Just back - great time, but EMH was a big disappointment!

mykidsmom

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Apr 13, 2002
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We are just back from a 7 day trip July 31 - August 7. It was a great trip - loved Old Key West!!! The heat didn't bother us but the crowds were much heavier than the last 2 years. Early Magic Hour was a total disappointment. I was completely unaware that Splash and Big Thunder Mountains were not included and only opened at 9 with the rest of the parks. In fact, the only areas open are Fantasyland and Tomorrowland (I'm not even sure that Buzz is open). Therefore, all the crowds (and they were surprisingly large) were all concentrated in these 2 areas. At 9:00 everyone is lined up from Fantasyland to get into Frontierland.

Today was an early entry day at MK, and since all my kids wanted to do before we flew home was SM and BTMR, we decided to get there at 9 and try to see how many times we could ride these 2 rides. We actually arrived at 9:20 and the standby at BTMR was already 45 minutes and the fast pass return was12:20!!! And horror of horrors, Splash was broken down. Fastpass return was running and it's return was just as late. We had to choose one and we chose BTMR. Fortunately, we have a baby that can't ride, so my children got to ride it twice with the baby swap!!

We stayed away from emh at the other parks. Epcot was the only park that didn't have long line (except Test track of course). I haven't touched on all the great experiences we had, but they were many and the trip was well worthwhile!:D
 
I agree about the Early Entry. I was there 7/22-7/30 and the crowds were horrible. We've never had to wait in such long lines on EE morns, but it was our only chance to get to ride the big ones. After 10:00 a.m., the crowds were unbearable. We were only able to ride Test Track one time during our whole stay. We happened to catch it right before it closed one night.
 
I agree. We are BIG fans of early entry (in the spring and fall), but tried it this trip (July 23-Aug.2) and is was horrible. We then made sure we did not visit the early entry park anymore during that trip. I saw the lines at test track reach 120 minute wait on some days with the single rider line reaching 45 minutes to 60 minutes. We actually went to MK on Saturday morning and it was empty!! We stayed until noon and rode most everything with little wait. Couldn't believe it. I thought since Friday was e-ticket (which sold out several times while there), I figured all of the resort guest that went would be sleeping in, and would be waiting for sunday for early entry. I was right and walked right on to space mountain at 10:00 with no wait. Rode Buzz 4 times, and had no wait for anything else we wanted. Seems the crowds drawn in by the military salute and FTP is affecting early entry, so will probably avoid it while the crowds are heavy. We have 2 more trips planned this year, so will be curious to see how early entry and e-ticket goes.
 
We leave in a little more than a week and I am purposely staying away from the early entry park for the reasons you guys have mentioned. I can't see getting my troup up extra early and facing those types of crowds. Thanks for reporting in and letting us know how EMH worked/didn't work for you.
 

We have always done early entry. It has always worked for us including last week of Aug in 2001 and Thanksgiving week in 2001. I must think about it this trip though. It might be nice to sleep in a little too. I think we'll try EE at Mk on our first day, Sun Aug 17 and see how it works. If too crowded, we'll just try the "day after " theory. So instead of doing Ak on Mon we'll do something else. Sound good?? i hate to give up that extra hour without at least trying it once.
 
I think we'll try EE at Mk on our first day, Sun Aug 17 and see how it works. If too crowded, we'll just try the "day after " theory.

I thought the same thing too. But maybe the difference this year is that the whole park is not open - Wasn't the whole park open in past years? We also attended MK on a Friday the day after ee and it was packed by noon. I like the suggestion of going the day after enight. We didn't go on a Saturday or a Wed and now wished that we had after reading n2mm's report.

You will probably be fine by Aug 17, most people are back to school by then. Even if it's crowded, Disney World crowded is better than no Disney World at all!!!!;)
 
MyKidsMom,
We were there at the exact time as you were and have to agree! We have always done early entry in the past, but never again! It was a complete nightmare! On Mk's early magic hour, the lines were 30- 40 minutes for most rides during emh. To contrast, my son and I hit Buzz lightyear on the day after emh at about 1pm and only waited 15 minutes. On emh, this line was very long by 10am! My words of advise, avoid the early magic hour!
Other than that, we had a great time! Parks were crowded, it was hot, but it didn't ruin our fun!
 
/
Thanks for the post. We are trying to stay away from the EE parks the last week of August.
 
When they had Surprise Mornings (EE), only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland were open. Same as now with Extra Magic Hour. You had to wait for the rope drop to get into the other areas.

If you want to ride BTMRR and Splash, get an e-night ticket. E-nights are better for rides for bigger kids and adults. Not so great for the little ones.
 
Thanks for the heads up on the crowded EE mornings. We thought we'd try it, but the crowds sound like a good excuse to sleep in a little, and avoid the EE park.

