First-time, MK early magic hours crowd

[mmorri24]

Hey all!
Sorry, I'm a first timer going with my wife and 2 kids january 21st- 23rd. Just a quick question, I planned on going down during January because its the slow season, but I looked online and the 23rd crowd level is red because of an early magic hours that morning. Will that affect crowds all day? Or is that just a morning rush, especially considered that this is supposed to be the quieter times of the year in the park. What kind of wait times might I expect? Thank you for your response in advance, I know its a lot, we are looking forward to visiting the happiest place on earth!

 

[sharonabe]

Hey all!
Sorry, I'm a first timer going with my wife and 2 kids january 21st- 23rd. Just a quick question, I planned on going down during January because its the slow season, but I looked online and the 23rd crowd level is red because of an early magic hours that morning. Will that affect crowds all day? Or is that just a morning rush, especially considered that this is supposed to be the quieter times of the year in the park. What kind of wait times might I expect? Thank you for your response in advance, I know its a lot, we are looking forward to visiting the happiest place on earth!

Are you staying at a Disney resort? Are you planning on going to MK on that day?

The early EMH is a great perk for Disney resort guests because you can get a lot done in those early hours when other people are still sleeping or off-site guests can't get in. The early EMH park does tend to get a little busier later in the day than it does on days it doesn't have the EMH. But if you can get up and utilize the perk, those crowds won't matter because you will have already done the bulk of the more popular attractions.

 

[wisblue]

I second what the PP poster said about using AM EMH if you are a resort guest. But, if you are staying offsite, or don't think you can get to the MK in time for the 8 AM opening (meaning that you arrive at the MK between 7:30 and 7;45) you might want to pick a different day to visit MK.

When you refer to 1/23 at MK as a red park day, I wonder if you are referring to the recommendations at easywdw. If you are, you may want to read the full descriptions on that site because they explain why the parks are given their ratings for that day. They also have suggestions on how to tour that park.

As for ride wait times, they can be hard to predict, but you can get an idea by looking at the "cheat sheets" from easywdw. Here is a link to the one for the MK:

http://www.easywdw.com/cheatsheets/mk_cheat_sheet_fastpass_plus.pdf

If you look at the charts for the crowd level predicted for that day (level 5-6) it will give estimates for wait times at different hours of the day. When you compare those wait times with those for level 9 and 10 days, you should be comforted that you are not visiting at a busy time, even though the parks may "feel crowded" to you. Disney parks are always crowded, it's just a matter of degree. Those cheat sheets also make recommendations for making FP+ reservations.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.

 

[FamilyGuy]

If you do not have the ability or desire to park hop, I say to avoid all Extra Magic Hours (EMH) like the plague. In all of our previous trips I never understood this. When we visited the parks from the 1st through the 8th of this month, we followed easywdw's suggestions, and never once visited a park with a magic hour. I was extremely pleased with our crowd predictions and wait times. There were only 2 days I wondered a little bit if we could have selected a different park or visited at different hours for shorter lines. . .

At the end of our trip we upgraded to Annual Passes (which gives us the ability to visit 2 or more parks in the same day). When we return, we may choose to visit some EMH parks - if we do so it will be specifically during magic hours.

IE, get to the Magic Kingdom Gate by 7:30-7:45 for a 8AM EMH, and subsequently leave the park once crowds increase (anywhere between 9:30AM and noon), and either return to our resort or hop to a non-EMH park (likely the 1st selection on easywdw).

Last piece of advice for you is to (whenever feasible), plan to get to the park before rope drop, (everyone plans to do this, but few actually make it) - and also utilize the late park hours 8PM closings in AK, 11PM's at epcot and HS, and midnight and 1AM closings at MK. These are the times when you can maximize ride times, especially on headliners. Late night EHM's are great too (if you are able to hop to that park)!

