Should I plan to go to the parks with EMHs or avoid them?

[vald1977]

Hi all,
I'm planning our first on-site vacation. I have a rough schedule of what parks I want to do which days but I noticed that I just happened to pick a lot of the parks on the days they have EMHs. My question is should I avoid those parks on those days because they are more crowded or do the EMHs not make much difference in the crowds? We have hopper passes so we could change parks but that seems like a pain. FWIW, we probably wouldn't stay later than closing times either way but we may take advantage of the earlier openings. What do you experts think ? I am really just trying to nail down a schedule so I can make my ADRs before they all fill up. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[drogerstn]

Parks with morning EMH's tend to get crowded around 10:30-11:30am. These parks are usually worth visiting if you are there for opening and then hop to another park. If you feel park hopping is a waste of time, then you should probably avoid the park.

When will you be visiting? This can make a difference.

If we visit a park for a morning EMH, we will be there before opening and hop to another park or maybe schedule a late character breakfast for that day. When visiting WDW during a very crowded time, time lost park hopping or going back to our resort for a midday break isn't a big loss for us because things move so slow (big lines) during the middle of the day.

 

[traviesojmt]

I know that there are some who avoid the early entry parks but our family is definitely not one of them. We always get to the EMH park as soon as it opens and then we leave that park by lunch. We ride more rides in the first 2 hours than at any other time of the day. This works extremely well at MK and Epcot. Remember, since you are staying on site, you can go back to your hotel for a break or swim after lunch. That is what we always do. The EMH park does get very crowded after a few hours. So, around lunch, we head back to the room. We spend a couple of hours away from the park and then go to a different park for the afternoon/night. You didn't mention how many days that you are staying. I have always found it makes the vacation more enjoyable and laid back to not spend the entire day at one park. The other thing to consider is what is open during EMH. There are very few things open at AK, so it might not be worth your time to go to the EMH. We still go to the EMH at AK, because I have seen the most animals on the Safari when I go really early. I would check the Disney website and look at the list so you can see what you will get to ride. So, in summary, we love EMH, but if you are staying at one park all day the EMH park will be crazy crowded by lunch. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[traviesojmt]

Parks with morning EMH's tend to get crowded around 10:30-11:30am. These parks are usually worth visiting if you are there for opening and then hop to another park. If you feel park hopping is a waste of time, then you should probably avoid the park.

When will you be visiting? This can make a difference.

If we visit a park for a morning EMH, we will be there before opening and hop to another park or maybe schedule a late character breakfast for that day. When visiting WDW during a very crowded time, time lost park hopping or going back to our resort for a midday break isn't a big loss for us because things move so slow (big lines) during the middle of the day.

Looks like we were thinking the same thing at the same time. Agree completely.

 

[vald1977]

Thanks so much for the advice . This is pretty much what I thought but I wanted to see what people who have been there done that felt.

We are going the week of Sept. 24-30th and we will have 7 day hoppers so we will have 5 full days and half days on our arrival and departure days. It was only $6 more per ticket to get the 7 day hoppers vs. the 5 day hoppers so I figured why not.

The reason I am thinking it may be tough to hop is because we will have dd 1 year old plus my ILs who both have trouble with walking and will need to rent scooters. However, I'm pretty sure it's going to be sweltering hot still in Florida in Sept. so the idea of heading back to the pool mid-day might be a good one . I'm trying to make this trip pretty laid back as we already have plans to visit again in Oct. 2007. I'm just panicking about dining ressies since the free dining plan will be in effect.

 

[drogerstn]

Looks like we were thinking the same thing at the same time. Agree completely.

Good points about paying attention to what is open if visiting during EMH.

I don't think we have been to AK during an early opening. It wasn't available during some of our visits and we just didn't work it into our last visit. (We went to the AK in the morning of a non-early opening day.) If we can go early and do the Safari and It's Tough To Be a Bug, it would still be worth it. The Safari ride itself would eat up a big part of the hour. I'm also counting on Expedition Everest being included as a morning EMH attraction during our next visit.

