EMH: Yay or Nay?

[KSR0330]

I'm busy planning for our August trip and it's time to think about what parks to go to on each day. First, when will the EMH be released for August? Can I safely assume they will follow the days used in June?

Now, how should I use this info? We'll be staying onsite, so we can take advantage of the extra hours. My question is, do we want to? Do EMH make that park significantly more crowded on that day? I'd love input on how everyone uses EMH (PS- we're not very early risers so we probably would not use morning EMH).

 

[Alesia]

Do you have park hoppers? If not, you'll want to avoid the parks with EMH.

 

[Eastern]

If the park has EMH in the morning, and you don't want to get up, I would avoid that park. If you show up at 11am at a park with EMH, the park will be packed.

 

[KSR0330]

Do you have park hoppers? If not, you'll want to avoid the parks with EMH.

Yes, we have park hoppers.

If the park has EMH in the morning, and you don't want to get up, I would avoid that park. If you show up at 11am at a park with EMH, the park will be packed.

I guess I'm more thinking about the evening hours.

 

[SnowWhite112]

What I always do is begin my day at another park, get dinner, and then park hop over to the park that is offering evening EMH. That way you avoid the crowds, but get to enjoy the park that is open the latest. I don't find that evening EMH are crowded like morning ones.

ETA: Looks like you'll be arriving the day that I am leaving, and we'll both be at the poly! Enjoy your vacation I go every year during the last week of August and it's great.

 

[Alesia]

Yes, we have park hoppers.



I guess I'm more thinking about the evening hours.

In that case, it can be beneficial to start the day in one park (I recommend choosing the most recommended on easywdw.com's crowd calendar) and then hopping over to the park with evening EMH later that night.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We love morning EMH...we plan our stay around using morning EMH and find that getting up and about early is so worth it for us as you can do so much before the park gets obnoxiously crowded! Then we usually take an afternoon break back at the resort (depends on time of year, summer absolutely yes!) for pool or down/nap time then often back to the resort for evening activities. Or leave before dinner, eat at the resort and call it a day!

 

[mshanson3121]

I'm busy planning for our August trip and it's time to think about what parks to go to on each day. First, when will the EMH be released for August? Can I safely assume they will follow the days used in June?

Now, how should I use this info? We'll be staying onsite, so we can take advantage of the extra hours. My question is, do we want to? Do EMH make that park significantly more crowded on that day? I'd love input on how everyone uses EMH (PS- we're not very early risers so we probably would not use morning EMH).

From what I saw, morning EMH really didn't make a difference at MK. We were off-site guests that went on a morning EMH day on a crowd level 8 day. And it was absolutely no different than the other two mornings we had gone - other than you do NOT get let into the park 10-15 minutes early like normal, you'll have to wait until 9:00 on the dot. IMO... morning EMH doesn't make much of a difference in crowds/wait for the same reason that the first couple hours of the park are better anyways - people want to sleep in on vacation and their idea of a good time isn't rushing out the door at 7 am to get in line.

I can't speak to evening EMH, but I think they would be more likely to draw bigger evening crowds.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I like emh as it lets me know what park to avoid. I prefer the lower crowd parks, get more done without the hassle of being on a mission.

 

[redsbe]

We avoid EMH park as it means an early evening the night before plus we are dead tired by early evening on a EMH day if used. After 10+ WDW visits we are pretty set to use crowd calenders to plan park days and they recommend against EMHs as one of their basic rules. We also do not park hop as find loss of time traveling between parks, re-entry and travel time walking back into 2nd park (plus two trips on a WDW bus are enough for us!). We arrive between 800-830a for a 9am open and stay until close (if hot perhaps back to resort for a swim), book FP+ for late morning/mid-day, while also using RD to hit to major favorite attractions/rides.

 

[aretha30]

In that case, it can be beneficial to start the day in one park (I recommend choosing the most recommended on easywdw.com's crowd calendar) and then hopping over to the park with evening EMH later that night.

This is what our family prefers to do. We get up early and hit RD at one park, go back to our resort and take a break (swim/nap/rest up for a bit) and then got to another park for the evening. The park we hit in the PM is usually the one with PM EMH. We get so much accomplished in the PH EMH. We do tend to avoid the parks with the AM EMH if we can help it.

 

[KSR0330]

What I always do is begin my day at another park, get dinner, and then park hop over to the park that is offering evening EMH. That way you avoid the crowds, but get to enjoy the park that is open the latest. I don't find that evening EMH are crowded like morning ones.

