Going to a park on EMH days?

[mom2willnash]

I have been told that I should AVOID whatever park is having the EMH days. Is this true? Are they that crowded because of the EMH? I am staying onsite so would be able to take advantage of this option. Should I go during the EMH and do as much as I can and then switch to another park by lunchtime? Or should I just pick another park? I'm trying to plan my itinerary now so that I can pick the restaurants and make ADRs.

Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

It depends on how you look at it, how early you can get up, and what your goals are.

For instance, if you REALLY REALLY will get up and be at the park by 8AM on an EMH morning, then go for it. They are wonderful. The crowds do build up as the morning goes on, though, because many inexperienced people plan to get up, sleep in, but still go to that park that day. If you REALLY REALLY get there early, by the time those people start to arrive (10-11AM) you'll have seen half the park, and even when they start doing their first attractions near the front of the park you'll be in the back of the park where it's still relatively quiet.

Then, around lunch, head out for a break or to another park for the rest of the day. That way, you've enjoyed the EMH park, gotten the benefit, but then get out of there before it gets really busy with all the "good intentions" people who slept late but still went to that park that day because it was in "the plan".

Now, as to evening EMH, they have a bad rep because they don't always mean short lines. You will find that pay-sites and books will tell you to avoid them like the plague. Many of us have a more balanced view of this.

Remember, those plans and publications assume your goal is to totally avoid any crowds and your only goal is to ride rides in quick succession for your ENTIRE trip. It doesn't take into account how, for instance, in many times of the year when WDW is slower and hours are reduced, it's the only way to hang out in some parks after dark. And I wouldn't dream of missing an EMH PM at the AK - even if you only do a few rides, it's SO awesome to be in that park at night.

Finally, regarding PM EMH's, you'll find many people say "Ugh, it was crowded, so after two hours we gave up." That's exactly what happens, and if you spend the first two hours walking around and enjoying things at a leisurely pace, avoiding crowds when you can, that last hour can be MAGIC. I've done things like ride ToT or Splash Mountain a half dozen times in a row, or stayed on the Haunted Mansion for five rotations. The parks really close out by the last hour, and remember : as long as you are in line by, say, 11:59PM if the park closes at 12:00AM, you get to ride - the rides don't close at exactly the time the park offically closes, that just means they close off the line. I've ridden a ride as much as 20-30 minutes after offical closing before.

The best advice, in my opinion, to examine what you want out of each day. For many, it varies. Although the popular wisdom seems to be "avoid EMH", if you are willing to work with them (and have a park hopper), you can really take advantage of them and make them as special as possible.

NED

 

[kirbsam]

am emh is a must for my family. by 10, you will have so much done already. we can take or leave pm emh. if we have energy or no other plans, we hit them, but they are no where as user friendly as am emh.

 

[alyssa810]

We have also had much better luck with the morning EMH. I think that most people would rather sleep late in the morning and stay out later at night when they're on vacation, instead of getting up early. We've only done the evening EMH at MGM and MK, and in both instances, the parks were much more crowded than mornings, so much so that it almost doesn't seem worth it to us...although it is nice to just to hang out in the parks later

 

[sebfigmin]

If you are staying off property, my advice is to go to another park besides the one with the emh. If you go to the park with the emh, when you arrive, the park we'll already have a swarm of people in it. You will start out behind schedule. If you go to a park that isn't having the emh, you can get in when it opens. It won't be very busy. You'll be able to enjoy the park, ride some rides and obtain park hopper passes before it gets really busy. By about 10 or 11 is when they get really busy so you will be that much ahead of the game. By the afternoon, you will have gotten most of what you want done taken care of so you can go about it leisurely riding or seeing attractions again. Also, eating a very relaxing late lunch/early dinner. We were just there for a week Nov. 4th - Nov. 11th for my Birthday and this is what we did. It worked to our advantage. We had a wonderful time. It was a very special Birthday that I will never forget.

 

[WaltD4Me]

For the morning EMH it really does depend on you getting there early...for the EMH open, if you aren't going to that or can't (I don't because I am just NOT a morning person) then go to another park.

On my last trip an aquaintance of mine was there with her family, on the two days our trip overlapped, she went to a morning EMH park (arriving around 9am, after EMH opening) and I went to non-EMH parks and she said their parks were very crowded by 11am, while we had minimal crowds and waits at our non-EMH parks through most of the day. I didn't really notice crowds until late afternoon.

 

[pepe of ohio]

I take no stock in what others have said or posted. I feel I'm there, its my money and my ticket, we'll try the extended hours. We have done such and never had any mass hordes of people. Morning or evening are very managable, just don't think you'll be all alone in the park during these times. We like the evening hours the best, sun sets, its cooler, lighting is fantastic and at the start the park tend to be crowded but we never arrive at the set time but about 30 minutes later, crowds are thinned out and as the night goes on alot of families poop out and then the thinning is apparent. If the mass seems too bad, we hop to another park, no big deal but we tend to see and do for ourselves.

 

[MikeAidanEoinMom]

am emh is a must for my family. by 10, you will have so much done already. we can take or leave pm emh. if we have energy or no other plans, we hit them, but they are no where as user friendly as am emh.

I agree we did Fantasy land in an hour during MK Early EMH.... The littles were very happy. We walked on everything. The only crowed Late EMH we encountered was the MK (an after the first hour or two it did empty out)we did them at all the parks and the other three were empty.

 

[bytheblood]

I go to the parks that have EMH evenings, just not the mornings. What I like about the evenings (really EMH or not) are that most of the families with smaller kids (usually the stroller-sized children) have left the park and this reduces the crowds quite a bit. I also like the fact that in the evenings, people seem to have slowed down and are not quite as unkind and are not in as big of a hurry.

So, based on my personal feelings on evening EMH, I do not go first thing in the mornings (EMH or not) because I leave that to the families with smaller children that have the energy in the AM so that they can do the things they are too tired to do at night.

I am a morning person, but I like the parks more when the sun is setting.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

 

[byoung]

We enjoy the EMH.

 

[Laura B]

We'll be there the last week in Jan. We're trying to see which EMH days to use and which to avoid.
For instance, in AK, I would think the Early EMH make sense because the animals would be more active earlier in the day. What is there to see at night?
If the park closes at 8pm or 9pm, how long do the evening EMH go? Which parks are best for evening?

FYI: Our kids are 6, 10 and 12 - girls.

Thanks - laura

 

[suzannedid]

Bump! Bump!

 

[MikeAidanEoinMom]

We'll be there the last week in Jan. We're trying to see which EMH days to use and which to avoid.
For instance, in AK, I would think the Early EMH make sense because the animals would be more active earlier in the day. What is there to see at night?
If the park closes at 8pm or 9pm, how long do the evening EMH go? Which parks are best for evening?

FYI: Our kids are 6, 10 and 12 - girls.

Thanks - laura

We did both the early and the late hours at AK.... The only thing not open in the evening is the safari and the animal areas. Pretty much everything else is open. We did Kali three time in a row and never got off... We also walked right on Everest. The evening hours were 3 hours past closing time. We enjoyed the EMH

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Some people *VOW* that EMH's at night are insanely crowded and so not worth it. I beg to differe. I think the rule of thumb is that it depends on what time of the year you are going. I tend to go during the busiest seasons ever (summer, Easter, Christmas) and go to all nite EMH's. I experience little to no waits everytime. This is also when EMH at night runs from around 12 midnight or 1 am on. If you go when EMH starts at 7 or 8 then it will definitely be more crowded.