I'm not crazy for planning to do a park on EMH day, right?

[marriedmarylander]

We are staying on the resort.

It seems to be a general strategy (resort or non-resort guests) to avoid parks on EMH days because of crowds. However in my schedule I have parks on two EMH days (EP, AK) with another day possibly doing MGM morning. My itinerary looks good this way and I thought a couple extra hours in case we need it at the park won't hurt

Do other non-hoppers plan EMH days who stay on resorts (or who don't)?

Plus even with all the tips, guides, etc no one person can predict what park will be crowded on any particular day. Everything is like a big theory.

 

[oogieboogie]

Since we usually go during slow times, we always take advantage of EMH because typically during value season the parks close early. We definitely take advantage of EMH at MK where they have the most rides open during EMH. We don't really do EMH at AK because we've found it to be excruciatingly crowded on the EMH day that we did do AK.

 

[marriedmarylander]

Since we usually go during slow times, we always take advantage of EMH because typically during value season the parks close early. We definitely take advantage of EMH at MK where they have the most rides open during EMH. We don't really do EMH at AK because we've found it to be excruciatingly crowded on the EMH day that we did do AK.

Was that AK EMH morning or Evening? We were doing the evening one.

 

[Bob P]

Hi MM,

I recently posted my thoughts on this on another thread, but I have a been a faithful reader of the Unofficial Guide for over ten years, and this is the main point is disagree with the authors about.

EMH is a HUGE perk of staying on site. We ALWAYS go to the EMH park at opening time and stay until the crowds get unbearable (usually around lunchtime). If we're there in the off season, we've stayed all day.

I think it's crazy to give up an hour advantage over those not staying on site. In addition, many people on site are not willing/able to get up an extra hour early and hit the parks, so that keeps the EMH crowd down even more.

But a note to everyone: please do not pay attention to what I say here on the actual days I am in the parks!

 

[JimVL]

I've been thinking about this also. From what I've read in one guidebook it is not a good idea to use the extra hour you receive in the morning with people streaming in behind you. What I'm curious about is the three extra hours you get in the evening. I can picture the parks being crowded in the evening just before EMH begins, but that it would be a lot less crowded after the EMH begins. Can anybody tell about their experience with the evening hours?

 

[pixie08]

Hi MM,

I recently posted my thoughts on this on another thread, but I have a been a faithful reader of the Unofficial Guide for over ten years, and this is the main point is disagree with the authors about.

EMH is a HUGE perk of staying on site. We ALWAYS go to the EMH park at opening time and stay until the crowds get unbearable (usually around lunchtime). If we're there in the off season, we've stayed all day.

I think it's crazy to give up an hour advantage over those not staying on site. In addition, many people on site are not willing/able to get up an extra hour early and hit the parks, so that keeps the EMH crowd down even more.

But a note to everyone: please do not pay attention to what I say here on the actual days I am in the parks!

I totally agree!!! We always used morning hours! Last year they had e-ride night and that was awesome all the major attractions were open and after the first 45 min there seemed to be so few people..I think we only waited like 5-10 min for space mountain and rode it twice!! I am hoping EMH evenings are similiar this year (except eride you had to pay) so maybe it will be a little more crowded so at lunch we are going to take a break for a nap or swim at the hottest point of day and then head back at night when it will be cool! A 20 min wait at night is better than an hour wait in the hot blistering sun!

 

[EEyorelover22]

Was that AK EMH morning or Evening? We were doing the evening one.

Mornings at AK EMH are too crowded. I've read posts that the evening ones are great!!

 

[oogieboogie]

Was that AK EMH morning or Evening? We were doing the evening one.

AK morning. Haven't done the evening ones yet. They didn't have them when we went.

 

[Disneyonmymind]

We always do the morning EMH. This year we plan to check out the evening EMH as well. All the parks are crowded, to some degree. EMH gives you more hours at the beginning and/or end of the day when the parks are least crowded, plus cooler, if you go during the summer. Why would I give that up?????????

However, if you are not planning on getting there at opening and/or don't think you can make it till close, then I would avoid that park altogether. I may be a simpleton, but I refuse to over-analyze this one. Too me, it's simple. Either go and take full advantage of EMH or avoid them altogether. (JMHO)

Jackie

 

[marriedmarylander]

However, if you are not planning on getting there at opening and/or don't think you can make it till close, then I would avoid that park altogether. I may be a simpleton, but I refuse to over-analyze this one. Too me, it's simple. Either go and take full advantage of EMH or avoid them altogether. (JMHO)

Jackie

Do you know I am thinking this way as well. We plan to go to AK during it's evening EMH day. DH wants to go in the morning but if we go in the morning and it's an EMH day I want to stay for the evening EMH since I'm a resort guest. I think we'll go in the morning for DH and if we are making good pace, take a break and come back later around 3:30 or 4 or so to get the safari in before they close that.

