter Pan a little after 11 last week. I love riding Dumbo at 1 AM!

 

[J'Adore Disney]

I think EMH are worth it!

I concur!!! My kids and I totally took advantage of EMH during our stay in May 2015!! At Epcot (night hours), we waited only 25 minutes to ride Soarin'; 10 minutes to take pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy at the Tomorrow's Friends in Future World; and at Magic Kingdom (12-2 AM), we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Peter Pan, Voyage of the Little Mermaid AND took pictures with Anna, Elsa, Cinderella and Rapunzel, within 2 hours! Walking from Frontierland through Liberty Square to Fantasy Land was absolutely magical, I felt as if I had the park all to myself and my teenager kids!!!

 

[Lucius Best]

We never park hop, but tend to arrive at RD for every day. We could def get to park early enough in the morning. My kids are older now (14, 12, 9) by trip time. We've never stayed late, but now that the kids are older, that might be an option. I just wonder if it's best to go the less busy parks since EMH is such a huge drawer. We'll be there in July 2016. Hard to decide..... Thanks for all the advise!

We've had good luck with morning EMH. But we stopped going to HS morning EMH, because it seemed more crowded at 8am on EMH day than 9am on regular day (probably didn't help that the EMH day was Saturday). Evening EMH depends on the time of year and how late the parks are open. HS is not going to clear out very quick when they only have a handful of rides if evening EMH is from 8-10pm. The later MK is open, the better it is for EMH. Note that there is no FP during EMH, so standby lines might move a little quicker.

As for July, that is busy period. If I was staying onsite and going to morning EMH during the summer, I would plan on park hopping out of the EMH park to a less busy park, with my 3 FP+ reserved at the second park. There's also the opposite strategy that some use: go to a less busy non-EMH park in the morning, then late in the day, park hop into the park that had morning EMH, theoretically all those people who were there at 8am are not likely going to be staying late.

 

[THEJOEL]

I've never gone to EMH before, as we usually stay off site. With staying on site, is it worth it to do EMH or does everyone do it and so therefore just makes the park super crowded? Before I always went to a different park, because the other parks would be less crowded....Thanks!

I've always had luck with EMH on either side especially at MK. Morning is good as long as you get there early and use them. We always take a midday break so we would wait a bit later and fully take advantage of the evening EMH. The later it gets the more empty the park is in my experience.

 

[browning02]

Question: how do they determine if you are a Disney resort guest, and thus eligible to go on attractions during evening EMH? Do they scan your MB before allowing you on an attraction?

 

[bc7ate9]

Question: how do they determine if you are a Disney resort guest, and thus eligible to go on attractions during evening EMH? Do they scan your MB before allowing you on an attraction?

They scan one member of your party's Magic Band before letting you get in line.

 

[browning02]

They scan one member of your party's Magic Band before letting you get in line.

Thanks! I had been wondering about that.