Morning EMH w/FP+ Question

[melifeld]

Hi all.

We have never been morning EMH people. We have always, in the past, picked the recommended park for the day on the EasyWDW website, which is not the EMH park. We also utilized the FP- to the tune of 6-7 (or more) per person per day. We like to ride the headliners multiple times per day. Depending on time of year, we would either stay in our chosen park for the entire day, or take a mid-afternoon (around 2 p.m.) break then head to a different park (around 5 p.m. or so) for the evening.

Given the new FP+ system, and it's limits, are we now better off going to the morning EMH park, riding as much as we can, then hopping to another, less busy park for the afternoon (break or not)?

We arrive in 60 days and I was just making our FP+ arrangements. I started thinking about this and wondering if we should make some changes to the way we do things given the current FP+ circumstances. Maybe we should do morning, then evening EMH parks?

I appreciate your opinions about this. I'm not sure what to do. Thanks!

 

[mrsmorrow]

We are almost identical in how we toured! We have done occasional pm EMH but not am. For our upcoming trip in June I planned a few am EMH - For AK I plan to not do any FP's but just get as much in as early as possible and then do shows/shops/trails and leave in afternoon to swim and rest. Then do a different park in the eveningand use FP's there. For MK am EMH, I plan to do as much as possible by lunch time but plan to FP the mountains for afternoon so we get 2 rides on them that day. I think the EMH park does get busier but it's still "early bird gets the worm". Good luck!

 

[melifeld]

Thanks MrsMorrow.

Bumping this up to see if I can get some opinions. All are appreciated!

 

[LSUfan4444]

Given the new FP+ system, and it's limits, are we now better off going to the morning EMH park, riding as much as we can, then hopping to another, less busy park for the afternoon (break or not)?

I don't think so. I think you are best keeping your old strategy. Visit the most recommended park each day and do as much as you can via standby until say lunch. Then, hop to another (busier) park that might have special entertainment (MSEP, etc.) where your three FP+ will be waiting for you.

You will get the best of both worlds. You will have the least crowded park during the day, then have FP+ waiting for you in the busier parks. When you are in the recommended parks, don't waste time doing things you can do when the park is busier.

What I mean is, if you are in Hollywood Studios on a recommended day, don't do Indiana Jones or Beauty & the Beast. Wait until a day you hop to Hollywood Studios because you can do both of those with virtually the same wait regardless of how crowded the park is.

 

[catra121]

I would definitely do EMHs in the AM if you can, ride all the headliners/favorites that get long lines first...and then FP the ones you want additional rides on in the afternoon/evening. You may even be able to ride some of your favorites multiple times during the EMHs to get those extra rides in.

You could also do EMHs at one park in the morning and then when the park gets busy hop to a lower crowd park in the evening and use a combo of FP+ and Standby to get in some of those big rides that way. Your multiple rides would most likely end up on different days going this route...but you'd still get multiple rides...and if you can ride favorites multiple times during EMHs then so much the better.

I think park hopping opens up a lot of different possibilities for touring strategies with FP+ in it's current state (and more if they DO open it up to multiple parks in the future). Someone who loves the rides at MK for example could start every day at MK and only tour until lunch...then hop to the other parks using FP+ for the couple of rides they like there or to catch some shows or whatever that they want to do at the other parks. Or substitute MK for another park...maybe Epcot where you hit up Soarin' and TT every morning at rope drop and then use your FP+ at the next park. It opens you up to using half days at a park for RD to make the most of your touring time and then taking it easier in the evening with FP+. Also gives you that flexibility if you are only really planning the second park of the day in advance so that if you wake up in the morning and think, "I want to go to AK this morning" your days is not already scheduled around that with FP+ ressies throughout the day. A lot of people like to end their nights at Epcot for different dining options...and now they could book a FP+ for Soarin' every night they do that if they wanted to.

Not saying any of those are the best strategy for YOU...but things to think about when trying to plan your park days.

 

[LSUfan4444]

The problem you run into by starting your day at the a.m. EMH park, then making afternoon or evening FP+ in that same park is you lose flexibility (like you were discussing).

Over a week long trip we plan at least 1 morning in all 4 parks, then try to have at least one evening in each park as well. Obviously, we double up on a few.

By allowing us to hit every park at rope drop, we are ensured to do all the headlining attractions. By not doing it on a day that has EMH, it gives us the opportunity to do more between the hours of 11 am - 2 pm.

Then, depending on ADRs, if I hope to say Magic Kingdom I can have FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle, Peter Pan and Splash Mountain.

It's actually the main reason I like the new system. As a rope dropper visiting non EMH recommended parks, I can start my day at Hollywood Studios and head directly to TSM, then over to Rock n Roller Coaster (probably ride twice) and Tower of Terror (probably ride twice), then stop at Great Movie Ride and do Star Tours and it MIGHT be 12 p.m.

Now, where do I want to eat lunch...hmmmm, SOOO many options. It's a nice day, let't walk over to the Boardwalk and grab a pizza and sit outside. No rush or urgency, because I have three FP+ (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Peter Pan and Splash Mountain)waiting for me over at Magic Kingdom where our night will end with MSEP and Wishes. The rest of the time in Magic Kingdom I can do things that will not have a long wait (Philharmagic, Carousel, Dumbo, etc etc etc)

 

[melifeld]

Thanks everyone. Some really great points. I'm still not sure if we will do EMHs or not. I need to give it some more thought.

More opinions welcome!

 

[2Tiggies]

How many days do you have tickets for and do you have hoppers?

My strategy is similar to parts of all the above but not entirely the same as any of them.

We plan to mix it up, because we have enough days to play with to hit each park more than once. So we are doing a mix of am EMH on the days we plan to hop, then hopping to the second park and doing shows and things that you generally don't incur wait times for. I am actually not going to book our FP for the second park every day either because if we do that, we are locked into doing either EMH or rope drop for sure on that day and if we change our mind about where we want to head for the afternoon, we are kind of stuck, subject to availability to change which I'm guessing will not be great by lunch time anyway. I've tried to incorporate the ability to change our minds on the fly, even if we don't with in between days where there is an early start and a strategy. We will be doing as many morning EMH as I feel are practical, taking into account how late we are out the night before/how early we are up the next day, but I've really tried to mix it up this time. Very very different to our usual style of touring but things have changed so we have to as well.

 

[melifeld]

We have hoppers and are currently planning on being there for 7 days, but this may get longer by a few days depending on the circumstances. But 7 days will be the minimum for this trip.

And congrats, 2Tiggies, for stopping smoking! My husband stopped about 3 years ago.

 

[ciera321]

We used to do EMH mornings all the time, but since having so much success at the recommended parks for our past 3 trips, we won't go back to EMH. Now, with the limiting FP+, I think it's still the best plan for us. Our normal touring plan now is, arrive well before RD, head to (DHS for example) TSM and ride, then to RnR and then ToT. We can usually do this by 9:45 - 10:00 AM since they've been opening the gates a bit earlier. We also use single rider at RnR, EE at AK, and TT at Epcot. Since the logic in skipping EMH is that you already have the resort guests in the park early, then at 9AM the rest of the crowds start arriving and build quickly, it gets packed at a faster rate. At least that's my take in it....

 

[Redbudlover]

Subbing

 

[2Tiggies]

We have hoppers and are currently planning on being there for 7 days, but this may get longer by a few days depending on the circumstances. But 7 days will be the minimum for this trip.

And congrats, 2Tiggies, for stopping smoking! My husband stopped about 3 years ago.

Thanks I'm thinking an unexpected benefit may be having some extra much needed time that was previously spent at DSA's for this next trip