Extra magic? Not really.

[mom2rtk]

First rule: Never believe a wait time at the end of the night. Yes, they allow people to enter the line right up until closing. But they highly inflate wait times near park closing to discourage those massive crowds from jumping in line.

 

[yulilin3]

Some but lots of schools are still out till Monday.

Orange Co started yesterday

 

[AngiTN]

Orange Co started yesterday

I was talking more about Non-FL schools. DGD started yesterday but all our surrounding counties are out till Monday (they got out later, go back later)

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

I have to say we've always had a very good experience at evening EMH at Magic Kingdom. The wait times are rarely that long and many of the rides are walk on, especially our favorites like Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. I do recall that Space Mountain had some longish waits during EMH but Space Mountain always seems to have longish waits except first thing in the morning.

 

[Orsino]

I have to say we've always had a very good experience at evening EMH at Magic Kingdom. The wait times are rarely that long and many of the rides are walk on, especially our favorites like Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. I do recall that Space Mountain had some longish waits during EMH but Space Mountain always seems to have longish waits except first thing in the morning.

Splash Mountain is not open during Extra Magic Hour.

 

[scrapquitler]

at 9:45 PM tonight, the wait time for space mountain was 180 minutes. Magic hours started at 10:00 PM

And the likely ACTUAL wait time for space mountain was probably 30 minutes. They always over exaggerate the posted wait times near closing to discourage people from getting in the line at the last minute.

 

[angierae]

Disney inflates the wait times close to park close to discourage guests from getting in lines. You fell for it.

This, exactly.

First rule: Never believe a wait time at the end of the night. Yes, they allow people to enter the line right up until closing. But they highly inflate wait times near park closing to discourage those massive crowds from jumping in line.

All of these things, really. We were at WDW during the week before Easter in 2012, and we stayed for EMH almost every single night (adult and two teenagers, there were no early mornings happening) and it was usually very empty a half hour after regular closing.

 

[Robo]

Splash Mountain is not open during Extra Magic Hour.

If we are discussing PM EMH, it is inconsistent as to whether it is or is not open.

It is certainly not open for AM EMH.

 

[BigredNole]

There is only one way to fix what you are concerned with and that is eliminating EMH and revert it back to a paid event. My park tickets state that I can ride an attraction if I am in line before park closing (yours does as well). The added benefit of evening EMH as a non-resort guest is that I can use that time to explore, shop, trade pins, eat, and people watch. With all that saved money, I buy that ice cream sundae on Main Street, sit on a bench to enjoy it, watch people go by. After that, I can take nighttime pictures and buy the merchandise we want as we are exiting the park to take to our car. Then we can decide what else to do.

 

[Gehrig1B]

We walked on Space Mountain at 11:15 last night and yes, Splash Mountain was open and running. Longest wait during EMH for us last night was Dumbo, 25 minutes.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Splash Mountain is not open during Extra Magic Hour.

Huh, must have been thinking about late nights then. But thought it was open for EMH when we were there. And yes, not open for morning EMH (nor is Big Thunder)

 

[Robo]

Huh, must have been thinking about late nights then. But thought it was open for EMH when we were there. And yes, not open for morning EMH (nor is Big Thunder)

Splash is inconsistent as to being open for PM EMH or not.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

 

[ruthies12]

That's what it SAID, anyway.

LOL on our last trip we were at a MVMCP and at 6:30 pm the line for little mermaid said 30 minutes. We went and got some popcorn and drinks to eat while we waited and got in line....except there was no line. We walked all the way through the que expecting to run into the line around every bend but we walked directly into a clamshell instead. I told one the CM's at loading that their wait time board said half an hour and he just smiled and nodded.

 

[Sea-Donkey]

Be aware of GROSSLY inflated wait times posted near closing. They'll post 45 minutes when the wait is actually 10 minutes as a tactic to discourage you from getting in the line

And the likely ACTUAL wait time for space mountain was probably 30 minutes. They always over exaggerate the posted wait times near closing to discourage people from getting in the line at the last minute.

That's not correct. Do none of the Disney regulars on here not know where those times come from? The cast member at the beginning of the line scans a card (usually red) on lanyard and and gives it to a guest with instructions to give it to the cast member at the end of the line. The 2nd cast member scans it and the wait time pops up on the screen at the beginning of the ride (and in places like hub at Epcot where it shows current wait times).

