Foolish to not use EMH?

[Sean91]

Hi y'all!

Just looking for a little advice? On our previous trips we never fully utilised EMH with them being so late in the night and effecting the next day, is this a mistake? Can quite a lot be fit into those hours and are most of the E ticket type attractions open?

Thanks for any advice

 

[acbshada]

I think it really all depends on how you want to vacation. Like you said - if you didn't want to be out late that night before because you had big plans for the next morning, then I think it makes perfect sense to not go.

But personally, I really enjoy the Extra Magic Hours - especially at Magic Kingdom at night. When four of us adults when in January, the park was open until 2AM. We closed it down riding the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. The one thing that you will find to be closed down some of the shows, but the bigger rides all tend to keep rolling until the wee hours of the mornin'.

 

[Sean91]

Thanks, the idea of Haunted Mansion and thunder mountain after dark is amazing

 

[CSchex]

Our days are different from most, we are night owls with teenage kids and prefer the late nights as opposed to rope drop or early mornings. Over the course of 8 trips in as many years, we have always used EMH in the evenings. The later the better! Between the hours of 1-3 am, the park is practically vacant. One night when we left, we were the only people on Main Street. It was amazing! (We take our late nights to the next level and grab a snack and do some shopping after the park closes, then clear out about 30 minutes after the official close time.) Splash mountain was not open during EMH on our last trip, but that is the only ride I can think of.

 

[acbshada]

Thanks, the idea of Haunted Mansion and thunder mountain after dark is amazing

There is nothing like being able to ride Haunted Mansion in the dark, hop off the ride, run through the graveyard (where there is hardly no line) and get right back on the ride. Seriously, you would probably love that.

 

[hakepb]

Evening EMH is only "worth it" if you plan to take full advantage of the 2nd hour.

It also works best if you hop to the EMH park.

Personally, I seem to get the most out of the DHS EMH if you do not go to F! that night(Early or late show) RnR is normally a <20 minute wait in EMH during F!, so you can ride that a few times, go on ToT, and then over to TSMM 2x (and that's during peak Christmas or summer times)

 

[mkla2015]

Night time EMH at MK are great! We're not morning people so we enjoy staying out late and taking advantage of EMH when they are offered at night. On our last trip, we were able to accomplish lots of touring and rides in those extra 2 late night hours- space mtn, 7dmt, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and POTC just to name a few. The park was still crowded but the waits were very short. It seemed that a lot of people who were not onsite guests stayed in the parks but of course couldn't ride anything.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Hi y'all!

Just looking for a little advice? On our previous trips we never fully utilised EMH with them being so late in the night and effecting the next day, is this a mistake? Can quite a lot be fit into those hours and are most of the E ticket type attractions open?

Thanks for any advice

To do or not to do emh.
1. If you want a one size fits all advice and don't want things any more complicated than yes or no the answer is to avoid emh parks entirely. More often than not, this is the better option.
2. If you're staying offsite, avoid emh parks entirely.
3. If you do not have hoppers, consider avoiding emh parks entirely.
4. During particularly slack times, consider emh even to the point of ignoring #3 above. Hours are short and the extra crowds they bring to the park are minimal. 15 extra percent of a low number is still a low number. And the extra time helps.
5. During particularly busy times, consider emh. It's crowded anyway. More isn't going to change that and you'll probably want to go to the parks when they are least busy in the morning and late evening.
6. If Disney schedules an emh within 2 weeks of your trip or while you are down there avoid that park if you can. There's a reason they added it. And that reason is they expect crowds.
7. Don't go to an emh park without attending the emh. This is especially true of a morning emh because the advantage of starting at zero line condition is lost.

Morning emh.
1. IF you otherwise plan to go back to the hotel and rest and then hop to another park, this is great for EMH attendance. You lose nothing in the transfer (you were going to do it anyway)
2. If your plan is to hop directly to another park, you will give back 30-45 minutes of time saved and you won't arrive at your new park with a zero line condition. Sleep in and hit the second park at its opening.
3. Morning emh is shorter but has the huge advantage of starting at a zero line condition.

Evening emh.
1. The later the emh, the less crowded it is likely to be. However, the drawback is you will be less likely to want to get up for morning touring. If you're good afternoon nap types, you could probably swing it. Otherwise it's a rough go to be in the parks all day until 2am and then get up at 6 the next morning.
2. These do not start out at zero line condition and non hotel guests are allowed to cycle through whatever line they are already in. However, they won't be able to ride any more after that.

