So torn about my park schedule! What do you do?

[disneybliss2]

For our upcoming June trip, I kept reading about Josh's advice from easywdw and had a friend recommend following his schedule. For the first time, I eliminated all morning EMH from our trip, but now I'm second guessing myself.

We get up early and take full advantage of EMH. We're at the park at 7:40 ready to go. We also use park hoppers, so we can easily hop out, say around noon after we eat lunch at 11:00.

Now rather than staying at Josh's recommended park all day, I'm thinking I should switch back to some EMH for the first half of the day, and then park hop over to Josh's recommended park (not every day start at EMH park, but around 4 to 5 days out of a 10 day trip). Does your transportation time negate the extra hour you had and you'd be better off just going to recommended park? Since we get there early to fully utilize the EMH, I think we could get a lot done (especially at MK & AK). OR would we get even more done just heading straight to Josh's recommended park and avoiding the EMH park for the first 3 hours?

What's everyone else's best experience to maximize your time?

option a: start at EMH park for 3-4 hours and hop to Josh's recommended park

option b: start & stay at Josh's recommended park

I feel pressured to figure this out as my fp+ window is approaching and I need to know where I'll be to reserve my times. Thanks for the help!

 

[Robertfam08]

I'm curious about what others have to say, too. I understand that Josh never recommends the park with EMH, but everything I've ever read here says that people get a ton accomplished in that first hour. I do plan to utilize morning EMH at MK on our trip.

With no experience of my own to offer, I would say that if you have used EMH with success in the morning before and it works well for your family, do it. My hunch is that crowd levels are affected more by evening EMH than in the early morning. But what do I know?

 

[BudgieMama]

I read Josh's advice, read the advice in the Unofficial Guide, listened to a lot of people on here... and decided we would avoid EMH altogether...

Whilst I'd be happy to commando the parks every day, I want my DH to enjoy his holiday too, and hopefully not feel like he'd never go back again! I have told him we WILL be doing rope drop, but adding an extra hour earlier into the days just feels a bit mean!

I suspect different things work for different families, and I know I'd have made a different decision if it was just me... but making sure my DH enjoys himself is very important too!

 

[HJRWoman]

With a family of early risers, we make our park selections based on morning EMH.
We are there for RD and get most of our "must dos" done in the first 2 hours. Even though, like Josh, the Unofficial Guide does not recommend EMH parks, it does say that if you can be there for rope drop for morning EMH, to take advantage of it. Then you can use your FP+ for the afternoon or evening in a recommended park. That being said, you need to do what works for your family.
Some people love evening EMH, but we don't. While I use recommendations and advice when creating our touring plans, in the end, our plans are based on what our family wants. So my advice would be to use your resources and make informed decisions about what your family wants. It sounds like you have successfully used morning EMH in the past, so I would go with that. Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[joe1946]

option a: start at EMH park for 3-4 hours and hop to Josh's recommended park

option b: start & stay at Josh's recommended park

I feel pressured to figure this out as my fp+ window is approaching and I need to know where I'll be to reserve my times. Thanks for the help!

No need to feel pressured to figure it out before your FP+ window opens. Whichever option you choose, you'll wind up in Josh's recommended park in the afternoon, so just make your FP+ selections for the afternoons. You can wait until later to decide which park to start your day in.

 

[Kate and Family]

I am not sure if Easy or TP take in account park hoppers. Perhaps they are written primarily for the base ticket?

If you are early risers and have park hoppers - EMH, then when it gets busy and hop to the park with the lower crowd numbers (hopefully, easy and TP will agree that day). If you have an app that will tell you the actual real time crowd even better.

EMH has been a huge success for us in the past - we had park hoppers.


Next visit (Fall), will be travelling with people who will want to sleep in a bit - go figure!. So will probably stick with recommended parks, unless I can convert them.

 

[fishhunter]

Not sure how long you will be staying, but I would certainly use morning EMH at MK. If time allows, I would do HS also. We personally do them at every park. No matter how you slice it nothing is a better plan than morning EMH. We go during the Christmas holidays and it works great at that time. I can't imagine how much you can get done during slower times of the year!

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I am not sure if Easy or TP take in account park hoppers. Perhaps they are written primarily for the base ticket?

If you are early risers and have park hoppers - EMH, then when it gets busy and hop to the park with the lower crowd numbers (hopefully, easy and TP will agree that day). If you have an app that will tell you the actual real time crowd even better.

EMH has been a huge success for us in the past - we had park hoppers.