So...at 11:50 pm, if it's saying the Space Mountain line is 120 minutes, that is how long it took someone getting in line at 9:50 to make it through. The times posted are only as accurate as the latest time they sent a card on a lanyard through...and they have no reason to mess with that within the last hour of park closing, it will be inaccurate as soon as posted.

 

[Accident]

That's not correct. Do none of the Disney regulars on here not know where those times come from? The cast member at the beginning of the line scans a card (usually red) on lanyard and and gives it to a guest with instructions to give it to the cast member at the end of the line. The 2nd cast member scans it and the wait time pops up on the screen at the beginning of the ride (and in places like hub at Epcot where it shows current wait times).

So...at 11:50 pm, if it's saying the Space Mountain line is 120 minutes, that is how long it took someone getting in line at 9:50 to make it through. The times posted are only as accurate as the latest time they sent a card on a lanyard through...and they have no reason to mess with that within the last hour of park closing, it will be inaccurate as soon as posted.

That is 1 method but since the summer they've been falsely raising and stop using those lanyards at night. It's not uncommon to see 90 minutes on 7dmt at close when it's a walkon-5 minute wait.. Also the app is showing different higher times than the sign at the ride now as well... this is usually on the popular where the app and the ride sign are inflated.. on slower rides, the app is inflated but the ride sign is closer to accurate.

Also read the MDE app update release notes, they are now tracking wait times via guests with phones that have bluetooth enabled and the app installed which is anyone not smart enough to disable it when they got the phone or anyone with a fitness band that records in real time to the phone.

edit: they also started to use white lanyards in teh afternoon for fastpass lines.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

You see this in the morning, too, at some headliners, though to a lesser extent. For example, the first hour or two that Magic Kingdom is open, Space Mountain is consistently 10 to 20 minutes shorter than the posted wait time. I always thought they did that to try and even out the attraction loads in Tomorrowland in the morning. My morning MK routine is always Space Mountain at rope drop, and I usually ride repeatedly until it stops being a walk on or nearly a walk on, and at that point they've probably posted a 20 or 25 minute wait.

 

[heazer]

If we are discussing PM EMH, it is inconsistent as to whether it is or is not open.

It is certainly not open for AM EMH.

Agreed! One spring break visit my son drug us onto Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain repeatedly during pm EMH.....bouncing back and forth, just walking on the rides.

 

[yulilin3]

The times posted are only as accurate as the latest time they sent a card on a lanyard through

that is correct. I'm thinking that they might stop handing out the red cards maybe an hour and a half to two hours before park closing? to have a high wait time? I've done several headliners at the end of the night and all of them had wait times that were 20 to 30 minutes more than the actual wait time. For example TSMM said 50 minute wait, I saw that the line didn't come all the way out of the building so headed inside, it was a 20 minute wait

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

That's not correct. Do none of the Disney regulars on here not know where those times come from? The cast member at the beginning of the line scans a card (usually red) on lanyard and and gives it to a guest with instructions to give it to the cast member at the end of the line. The 2nd cast member scans it and the wait time pops up on the screen at the beginning of the ride (and in places like hub at Epcot where it shows current wait times).

So...at 11:50 pm, if it's saying the Space Mountain line is 120 minutes, that is how long it took someone getting in line at 9:50 to make it through. The times posted are only as accurate as the latest time they sent a card on a lanyard through...and they have no reason to mess with that within the last hour of park closing, it will be inaccurate as soon as posted.

I'm sure everyone here knows how that works. We've all worn that red card lanyard around our neck many times. We are just saying we don't necessarily believe it. Especially when third-party wait apps show wait times that differ significantly from the times Disney is reporting. This happens on both coasts. It's not a mythical practice.

 

[Jennasis]

That's not correct. Do none of the Disney regulars on here not know where those times come from? The cast member at the beginning of the line scans a card (usually red) on lanyard and and gives it to a guest with instructions to give it to the cast member at the end of the line. The 2nd cast member scans it and the wait time pops up on the screen at the beginning of the ride (and in places like hub at Epcot where it shows current wait times).

So...at 11:50 pm, if it's saying the Space Mountain line is 120 minutes, that is how long it took someone getting in line at 9:50 to make it through. The times posted are only as accurate as the latest time they sent a card on a lanyard through...and they have no reason to mess with that within the last hour of park closing, it will be inaccurate as soon as posted.

The red card lets them know how long the wait is...correct. However, they can and DO put up wait times that are much inflated over the actual wait to control crowds.