ETA: Looks like you'll be arriving the day that I am leaving, and we'll both be at the poly! Enjoy your vacation I go every year during the last week of August and it's great.

That sounds like a good idea, thanks!

I'm really excited about the Poly! We have never stayed on-site, let alone a deluxe! Going at the end of August made it affordable for us. I'm just really worried about the heat! My plan is to go out early, come back for a break and go out again in the evening.

Have a great time!

Thanks to everyone for their advice! I think I will go with staying away from EMH except for if we plan to be out late, and then to take advantage of that extra time.

 

[PoshMom]

One thing to consider on morning emh is it will tend to be a little cooler....not a lot but does make a difference for us. Also, sometimes we wouldn't make a decision about doing morning emh until night before bc we might be completely wiped out from another park day, especially towards end of a trip. If it's one of first park days of our trip we're more likely to be up early. Just a couple of thoughts on that.

 

[Accident]

EMH is something we do if everything else closed and we're not ready to call it a night... You might get more time if you do that park all day but the crowd will be more and it'll take you that extra time to do the same thing or less.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I actually really like attending EMH hours, morning and evening, but I think it depends on the person.

 

[Accident]

I actually really like attending EMH hours, morning and evening, but I think it depends on the person.

I had a great discussion with someone the other day and we were comparing how we like to go to the parks. One thing that came out of it was I avoided certain things to the point that I don't really know what they are like, and vice versa. Have you been in a park that wasn't EMH recently? I'd really like to know what you feel the differences are. I only know what EMH looks like if it's very late and the only park opened but I cannot tell you what the rest of the day is like vs a non-emh day.

 

[dancemonkey]

That sounds like a good idea, thanks!

I'm really excited about the Poly! We have never stayed on-site, let alone a deluxe! Going at the end of August made it affordable for us. I'm just really worried about the heat! My plan is to go out early, come back for a break and go out again in the evening.

Have a great time!

Thanks to everyone for their advice! I think I will go with staying away from EMH except for if we plan to be out late, and then to take advantage of that extra time.

It's going to be really hot! You're plan sounds good. Drink lots of water!

 

[goofyintoronto]

This is what our family prefers to do. We get up early and hit RD at one park, go back to our resort and take a break (swim/nap/rest up for a bit) and then got to another park for the evening. The park we hit in the PM is usually the one with PM EMH. We get so much accomplished in the PH EMH. We do tend to avoid the parks with the AM EMH if we can help it.

This is what we do in August as well, due to the heat. Breaks are a must. Rope drop/Early EMH are a must! you get sooooo much done that way. By noon we're back at our resort, then a different park in the evening. It works out great! I cant enough how much you can get done with early EMH/rope drop.

That sounds like a good idea, thanks!

I'm really excited about the Poly! We have never stayed on-site, let alone a deluxe! Going at the end of August made it affordable for us. I'm just really worried about the heat! My plan is to go out early, come back for a break and go out again in the evening.

Youre lucky to be staying at poly! it'll be so much easier for your afternoon breaks! you wont waste a lot of time on buses like me (i usually stay at value/moderate).

EMH is something we do if everything else closed and we're not ready to call it a night... You might get more time if you do that park all day but the crowd will be more and it'll take you that extra time to do the same thing or less.

This is us too. We do love the PM EMH, we normally stay for those....usually because we're not ready to call it a night. You can get a lot of rides done towards the end of the PM EMH. By then most have gone back to the resort. I remember Space Mountain being a walk on within the last half hour.

 

[KSR0330]

This is what we do in August as well, due to the heat. Breaks are a must. Rope drop/Early EMH are a must! you get sooooo much done that way. By noon we're back at our resort, then a different park in the evening. It works out great! I cant enough how much you can get done with early EMH/rope drop.

I agree, but my teenage boys just aren't buying it! I will insist on them getting up for RD for our morning at MK, as I have never seen the opening show and I really want to. I'm also planning on RD at AK, and have no problem leaving them behind if they won't get up!

 

[Accident]

You can get a lot of rides done towards the end of the PM EMH. By then most have gone back to the resort. I remember Space Mountain being a walk on within the last half hour.

It depends, I've seen it go both ways. Last trip after a week of walk on, friday night EMH there was lines like I've never seen. Space mountain had people all the way back to the people mover entrance and the line was 4-5 people wide. but other times, I agree much of the park is walk on or minimal wait especially near the end of the night. If it rains near EMH start, it'll be dead pretty fast and the night is great.