 

[Ava]

Thanks, the idea of Haunted Mansion and thunder mountain after dark is amazing

Thunder Mountain after dark is like a completely different ride. Highly recommend it!

DW & I went to late EMH at MK on our recent trip and rode HM, BTMRR x2, and Space. We could've gotten in one more ride, since we headed out a bit before 2am, but we were tired. I've never done EMH at any of the other parks, but I'd say its definitely worth it at MK if you can sleep in the next day.

 

[Disnsyncey]

in a few weeks we are going to WDW and we are only using 1 PM EMH at MK, and the rest are not really of any interest, and we barely have any AM EMH! So we are staying away from the PM EMH parks mostly and then going where we feel like after.....I'm not sure that makes sense, but we looked at the crowd calendars and staying away from EMH totally fits this trip best (except for the PM EMH which we will probably come in closer to the end of the normal day cuz its one of the only nights with Wishes, in the middle of Halloween party season)

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I am of the "foolish to use EMH" crowd. We never use EMH unless we are hopping into or out of the park with EMH around the crowds.

 

[skuttle]

We used the early EHM (7am!!) every other day during our Easter trip and it was SO worth it. We got so much done during those first few early hours, that by the time the huge crowds arrived, we were able to leave for a bit and not feel like we were missing anything. Our youngest are too little for the super late EMH, but before they came around, me, DH and our oldest DS have some great memories from the 1am-3am EMH at MK!

 

[Oz Mouseketeer]

Personally, we found AM EMH's a tourist trap... especially at MK - We rocked up with a plan and couldn't do anything because nothing was open still - I have vivid memories of us telling ourselves we'll never fall for AM EMH's again because we found them so frustrating!

 

[vicb]

My family loves eve emh! We feel most productive at MK and HS, enjoy Epcot late at night but never seem to get on too many rides per say. MK is so special late at night. Sometimes when we do late night we plan water park the next day or sleep in and have resort breakfast before hitting a park with lower expectations to accomplish a lot. I actually think FP+ helps with this type of plan as you can plan your 3 FP+ for later in the day so you know for sure you will get on those rides plus whatever else you fit in.

 

[Sean91]

Thanks for all the feedback! Using early EMH seems to be a really sensible idea, we are going at a quieter time of year so it might free up more time for DTD later in the evening

 

[MatzoBelle]

Personally, we found AM EMH's a tourist trap... especially at MK - We rocked up with a plan and couldn't do anything because nothing was open still - I have vivid memories of us telling ourselves we'll never fall for AM EMH's again because we found them so frustrating!

Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open during morning EMH.

 

[travelbuffnj]

I read recently that someone rode Splash and BTMRR between 8-9am during EMH. That was going to be our plan before using FPs in Fantasyland. Is this not possible? Are POTC and Jungle Cruise closed too? Bummer!

 

[MermaidMommy]

I read recently that someone rode Splash and BTMRR between 8-9am during EMH. That was going to be our plan before using FPs in Fantasyland. Is this not possible? Are POTC and Jungle Cruise closed too? Bummer!

No, you won't be able to ride anything in any land other than Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. Those are the only two lands that are ever open for morning EMH.

The other lands are open for evening EMH - maybe that's what the person you read about meant.

 

[skuttle]

I read recently that someone rode Splash and BTMRR between 8-9am during EMH. That was going to be our plan before using FPs in Fantasyland. Is this not possible? Are POTC and Jungle Cruise closed too? Bummer!

Correct, those lands are closed during morning EHM. We did morning EMH twice during our trip. For one we went straight to fantasyland, and for the other, Tomorrowland. We were able to pretty much knock out Tomorrowland during early EMH, and got a LOT done in Fantasyland as well. We saved our FP for Frontierland and Adventureland attractions.

 

[Pemeberly]

It really depends on how you vacation. Personally, I'm a night owl. Evening EMH at MK are awesome for that reason. This past week MK was open on Saturday for EMH from 12am - 2am, so we rode Splash Mountain 3 times in a row without getting off. It was amazing.

If you're more of a morning person, morning EMH might be worth it, but I don't know since getting up early is always a struggle for me, so I never take advantage of them. I'd have to imagine they're not QUITE as nice since early hours are more accessible for kids... plus, they're only an hour long so you don't get as much time.

All of the above is for Magic Kingdom only, by the way. I always went this past Friday to an Evening EMH at Epcot, and that wasn't quite as nice as MK. We did do Soarin' at a 10-20 minute wait, but we also had that a short of a wait the afternoon before, too. Test Track was long, so we skipped it.