It can get a little tough trying to get everyone up for an early opening every day...

 

[ciera321]

I know that there are some who avoid the early entry parks but our family is definitely not one of them. We always get to the EMH park as soon as it opens and then we leave that park by lunch. We ride more rides in the first 2 hours than at any other time of the day. This works extremely well at MK and Epcot. Remember, since you are staying on site, you can go back to your hotel for a break or swim after lunch. That is what we always do. The EMH park does get very crowded after a few hours. So, around lunch, we head back to the room.

This is what we have always done and it works so well for us. We usually head to the most popular rides (RNR, TOT, Soarin,etc.) grab a fastpass AND ride it, then head out to do other rides and have a fastpass in hand to return later on. Usually when you arrive at opening for EMH the very popular rides will have a standby time of only 15 - 20 minutes for the first hour or so...Have a great time!!!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Whether there's a morning emh or not, the park usually fills up quite a bit by the time the first two hours are done. On a non emh day, that means 11 am. On an emh day, that means 10 am. By noon, regardless of emh or not though, the parks are in full swing crowd wise and remain so throughout the afternoon. And an emh, whether morning or evening will usually bring more crowds to the park during the afternoon hours.

A lot of your decision depends on you. If you're a hopper and you like to go back to the hotel mid day all the time, go for it. Just remember to hop to another park when you return.

We aren't hoppers and go during times of the year the parks aren't open all that late. Our kids don't nap either. So we avoid them.

 

[ImagineEar]

We have never taken advantage of EMH either. I have been reading all the posts having to do with it to see if we should give it a try on our upcoming trip. I think we will go for it - but I picked up 2 interesting strategy tid bits I thought I would share:

1 - is what ciera321 said about getting on line to ride a major attraction first thing and grabbing a fastpass for it while you are there so you can ride it again soon after.
2 - Plan to visit a Each park the day after they have EMH evenings. That park is likely to be less crowded the next day. Example: If MK has EMH evening on Monday -then you should plan your visit to the MK for Tuesday.

 

[vald1977]

We have never taken advantage of EMH either. I have been reading all the posts having to do with it to see if we should give it a try on our upcoming trip. I think we will go for it - but I picked up 2 interesting strategy tid bits I thought I would share:

1 - is what ciera321 said about getting on line to ride a major attraction first thing and grabbing a fastpass for it while you are there so you can ride it again soon after.
2 - Plan to visit a Each park the day after they have EMH evenings. That park is likely to be less crowded the next day. Example: If MK has EMH evening on Monday -then you should plan your visit to the MK for Tuesday.

Good advice - Thanks .

 

[dizenthusiast]

I'm more in the "avoid the EMH park" camp on this one.

I keep reading posts about hitting the EMH park first thing, then hopping to a different park later in the afternoon, but where do you hop TO?

It seems like by the afternoon, chances are pretty good that FP's will be GONE at Soarin and Test Track at Epcot, and GONE at EE at Animal Kingdom, and maybe GONE at Space Mountain and Splash Mountain at the MK.

Wouldn't you be better off just visiting the single park on a non-EMH day? You could still leave around noon or so, but by coming back to the SAME park later in the day, you could at least leave with a FP or two in hand to use later in the evening.

Just my thoughts...

 

[Jules76126]

I have done EMH both at night and in the morning. I am all for the morning EMH. It is a great time to get into the parks and see some of the most popular attractions before the lines get to long or even to grab a fast past to use for later. However as far as the night EMH goes I woudln't attempt it unless you have the engery. This past March my dad sister and I decided to take advatage of the EMH at Epcot. After Illuminations we head straight to Soarin. We waited over 45 mintues just to get onto the ride. Then we headed straight to Test Track. Again we waited about an hour. After this I had about had it so we did the boat ride at Norway and went back to the resort. My mom, who hadn't come with us was shocked at how long we were gone and the few attractions that we experienced. My advice take full adavantage of EMH in mornings.

