July Strategy??? Hit the A.M. EMH or avoid??

[kerri0616]

OK, I'm torn. I see that I have 2 choices:

(By the way...we'll be in The World late July. We do NOT have hoppers.)

Strategy #1: Visit the parks with the morning EMH. We can possibly get ahead of the crowds using this strategy. Try to hit the headliners before the park opens to the general public an hour later.

Strategy #2: Avoid the parks with ANY EMH (AM or PM) and try to stay away from the crowds by doing so. Perhaps the heavier crowds will flock to the parks that have extended hours and we can stay out of their way at one of the other 2 parks.

Thoughts?

We last visited in March 2009 and tried the "avoid any park with EMH" strategy. It was sooooooo crowded every day! Maybe we were "doing it wrong."

I would just love to hear from other non-hoppers and how they plan their park days.

Thanks!

Kerri

 

[hardhead]

Strategy #2: Avoid the parks with ANY EMH (AM or PM) and try to stay away from the crowds by doing so. Perhaps the heavier crowds will flock to the parks that have extended hours and we can stay out of their way at one of the other 2 parks.

That's the plan!!!!!!!!!!! Let the kids kid one more hour of sleep and hit rope drop at a non EMH park. I think EMH parks are always more crowded

 

[Robo]

Strategy #1: Visit the parks with the morning EMH. We can possibly get ahead of the crowds using this strategy. Try to hit the headliners before the park opens to the general public an hour later.

That one-

In July...
in the HEAT...
Go before the place fills up and the sun bakes the ground.

My wife and I love the morning EMH's.

We go nearly every morning when there is one
available.
We used to go to "EE" (early entry) back before EMH
was started.

But she always warns me to NOT TELL EVERYONE about how
fun and easy the AM EMH's are, because then the early
parks will be too BUSY for us to enjoy.

But, I always tell HER not to worry.

Most folks simply will NOT get up early on vacation!
Nothing will change their minds.

So I am here to say,
"THANK YOU" to all of the sleepy-heads...
They make my AM EMH's about the best, most private and
carefree times we ever have at the parks!

And I know I won't be seeing them coming in until,
oh, 10:30-11:00am, when I'm on my way Park-Hopping OUT of that park!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I will always generally avoid the emh park/s. I prefer a more relaxed, non-commando vacation, and the non emh park/s will generally provide that.

 

[kaligal]

During busy times, I avoid EMH parks. Period.

I get just as much done in a non-EMH park as I would in the EMH park. No question. And there are fewer people all morning - not just the first hour. And I get an extra hour to sleep or swim or whatever.

During not-so-busy times, I do the a.m. EMH park and a different park in the afternoon.

 

[Sandisw]

We go every summer, typically late July or August. We avoid EMH if we can. We found that the morning at the MK were least crowded the morning AFTER they had EMH at night as well as the mornings that they have EMH at night.

Last year, we were able to get all the big rides down, some twice, as well as many others by 11:30 am. It was great.

So, now, we will plan to visit parks with this idea in mind.

 

[kerri0616]

OP here...

Hmmmm....most seem to favor avoiding EMH parks---except for Robo (whose opinion I definitely value )

We have no problem getting out of bed on vacation. Love to think about the sleepy heads slogging down to the food court around 9:30am while I've already retrieved 3 sets of fastpasses and have ridden Space Mountain 3 times! In fact, one year on 12/26, we arrived at MK for a 7am opening! Amazing!!!

I would definitely love to hear from some more summer veterans!

Thanks again!

I'm off to research Touring Plan (I'm not a subscriber....but I bet I can figure out the pattern based on free data



Kerri

 

[Tiggerrn2]

August 08 here. We absolutely took advantage of EMH AM openings. Hit rope drops EMH AM whenever they fell in our week. Best strategy for Toy Story Mania without a doubt. We would leave the parks at lunch time and head back to the resorts for swim, nap, food or whatever. Then we'd go back in the evening for parades/fireworks and walk on whatever rides posted less than 20 min waits and use the fastpasses we'd collected that morning for the busy rides.

