Someone please explain EMH to me...

[la79al]

I understand that they are days when particular parks open earlier or close later for those staying on property but what I want to know is...

Which is more crowded, am or pm EMH?
Are parks more or less crowded when they have a am EMH?
Are parks more or less crowded when they have a pm EMH?

In other words, should I try to avoid parks on EMH days or just ignore the EMHs when doing my scheduling?
We are going the end of June so I know it will be crowded regardless, I am just trying to minimize the number of times we lose the kids. (Less than 3 would be nice )

 

[Cheshire Figment]

First of all, EMH is only available to people who are staying at a Disney Resort, the Swan or Dolphin, the Hilton, or Shades of Green.

Morning EMH is one hour before official park opening. Only people with the correct Resort IDs (and tickets) will be allowed in. If you are there at the start you get a big advantage as there are very few crowds.

However, by about 11:00, the morning EMH park tends to be a bit more crowded than if it did not have EMH.

For evening EMH you have to get wristbands for everyone in the group (ages 3 or older). Each person must have a room key, even the children. These normally are distributed starting about two hours before park closing. Once the park is officially closed nobody without a wrist band can get into or on any attraction. They do not get chased out, since they may still spend money. Nobody will be allowed into the park unless they have a Resort ID, and they will be given a wristband upon entry.

 

[SnackyStacky]

I understand that they are days when particular parks open earlier or close later for those staying on property but what I want to know is...

Which is more crowded, am or pm EMH?
Are parks more or less crowded when they have a am EMH?
Are parks more or less crowded when they have a pm EMH?

In other words, should I try to avoid parks on EMH days or just ignore the EMHs when doing my scheduling?
We are going the end of June so I know it will be crowded regardless, I am just trying to minimize the number of times we lose the kids. (Less than 3 would be nice )

Plan your schedule by AVOIDING the parks that have Extra Magic Hour.

Whichever park you plan for the day - be there no less than a half hour prior to the posted openings. You should have smooth sailing for about 3-4 hours. Enjoy all the rides you like before those who slept in start filing into the park. You also avoid the hottest, sunniest part of the day that way. I've always said I can deal with crowds OR heat - but not both!

 

[helenk]

You do not indicate if you are staying on site or not. If you are, I would go to the early EMH especially in the summer. I have found that I really get a lot done in that hour. And it still a bit cooler, I then stay at the park until lunch and then I go to another park. I've gone to the late EMH at the MK and it was pretty crowded, the wait times for the rides in Fantasyland were horrible, the late EMH at Epcot was great though, I was able to get alot done there. Those are the only 2 parks I've done the late EMH.
If you are staying off site, I would avoid the parks that have the EMH, those parks will be busy, with the early EMH, there is already an hour's worth of people there, and I would guess that the park with the late EMH would be busier during the day due to the fact that a lot of people that do not have hopper passes staying at the EMH park all day.

 

[Poohbear123]

Do the Morning for AK you can ride EE about 3 times before it gets really crowded! I also do MK on Sunday night, its not too bad if its a slow time, or if there are NO cheerleaders!

 

[MinMouse]

After trying both a.m. and p.m. EMH hours at most of the parks we found that our family enjoys the a.m. EMH but not the p.m. We're morning people and we've found that we can get more done in that hour than in the three hours in the evening. We do; however, usually leave that park after lunch and head back to the resort for a swim or on to another park. Maybe as the kids get older they'll want to be in MK or MGM at 1 a.m. but for now we're content with getting up early and getting as much riding in as we can!