 

[mdoc]

I generally avoid evening EMH parks, because I'm an early starter and rarely can take advantage of all of those evening hours, so why suffer the extra crowd all day to not get that advantage? I've done morning EMH's, though, because I get there when they start and can get a lot accomplished in that hour. I think it also depends on whether the attractions that are open during the EMH are the attractions you want to visit.

 

[ZoZo]

I'm more in the "avoid the EMH park" camp on this one.

I keep reading posts about hitting the EMH park first thing, then hopping to a different park later in the afternoon, but where do you hop TO?

It seems like by the afternoon, chances are pretty good that FP's will be GONE at Soarin and Test Track at Epcot, and GONE at EE at Animal Kingdom, and maybe GONE at Space Mountain and Splash Mountain at the MK.

Wouldn't you be better off just visiting the single park on a non-EMH day? You could still leave around noon or so, but by coming back to the SAME park later in the day, you could at least leave with a FP or two in hand to use later in the evening.

Just my thoughts...

I agree. I usually avoid the EMH parks totally. The one time we tried going to MK on an EMH morning, I was disappointed that most of the rides that were open early were "little kid"/Fantasyland rides, not the "biggies" that I was interested in. My friends and I don't have kids, so were not interested in the Fantasyland rides. Never tried evening EMH - usually, by the end of the day, I'm just "too pooped to party" until midnight or 1:00 a.m!!

 

[drogerstn]

...It seems like by the afternoon, chances are pretty good that FP's will be GONE at Soarin and Test Track at Epcot, and GONE at EE at Animal Kingdom, and maybe GONE at Space Mountain and Splash Mountain at the MK.

Wouldn't you be better off just visiting the single park on a non-EMH day? You could still leave around noon or so, but by coming back to the SAME park later in the day, you could at least leave with a FP or two in hand to use later in the evening....

Good point. During busy times, it is nice to have as many FP's working for us as we can get.

I've reviewed my past visits and it seems that we usually do only two or so morning EMH's (Early Entry in the past) during a one week stay. If we park hop without going back to the resort, we usually schedule at TS lunch in the 2nd park and get FP's before eating. We avoid EMH parks unless we plan to do the morning EMH for that park. Whichever park we visit in the morning, we always plan to be there for the opening to take advantage of the lower crowds during the 1st couple of hours.

 

[HopingforAMiracle]

Thanks so much for the advice . This is pretty much what I thought but I wanted to see what people who have been there done that felt.

We are going the week of Sept. 24-30th and we will have 7 day hoppers so we will have 5 full days and half days on our arrival and departure days. It was only $6 more per ticket to get the 7 day hoppers vs. the 5 day hoppers so I figured why not.

The reason I am thinking it may be tough to hop is because we will have dd 1 year old plus my ILs who both have trouble with walking and will need to rent scooters. However, I'm pretty sure it's going to be sweltering hot still in Florida in Sept. so the idea of heading back to the pool mid-day might be a good one . I'm trying to make this trip pretty laid back as we already have plans to visit again in Oct. 2007. I'm just panicking about dining ressies since the free dining plan will be in effect.

Hi Valerie~
I just wanted to add a side note:
On our last trip, my Aunt joined us for a day and needs to use a scooter.
We wanted to follow the Unofficial Guide touring plan, and get to the park a few minutes before opening and were anticipating that my Aunt in the scooter would slow us down.
Well...you may know this already, but many rides have seperate entrances for those in wheelchairs/scooters. The seperate entrance bypasses the long line- and is not only for the one in the scooter, but also for their family with them. We hadn't realized this until we were at one of the line entrances and trying to figure out how to navigate with the scooter.
Anyway...having the scooter saved lots and lots of time on some rides.
Just something to keep in mind.
Danielle

 

[DISUNC]

