Save MK until last or avoid EMH?

[resol37]

I'm planning a trip for May 7-11 of next year and we'll have 10 adults and 2 little ones (4 y and 7 m). Following the UG's basic idea of letting kids enjoy Epcot, etc. for what they are, I had planned to do Epcot on Mon, DAK on Tue, Studios on Wed, MK on Thu and use Fri to go back and do anything we missed and/or wanted to do again. Many of the group have never been (including the kids) so the idea was to save MK for last.

Then I found out that that Thursday is an EMH day for MK. We will be staying off property at a vacation home. EMH is not an option for us. Park opening is at 9 am for us and we have a lot to accomplish.

Should I switch MK day with one of the other parks to avoid the EMH crowds? I've never been to WDW in May before and I've read here on the Dis that crowds should be light during this time. Should I just suck it up and stick to my original plans?

 

[bauermj]

I've always heard avoid the EMH.

 

[MermaidMommy]

I would not go to an EMH park if I was an off-site guest, especially if it is your first time to take the little ones -- it will be crowded by the time you get there and won't be a good introduction for them. Go on a day that you can be there at rope drop, and let them enjoy Fantasyland without lines for the first hour. They'll love it!

Regarding the UG's advice, I would take it with a grain of salt. We took our DD for the first time when she was just a little bit younger than your oldest, and I wouldn't put off MK until the end of the trip. For better or for worse, at that age, it's going to be THE park for him/her, so why make them wait until the end of the trip? We took the UG's advice, but looking back, I wish that her first intorduction to WDW would have been the Magic Kingdom, the most magical of places! Also, at that age, you won't have enough to do for a whole day at either MGM or AK, as they won't be tall enough for many of the rides. We found that hopping was really helpful --go to AK for the morning, back to the hotel to nap, and then to another park in the evening. Epcot can be fun, especially if you take advantage of the Kidcot stops and with the new fun kids' attractions, but it looks like you're trying to weight each park equally in allocating time, but there's much more for little ones to do at MK. (Not to put down the other parks at all -- they're all great, and your kids will like aspects of all of them).

Just my $.02!

 

[resol37]

I would not go to an EMH park if I was an off-site guest, especially if it is your first time to take the little ones -- it will be crowded by the time you get there and won't be a good introduction for them. Go on a day that you can be there at rope drop, and let them enjoy Fantasyland without lines for the first hour. They'll love it!

Regarding the UG's advice, I would take it with a grain of salt. We took our DD for the first time when she was just a little bit younger than your oldest, and I wouldn't put off MK until the end of the trip. For better or for worse, at that age, it's going to be THE park for him/her, so why make them wait until the end of the trip? We took the UG's advice, but looking back, I wish that her first intorduction to WDW would have been the Magic Kingdom, the most magical of places! Also, at that age, you won't have enough to do for a whole day at either MGM or AK, as they won't be tall enough for many of the rides. We found that hopping was really helpful --go to AK for the morning, back to the hotel to nap, and then to another park in the evening. Epcot can be fun, especially if you take advantage of the Kidcot stops and with the new fun kids' attractions, but it looks like you're trying to weight each park equally in allocating time, but there's much more for little ones to do at MK. (Not to put down the other parks at all -- they're all great, and your kids will like aspects of all of them).

Just my $.02!

Actually, as far as the kids go (they're my cousin's children, btw), our planning was to give them a day off (swimming for the 4 year old, just chilling for the baby) on Thu (with my mom) while the rest of us hit MK. Friday, the kids would hit MK with their grandparents (my aunt and uncle). So the EMH problem really only affects the adults. I've always stayed on-site, so it's never really been an issue before.

I don't know how much Alexa really knows about WDW and MK specifically - I know she doesn't know about this trip yet, so waiting until the end of the week for MK may not be something she cares about at all. She loves animals, so I'm actually predicting DAK as her favorite park.

We're not planning a whole day at DAK, but we are planning a whole day at Studios. Alexa is already over 40 inches tall, so she'll be able to ride most of the stuff (OT: She lives in Virginia and her aunt and uncle take her to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg a lot - last time she wasn't quite 40 inches tall. She wanted to ride one of the big roller coasters and when she was told that she couldn't, she said, "You mean I have to ride the baby rides?"). Studios is my home park and we're planning to do almost every attraction.

Only myself, my parents and my brother have been to any of the parks besides MK, so we're trying to spend at least a day at each of the parks, but I'm already working nap/swim breaks into our schedule. My mom doesn't ride most rides because of pretty extreme motion sickness and has been to WDW tons of times, so she's nominated herself as the resident babysitter if one or either of the kids needs to leave at any time.

Thanks for the advice, I'll take another look at the EMH schedule for that month and see what can be re-arranged.