Extra Magic Hours overrated?

[MikeM]

Just got back from a 6 day trip. Had a blast of course, but wondered if anyone has had this same experience with the extra magic hours. We went to DHS and MK on days with evening EMHs and each day the parks were packed. The other days of our trip we went on days that there were no EMHs and experienced much lighter crowds. Was this a coincidence? It stands to reason that the parks with EMH would be more crowded I guess, but I was just wondering if others have experienced the same thing.

 

[DisneyWisher]

Just got back from a 6 day trip. Had a blast of course, but wondered if anyone has had this same experience with the extra magic hours. We went to DHS and MK on days with evening EMHs and each day the parks were packed. The other days of our trip we went on days that there were no EMHs and experienced much lighter crowds. Was this a coincidence? It stands to reason that the parks with EMH would be more crowded I guess, but I was just wondering if others have experienced the same thing.

We don't do Evening EMH just too crowded. But if you plan that same park for the next day you will see how much quieter it is. Morning EMH we will do depending on the park.

 

[BradyBz12]

We almost always do evening EMHs - it just works best for our schedule and the way we like to do Disney. We don't have kids, and enjoy having a more leisurely morning and being in the parks at night.

I can't recall any super busy evenings in the last 5 trips, but it really does depend on the time of year (we go the 2-3 weeks after Thanksgiving), day of the week, and any extra events that may be going on.

 

[GatorLady]

It's no coincidence. If we need to go to a park on a day it has evening EMH, we always leave after an early lunch.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

Yup...we always avoid EMH. We always go the those parks who had the EMH the day after...it's always much less crowded...it's a good strategy!

 

[Minniemom97]

Yup...we always avoid EMH. We always go the those parks who had the EMH the day after...it's always much less crowded...it's a good strategy!

SSSHHHH....don't spread that tip around! Just kidding!! We do the same thing. The only EMH we do is when AK is open late and that's just to experience the night time beauty of the park.

 

[ktbugsmom]

Our experience with evening hours has been very crowded as well - and we go in January! Great Movie ride was a 45 minute wait in the evening - yet, during the day, it is almost a walk on! So - we stopped doing the evening horus and did not try any in 2008. However, we usually do MK EMH morning hours - and those work well for us. I think "vacation" and "morning" don't always work well for people!

I have heard the theory of trying the park that had EMH evening hours the morning after...that theory sounds good on paper. I will try that in January 09 and let you know!

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

SSSHHHH....don't spread that tip around! Just kidding!! We do the same thing. The only EMH we do is when AK is open late and that's just to experience the night time beauty of the park.

Haha! I mean, I mean...umm....we go to those parks only if they have EMH!?

 

[Minniemom97]

Muuuuuch better!!!!!!

But really folks - it is worth it at night to go to AK - it has a totally different look and feel that during the daytime.

 

[joy13]

I like EMH for just strolling around the park after dinner or something like that. I always get park hoppers, so we usually haven't been at that park that day. EX. Last year we went to Epcot during the morning, went back to rest, went to Chef Mickey's for dinner, went to WIshes than stayed for EMH.

 

[savannahjean85]

DF and I must just be lucky because the EMHs we have gone to have never been crowded, we actually plan our trip around being able to squeeze in as many evening EHMs as possible with that said we have no children so it is just us. So less restrictions. We try to pick a slow time in a season to go. We still do wake early in the morning to head to the parks at rope drop, then at lunch time head to the resort to take a break and nap then head back out. I know some may think we are crazy for staying up late and wakeing early but we really try to milk our vacation and always figure we can sleep when we are home.

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Going to have to say we must be lucky, too. We did EMH in December 2006 at MK and walked on to everything; we actually did most of the park that night. DH and I also used EMH this past June, and we walked right on to most everything that night, too. I think our longest wait was for 5 minutes; we love using them. I guess we just pick not-busy days? Haha. I dunno; I do know I swear by them.

 

[TSMAMI]

love the evening EMH!

 

[bytheblood]

For the mornings, I would say so.

 

[LuvsTinker]

I don't find MK evening hours to be crowded. It wasn't in Dec. 2006 or our last time just last month; especially the later it gets. Even with having to pull out our key cards, it didn't cause the lines to back up.

DAK at night looks so different. It's worth seeing.

 

[ransom]

Extra magic hours are NOT overrated.

They draw people to one park so that I can enjoy the others.

That gives me many magical hours on my vacation.

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

We also must be lucky, because we love EMH (PM). Especially at MK. When did you leave? To make the most of it, you really must stay until the very end. We've had Fantasyland to ourselves numerous times during EMH (PM). Like others, DAK is one of my favorite after hours parks. The Tree of Life is so beautiful lit up. The lights accent all the carvings. It is really beautiful. Also, riding EE over and over with no wait is pretty cool too. One rule of thumb about attending EMH (PM) is NOT to start riding until about 45 after the listed time. There are still folks in line from the regular park day. So, that can make the lines longer at the beginning of EMH (PM). We've seen a standy-by time for BTMRR at 50 minutes at the beginning of EMH (PM) within an hour it can as low as 10 minutes or even 5.

I've heard the "secret" of attending the park that had an EMH night. Most parks will be fairly empty first thing in the morning. (Notice I wrote "fairly") So, it IS true . . . the early bird catches the worm. That stands true of all the parks.

The only park we have encountered larger crowds during EMH (PM) is at Epcot. So, we now know to get FP for later (even during EMHs). Spaceship Earth was walk-on. However, TT and Soarin' had long lines at the beginning of the evening. Later on, the lines were shorter (Like previously stated, wait until at least one hour into EMH (PM) to ride).

I hope you give EMH (PM) another try. Most of our family "magical moments" have happened during EMH (PM). (DS3 got to ride Dumbo WITH Donald Duck at 1 am, DD6 had a CM walk her over to Cinderella's favorite horse and she rode the carousel alone and DS8 got to ride EE over and over again without getting off.)

Jennifer

 

[ktbugsmom]

Jennifer,
Good hints. Can I ask - your signature line show you have younger kids... my DD is 8 (will be 9 in February) - how do your kids do on the evening hours?

In January, I am going with just my DH and DD8 (almost 9). I was thinking of trying MK EMH evening hours - just to see if it works. Since we are at BWV, I thought about trying DHS evening hours - we can just walk back to the resort if she gets tired or if it seems too crowded.

I like to try "new" things each trip - and the last time we did evening hours was 2 years ago - and we lasted an hour - total bust - long lines, whiney 6 year old. But, maybe we did it wrong...this time, we will go there, eat first, then try to do some rides or just walk around and enjoy...

 

[MikeM]

I can se where your could hop over for the EMHs and get the benifit. The problem we had was that we didn't have park hoppers and were trying to get the most out of our tickets by hitting the paks all day on the EMH days. The crowd did get lighter during the evening, but we didn't feel like we gained much since it was so much more crowded during the day. I guess getting the hopper and only going over for the EMHs is the ideal thing to do. I was just being cheap and didn't want to spend the extra 200 bucks on our four tickets.

 

[seadd67]

We Love the EMH Morining and Evening, no people or shoulder to shoulder pack.We just love the thought of bening in the park that extra time, ya they can be pretty busy but Its not for every one I understand we love crowds