Extra Magic Hours - To Go or Not To Go

[magicbar]

All of the online sources I have searched as well as the guide books I Have read recommend avoiding the Extra Magic Hours at all of the parks. " Too many resort guests all going to the same place" is the typical cooment.

My question to my fellow Dis'ers is what have your experiences been with EMH at the various parks. Would you recommend them or are they really crowded with resort guests ?

This was a great perk at Disneyland earlier this year (given with 3 day park hopper passes) and not too many folks were there. But with every resort guest being given this perk at WDW and with the sheer volume of resort guests I am not so sure it's worth fighting the crowd.

By the way I going to be at ASMu from April 28 - May 6th with my sister and 2 nephews. Any specific experiences at taht time of year would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any and all help

 

[tiki23]

I really think it depdends on what time of year you're visiting. If the parks aren't very crowded by day, both the AM and PM EMH can be almost deserted. We did a couple of both when we were there last month and only one night was even close to crowded. We had a great time!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

There are a lot of factors-

I like to hit the EMH at Animal Kingdom in the morning- I can usually do just about everything I want to do by the time the crowds start showing up, which is really nice.

MGM, however, I skip- there are only limited attractions opened, so if you want to go get a few rides in on TOT and RNR, it may be worth going, but for everything else, I don't feel like it is worth it.

I also really like the evening EMH at MK, especially during the winter when the parks usually close early.

If you're going during the summer, it can be really nice to do the evening ones when it isn't as hot, and spend the hottest hours back at the resort!

 

[Desnik]

We are never up earliy enough to do the AM EMH! But we love the PM EMH. We went to them on our trip in May(we were there in the beginning of the month)at the MK, MGM, and Epcot. They were great and the crowds were there at the MK, but we were able to get on almost everything with no wait. At Epcot we got to walk on Soarin early in the evening, the later it got the longer the waits were for it. We will be doing them again in April.
On this past trip in Nov we went to MK on an AM EMH day and it was crowded, but there was literally no lines at alot of attractions. I think it really does depend on the time of year you are going. When you are going is a great time to go and you should be fine.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

We go during the week of July 4th. The am EMH are wonderful!!!! We get more done in that one hour than almost the rest of the day. We have not used the am EMH for MGM, so I am not sure about that park. But at MK, we did everything in fantasyland and a couple other things before the crowds hit. We tried pm EMH at MK once and it was so crowded we could barely walk around people. We did not stay more than 45 minutes during the pm EMH, so maybe if you stay the whole 3 hours extra, the crowds thin out.

But we LOVE am EMH!!!

 

[Leota]

I love the morning EMH. I haven't had the best experience with evening EMH. However, I did try the evening EMH during Spring Break, so my experience was probably vastly different for what you might have on your dates.

I'm a morning person anyways, so AM EMH work best for me.

 

[Erie Islands]

I always thought that people were saying that during the DAY would be busy because people staying for EMH would be there, too. But, that when EMH started, it would clear out because non-resort guests and those not staying for EMH would leave. I stayed at EPCOT during spring break last April for EMH, and we practically had the place to ourselves.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

In early October we did EPCOT EMH am and it was great. We walked on to Soarin and did several other attractions before it got busy. We really liked it.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Most of our trips have been during spring break (one during Easter week). We've never had a problem with AM or PM EMH.

Our next trip is scheduled for Easter 2007. I planning to take advantage of as many EMHs as we can.

 

[Hugpug]

I just got back yesterday. My advise is to avoid the Evening extra Magic Hours. It was a Nighmare. Can't answer for morning but would guess it be the same. Besides that the Morning not everything is open for the early hours anyhow. I had a wonderful time but after the first evening hours I made it a point to avoid. The only line I had a problem with was Soarin. This is a slow loading ride therefore it takes a long time to get thru a line. One thing would be if they would put the fastpass machines at the entrance to the Land then making you walk all the way in and down the stairs as half the time the escalaters where not working before you could get to a fastpass if one would be needed. This is the same issue I have for the Safarie ride. They should have the fastpass machines at the front of the park for this one.

 

[ScarletFire]

We avoid EMH and actually plan around them. If MK is having Sunday evening EMH, we are at MK opening on Monday morning. The crowds are light for about 2 hours. Besides, we enjoy the opening shows at the parks on non-emh days.

My kids do not take naps and even though they are 9 and 11, I like to make sure they sleep 9-10 hours per night when on vacation. Otherwise, they get run down pretty quickly. EMH, am and pm, interupts their sleep time. One cranky kid can make the entire family miserable. We may enjoy the evening EMH when the kids are older.

 

[welovedis]

As you can see, you will get so many different answers depending on crowds and weather, the time of year you are visiting. Over the summer we experienced high crowds at evening EMHs ad low crowds at during the AM EMHs. Once the park opened to everyone we would head out and that seemed to work well for us.

We are going to try a couple of each for our upcoming trip to see how things play out, but I'd say if you want to try one-go ahead but have a backup plan in case the crowd is more than you anticipate.

 

[lake queen]

WE LOVE the AM EMH!! especially in MK, where we can do all of fantasyland in the 1st hr. we are there!! At Epcot, we did Soarin, MS and TT in the 1st hr. At MGM- RnR, TOT, Great Movie Ride and Aerial in the 1st hr. At AK- KS, Primeval Whirl (twice), Triceratops spin and Dinosaur.

We also FP our favorite rides when we first get in line- RnR, Soarin, KS and by the time the EMH is over it is time to ride again, which makes us happy campers!!!

 

[Stitchfans]

We are not morning people so I doubt we will ever take advantage of the early one. I plan on checking out the evening one since we never have before.

 

[fAnnF]

I love EMHs the only one I will not go to is Evenings at Epcot, there isn't enough open for the number of people there.
Magic Kingdom-I love this one, they have characters come out in front of the castle for pictures, and is spead out that you don't feel like there at thousands of people there, wait times weren't more then 30min.
Epcot-mornings are nice, get a ride on soarin' and test track before 9, but evenings stay away.
MGM-mornings never done, evenings are nice you can definitely do everything(open) in the 3 hours, just don't plan to do RnRC or ToT until the end of the night.
Animal Kingdom-depending on the time of year you go, you don't really need EMH, but riding EE in the dark in front seat is nice, to see the whole world lit up.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

When we went in 2004 we didn't know they were doing a pilot for the after magic extra hours. So our dining was off for most the trip. We are heading down May 2007. We already know which park is open early and which is open late. We have planned all our meals and booked them ahead of time. We got lucky with the magic kingdom. We got early cinderella breakfast and the park is open late that day. We will be there from 730 am until midnight i beleive is the after hours closing. Yes take advantage of it. We usually missed the fire works and kept ridint the rides. This is one of the many advantages of staying on property.

 

[MiAimee82]

I went to EMH w/DBF in March 06 in Epcot and MK. We loved it! Since it is just the two of us it is the only time we will go to MK for now, too many crowds during the day. Epcot was very good too, but much quieter, almost deserted by the time we left. Its a nice time to go to the Living Seas, hardly anyone in there to look at the fish. Have a good time!

 

[photobob]

I always go a given park the day after they had EMH and I get there at opening and that has always worked well for me..