Extra Magic Hours - yay or nay?!

[JerseyJanice]

I have done morning EMH exactly once and that was at the MK in 2000. Getting up that early does not mean vacation to me!

However, I think PM EMH at Epcot is the bomb! We love being able to do attractions for up to three hours after watching Illuminations. It's not crowded and it's so nice to be there in the dark after a sunny day.

 

[TINKERIFIC]

In the past, we have always toured with park hoppers and took full advantage of morning and evening EMH....mainly because we were there a short period of time (4 days) and it was required so that we could hit all of our favs. We generally are all for park hoppers and morning EMH, not so much the evening though.

This time we are trying a new strategy because 1) we are a large group of 8, 2) we have 2 young ones (3 yo), and 3) one family is traveling on a very tight budget and just bought a 7 day non park hopper.

This is the low down for us:

• We have decided to visit each park on a day that it does not have EMH and visiting DHS on a day that it does not have fantasmic.
• We will be hitting each park hard at rope drop though and taking full advantage of fastpass.
• We will only be staying at each park until around 6pm with a break in our day at prime crowd time with a lunch ADR right before the afternoon parade.
• We will be seeing the nightime shows on our non-park days, with the intention of only seeing the shows and if we happen to ride rides with little wait then that will be a bonus.

We will see how this works for us. I am nervous about it, but thinking it will be ok.

 

[btcrane]

EMH parks can get more crowded than the others, so that's why you will often see advice to avoid these parks, especially if you are staying offsite and not eligible for the extra hours.

HOWEVER, if you are willing to get up early morning EMH hours can be fabulous for touring headliners with either walk-on or very little wait times. Evening EMH can vary, but generally clear out towards the end.

We always take advantage of morning EMH, get TONS of stuff done and by the time the big crowds start coming in (around 11-12), we head back to our resort for a rest or swim. Then we head out to a different park around 4pm for dinner and evening touring. This works great, but you must be willing to get up early on your vacation (most people aren't, which is why the parks are so empty!). Obviously, you need park hoppers to get the most out of this strategy.

If you want to sleep in, or take your time over breakfast, then you probably should avoid the EMH park.

Very well said! Morning EMH are great if you have a family that will get up for it. Mine moan and groan some when I wake them up, but I've learned to just ignore them...by the time they're at a park, they're good to go.

Last trip on the last day DD, DS(11), and I were the only ones to make it into Epcot for morning EMH. DH and and DS(15) slept in and met us at the park later that morning. I was just tired of doing the ignoring thing and tired of cracking the whip in the morning-it's my vacation too! They were a little bummed they didn't get to do everything we did but we've been to DW so many times, it was ok. For our first trip, no way would they have missed a minute, not even DH who does loves his beauty sleep.

 

[santadog]

My experience(s) with the Evening EMH was mixed. We went the week of 4/17 - 4/24. It rained all afternoon and evening on the 18th. I checked online, and it said the rain would dissipate by about 9PM. So I let my 5 year old take a "nap" from 4 pm til about 8:30. We ate at the resort, and got to MK just as the fireworks (and rain) were ending. We waited a in moderate lines time until the park closed at Midnight. From Midnight till 3 AM we waited for NOTHING. We rode "Peter Pan" 3 times without even disembarking (same for Small World and Winnie the Pooh). It was so slow that, as we were leaving "Philharmagic" we saw Goofy and Pluto riding on the Dumbo ride (there were no tourists to get pictures with).
The next day, we went to DHS for the 9-midnight EMH (in the rain) with similar results.

However, on Friday MK was hosting Grad Night, and the weather was excellent --- we went to Epcot for dinner, and Illuminations. The 9 to Midnight EMH were packed. 40-90 minute waits for Soarin' and Test Track, innovations was closed, and the fish tanks in the "Living Seas" were dark, and you couldn't really see anything.

So, I'd check the calendar for special events, and try to avoid evening EMH's on the nights that MK is hosting something special.

(conversely, the days that MK was closing at 7 for grad night were d-e-a-d: people without parkhoppers went to the other parks, and we only had 5 minute waits for POTC, HM and all the other E-tickets on a Friday and Saturday)

 

[Pembo]

The only time I enjoy getting up early is at WDW and especially for morning EMH. We use park hoppers so we can hop if the EMH park is crowded.