Mixture of questions

[Alice777]

Instead of doing separate threads for my questions, I just lumped it together.

1. Does anyone know if they are still doing culinary tours at Animal Kingdom Lodge? We will be going in November and have some time in our non-park day so I thought it'll be fun to do this.

2. EMH Days questions. EMH day is for WDW resort people only right?
a. If so, for early EMH, I'm assuming when we get to the park, our MB will let us in early since it's linked to our resort?
b. How does PM EMH work then? I think I read non-resort people can still be in the park and they would not be kicked out. How would they distinguish non-resort vs resort people on rides?

3. I bought 7 days hopper tickets from park Savers (buy 4 days and 3 days free). If I want to add one more day, I think I read it's best to wait until we arrive at WDW. Does anyone know how much it is to add one day? Price for non-hopper tickets vs hopper ticket?

Thank you

 

[loves to dive]

I'm pretty sure they still do the tours.
Yes EMH is for resorts guests only.
Evening EMH non-resort guests can stay in the parks but not ride the rides, the MB will let the CM know.
Not sure how much it is to add a day, it is most likely listed on WDWs site.

 

[CAS239]

Emh are for resort guests only.

For AM emh you scan your magic band or ticket and the system recognizing if you're staying on site. Only on site guests get in early. If on site it'll light up green, off site it'll be blue.

For pm emh no one is kicked out. Off site guests can still shop and enjoy fireworks, etc. But off site guests can't view shows or ride rides. They do this by either making everyone enter through the FP line so you scan your magic band, or have CM's standing at the entrances and manually scan. Again, it'll show if you're on site or not. The only time people are forced to leave are for ticketed events/parties

 

[kiford]

Basically, non-resort guests during evening EMH can still give money to Disney by shopping and eating, but that's all. As a shareholder, I applaud that but we've definitely found that the crowds thin out pretty quickly once EMH starts. At least that's been our experience in past years.

 

[scrapquitler]

Instead of doing separate threads for my questions, I just lumped it together.

1. Does anyone know if they are still doing culinary tours at Animal Kingdom Lodge? We will be going in November and have some time in our non-park day so I thought it'll be fun to do this.
Yes. One tour is at Boma and Jiko, and there is a separate tour at Sanaa. All involve samples. They are daily, and definitely worth doing.
2. EMH Days questions. EMH day is for WDW resort people only right? yes
a. If so, for early EMH, I'm assuming when we get to the park, our MB will let us in early since it's linked to our resort? correct
b. How does PM EMH work then? I think I read non-resort people can still be in the park and they would not be kicked out. How would they distinguish non-resort vs resort people on rides? cast members use a hand held scanner at the entrance to each ride and scan your MB to make sure you are a resort guest.

3. I bought 7 days hopper tickets from park Savers (buy 4 days and 3 days free). If I want to add one more day, I think I read it's best to wait until we arrive at WDW. Does anyone know how much it is to add one day? Price for non-hoppe
I will let the ticket experts answer this one.
Thank you

Replies are bolded within the quote above.

 

[bumbershoot]

If I want to add one more day, I think I read it's best to wait until we arrive at WDW.

There's no other way to do it.

Look at the price of the ticket you want and subtract the price of the ticket you have, using current-when-you-upgrade gate prices of the tickets for both parts. If the cm is doing it right that should be what you pay.

 

[purple figment]

You will have to wait until you get to DW to add another day to your tickets. You will not be able to book FP+ for the additional day until after you upgrade your tickets. The additional day will cost $10 plus tax for each ticket. Since you already have parkhopper tickets the additional day will also include parkhopping.

 

[Alice777]

@scrapquilter, which is better? I don't think we have time to do both. And is time for for 4 pm daily? Thank you

@purple figment, so it'll be only extra $10 for extra hopper ticket? That is such a good price.

Thank you everyone for answering my questions.

For late EMH night, I know it's not recommended because it'll be most crowded, but because of the MVMCP nights, it closes at 7 pm except for one day. I want to see the Christmas decorations before we leave for home so I'm hoping extra 2 EMH will thin out enough for us to get some rides in.

 

[scrapquitler]

@scrapquilter, which is better? I don't think we have time to do both. And is time for for 4 pm daily? Thank you

Thank you everyone for answering my questions.

For late EMH night, I know it's not recommended because it'll be most crowded, but because of the MVMCP nights, it closes at 7 pm except for one day. I want to see the Christmas decorations before we leave for home so I'm hoping extra 2 EMH will thin out enough for us to get some rides in.

