Magic Hours Question

[jdsergent]

I've read conflicting reports about whether magic hours are beneficial. Some say that it's too crowded and magic hours should be avoided. Others say they are a great way get extended time in the park. Anyone have some input on this?

 

[ashleyann31]

We like to do EMH in the morning and then hop elsewhere around lunchtime.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

We always do emh mornings, it allows us to accomplish a lot. We will go to a different park after an afternoon break.

 

[bettybooplove]

I've read conflicting reports about whether magic hours are beneficial. Some say that it's too crowded and magic hours should be avoided. Others say they are a great way get extended time in the park. Anyone have some input on this?

Morning EMH is really nice and you can get so much done because most people choose to sleep in or they can never get to rope drop let alone EMH on time.

Evening EMH can be a hit or miss in my opinion. Magic Kingdom doesn't thin out as much as other parks (not shocking) and I don't think EMH until 12AM is late enough to see significantly smaller crowds. I miss the 2AM EMH.

With evening EMH you also have to anticipate that when you enter the parks they will still be crowded, especially if you're arriving during fireworks. Yes, the crowds will go down but it will be a bit of a madhouse the first hour as those staying off-site linger around shopping and taking pictures.

 

[subtchr]

My most recent EMH experience, in late February, was a bust. Evening EMH at Epcot is only 9-11, so a lot of people go. I did Soarin (45 minute wait) and Frozen (45 minute wait on the sign, but it took an hour). I honestly thought both lines would move faster without FP slowing down the line, but I guess there were just so many people that that didn't help much.

 

[heidijanesmith]

We have great experiences with the morning EMH's at MK, EPCOT and DS, then we park hop at night to a different park. AK morning EMH, we skip. Does not seem to be enough going on to handle the extra crowds that the EMH brings.

We do not like evening EMH's, except MK. The later MK is open the better. As the above poster said, 2AM was great! We just got back from a MK EMH evening from 11-1AM. The park was still pretty crowded at 1AM, but still much better than during the day hours.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

When "late" EMHs aren't really late, they are not terribly useful. Morning EMHs really are a benefit but my family's lifestyle makes them hard to use.

 

[jdsergent]

My most recent EMH experience, in late February, was a bust. Evening EMH at Epcot is only 9-11, so a lot of people go. I did Soarin (45 minute wait) and Frozen (45 minute wait on the sign, but it took an hour). I honestly thought both lines would move faster without FP slowing down the line, but I guess there were just so many people that that didn't help much.

So can FP not be used during magic hours?

 

[jdsergent]

Great input everyone, thanks!

 

[heidijanesmith]

So can FP not be used during magic hours?

There are no FP+ times to choose from during EMH hours. I have seen people use the FP+ line during EMH hours, I am guessing they had an anytime FP or something like that.

 

[sharonabe]

I've read conflicting reports about whether magic hours are beneficial. Some say that it's too crowded and magic hours should be avoided. Others say they are a great way get extended time in the park. Anyone have some input on this?

General rule is that the EM hour(s) themselves are not necessarily more crowded, but the park that has an EMH will be more crowded on that day than it will on a day it does not have EMH. So if you have the park hopper option, using the EMH is a good plan and then hop to/from a less crowded park. If you don't have hopper, you probably want to avoid parks with EMH.

We are also morning EMH people and find those to be very beneficial. Evening EMH at MK is a sometimes for us, depending on the rest of our park day plans. We don't do any other late EMH, because there just isn't enough open in each park and they don't stay open late enough for there to be much benefit.

 

[CAS239]

There are no FP+ times to choose from during EMH hours. I have seen people use the FP+ line during EMH hours, I am guessing they had an anytime FP or something like that.

Usually during emh they close down the standby line and have everyone enter through the FP line to scan their band right there