extra magic hour (2 hours) night at MK..what's the scoop?

[FosterA]

I"m sure this has been discussed a million times on here and I tried to search but I got all confused so thought I'd just ask. Sorry. I was just looking over some loose plans we are trying to put together and I see that our arrival day MK is having the extra 2 hours that night (this is July 12). We're a group of adults/teens that don't mind staying up late and will be excited from flying in BUT since it's july and crowded of course, not sure if planning on doing this park and staying til they close will be worth it? Can we even do any attractions or will be it be body to body that late at night? WE'll try to fast pass some things but just curious if anybody can tell me what it's like at MK in July with the extra night hours.
Thanks

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I"m sure this has been discussed a million times on here and I tried to search but I got all confused so thought I'd just ask. Sorry. I was just looking over some loose plans we are trying to put together and I see that our arrival day MK is having the extra 2 hours that night (this is July 12). We're a group of adults/teens that don't mind staying up late and will be excited from flying in BUT since it's july and crowded of course, not sure if planning on doing this park and staying til they close will be worth it? Can we even do any attractions or will be it be body to body that late at night? WE'll try to fast pass some things but just curious if anybody can tell me what it's like at MK in July with the extra night hours.
Thanks

Given the EMH are from 10:00pm to 12:00am, they will be busier than if they were from 12:00am to 2:00am, but I wouldn't describe the crowds as "body to body". You will definitely be able to get some attractions in during that time. "Worth it" is a subjective measure. What is worth it for you might not be worth it to another person. A few factors to consider:

1) What time would you arrive at the park? I'd probably be more likely to do the EMH if I were able to get to the park by about 6:00 or 7:00 so I'd be getting a decent amount of time in the park by using a day off my tickets. If I couldn't get there until 9:00, I probably wouldn't want to burn one of my days to only get 3 hours in.
2) What are your plans for the next day? If your plans for the next day involve getting up super early, then you might not want to be in the park until midnight. I think there's something to be said for getting a good night's rest your first night so you won't be exhausted for your first full day.
3) How early are you getting up on your travel morning? If you are having to get up at 5:00am to catch your plane, then staying up until midnight on that day may not be the best choice.

ETA: Just so you are clear, FP+ isn't available during the EMH. Any FP+ you make would be during regular operating hours.

 

[sharonabe]

I was just looking over some loose plans we are trying to put together and I see that our arrival day MK is having the extra 2 hours that night (this is July 12). We're a group of adults/teens that don't mind staying up late and will be excited from flying in BUT since it's july and crowded of course, not sure if planning on doing this park and staying til they close will be worth it?

Just a suggestion, but why not wait until that night to decide? If you get there and feel like you MUST get into the parks, then go. If you're tired or your flight gets in later than scheduled, then don't go. No reason to really plan it out.

One more note: keep an eye on the hours, because they could very well extend hours at MK, making the EMH later.

 

[Farps]

MK is the only park that we really enjoyed the pm EMH in and the later the better. We have never seen any of the other parks stay open until 1:00-2:00am, and the last 1-2 hours can be awesome with very low crowds. Lately Disney has not been extending their park hours until about 2 weeks or so before any given month, so I would expect July hours to be extended in June sometime with EMH to go until 1:00-2:00am. I personally wouldn't miss them, hope you have a wonderful trip !

 

[lynzi2004]

If the EMH get pushed back later, I would definitely go! The first week of April they were 11-1am EMH. We essentially went from attraction to attraction with very little wait. I don't think we rode Space during EMH, but even 7DMT was about 20 min. The posted wait time was 90 min, but we asked a CM if that was accurate and he quietly shook his head no. In my opinion definitely worth it! I would hope to be at a park 3 hours before EMH starts so that I could use my 3 FP, maybe for Space, 7DMT, and Splash or BTMRR and then ride anything else you want during EMH. To me 5 hours of park time (3 Regular hours for fireworks and FP, 2 EMH) with shorter lines would beat 10 hours of crowded park day anytime!

 

[Shanti]

I"m sure this has been discussed a million times on here and I tried to search but I got all confused so thought I'd just ask. Sorry. I was just looking over some loose plans we are trying to put together and I see that our arrival day MK is having the extra 2 hours that night (this is July 12). We're a group of adults/teens that don't mind staying up late and will be excited from flying in BUT since it's july and crowded of course, not sure if planning on doing this park and staying til they close will be worth it? Can we even do any attractions or will be it be body to body that late at night? WE'll try to fast pass some things but just curious if anybody can tell me what it's like at MK in July with the extra night hours.
Thanks

We did evening EMH at MK on July 3rd 2015. The park was packed mid-day due to the special fireworks that evening, but the EMH themselves were awesome. No crowds, & line waits were very short during the last hour & a half, even on top attractions. A bonus of evening EMH in July is that it isn't hot.

 

[barbliny]

We're a group of adults/teens that don't mind staying up late and will be excited from flying in

I think your answer lies right in those words above ...

This is our group, and we've done it.

We do evening EMH at MK all of the time. Some are more successful than others - you never can fully predict the crowds. Book 3 fastpasses at the beginning and see what happens after - you at least got 3 rides done and started off your vacation. And there is never more energy among the group than the first couple of days at Disney!!

The later EMH starts, the lower the crowds.

 

[Accident]

EMH to me is when I'm not ready to call it a night.. As previously suggested, wait until your at the resort and decide if a few hours in the park is worth it.. you might get in late, you might not want too.. for me, I like getting there and walking around the place even if too crowded to really do anything....

you can flip a coin on what the crowd is going to look like you might find empty you could find packed.. packed in my terms is 30-40ish+ minute waits for the popular rides but there will be a lot of walk on or minimal wait as well.

 

[mamamelody2]

I know that I would want to go at least for a while, so we would plan on it. BUT, we would be prepared to change plans if flight was late, we were too tired, or just didn't feel like it.
Also, like someone else said, if we had plans for a really early day the next day, we probably would not do it.
But I know what you mean about being excited to be there and that adrenaline can really keep you going!

 

[FosterA]

Original poster here..Thanks for the advice everyone! WE haven't actually planned one single day out yet since we literally just booked yesterday so I can kind of start my planning with the arrival day. If we do stay out late and do it, I would definitely not want to get up early the next day. We have a short flight from TX and I imagine we'll land sometime in the afternoon so more than likely we won't be too tired from traveling so that's probably ok. The more I think about it, the more I think it might be kind of fun to kick off our first 1/2 day staying up late at MK. Definately not having the sun beating down on us would be nice. Living in TX, I doubt it will be any hotter than we're used to though but if we can avoid it, great! Good to know about the FP not being avail during EMH. I didn't even know that. Last time I went was 5 years ago and we had to run and get passes and such. My main question/concern was what kind of crowds could be expected. Sounds like it may possibly thin out a little as night goes on. I was just curious if maybe Extra hours at night at MK were a huge massive popular thing making it something to completely avoid or anything like that.