 

[mimif1]

We always go to morning EMH. We eat a little breakfast in the room, do the park until our PS, and then go back to the hotel. We get either the last breakfast or the first lunch PS that we can make. We're usually leaving right when it is getting really busy. I love how many rides we can do during that one hour. We go to a different park in the afternoon. We don't do evening EMH because our little ones just can't stay up. It really seems to work for us.

 

[BAST]

I have always done the AK early morning hour. Since AK is open for such a short time, I find it a great addition to the days we spend at AK. We usually do ITTBAB first thing (while everyone else is running to the Safari) then wander over to the Safari, get a FP and eat breakfast at Tusker House. By the time our fastpass is ready, we do the Safari and then we follow the UG plan for the day. It is a little more crowded - but once we have the Safari and ITTBAB done, we can relax.

I cannot wait to do the evening EMH at the AK in August - I have never been there at night.

As to the other parks - on our last trip, I avoided the EMH at the parks (other than AK) and went to those parks the next day. Arriving before opening, we were able to do all the rides we wanted and then headed back to the resort for a swim, followed by an evening at another park.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I've always done morning EMH's so I'd be interested to hear what people think about the evening.

I know the Unofficial guide says to avoid EMH but, why do I feel so compelled to do it?

Thought anyone?

 

[EEyorelover22]

We are planning on doing the EMH at AK in the evening due to the wonderful reviews about it this spring. I think it will be awesome to see the Tree of Life at night. I'm not sure how this will work with the summer sunshine later at night, but we are going to try it.

 

[marriedmarylander]

I wish we could do AK EMH morning to try it out. It's on Saturday and the park would be open from 8AM to 7PM which is almost like having morning and evening EMH since the rest of the time we are there normal closing time is 5PM. But unfortunately Saturday is the last full day on our trip and I'd hate to wait that long to see AK since the animals sound interesting to me. So we are doing it in the early part of the week.

 

[MinniMama]

Ok here my two cents we went in August 2 years in a row 03, 04 and both times the EMH park (MK) was WAY more crowded BY 8:30 - 30 MINUTES INTO EMH THAN THE SAME PARK (MK) THE NEXT DAY AT 10:00 AN HOUR INTO REGULAR TOURING DAY. PLus the CMs tell me it is by far the most crowded park of the day each day! So you go there and I'll be a the empty park next door We have actually left EMH parks at 8:45 gone to another park and had it be 3xs less people -just my experience! We NEVER do EMH morning but we are going to try EMH evening. I think if you do EMH just plan to leave and hop when the park gets crowded.

 

[marriedmarylander]

Ok here my two cents we went in August 2 years in a row 03, 04 and both times the EMH park (MK) was WAY more crowded BY 8:30 - 30 MINUTES INTO EMH THAN THE SAME PARK (MK) THE NEXT DAY AT 10:00 AN HOUR INTO REGULAR TOURING DAY. PLus the CMs tell me it is by far the most crowded park of the day each day! So you go there and I'll be a the empty park next door We have actually left EMH parks at 8:45 gone to another park and had it be 3xs less people -just my experience! We NEVER do EMH morning but we are going to try EMH evening. I think if you do EMH just plan to leave and hop when the park gets crowded.

Thanks! MK is a park we wanted to try to avoid on EMH day since it's more popular. We plan to do Epcot though which has morning and evening the same day - aren't sure if we should attempt morning though. And AK evening EMH as well... Hmmm we might do MGM morning EMH since it's on the day we leave and wanted to get a last ride of ToT in before we left and check out any star wars events.

Some reason in May they added morning EMHs to days that already had evening EMHs (Epcot, MK, and MGM).

 

[Tinkaroo]

I'm currently struggling with this. We always have done the EMH mornings, and always thought it was worth it. We plan to try them again, but will high-tail it out of a park if it gets too crowded! We would usually head back to the hotel, and then hop to another park later on, around lunch time anyway. I will miss those E-Ride Nights!!!

I still do think the mornings are apt to be less crowded than the evenings - I think people are more likely to stay up late on their vacation than get up early (I know that's my MO when I'm anywhere else but WDW!)

EMH at AK in the a.m. did seem a bit more crowded than the other parks. I'd like to try the night one, but have heard conflicting reports on whether the Safari is open - that's one of our favorites!

 

[EEyorelover22]

I think one thing that will really play a big role in EHM this year is that people may not have park hopping on their tickets and can't go anywhere else. I wonder if the park with EMH will be packed for that reason. People who don't plan won't know to avoid EMH parks on that day. I hope that made sense.

 

[webray]

We always go to the early entry park..you can get so much done before the regular crowds get in, and that puts you ahead of the game all day long. We have never avoided emh in the parks..ever, it was us and three kids. And now, as they are grown and out of the house..hubby and I still love the early entry.