just came back-a few thoughts

[buzz2400]

I just came back from visiting. We started off going to an early morning entry at MK. Big mistake. Got nothing done. Avoided all parks that had early morning or evening hours after that and it was fine. Again, it must be said, GET THERE WHEN PARK FIRST OPENS. We did for each day and got a lot accomplished. Also asked about fast passes if they are good for the whole day. Answer, yes. They just don't want you to show up before the time. We got to mgm at park opening, went to rock n roller coaster, got fast pass, went on ride, got another fast pass for same ride, went on again, rode another time, went over to tower of terror and got fast pass and then left the area. Later that day went back and rode coaster twice with fast pass and tower of terror with fast pass. It was great.

 

[jfeasel]

We too just returned from our 10 day trip. In order to even have access to some fast passes, you have to arrive early. For example, we were at Epcot and the fast passes for Test Track ran out at noon. Also, I second the comments about EMH in the parks, not a big advantage like they use to be. Didn't do EMH or the later hours. MK was open until 2 am on July 1.

Another tip, if you are at a water park and it rains, STAY at the park! We did this on July 2 at TL. It poured, lots of people left and when the rain was over it was beautiful and we were walking on the slides. Crush and Gusher is a must, we did each slide several times.

 

[jbwolffiv]

Good to hear that about the Crush and Gusher. Thanks for the tip on the rain too!

 

[daisy112878]

We just got back too. I totally agree about the EMH. They were horrible esp MK. We nothing accomplished really either. I definitly agree that you have to arrive early at the parks to get major stuff done like Soarin. My whole family remembered why we like going in December after this past weekend.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Saturday (day after evenining EMH) was fantastic at MK. We slept in and arrived just before noon. Did everything we wanted to do at a very relaxed pace. POTC was a walk-on all day and reasonable Fast Pass times were available for all attractions late into the afternoon.

The day after is certainly the key.

 

[Sleeping Beauty fan]

Hmmm, we just got back on July 1. We thought the extra morning hours were GREAT! We got tons of rides in.

 

[joanjett1976]

Just came back from a June 25-July 2 stay. We soon learned to avoid EMH at all costs! From the bus stops, to the turnstiles to the rides; everything was mobbed!!

The parks who were not offering EMH that day were quite manageable.

Now if only we could only have done something about the rain. HA Ha!

Did anyone experiece more ride malfunctions than usual? We got stuck on Test Track, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion & Spaceship Earth. never happened to me before...

 

[matt&jakesmom]

We were there last week and did EMH for Epcot and got a lot in, plus we were able to get fastpass for Soarin' before they were gone. We lucked out a lot in our timing because we did not have long waits for come rides and the buses for POP were running great. We did notice at some of the stops that the other resorts had long lines and we did not.

As for the rain. We ran into 3 days of it and just walked in it. Those were some of our better afternoons because the kids did not complain once about the heat. They loved walking in the rain.

 

[Jaycee's Mom]

Was Epcot packed all day on EMH morning? I had everything already planned when they put out EMH hours for August and our Epcot day falls on EMH morning.

 

[DixietoDisney]

We are staying off-site and we've got MGM scheduled to do on Sept. 6 (Tuesday AFTER Labor Day), but it's posted as an EMH for that morning there. Should we avoid MGM altogether on that day or since it's after the holiday, go on and take our chances?

 

[dan-tot]

Was I in a time rif. I was at disney the week before the opening of the celebration and I had no trouble getting on ANY ride. I didn't have any wait time except pooh. I only had a five minute wait for peter pan. It didn't seem like that there was alot of people in the parks and this was the first day of the celebration. The best way to describe this was soarin. I had no wait time at all and this was a new ride that no one had ridin. The only wait I had was that I wanted the front seats. There was a guy filming the ride for the press on the seats just to the right of me. There was 4 out 12 people that could sit in the seats to the left of me. It was a great ride. Hint: as soon as you get to MGM go fast pass the stunt show this will help get you good seats. I was fourth row back from the stage.