 

[suemom2kay]

I echo previous posters. EMH parks are ALWAYS the most crowded. If you can get there 20-30 mins prior to opening of the EMH then it is worth it as rides will be walk on. However, the park will quickly become very crowded from 11:00 a.m. on.

BTW, we never do EMH, always arrive about 30 minutes prior to park opening on least crowded park (previously through Tour Guide Mike) now through Easyww. And rides are walk on for the first 1-2 hours. Its definitely up to you, but ask yourself, how early do you really want to get up on vacation. To make an EMH park in the am, you would have to be at the bus stop by 6:45-7:15 to be there a bit ahead to allow time for security bag check and to get toward the front of the line.

Have a great vacation.

 

[wiigirl]

I echo previous posters. EMH parks are ALWAYS the most crowded. If you can get there 20-30 mins prior to opening of the EMH then it is worth it as rides will be walk on. However, the park will quickly become very crowded from 11:00 a.m. on.

BTW, we never do EMH, always arrive about 30 minutes prior to park opening on least crowded park (preciously through Tour Guide Mike) now through Easyww. And rides are walk on for the first 1-2 hours. Its definitely up to you, but ask yourself, how early do you really want to get up on vacation. To make an EMH park in the am, you would have to be at the bus stop by 6:45-7:15 to be there a bit ahead to allow time for security bag check and to get toward the front of the line.

Have a great vacation.

 

[BrianL]

My two cents...All of the advice about EMH is correct. Great if you can use it, the park will get crowded later. However, your dates are a crowd level 4, and in my opinion, that is just not that crowded, EMH or not. Another park might be slightly less crowded because of the EMH, but I don't think it's worth avoiding. I would expect to have a GREAT day at MK with level 4 crowds.

 

[Girlfriday17]

What is the consensus about EMH at the end of the day?

 

[sharonabe]

What is the consensus about EMH at the end of the day?

For us, the only one that is worth it is MK, and even that one only in the summer or later park hours times.

Here's why. EP and HS have fewer attractions and therefore, crowds at those attractions are higher. They also close earlier most of the time and the EMH at those parks ends at 11:00. The majority of people utilizing the late EMH have no trouble staying up til 11:00. BUT, there are many times throughout the year that MK with EMH is open until 12:00, 1:00 or even 2:00 a.m. The park starts to empty out around 11:30 and it just gets better after that.

One caution though. If you do plan on doing late EMH, it is REALLY hard to get up the next day to make it to rope drop. So plan those late EMH nights at a time you can sleep in the next day. If you don't have any down days, my thought is rope drop trumps late EMH and I would skip the EMH for rope drop.

 

[mmorri24]

thank you all for your kind and timely responses, we are staying offsite. We will be arriving tuesday around lunch and leaving on friday, with an off day to wander orlando. I was just trying to figure out if I would be better off going ahead and doing a half day on tuesday, and a full day on wednesday to avoid the extra crowd for early magic hours on thursday. But I'm torn if it would be worth skipping the crowds for a half day when its dead, for a full day when its hour long waits. Again, thank you disboards for your advice and council! what a great board.

 

[sharonabe]

Are you getting two-day tickets, three-day tickets, or just a one-day ticket? If you're getting two-day, why not try one of the other parks on that early EMH? You could do MK on Tues, take your off day on Wed., and do one of the other parks on Thur.

 

[QueenofScott]

We were there last week and did the morning extra magic hour on Thursday, the 9th. We got TONS of rides in before 9:00. Let's see if I can remember what we did.....Dumbo ( our kids are teens, but you have to do Dumbo!), Barnstormer (twice), Pooh, Space mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Oh, and Astroorbiter right before 9:00. We were the only ones on Barnstormer and the CM asked if we wanted to go again when we pulled back up, so we did....that was a rare treat. We walked right on everything, with the exception of a short wait on SM and Astro Orbiter. We hung around until after our lunch fastpass at BOG, then headed out of the park, as it began to get crowded.