I know that there are some who avoid the early entry parks but our family is definitely not one of them. We always get to the EMH park as soon as it opens and then we leave that park by lunch. We ride more rides in the first 2 hours than at any other time of the day. This works extremely well at MK and Epcot. Remember, since you are staying on site, you can go back to your hotel for a break or swim after lunch. That is what we always do. The EMH park does get very crowded after a few hours. So, around lunch, we head back to the room. We spend a couple of hours away from the park and then go to a different park for the afternoon/night. You didn't mention how many days that you are staying. I have always found it makes the vacation more enjoyable and laid back to not spend the entire day at one park. The other thing to consider is what is open during EMH. There are very few things open at AK, so it might not be worth your time to go to the EMH. We still go to the EMH at AK, because I have seen the most animals on the Safari when I go really early. I would check the Disney website and look at the list so you can see what you will get to ride. So, in summary, we love EMH, but if you are staying at one park all day the EMH park will be crazy crowded by lunch. Hope you have a great trip.

AGREE 100%

We go to WDW in the summer. EMH is a HUGE part of the reason we stay onsite. I am always amazed just how many attractions you can get on during the morning hours. In Magic kingdom, you can do ALL of Fantasyland and a major part of Tommorrowland. In Epcot we did Soarin 2x, MS & TT. The point is, You really can do alot.
During the EMH nights, Its much more crowded, but very doable. Besides, its real nice to be in MK at 1:00am!

 

[nhdisnut]

I'm wondering if anyone has had luck with the evening EMH when they go well after midnight. I have heard that the later the EMH the more the crowds thin out. We are heading to WDW in just under 3 weeks, and on our first night we are hoping to stay at MK until 2 or 3 am (we are night people and really like the idea of being up that late at MK). I'm just hoping that the later we stay the lighter the crowds. (We are hoping for the same thing during Christmas week this year). Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

 

[DISUNC]

I'm wondering if anyone has had luck with the evening EMH when they go well after midnight. I have heard that the later the EMH the more the crowds thin out. We are heading to WDW in just under 3 weeks, and on our first night we are hoping to stay at MK until 2 or 3 am (we are night people and really like the idea of being up that late at MK). I'm just hoping that the later we stay the lighter the crowds. (We are hoping for the same thing during Christmas week this year). Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

YES! The later it is a MK the lighter the crowds. So much so that last July we rode Buzz Lightyear 4 times in a row, this was around midnight.

 

[SueM in MN]

Hi Valerie~
I just wanted to add a side note:
On our last trip, my Aunt joined us for a day and needs to use a scooter.
We wanted to follow the Unofficial Guide touring plan, and get to the park a few minutes before opening and were anticipating that my Aunt in the scooter would slow us down.
Well...you may know this already, but many rides have seperate entrances for those in wheelchairs/scooters. The seperate entrance bypasses the long line- and is not only for the one in the scooter, but also for their family with them. We hadn't realized this until we were at one of the line entrances and trying to figure out how to navigate with the scooter.
Anyway...having the scooter saved lots and lots of time on some rides.
Just something to keep in mind.
Danielle

Most of the lines are actually "Mainstream Lines", which are wheelchair and ECV accessible (according to the official WDW Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities).
The reason for separate entrances is that some attractions are not accessible thru the regular line; those are the ones with alternate entrances (and they are for the person with a disability plus up to 5 members of their party). Sometimes, the CM gives out a handwritten Fastpass to the party to come back later, rather than "bypassing the line", so a separate entrance doesn't necessarily mean a shorter wait.
Sometimes the wait at the accessible entrance is actually longer - either because an accessible ride car needs to be available or because a limited number of people with special needs can be in the waiting area/attraction at one time.

Most of those "alternate entrance attractions" are at MK, which is the oldest and least accessible park. All the attractions at AK and the Studio were built as Mainstream Lines and wheelchair/scooter users wait in the same lines with everyone else.