Next visit (Fall), will be travelling with people who will want to sleep in a bit - go figure!. So will probably stick with recommended parks, unless I can convert them.

Touring Plans assumes that people do not have hoppers. Also their data shows that even when people intend to use EMH morning, the still don't get there by 8am. If you don't get there until 8:30, you're not getting the full benefit. They have always said that yo can get a lot out of EMH if you plan on hooping to another park once the EMH park gets too busy. We usually don't do morning EMH, but will try it out at Epcot and MK on our next trip. I won't do them in all 4 parks because I don't think that I can get my family up early that many times on vacation.

 

[EMode]

No need to feel pressured to figure it out before your FP+ window opens. Whichever option you choose, you'll wind up in Josh's recommended park in the afternoon, so just make your FP+ selections for the afternoons. You can wait until later to decide which park to start your day in.

That is what I would do.
You can do RD at whichever park you choose, ride a bunch of things SB, have some lunch and then either hop to the recommended park or stay in it if you are there and do your FP+ selections.

 

[seenellie81]

My A plans are similar to yours, although i do just tend to go with the flow once we are actually there. I like to have an idea of what we want to do before we leave. Most days the plan is to hit the morning EMH get done what we can because you can get SOO much done. Then we will hop to the recommended park for the rest of the day, where we have early dinner late lunch ADR's. Between parks we are planning on going back to the room for a bit. We are going in August and want to avoid the afternoon heat and the influx of people at the EMH parks. We also love our breaks!! Not something that everyone enjoys i know. When i am able to make FP+ times i am going to try and pick times for after we eat at the recommended park.
Example: 8am- MK EMH stay until around noon- Head to POP for break 3pm head to HS for 4pm 50's PT ADR finish the evening in HS.
Of course every day is not like this!! That would be alot of running!

 

[jester161]

We ALWAYS do extra morning EMH - the only downside is getting up early...if you can manage that I can't see any minus points at all. You can ride whatever you want (even Toy Story - but probably only once!) without FP's. Then when the crowds start arriving go somewhere for lunch , and a massive chill out back at the resort for the afternoon. Then we go back to a different park in the evening with book FP+.

Never once looked at the recommended parks or TP - just get the real benefits of EMH and park hoppers, and have a wonderful stress free time!!

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

We always do morning EMH. DBF & I get SO much done during that first hour. We also like to take a few hours in the middle of the day to rest and take a break.... this also happens to be when the parks are really starting to fill up. After our midday break we usually hop to the preferred park of the day.

 

[mrsmorrow]

For our upcoming June trip, I kept reading about Josh's advice from easywdw and had a friend recommend following his schedule. For the first time, I eliminated all morning EMH from our trip, but now I'm second guessing myself.

We get up early and take full advantage of EMH. We're at the park at 7:40 ready to go. We also use park hoppers, so we can easily hop out, say around noon after we eat lunch at 11:00.

Now rather than staying at Josh's recommended park all day, I'm thinking I should switch back to some EMH for the first half of the day, and then park hop over to Josh's recommended park (not every day start at EMH park, but around 4 to 5 days out of a 10 day trip). Does your transportation time negate the extra hour you had and you'd be better off just going to recommended park? Since we get there early to fully utilize the EMH, I think we could get a lot done (especially at MK & AK). OR would we get even more done just heading straight to Josh's recommended park and avoiding the EMH park for the first 3 hours?

What's everyone else's best experience to maximize your time?

option a: start at EMH park for 3-4 hours and hop to Josh's recommended park

option b: start & stay at Josh's recommended park

I feel pressured to figure this out as my fp+ window is approaching and I need to know where I'll be to reserve my times. Thanks for the help!

This has been my exact dilemma! We are there June 21-30, pretty straight 9's as far as crowd predictions. My DH and DD's are all very flexible and go with any plan I come with. So after pouring over my spreadsheet day after day, I think I am happy with this:
HS - non EMH, rope drop, hit headliners and other attractions, eat lunch and then have FP's for ToT,TSMM, and Start Tours (hopefully all repeats) then head back to resort. That evening is MK EMH so we may swim and nap and after a late dinner visit that park. Next morning is sleep in/pool/DTD day. May use FP's and pop into EP later.
EP - we plan to do morning EMH and save FP's for evening at MK.
AK - also EMH, early lunch, then FP's for Kali, EE, Dinosaur (hope to have hit EE, Safari, Dinosaur during EMH.)
Typhoon Lagoon day - We will use FP's for evening in HS
MK - we have a 8:15 CP ADR so i'm hoping its a good choice vs doing EMH a different morning. (Ultimately youngest DD begged to keep CP!)
We plan lots of down time for pools and resort relaxation. I know this past week has been insane in the parks so I am watching everyone's reports closely because late June will possibly be completely packed as well.
I probably haven't helped at all, but I definitely empathize! I like to make detailed plans but am always laid back when we get there. But to me, it was much easier to flip your days or revamp plans upon arrival back in the days of legacy FP....Not quite the same anymore.
Good luck!!