The two tours are around 4PM, both at slightly different times (at least when we were there). I don't remember the exact times but it was something like one of them was at 3:45 and the other was at 4:15 -- they started about 30 minutes apart, but there's no way to do both on the same day.

Which is better? I don't know, they were similar but different, and I suppose that the exact experience depends on the cultural guide you get. We went to the one at Sanaa one day, and the one at Jiko/Boma the next day. When we went, the tour at Sanaa seemed to provide more information about the culture and how the restaurant design reflects the culture (symbolism on the chairs, the designs of the lights, etc) and talked about the markets and how they relate to the food and the menu of the restaurant. Then we ate the bread service. At the Jiko/Boma tour, we saw both restaurants, and the focus was definitely more on the food. We sampled the bread service at Jiko and at Boma we tried a soup and the zebra domes and at both of those, the chef spoke with us, which didn't happen the day we were at Sanaa. But like I said -- the tour probably varies a bit based on the guide and the chef's schedule and the questions that the other people on the tour ask. I think you can't miss with either.

About the evening EMH at MK -- when we go we always make a point to go to MK on the night with the evening EMH. We do a park during the day, back to the room, and then head to the MK around the time of the parade and ride as many rides as we can, we find that as it gets later, the park gets emptier and the lines get shorter. But I've heard people say that they think it's too crowded, so I guess it's a personal choice.

 

[Alice777]

@scrapquilter, thank you again. When(month) did you do your tour? we have ADR for both Boma and Saana but not Jiko. So maybe we'll be Boma/Jiko one first and see if we squeeze in Saana.

With MK, rides are not top priority since we live so close to Disneyland and we did most of the rides in April trip to compre the two parks rides. Must for me is 7 Dwarfs since we don't have it at Disneyland so we'll have FP+ for that during day. My FP+ booking day is not until one more week. Can we book FP+ on EMH hours?

 

[scrapquitler]

@scrapquilter, thank you again. When(month) did you do your tour? we have ADR for both Boma and Saana but not Jiko. So maybe we'll be Boma/Jiko one first and see if we squeeze in Saana.

With MK, rides are not top priority since we live so close to Disneyland and we did most of the rides in April trip to compre the two parks rides. Must for me is 7 Dwarfs since we don't have it at Disneyland so we'll have FP+ for that during day. My FP+ booking day is not until one more week. Can we book FP+ on EMH hours?

We did the tours at AKL in April.

No fast passes during evening EMH, as far as I know.

Even though you've been to DL and rode the rides that are the same in both parks, don't discount riding them in WDW. Many of them are significantly different (though I will say that we thought many of the DL versions were much better) so it's worth riding them for comparison.

 

[Accident]

3. I bought 7 days hopper tickets from park Savers (buy 4 days and 3 days free). If I want to add one more day, I think I read it's best to wait until we arrive at WDW. Does anyone know how much it is to add one day? Price for non-hopper tickets vs hopper ticket?

Hoppers are a flat rate addon so adding a day to a hopper or non-hopper doesn't change the cost unless your adding hoppers to some tickets at the same time.. Because you have 7 day tickets it should run roughly $15 per day, per person to upgrade them (including tax). Your going to have to wait to upgrade them on site. Some deluxes, especially club level or better can usually do it right at the resort. Other resorts or not using dedicated concierge probably can't (it's a system thing, they can only change packages and not standalone tickets). Guest relations will take you a few moments when your at a park to do the upgrade. You also don't need to upgrade right away so you might want to enjoy your 7 days and decide closer if you need it as it will not be refundable once you do it if you don't use it

 

[Accident]

b. How does PM EMH work then? I think I read non-resort people can still be in the park and they would not be kicked out. How would they distinguish non-resort vs resort people on rides?

Most rides they start to scan bands at the entrance to the standby line. If your not eligible for EMH, you don't have to leave but you can't go on any ride or attraction (but it's a lovely time to wander around, take some dark photos and do some shopping depending on what is still opened).

 

[Alice777]

@Accident, thank you. I think I will wait until we do all 7 days before I decide if I want to add. We are not doing park on arrival day eventhough we arrive 5:15 am. We have to pick up my son's Dine & Wine marathon package and mostaly likely we would be too tired for park since we probably won't get any sleep on the plane. I was thinking of doing 1/2 day park on our last day since we our doesn't leave until at night but because we have to be back at Pop by 3PM?, I wasn't sure if it'll be worth adding another day.