Evening Extra Magic Hours . . . still crowded?

[Deb in IA]

Has anyone been to the Evening Extra Magic Hours lately?

We went to this once at Epcot last year, and it was so crowded, it was NOT worth it. EVERYONE came over from all the other parks and it was super crowded!! What was funny was that the official Disney World site is advertising this as: "With Extra Magic Hours, you can make the most of your vacation time and see and do everything at an easy, relaxed pace." -- HA!!

Anyone with any recent experience with this? Are they still jam packed?

 

[estnh]

Our last trip (in April) was similar--the evening magic hours were so crowded that it was a joke. Lines were actually longer during the EMH than they were during the day! Morning EMH were still great, though.

Returning in April of this year and hoping things have changed!

 

[allisonswonderland]

was there in august and it was TERRIBLE! The year before we did the e ride night and that was what I expected....not ever again! I have never seen so many crazy parents with kids whining and yawning wanting to go to sleep, but they kept them out until midnight

 

[SqueakyMouse]

I'm curious, too. EMH's during all previous trips EXCEPT Christmas (Go figure!!) were a nightmare. We never give up hope and try out EMH every trip. Thank goodness or we wouldn't have had such a fantastic experience with it back in Dec.

 

[cvjw]

Our last trip was the end of September. The EMH PM were not that bad. Soarin' still had a huge line, but the EMH PM at the MK was great. We are going again next month, and are hoping that the crowds will at least be manageable.

 

[Master Grayson]

We've found that the best thing to do is get a good nights sleep and get to the park that had the evening EMH the night before. The park is usually empty for the AM.

 

[Corey127]

i miss e-ride...thats def discontinued?

 

[SithBladeborn]

I found that even if there are lines they are much more short then what is found at let's say the Magic Kingdom when I was there in March last year, I would say that the EMH are much better than not having them at all.

 

[Ghost]

During October I also encountered crowd when the EMH where on. Not to bad, but I guess summer months and holidays will be very busy...

Then again. I love the park and if to busy on the rides I have fun wandering around and looking at all the details...

 

[estnh]

We've found that the best thing to do is get a good nights sleep and get to the park that had the evening EMH the night before. The park is usually empty for the AM.

This is brilliant strategy--we have found at Disney, you must go counter to the mob mentality!!!

 

[mdoc]

When we were at WDW last March/April, the evening EMH at Epcot was PACKED. We had good luck with the morning EMH's, but we've decided to skip the evening hours. It makes it harder to get up and into the parks the next day and I didn't see that the crowds were any different than they were when the parks were open to everyone. It may be different at a less crowded time of year.

 

[vicb]

I was there last week and did 2 evening emh parks, MK and Epcot.

Epcot did not work well for us, partly due to the crowds (which were much bigger than I thought they would be) and partly because we had been at TL that day were dog tired (made for some crabby family time ).

At Epcot we rode TT (15 min.wait) right at 9 when Illum. was starting. We rode MS (5 min. wait) as Illum. was ending. Then we headed to Turtle Talk. What a mob scene, there was a CM trying to corral people into groups and assigning times for a show. It wasn't very organized and we were told it would be a 30 min. wait. We left, walked by the land and it was swarming with so many people we didn't even try Soaring. We did Figment (no wait), then stood in line for the 10:30 HISTA. By the time we got out we were exhausted and feeling crabby so we left.

At MK it was much better, we had eaten dinner at WCC at 6:30, rode the boat over to MK, got into Tomorrowland by 8:20. There was a 15 min. wait for Buzz so we did that then headed to the bridge to save a spot for Wishes which we had never seen (loved it), we were right under Tink! Then we zipped to SM and rode it (10 min. wait). We rode Pooh (15 min. wait), Carosel (no wait), Small World (no wait) and headed to HM which unfortunately broke down while we were in line. The longest wait here appeared to be for Peter Pan! We took pictures by the castle, browsed Main St., bought candy in the shop and were on our bus by 10:45.

 

[vicb]

One important tip I forgot to add: get your wrist band ahead of time. I could not believe how many people were lined up at both parks AFTER the fireworks shows trying to get wrist bands, terrible waste of time!

 

[cinmell]

Do you still get your wrist bands on Main Street? I remember buying the ticket for enight at Contemporary's front desk then turing it in for a wrist band. Do you still have to get something from your resort or just show your room key in order to get the band?

 

[paras4ri]

All you need to show is your room key for a wristband, and be sure you have keys with you for your entire party so all can get a wristband. There are several places at each park where you can get them and they're usually available about 2 hours before official park closing.

 

[puffinp51]

Has anyone been to the Evening Extra Magic Hours lately?

We went to this once at Epcot last year, and it was so crowded, it was NOT worth it. EVERYONE came over from all the other parks and it was super crowded!! What was funny was that the official Disney World site is advertising this as: "With Extra Magic Hours, you can make the most of your vacation time and see and do everything at an easy, relaxed pace." -- HA!!

Anyone with any recent experience with this? Are they still jam packed?

We were at the MK Evening Extra Magic Hours the second week of February and it wasn't crowded at all. Of course, the record cold temps might have had something to do with that It was definitely a two sweatshirt night but truly one of our best evenings there.

 

[Jennifer_Jayhawk]

From what I am reading, it sounds like MK and Epcot get crowds for EMH PM. How about AK and MGM--I wouldn't think they would get the same kind traffic. I was thinking of spending the day at MK and then head over to AK for the afternoon and three extra hours.

 

[disneyluv4]

Do you have to be in the park before closing, to be able to stay? Say, if Epcot closes at 9, could we come to the park and get in at 9:30?

 

[kirbsam]

at mgm, get you fill of tot and rnr before fantasmic gets out, and then get as far away from that area as possible. at ak, the safari closes early and the shows dont run the whole emh, so it is quite limited. maybe with ee it will be worth staying. i was not too impressed with ak pm emh in october.

 

[Baloo2003]

Do they offer Fast Passes at evening EMH?

I remeber the E-Ride Nights at MK, but there were ticketed events and the tickets were limited. They didn't offer fast passes for those nights, but all Disney Resort guests were not attending either.