Patricia H., do you always go in August? We will be arriving the 16th. Hopefully everyone will be heading back home.;)
 
We did EE for MGM and MK in early March and we didn't encounter crowds. When I went to MGM on a non EE day (a Friday), it was horrible- a 60 minute post for ToT after the park had only been open 15 minutes or so. I plan on doing EE day almost every day we are there next time, but if the crowds get bad, we will switch parks after lunch. Since I have PS's for CRT and 50's Prime Time for lunch on their respective park's EE days, I don't feel like changing my schedule at this point. I think EE at MK works very well esp. if you have little ones. We were able to do Dumbo, Pooh, Peter Pan, the Carousel, and It's a Small World in just over an hour. Then we went and did Big Thunder and Splash (got a FP for one while we did the other). We also did Pirates, the Tiki Birds, lunch and then went back for a nap. When we came back around 4:15 we did Toontown, Buzz, Space Mtn, Alien Encounter, Tea Cups & the cars. We did the MK on several different days- we were there at least 2 hours on 5 different days & I honestly didn't think the crowds were bad on the Thursday it was EE day for us. They were pretty bad on the day we left- a Saturday- which is the most crowded day for the MK so it made sense. My DH and 5 year old went on a Friday afternoon (While Mom and I were at MGM & Epcot) and DH said some rides had really long lines that day as well ( and that isn't an EE day for MK).

Anyway, this was our experience, and I think so much of it has to do with the time of year. I'm sorry it was so crowded for you!! :(
 
It was very crowded We were there at the same time as well July 25-Aug 1. However we went to Mk on EE Thursday and with a plan of action in mind rode Dumbo, Cinderella Carrousel,Its a small world,snow whites scary adventure, Mad tea Party, got a fast pass for Peter Pan -on the way to ride dumbo sent husband-10:15-11:15, then headed to Tommorow land Transit Authority( Kids favorite ride). Were were able to get a fast pass for buzz lightyear and we waited in the arcade until it was time to go on buzz. We were eating lunch at plaza pavilion by 11:40 then back to AkL after a ride on WDW raillroad. For us the longest line of the day was at plaza pavilion. I was really losing sleep over being able to ride Dumbo and Peter Pan because our last two trips were in Sept. and Dec. and the crowds were so light we never had to wait more than 10 minutes for anything. I think we will stick to Sept. or Dec.for our next trip.
 
WOW...I was dissappointed we were not doing EE. My kids can not get up that early anymore. We avoided the EE parks on their days. We had little crowds in the parks doing it that way. We were there July 12th thru the 22nd....
 
We were there July 24-28 and avoided EE. We went to the MK on Friday and were at the gate at 9:00 - small lines. We went directly to FL and did PP, SWSR, IASMW, WP all were walk ons. Left and did PoC, JC and then HM - no lines. Went over to TL after an early lunch (11:30) at the Columbia House. TL was VERY busy by that time! We did do TTA and CoP with no problem. There were long lines for AE, Buzz and SM. Decided to leave and head back to the Swan for an afternoon of swimming.

We felt that avoiding EE and going to a park as it opened was doable. We did the AK on Saturday morning and the lines entering the park were extremely long and slow. We went over to MGM on a Saturday afternoon and it was PACKED!

I have to travel in the summer, so, I will go back to taking late August trips when the crowds are much more manageable. The closing times are no different from this July trip to our trip late last August.
 
Maybe EE is so bad right now because of the Fairy Tale Package? We used to do EE before, and were able to do 5 or 6 rides in that hour, but this time...forget it! Ak was so packed, We waited about 30 minutes just to get through bag check and the turnstile. And that was early! ANd to make it worse, they only had 2 people checking bags! Then when we finally entered the park, we couldn't even move with the crowds. It was horrible. We rode one ride, ate breakfast then left! What a mad house. Maybe once the fairy tale package is over, things will go back to normal. We used to be big fans of early entry!
 
We did EMH at the MK on a Thursday in early June and it was the most crowded I had ever seen EMH and we have always done EMH since they first started it many years ago. Because it was so crowded in June, we decided to do the "day after" at the MK on Monday, July 28th. It was great. We were the first family on BTMRR. We talked to a couple of CMs, one at the front gate and one on BTMRR, and they both said stay away from EMH as the crowds are so much bigger on those days. We didn't encounter any lines or crowds until about 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. and those were in Tomorrowland.

Donna
 
We did the Day After approach a month ago and it worked well. We also made breakfast PS's for MK and AK before the park opened and were able to get into the park early. With an 8 a.m. PS, we were able to get to the rides first thing. It was great.
 
Wow, it seems like we'll be seeing a lot of other DVC families during this time - it's our first trip home and we are arriving in Orlando Sat and then heading over to VWL on Sunday morning - I guess we can try MK on EE, hope for the best, and if it's bad - just come back a different day!!

this is our first trip on our DVC membership so we are excited :)

Thanks everyone for the helpful posts,
Annette
 
are they checking for resort room keys @ the gate?
 

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