 

[ciera321]

We used to always go to morning EMH, but not any more. We have never gotten much done at PM EMH and it's usually packed, so never go to those, either. We have been following Josh's advice on the best parks to go to for 3 trips now, and we won't go back to EMH. We can get so much done before the crowds build, and remember, lots of Disney resort guests are at the other park. That's a lot of people! So Josh is our go-to guy for advice. We love how he reasons his advice, and tells you "why" he recommends what he does. I'm not slamming EMH, just telling what works well for us!

 

[disneybliss2]

No need to feel pressured to figure it out before your FP+ window opens. Whichever option you choose, you'll wind up in Josh's recommended park in the afternoon, so just make your FP+ selections for the afternoons. You can wait until later to decide which park to start your day in.

I would do this--just definitely plan the afternoon park, but if I ended going to an EMH park and hop out, then I'll need to plan another day 1/2 day there as well since I didn't spend a whole day there.

I've read the thoughts behind Josh's selection for each day and it makes sense. I've also read his information regarding EMH. He takes very favorably of morning EMH if you can get to the park earlier enough to take advantage and hop out. His overall recommendations I think take into the account guests that don't stay onsite to take advantage of EMH, guests that plan on using EMH but get there late, and guests that don't have park hoppers to hop out.

I guess I was just wondering if the hopping would negate the time you gained at EMH. Is his recommended park that much better, or would the combo be? I'm leaning on combo but still indecisive.

 

[leebee]

Have any of the touring plans factored in the effects of FP+? I have been reading that headliners now sometimes have standby lines (and are out of FP+) by 9:15! I would think the thing to do would be do EMH, ride as much as you can, and stay until the crowds build. Take the midday off, then hop to a non-EMH park for the late afternoon/evening, using your FP+ reservations at the second park.

 

[melnbil]

You have to do whatever is comfortable for you. I do follow Josh for the most part. But I am going to MK on a Sat and Sun, then to DHS on a Sat for SWW. Even though I follow Josh, I also do what fits our schedule and plans.

 

[gumbo1009]

FYI - In his detailed notes, Josh often says that *IF* you are the type of family that can actually get there for EMH, then go for it, *if* you have park hoppers. Get to EMH before the park opens, but then leave before noon (because the morning EMH park will start to get packed after around 11am).

So if you really think you can get the family up that early (and also maintain your sanity) then go for it (because most of the resort guests eligible for EMH can't get themselves organized that early)...

 

[AthenaBolina]

We plan to follow Josh's plans too for EMH...except for our 5th day, which is a MK EMH day.

First day we're doing AK and MK pm EMH,
Day 2- Epcot, but we're sleeping in this day and have our FP+ selections for later. We might hop that night, but since it's Memorial day, I'm not sure where too.
Day 3- HS, and we're locked into this because of dinner ressies and Fantasmic Dinner Pkg
Day 4/5 MK, and one am MK EMH. Might try to hop to EP the first night and then HS the 2nd night.
Day 6: AK in the AM, EP in the mid afternoon (or something else if we want), and then we'll hope to MK for the evening

I followed all of his green days, and we are flexible except for days we have dinner plans. If the kids or hubby want to hop more we can do that too. EMH are good for some aspects, but I don't want to drag my family out super super early all the time. We just do RD instead and make sure we are there on time

 

[disneybliss2]

FYI - In his detailed notes, Josh often says that *IF* you are the type of family that can actually get there for EMH, then go for it, *if* you have park hoppers. Get to EMH before the park opens, but then leave before noon (because the morning EMH park will start to get packed after around 11am).

So if you really think you can get the family up that early (and also maintain your sanity) then go for it (because most of the resort guests eligible for EMH can't get themselves organized that early)...

Yes, we always get to the park 20 min. before opening--even EMH days. We always utilize park hopper, but haven't always hopped out which may be our key this upcoming trip.