 

[mousireid]

Honestly, every time we have been there at park opening EMH we have accomplished SO much because around 10-11am you see the throngs arriving in droves. Also, the heat just keeps building so we take advantage!
We do also collect our fastpasses, get inside for AC lunch and then head back to hotel for a nap in AC or swim then nap. WE refresh and hit the parks again, fastpasses in hand as we see all these bedraggles folks giving up after parade/fireworks after such a long day! Better for us!

 

[wdhinn89]

Where going in July too. We, unfortunately are the sleepy head family at the food court at 9ish. With two teens, it is unavoidable, but hey, we are on vacation

We don't always follow best days recomendations. We go to Magic Kingdom on our arrival day as well as the day after. It's tradition so it is what it is.

We will have fun no matter what. When crowds get crazy and it gets really hot, we will go back to the hotel, swim and relax and go back later in the evening.

 

[steph73]

Generally, we tend to avoid them. HOWEVER, in the heat of July, I would definitely take advantage of the am EMHs. Best strategy is probably to do EMH am, then hop to a non-EMH park for the afternoon/evening.

If you don't want to get Hoppers, this is what I would do:

Make sure you are at the park early for the EMH opening. If you get there late, there is really no point.

Gather Fast Passes, but don't use them (yet)! Ride standby in everything that has less than a 10 minute wait time. Go for rides that tend to get busy as the day progresses (headliners). If the line is just too long even early, just grab a FP and move on to something else. Don't bother with things like CoP or the TTA right now. Save those for later when everything is insane.

Anyway, ride standby and collect FPs for a few hours. You will be surprised what you can accomplish in the first couple of hours if you plan it right. When things start getting hairy (around noon or so), bail. Head back to the resort to swim, nap, eat lunch (if you didn't grab something in the park before you left). Then late in the afternoon, head back over. Yes, it will be crowded. Yes, the lines will be crazy for the headliners. Yes, FPs will be gone or have very late return times. But wait! Remember those FPs you gathered that morning? Use them now! And now is also a good time to do rides that rarely have a wait time anyway.

Good luck!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

If you can be up and arrive at the EMH park in time, do that to avoid the heat and crowds. If you are not going to show up until 9:00 anyway, do a park without morning EMH.

We almost always go to the park with morning EMH. The only exception is if we have an early ADR at Crystal Palace or Akershus - then we go on a non-EMH day.

 

[gatormom2tots]

We did MK this past easter during EMH. WE had fantasyland completed by a little after 8 (including Philharmagic). We rode a couple of rides twice while DH ran to frontierland to grab FP at 9 when they opened. Then we headed over to toontown and rode barnstormer probably 7-8 times (lost count, DD and I went to see princesses). WE spent the next hour riding FL rides again while DH stashed some more FPs.

By 10:30 we were pretty much done, then came back in the PM and FP everything and stayed until the park emptied out after fireworks and walked on several other rides (jungle cruise, pirates, Aladdin).

It worked for us on supposively one of the most crowded days of the year. It made believers out of us even if we were at the park at 6:45 AM!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We will be there at the end of July this year. Have not been in the summer since 99 (without kids).
I'm with Robo.
My strategy is to do either AM EMH and break at the pool or a restaurant, or to go to Rope Drop at the park that had PM EMH the night before. It worked well for us in December 09. We're early risers and get a lot of things in before it gets too crowded. The only exception for this next trip is we're going to do PM EMH at AK. But we're not interested in EE, just shows and animals.
We will have hoppers though, so we have a bit more flexibility.

 

[crabbygal902]

Though I generally avoid EMH parks, going in July would have me rethink that strategy just for the reasons that Robo gave.

Zip around the park while the day is still cool enough to enjoy and get the heck out when the crowds and heat show up.

 

[g-dad66]

Though I generally avoid EMH parks, going in July would have me rethink that strategy just for the reasons that Robo gave.

Zip around the park while the day is still cool enough to enjoy and get the heck out when the crowds and heat show up.

Same here.

We usually haven't done early EMH, but on our trip last August, we hit early EMH every day for heat avoidance, and we were glad that we did!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I almost always travel at the end of July, and I always avoid the AM EMH. I just can't seem to peel myself out of bed early enough to get to the EMH park on time. Regular park opening I can definitely handle, though.