Dan-tot

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

We just got back, too. We were at the MK on July 1st until 2pm. All the rides in the MK were open until 2am.

Arrived at 10pm for Wishes, ate at the Tomorrowland Terrance Noodle Station, and watched SpectroMagic at 11pm. We then rode Space Mtn (twice with a ten minute wait), TTA, teacups, Peter Pan, IASW, HM and PoTC. Except for Peter Pan, most of the rides we walked on.

As we left Mickey and Minnie were still in front of the castle. We were tired the next day, but it was a fun evening.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Just came back from a June 25-July 2 stay. We soon learned to avoid EMH at all costs! From the bus stops, to the turnstiles to the rides; everything was mobbed!!

The parks who were not offering EMH that day were quite manageable.

Now if only we could only have done something about the rain. HA Ha!

Did anyone experiece more ride malfunctions than usual? We got stuck on Test Track, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion & Spaceship Earth. never happened to me before...

Good to know!! Thanks!!

 

[CuteKatCar]

Did anyone do EMH in the evening for AK????

Thanks,

Anna

 

[Marseeya]

Just out of curiosity, if you did EMH days, what time did you go to the park for it?

I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I had noticed when we were there that when we would do a different park on an EMH day, people would be waiting for the bus to the EMH park well after the park already opened! Why bother at that point??? The whole purpose of EMH is to get there early, otherwise what's the point?

 

[CinderellaPug]

We did EMH at AK on June 28. We got there around 4/4:30 and got a FP for dinosaur. Then we went on tricerotops and found the hidden mickey in the parking lot Then we ate, and then used our dinosaur FP. We made it for one of the last safaris. Then we went on bugs life and back to dinoland for primevalwhirl. We could have waited 25 minutes for dinosaur, but went back to the boardwalk for ice cream instead. This was our favorite EMH. It was very relaxed and easy. However, there are not too many things open. Definatly worth going to.

 

[Queen Be]

Just out of curiosity, if you did EMH days, what time did you go to the park for it?

I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I had noticed when we were there that when we would do a different park on an EMH day, people would be waiting for the bus to the EMH park well after the park already opened! Why bother at that point??? The whole purpose of EMH is to get there early, otherwise what's the point?

We are just back also (June 25 to July 3) and we noticed the exact same thing...that people were heading to the am EMH park even well after it opened.

A strategy that worked for us was to hit the park first thing in the am that had EMH scheduled for the PM. It was not my original plan, but it worked out that way when MK EMH was moved just weeks before our trip and our AR's were in place. Those mornings at MK and AK were really good. In fact, we were shocked at how empty fantasy land was at MK until almost 11 am.

Oh, another odd thing about people...why do they not use fastpass???? I mean, I saw people go in the stand by line that said a 40 minute wait and the fastpass return time was also 40 minutes away. Why would you chose to stand in line? So many times we walked in with our fastpass directly to the head of the line with no wait at all. In fact, the only ride we actually waited with a fast pass was Soarin'n...probably about 15 minutes. We also found like the original OP that Disney cares not if the fastpass window is expired, they are only interested in starting return time.

 

[CuteKatCar]

I think sometimes people have FPs already and that's why they are waiting in stand-by lines. I personally wouldn't wait in a line that was more than 30 minutes.

Sometimes I get tired of having a FP and then not having anything close by to go on. Space Mountain is like that. Sometimes Buzz will have a long line, forget waiting for whatever the little car thingy is and Astro Orbitor takes all day, stitch wasn't opened last time. How many times can you ride TTA?? We usually end up back at Fantasyland to try to hit some short rides.

I dreamt about Disney last night..... ....can't wait to get there.

Anna

 

[crzy4mickey]

What are the stores like on the evening EMH? I was thinking of doing shopping on main street on an evening EMH if we were still up to it. Then just leave before the parade and wishes. What do you thinK? Is it worth just going to shop. That way when we are at MK we don't waste any time looking in all the stores.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Cool. Other than going to WDW with Mom (DisCommando) we've never done the parks at opening. I'll have to try it on our next trip.