Extra Magic Hours - Worth it?

[Noisymoon1978]

We are going on our first trip to Disney in April. Are the parks really significantly less crowded for the evening hours? We have 3 young children, and want to make sure it is worth it to get the park hopper option, so we can take advantage of the extra hours. (and not have to plan to stay all day at a specific park)

 

[auntie]

That's a tough one. Because the only time we really used that option was in Epcot..and I've got to tell you some of the attractions that we stayed for..were actually closed. There were ALOT of ticked off people. A rather angry woman asked an attendant why it is they had this extra magic hour..if they weren't going to have the attractions open. I felt bad for the attendant, as of course, it wasn't his fault. I wouldn't get the park hopper option for just that reason. Get it if its what you like to do. We often go to one park earlier in the day..go back to our resort..and then will go to another park in the evening..especially if we have dining reservations. I like the park hopper option..but not for the extra magic hours. It's just the way we prefer to vacation while in Disney.

 

[eeyoregon]

IMO the extra late magic hours are the BEST THING EVER!!!! You can get more done in those 2-3 extra hours than you can in 8 hours with heavy crowds.

We just love it. It's cooler and the crowds are small. We usually spend the afternoon resting/swimming and then we hit the late hours.

 

[2poohbears]

Until this last trip, I would have said "Yes, EMH are worth it." After our experience this JAN, I'm thinking maybe not. EPCOT nighttime EMH were a nightmare...very crowded, and they weren't operating the fast pass machines, so lines were long for Test Track and Soarin. Some of the other attractions were okay, though. MK was also very crowded for EMH - I think we could have accomplished more had we just gone to the park during the Spectromagic parade and rode while everyone else was watching parade/fireworks. Next year we're thinking of skipping EMH altogether, getting back to the room for an early night, and waking up early to make sure we're at the parks 30 minutes before opening to enjoy our day, well rested.

 

[mommylibrarian]

You mentioned you have really young children, so I'm not sure they would be worth it for you. My experience has been that if the park IS going to get better crowd-wise, it doesn't happen until the last hour to hour and a half. Young children are just pooped by then. I agree with auntie... go to the park early, nap at midday, and then return in the late afternoon/early evening to stay until closing.

If you really want to try it, check the website first to see what's open. It may be attractions your kids can't quite do yet anyway.

 

[Aliceacc]

I planned on Park Hoppers even before I leaned about EMH.

I think they'll make it possible to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom, then go to Epcot for dinner. Or do a morning in the Animal Kingdom, then see the fireworks at night at the Magic Kingdom.

I think they're a great idea!

 

[mom2aredhead]

We have 3 young children, and want to make sure it is worth it to get the park hopper option, so we can take advantage of the extra hours. (and not have to plan to stay all day at a specific park)

Here is a list (from either this site or maybe Allears?) that has which attractions are open for evening EMH. (Morning may be different) This way, you can decide if there is going to be enough open that they can go on to make it worth it. I found this a few months ago, so a few things may have changed, but it will give you a general idea.

Magic Kingdom® Park
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, "it's a small world", The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Peter Pan's Flight, Space Mountain®, Stitch's Great Escape!, Tomorrowland® Indy Speedway Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Haunted Mansion, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Splash Mountain®

Epcot®Living with the Land, Mission: SPACE®, Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Test Track Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, Journey Into Imagination With Figment, Mexico - Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros, Norway-Maelstrom, The American Adventure

Hollywood Studios
Muppet Vision 3-D, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith, Star Tours, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™, The Great Movie Ride, Voyage of The Little Mermaid

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest, It's Tough to be a Bug!®, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Pangani Forest Exploration Trail® DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest, Festival of the Lion King, (1 extra show) It's Tough to be a Bug!®, Kali River Rapids, Primeval Whirl®, TriceraTop Spin

Hope this helps you decide.

 

[2poohbears]

I agree with the prevous poster - with young children the night time EMH likely would not be worth it because they'll be so tired.

Honestly, with young children, I really think your best bet is to arrive at the parks 30 minutes before they open (crowds collect at the entrance, so this puts you ahead of the crowd that will arrive at opening time). Avoid the parks that have EMH as those tend to be more crowded during the day - because people who want to take advantage of them tend to go to the park for the entire day (since many don't get park hoppers). We usually go back to the room to nap after lunch, then return to the parks until closing. If you decide not to nap, then at least find a quiet spot in the parks where you all can rest for a while. Also - take advantage of Fast Pass rides...don't stand in line for a ride for 20 minutes or longer when you could get a fast pass, ride other attractions in that area for a while, then go back and walk straight onto the ride instead.

