Evening EMH at DHS

[aras4007]

Has anyone been to Hollywood Studios in the evening for EMH? Thinking of going on a Friday in January. Trying to fit Epcot and Hollywood Studios in on the same day, so trying to figure out what's best.

Option 1- Hit up Epcot at rope drop, Test Track, Soarin, FP+ Frozen, Seas, Mission Space or Spaceship Earth and anything else we can do. Then hop over to Hollywood Studios later on. It's open until 7 with EMH 7-9. See if we can get any fastpass+, but hopefully ride Toy Story and RnR. Along with dinner at Sci-Fi and Star Wars fireworks IF it's extended.

Option 2- Rope Drop Hollywood Studios for Toy Story and RnR, eat lunch at Sci-Fi. Hop over to Epcot for FP+ Frozen, Seas, Mission Space or Spaceship Earth. Try Test Track as single rider and Soarin before close.

The tiers for FP+ is really screwing me up at both parks. Plus the EMH at HS.

 

[Hopefully]

Has anyone been to Hollywood Studios in the evening for EMH? Thinking of going on a Friday in January. Trying to fit Epcot and Hollywood Studios in on the same day, so trying to figure out what's best.

Option 1- Hit up Epcot at rope drop, Test Track, Soarin, FP+ Frozen, Seas, Mission Space or Spaceship Earth and anything else we can do. Then hop over to Hollywood Studios later on. It's open until 7 with EMH 7-9. See if we can get any fastpass+, but hopefully ride Toy Story and RnR. Along with dinner at Sci-Fi and Star Wars fireworks IF it's extended.

Option 2- Rope Drop Hollywood Studios for Toy Story and RnR, eat lunch at Sci-Fi. Hop over to Epcot for FP+ Frozen, Seas, Mission Space or Spaceship Earth. Try Test Track as single rider and Soarin before close.

The tiers for FP+ is really screwing me up at both parks. Plus the EMH at HS.

It appears to me that rides are your priority. That is not our favorite draw for Epcot. We love World Showcase. Rides are secondary. That said I would do DHS first so that I could experience WS in the evening.

 

[gatorlisa]

I have done your option one a couple of times, but with different utilization of FP+. We don't spend much time in World Showcase, so what we have done is rope drop Epcot and stay at Epcot until sometime around 1/2 PM, then take the boat over to HS, where we have our fastpasses for mid to late afternoon, and stay through most or all of the evening EMH. It goes something like: RD Epcot, heading straight for Frozen Ever After (wait under 15 minutes), then head over to Soarin' where we are able to do one or two rides with little to no wait, then cross back over to Test Track where we usually ride 1-3 times via the single rider line (there are only two of us, and we are OK with splitting up to get a couple of rides in with a shorter wait). After that, we hit up other stuff in Future World that interests us, usually with waits of 20-25 minutes or less. Somewhere in there is lunch at either Electric Umbrella or the Mexico quick service place. Between 1 and 2, we usually make our way over to the boat and ride to HS. There, we do FP+ for Toy Story, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. If we decide to do RnR, it's via the single rider line. As soon as the last FP has been used, we start looking for more. On an evening EMH day, options are somewhat limited, but think we managed an extra ToT and ST. We had much better luck with 4th+ FP at HS on a non-EMH day (getting 3 in a row for Toy Story and then another 2 or 3 for ToT). My general rule has been to utilize shorter lines early in the day and save FP+ for afternoons at whatever park we hop to (or afternoon in the same park on the rare occasion we don't hop). Epcot and HS this way has worked quite well for us.

 

[aras4007]

It appears to me that rides are your priority. That is not our favorite draw for Epcot. We love World Showcase. Rides are secondary. That said I would do DHS first so that I could experience WS in the evening.

We definitely plan on walking through World Showcase, but won't be spending a ton of time there. It's a quick trip so unfortunately can't fit everything in.

