Planning to go in the first week of December. Should I work around "Extended Evening" hours?

[NeutralNovice]

So I've been using Touring Plans to plan everything out, trying to visit a particular park on their least busy day according to projections.

I know that right now, projections can be very inaccurate because of covid so I don't know how much weight I can put into the projections.

It just so happened that our trip is coinciding with MVMCP but we decided to not spend more money to get those tickets. And we are only getting Base tickets, not park hoppers.

Should I work in the schedule to be at MK and EP during their Extended Evening Hours, which looks like it will end up being Wednesday and Monday, respectively? At least for MK, all of the other days seem to have a MVMCP party and we don't want to have a shortened day at the park because of the party. If I do this though, at least according to projections, I will be missing out on the "lighter" days at the other two parks.

I wish I had the money to just pay for 2 days worth of VIP tours lol.

So since DVC members can participate in EE hours, for those of you who have attended, are the 2 extra hours enough to do much?

 

[kes601]

We found Epcot extended evening to be somewhat not worth it. By the time the park clears from Fireworks it is close to 9:45 so you are only left with a bit more than an hour of what feels like an emptier park than normal. Now, if Guardians interests you and it is still a virtual queue then it may be worth it as you can join the queue at 6p for EE. We did that and got a time that got us on actually a bit before 9:00.

MK EE is very worth it.

 

[mikalkwin]

I doubt GoTG will still have its VQ in December.

 

[kes601]

I doubt GoTG will still have its VQ in December.

Completely agree.

 

[CarolMN]

Completely agree.

Well, rats! I hope you and @mikalkwin will not be correct!

 

[kes601]

Well, rats! I hope you and @mikalkwin will not be correct!

Oh, I hope I am incorrect. We did the VQ 6 times and got in the first 20 groups 5 times. Saved us a lot of money because if it goes standby we will be buying ILLs for it.

 

[NeutralNovice]

We found Epcot extended evening to be somewhat not worth it. By the time the park clears from Fireworks it is close to 9:45 so you are only left with a bit more than an hour of what feels like an emptier park than normal. Now, if Guardians interests you and it is still a virtual queue then it may be worth it as you can join the queue at 6p for EE. We did that and got a time that got us on actually a bit before 9:00.

MK EE is very worth it.

Oh ok thank you! I definitely want longer hours at MK so I'll probably move around my reservations to get MK on Wednesday... that's assuming EE is still on for that day.

I do hope that VQ will still be available; otherwise, I will for sure be getting ILL for it.

 

[PinkPixel]

We found Epcot extended evening to be somewhat not worth it. By the time the park clears from Fireworks it is close to 9:45 so you are only left with a bit more than an hour of what feels like an emptier park than normal. Now, if Guardians interests you and it is still a virtual queue then it may be worth it as you can join the queue at 6p for EE. We did that and got a time that got us on actually a bit before 9:00.

MK EE is very worth it.

But aren't the rides closed at 9 on regular Epcot nights? So even though it takes till 9:45 to clear, if you're eligible you can spend that time riding something vs being in the big exit?

 

[kes601]

But aren't the rides closed at 9 on regular Epcot nights? So even though it takes till 9:45 to clear, if you're eligible you can spend that time riding something vs being in the big exit?

Correct, but unless you positioned yourself in a good spot before Harmonious then good luck getting to the rides.....we just did not find it worth it.

 

[Shellyred8]

Correct, but unless you positioned yourself in a good spot before Harmonious then good luck getting to the rides.....we just did not find it worth it.

I completely agree with this. We were in Canada and thought we would be ok to get over to Soarin fairly quickly. Nope.
If you don't watch the fireworks and just head straight to the rides, it might be more beneficial. But if you get stuck in the mass exodus, you will lose out on some of that time.
We were able to get in Soarin, Test Track and the Mexico boat ride in our time.

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

We positioned ourselves at the 'entrance' to world showcase to watch the fireworks. Granted didn't have a great view because we didn't stake out early enough, but it was fine. Then as fireworks were getting close to ending we started making our way up towards Spaceship Earth ball (sometimes walking backwards lol). That allowed us to get up closer to the Test Track and Soarin. At the end of the night, we literally ran over to France to go on Ratatouille for the first time (got there at 10:58 lol). IMO, that ride was not worth the run.

Just a note for OP, the World Showcase booths close at 9 regardless of whether it's extended evening. So no drinking around the world during Extended Hours.

And MK extended hours is definitely worth attending!

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

So I've been using Touring Plans to plan everything out, trying to visit a particular park on their least busy day according to projections.

I know that right now, projections can be very inaccurate because of covid so I don't know how much weight I can put into the projections.

It just so happened that our trip is coinciding with MVMCP but we decided to not spend more money to get those tickets. And we are only getting Base tickets, not park hoppers.

Should I work in the schedule to be at MK and EP during their Extended Evening Hours, which looks like it will end up being Wednesday and Monday, respectively? At least for MK, all of the other days seem to have a MVMCP party and we don't want to have a shortened day at the park because of the party. If I do this though, at least according to projections, I will be missing out on the "lighter" days at the other two parks.

I wish I had the money to just pay for 2 days worth of VIP tours lol.

So since DVC members can participate in EE hours, for those of you who have attended, are the 2 extra hours enough to do much?

I'm not sure with the Christmas parties that they even WILL have EEH at MK.
Somebody else chime in please?

 

[sky13]

I'm not sure with the Christmas parties that they even WILL have EEH at MK.
Somebody else chime in please?

No one really knows until Disney releases the schedule, but they have scheduled EEH at MK up until early October (current released schedule). MNSSHP is starting in August, so MK is having MNSSHP some nights and EEH others from August-October. Extrapolating from this it is therefore not unlikely that MK could have MVMCP some nights and EEH others during November/December.

 

[MamaBelle4]

I'm in your same boat. We're going 12/3-12/10.

I planned my park days with the EE hours. So we go HS on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, break on Tuesday, MK on Wednesday, AK on Thursday and MK on Friday.

It isn't how I'd ideally arrange it but I'm sure it will be fine. I think I'm hitting all the parks on their most crowded day which I typically try to avoid.

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

I'm in your same boat. We're going 12/3-12/10.

I planned my park days with the EE hours. So we go HS on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, break on Tuesday, MK on Wednesday, AK on Thursday and MK on Friday.

It isn't how I'd ideally arrange it but I'm sure it will be fine. I think I'm hitting all the parks on their most crowded day which I typically try to avoid.

We are there the same dates as you. Just in case they do decide on EEH, I planned our Monday and Wednesday accordingly. We also are going to MVMCP on Sunday night. Looking forward to being back in the world after a 3 year break!

 

[Skip Coffee for Rope Drop]

We found Epcot extended evening to be somewhat not worth it. By the time the park clears from Fireworks it is close to 9:45 so you are only left with a bit more than an hour of what feels like an emptier park than normal. Now, if Guardians interests you and it is still a virtual queue then it may be worth it as you can join the queue at 6p for EE. We did that and got a time that got us on actually a bit before 9:00.

MK EE is very worth it.

Neutral Novice, I Agree 100% with KES..... We left Epcot at 10pm for EE. Lines were long Rat,Frozen and TT. MK was great, in the last hour, everything was under 10 minutes except for Snow White/Peter Pan. Space Mountain was a walk on shortly before 12:30 on July6 (actually July 7 after midnight). Keep in mind that Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain are not open for MK EE. at least when we were there.