How crowded are parks during EXTRA EVENING HOURS????

[lilfroggie]

We found that getting the wrist bands at the front of the park was generally the worst. At MK we got ours about an hour early by the Pooh ride with no wait. At MGM we got it at RnR Coaster with not wait. At AK...I can't remember, but we didn'twait either...Maybe near Dinosaur?? And at Epcot we got ours 1 hour after it started between World Showcase and Future World. I think that most people assume they can only get them at the front...and most CM's will direct you to the front too. Just find a CM and ask where (other than the front of the park) you can get them and they should be able to tell you!

 

[dawnrose]

We did EMH at Magic Kingdom on June 13th and it was great...we arrived at 11 p.m. and got wrist bands up front with no wait....we rode space mt. with a 20 min. wait, Pooh with a 20 min wait then tea cups, small world, haunted mansion, Thunder Mountain 2x, and Splash Mountain with no wait at all....in fact, we were the only ones in the log on Splash! We did emh the next evening at Animal Kingdom and were able to visit with Mickey and Minnie with no wait...and see an extra show....not as much selection so takes more planning...there was also a huge line to get wrist bands up front so we just walked further into the park until we found another spot with no lines...

 

[Tiger Fan]

I wish I had better news, but we were at MK on Monday and it was AWFUL!! I honestly thought someone might get hurt the crowds were so thick and no one was moving. People were starting to push and shove and get very restless. It settled down after the 2nd parade, but not by much. We were able to get off the main paths and enjoy a little bit, but we sure liked things better when you paid to stay. We are going to try AK's EMH one evening next week and see how that goes. I'd like to see that park at dark. Also might give MGM a try. I'll let you all know how those go.
Lisa
Tiger Fan

 

[maxiv]

to avoid the crowds, would you suggest lets say when MK has eveniing EMH to visit MGM then ? Or rather visit the park which has monrning EMH in the evening ? like MK has evening EMH, epcot morning emh...to avoid the crowds, should i go to MK in the AM and epcot in the PM ?

max

 

[novastar]

thanks, makes sense!

 

[fishy_mouse]

Our Experience with EMH evening.

6/16 (Epcot) - No trouble getting a wristband. Hours were 9-12. At 9:00, we got a FP for Fast Track (9:40 to 10:40), standby wait was over an hour. Soarin was also over an hour. We spent 45 min in Living Seas, looked at the fish and enjoyed Crush, then used the FP for Fast Track and left Epcot before 11.

6/17 (MK) - Hours were 11 to 2. No problem getting wristband. Mob scene. Forget the mountains or Buzz. It is good for the less popular attractions. We saw Philarmagic, Haunted Mansion, and Country Bears with no waiting and left around 12:15 AM. There were still many people coming into the park then. Many were pushing strollers.

6/19 (MGM) - Entered park around 8. Hours were 10 to 1. No problem getting wristband. Another mob scene. We didn't even use EMH, we caught Fantasmic at 9, then left the park. It was starting to rain hard, so it may have cut down the crowd some, but we didn't stay. There's not that many attractions open to justify the crowd.

6/20 (MK) - No problem getting wristband, but we didn't even stay. It was just too crowded.

However, we tried the reverse theory. We entered MK at 9:15 the next morning and had an extremely productive stay. We were able to ride all 3 mountains, rode Buzz twice, rode the carousel, Peter Pan, Pirates, HofP, Tiki Birds, and Treehouse. We ate lunch Pecos Bills and caught the train to the main entrance and left MK at 2:45

 

[welovewdw]

However, we tried the reverse theory. We entered MK at 9:15 the next morning and had an extremely productive stay. We were able to ride all 3 mountains, rode Buzz twice, rode the carousel, Peter Pan, Pirates, HofP, Tiki Birds, and Treehouse. We ate lunch Pecos Bills and caught the train to the main entrance and left MK at 2:45

That is a great idea! We're going to have to try that when we go next week! Thanks!

 

[fishy_mouse]

forgot to mention that there was some FP use in my previous post.

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

All I am going to say is avoid Magic Kingdom that night! It is really not even worth it with the amount of people that are there.

 

[carol-lamb]

Just got back from Disney World on Tuesday. Did extra magic evening hours this past Sunday at MGM and it was very crowded on Sunset Blvd and by TOT and RRC - but part of the crowd was because Fantasmic was getting out. It started pouring rain and everyone was rushing to get into the gift shops, etc. We ended up leaving because of the crowds and rain and we didn't do any attractions. We went to MK this past Monday and the park was very very crowded during the day. I thought that was a bad sign for the extra magic evening hours which we planned on doing, but I have to say that after Wishes and the last Spectro Magic Parade the park really thinned out and the lines weren't that bad for the attractions. I think we waited 5 or 10 minutes for Buzz Lightyear and after we got done, my daughter noticed there wasn't even a line anymore. Got right in for Mickey's Philharmagic and Winnie the Pooh. We just enjoyed walking around the park with no crowds. Also, no line for Pirates or Haunted Mansion. My son and his girlfriend only made it to about 12:30, but my 12 year old daughter and myself toughed it out to 2:00!!! We left time for an ice cream cone on Main Street (no line) and got a nice table to sit and look at the castle. Also shopped in the Emporium on way out. We had a great time at the Extra Magic Evening Hours at MK - a great way to end our trip.

 

[mrp4352]

In mid-May, we did the EMHs during the week and had no problems. Walked on to everything (even at MK). I think the longest wait was about 10 minutes on Splash...

For what it's worth, I not having to pay for e-ride night benefits!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

We were there in May / early June. THE EMH hours at MK were pretty crowded (75 min for space mountain, 30 min for Buzz Lightyear). Epcot's were so busy that we left. 95 min for Soarin' and for Test Track. We found that it was best to avoid the park that had the evening hours that day. Mornings never seemed to be crowded, though

Jen

 

[PixieDust32]

 

[sandibeck]

We were at Disney June 11-18. Our last night (6/17) was a Friday and it was EMH at MK (11pm-2am). This is the only EMH we took advantage of - just the way it worked out. We had been to Epcot & MGM earlier in the day and went back to POR for dinner @ Boatwright's (which was much better than I thought it would be based on info from the boards). We went to MK after dinner and got there about 20 mins before Wishes (which started at 10pm). After Wishes, we decided to stay put to see SpectroMagic (which started at 11pm). As soon as Spectro was finished, we headed to Tomorrowland. We rode Space Mtn (about 20 min wait) and Astro Orbiter (about 25 min wait). Then we went to ride Big Thunder, but it was down (we were very upset as this was my 6 yo DD's favorite) - they told us to check back because they had no way of knowing if or when it would come back up. So we went & rode Jungle Cruise (10 min wait), then the kids & I took a bathroom break while my DH went to check on BTMR. It was up!! DD was SO HAPPPY!!! Rode that - 5 min wait (mostly walking up to the loading area!). Then we rode Cindy's Carrousel (5 min wait). The last thing we rode was Philharmagic (for the 3rd time this trip!!) - about a 5 min wait. Then we headed out of MK .... until next time!!
Oh - and we got our wristbands on the way in. There were only a couple of people ahead of us to get them. Seemed like a steady stream of people, but not really a backed up line.
I was pleased with everything we accomplished this trip. We even managed to rest a little bit! I really didn't expect to accomplish as much as we did since it was June - guess I didn't have my expectations very high, therefore we met them!

 

[disneyjulie]

Are just the rides listed opened at parks?? It seems like more rides are opened by the posts???? What have you rode after park closed that was not on list for EMH??