 

[aras4007]

I have done your option one a couple of times, but with different utilization of FP+. We don't spend much time in World Showcase, so what we have done is rope drop Epcot and stay at Epcot until sometime around 1/2 PM, then take the boat over to HS, where we have our fastpasses for mid to late afternoon, and stay through most or all of the evening EMH. It goes something like: RD Epcot, heading straight for Frozen Ever After (wait under 15 minutes), then head over to Soarin' where we are able to do one or two rides with little to no wait, then cross back over to Test Track where we usually ride 1-3 times via the single rider line (there are only two of us, and we are OK with splitting up to get a couple of rides in with a shorter wait). After that, we hit up other stuff in Future World that interests us, usually with waits of 20-25 minutes or less. Somewhere in there is lunch at either Electric Umbrella or the Mexico quick service place. Between 1 and 2, we usually make our way over to the boat and ride to HS. There, we do FP+ for Toy Story, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. If we decide to do RnR, it's via the single rider line. As soon as the last FP has been used, we start looking for more. On an evening EMH day, options are somewhat limited, but think we managed an extra ToT and ST. We had much better luck with 4th+ FP at HS on a non-EMH day (getting 3 in a row for Toy Story and then another 2 or 3 for ToT). My general rule has been to utilize shorter lines early in the day and save FP+ for afternoons at whatever park we hop to (or afternoon in the same park on the rare occasion we don't hop). Epcot and HS this way has worked quite well for us.

Hmmm... interesting idea. I was afraid of doing all 3 Epcot attractions without FP+ but maybe it could work for us too. There's only two of us as well, so single rider is definitely an option for TT and RnR. Honestly, if we can't do Frozen, it's not a huge deal either. I haven't done it yet, so would definitely like to, but I know my boyfriend wouldn't care if we missed it lol. I'd definitely like to do the new Soarin, and I think we could easily do Test Track in the single rider.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I did that last year. We did RD at Epcot and then did PM EMH at DHS with FP in DHS.

 

[aras4007]

I did that last year. We did RD at Epcot and then did PM EMH at DHS with FP in DHS.

Were you able to get a lot done? Was DHS packed?

 

[CarolynFH]

Hmmm... interesting idea. I was afraid of doing all 3 Epcot attractions without FP+ but maybe it could work for us too. There's only two of us as well, so single rider is definitely an option for TT and RnR. Honestly, if we can't do Frozen, it's not a huge deal either. I haven't done it yet, so would definitely like to, but I know my boyfriend wouldn't care if we missed it lol. I'd definitely like to do the new Soarin, and I think we could easily do Test Track in the single rider.

Keep in mind that because seats for RnR are 2 across, the single rider line can move more slowly than the regular standby line. Single rider works well for TT because each row seats 3 people.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Were you able to get a lot done? Was DHS packed?

DHS was open until 11:30 pm (with EMH) that night. We got tons done. We got into the park around 5 and did our FP+ which were TSM, ToT and I forget which other ride. We ate at Rosie's. We then did the Frozen dance party and watched the Frozen fireworks. We went and watched the 10 pm Fantasmic! and then went straight to TSM. The estimated wait was 20 minutes but it was really about 5 minutes. We did RnRc once or twice and then did ToT a few more times. We were the last ride of the night on ToT. The CM's were very into character. It was the best night of our trip.

 

[aras4007]

DHS was open until 11:30 pm (with EMH) that night. We got tons done. We got into the park around 5 and did our FP+ which were TSM, ToT and I forget which other ride. We ate at Rosie's. We then did the Frozen dance party and watched the Frozen fireworks. We went and watched the 10 pm Fantasmic! and then went straight to TSM. The estimated wait was 20 minutes but it was really about 5 minutes. We did RnRc once or twice and then did ToT a few more times. We were the last ride of the night on ToT. The CM's were very into character. It was the best night of our trip.

Wow! That's awesome... you guys did get a lot done. I'm still waiting to hear about fireworks too...that's throwing me off as well.