 

[barnaby1]

We have never managed the morning EMH (early rising not really our thing) but did the late EMH as just adults and thought it was the best thing ever. Just came back last week having done it with a small child (not quite 2) and would not bother again.
She got to ride the carousel and small world (her favorites) over and over and went to sleep in the buggy just after 9pm which only left us about 60minutes to do 1 ride as we had to obviously wait to go on it seperately. We wanted to leave about 30 minutes before closing to avoid the crush as everyone is leaving. We ended up getting our dd to bed properly at around 11.30pm which made her very grumpy the next day (even with a sleep in).

You didn't say how old your children are but I wouldn't do it with toddlers. You might get away with it with 4-5 year olds who can go on more shared rides with you.

Equally young babies would probably work as they could sleep from normal time in the stroller.

 

[auntie]

I planned on Park Hoppers even before I leaned about EMH.

I think they'll make it possible to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom, then go to Epcot for dinner. Or do a morning in the Animal Kingdom, then see the fireworks at night at the Magic Kingdom.

I think they're a great idea!

I agree we have always gotten park hoppers....for the same reasons. I wouldn't base my decision on whether to get them on the EMH. I think they are great based on the way we vacation..as you mentioned being able to go to one park early the day, and another for dinner. If an EMH happens to coincide with our being in that park..that's a plus..but I don't plan around them one way or the other. The park hopper option adds flexiblility to our trip.

 

[Scuttle]

We were in WDW in early December 07, with three almost four year olds. For us the EMH were the BEST thing ever!! We never made it to the early morning ones, but I think that we made it to every evening one out there! LOL

We would get to the park in the AM around 9-10, and then head back to our room by 1ish. We would rest and enjoy the resort, and then head back out to the park with the EMH for dinner and would go until the kids couldn't go anymore....LOL We didn't take the stroller in the AM, but we would in the PM to help with the walking and reducing any whining. But I have to say that the kids had a great time and I really think it had a lot to do with them being able to get on the rides and not have to wait! LOL

Being there during the holidays with everything decorated, it was definitely a MUST to be there in the evenings to see it all lit up!!! (esp the Osborne Family Light Show - we went into MGM twice at night to see that!)

We found it to be great for our kids because everything that they wanted to go on was open and the lines were really short, if there was any line at all.

We did purchase a park hopper because we really take advantage of that, and jump around to different parks all day long.

Even though I say yes, it would really depend on your kids and if you think that they could handle the strange hours or if they would really benefit from a schedule similiar to what you have at home

We always usually do Disney different from home - but that's us

 

[TxTink :)]

Absolutely- we love the EMH; we plan our whole trip around them.

 

[Disneydreamer5]

I have 5 children and the range in ages from 16-10.
We love the park hopper option as well the EMH.
If you think your children would, as well as you, be ok with doing 1 park during the day and then just heading back to hotel for the rest of the night and not doing anything in the parks again til the next day then save your money. My family however would be bored out of there minds.
We stayed at the hotel one night out of 7 to get some much needed rest as well as laundry done and they all complained the whole night.
For me its worth every penny! Just my 2 cents worth

 

[badblackpug]

We always do EMH. We are not morning people and find it impossible to get 3 young kids (and this year a baby) up, washed, dressed, fed and out the door by rope drop. I don't know how old your kids are, but ours (10, 7, 6) always make it through EMH (they are unconscious on the bus back to the hotel, though!) We always get park hoppers. We usually take a 10 day trip, so park hoppers are nice so that you can go and see the show you missed, or go back and ride that ride the kids have to do "just one more time." (they rode ToT 7 times in 1 day last year!) We also feel freer to make any type of ADR we want because we can always go back to the park or eat dinner and go to a new park.
For example a day might be: Spend the day at AK take the bus to the Poly, have dinner at 'Ohana, and monorail it to MK for EMH.

 

[kbtennant]

We love EMH at Disney. We have two boys ages 6 & 3. We prefer the evening EMH better. Get to the parks in the a.m. Sometimes head back to the resort for a nap/swim break. Then head back out for a night of fun. The kids really enjoy it too. Well worth it, you can get a lot done, especially at Magic Kingdom.