Still wise to avoid parks with extra magic hours even during slow periods?

[tgbanks3]

Going to be at WDW 1/7/16 - 1/14/16, which is typically one of the slower periods, relatively speaking. Every touring plan I read says to avoid parks on days they offer extra magic hours. Is this still the rule of thumb? Or does it apply more to parks when they offer extra hours in the evening? Are some parks worse than others?
Where does everyone stand on extra magic hours?

 

[Accident]

Lately all the parks have been closed with 1 still opened with emh at night. Night Emh has been swamped.

But its a roll of the dice. Fri, sat tends to be the worse.

 

[disneymom0104]

I think the parks are okay if you actually get there when the morning EMH opens, but that park tends to be busier during the day even if people don't actually get there for the EMH. We have had some great EMH mornings. Nights can be hit or miss- if it is the only park open, it tends to be crowded. Ultimately for us, we tend to avoid them more than go to them, but will sometimes park hop after a morning EMH or do a different park prior to an evening EMH.

 

[tgbanks3]

That was kind of the plan I had in mind. I have Tusker House ADR at 10:15 on a day that AK offers morning EMH. The plan was to get to the park at RD, have 2 hours to ride before breakfast, then either stay the rest of the day or head to another park depending on the crowd. I just didn't want to be stuck there for 2 hours with every attraction having a long wait.

 

[mom2rtk]

Slow periods aren't what they used to be. Disney has been cutting staff so even slower times "feel" busy. I would always choose my park with potential crowd avoidance in mind.

 

[CAS239]

That was kind of the plan I had in mind. I have Tusker House ADR at 10:15 on a day that AK offers morning EMH. The plan was to get to the park at RD, have 2 hours to ride before breakfast, then either stay the rest of the day or head to another park depending on the crowd. I just didn't want to be stuck there for 2 hours with every attraction having a long wait.

Your plan will be fine.

The reason to avoid EMH parks is if your offsite. If you're on site and your party can wake up early enough to make it to morning EMH, then definitely take park in it. You'll benefit from low crowds for a few hours.

 

[Klayfish]

Your plan will be fine.

The reason to avoid EMH parks is if your offsite. If you're on site and your party can wake up early enough to make it to morning EMH, then definitely take park in it. You'll benefit from low crowds for a few hours.

We always stay offsite. Maybe it's just our being oblivious to it, but we don't even look to see what parks have EMH when making our plans. By random chance, I'm sure we've been to parks that have had EMH many times, and we didn't even know it. For us, it hasn't made any difference, either good or bad. We stopped doing rope drop some time ago, the earliest we get there is 10-15 minutes after park open.

 

[DarkPaw]

I was there from Sept. 10 to 24.

I went to MK 3 times:

1x morning EMH + Party Night
1x no EMH, party night
1x no EMH no party.


The most busy by far at rope drop (I was there a EMH opening the day it was going on, reg. hours the others) was the day with AM EMH, even if there was a party that night wich I tought would lessen the crowd.

I think Disney is so good at filling the rooms at their resorts with specials, etc. that when the crowds are low, it's not because the resorts are empty, but because there is way less offsite guests, wich means it's even more important to steer away from AM EMH since a larger percentage of guests can use them.

 

[srauseo]

If you can't commit to getting to the park on time for AM EMH, then I wouldn't go to that park. And by on time, I mean about 45 minutes before the park is scheduled to open. And if you are not eligible for EMH, then I wouldn't go to the AM EMH park. There's no reason to put yourself at a disadvantage if you don't have to.

 

[Disfan5]

I don't think it will make much of a difference that time of year. I did morning EMH one year with the intention of hopping when the park got too busy and it never got too busy. The next year I didn't get hoppers and planned around crowd calendars. Honestly the crowds did not seem any different to me (same week each year). Same with night time EMH. This was the week after thanksgiving so I would assume January would be even lower crowds.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I like AM EMH but we get PH's and leave around noon, go to the pool and then to another park in the PM with our FP+. Works like a charm.

We did PM EMH at EP and DHS last trip. EP was a bust (TT still an hour wait) but DHS rides were pretty short. They stated longer wait times but once on the ride, waits were less than 5 minutes for TSM, ToT and RNRC.

 

[LSUfan4444]

It's probably more important to hit recommended parks during slow times.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

I always get way more done with morning extra magic hours than when I do evening extra magic hours. I always say go to the morning one even during the busier times. More people are inclined to stay up later than wake up early in my opinion. For example, I have been able to get every major EPCOT attraction (Frozen, Test Track, and Soarin) done within the hour or very close to it in the morning.

 

[Accident]

I think Disney is so good at filling the rooms at their resorts with specials, etc. that when the crowds are low, it's not because the resorts are empty, but because there is way less offsite guests, wich means it's even more important to steer away from AM EMH since a larger percentage of guests can use them.

I would agree with this. I had a trip in 2015 that because of a hurricane that never came the park was empty. not the same as your emh notice but the guests that came knew disney really well and knew it wasn't a reason to not come if it did hit. there was so many people that knew to rope drop and avoid emh that they created a massive crowd in the mornings that all took a resort break in the afternoon. but if you went where emh was, or didnt' get into the park until noon it wasn't a ghost town but lines were no more than 1-5 minutes at every attraction, even the mega line ones.

I found it interesting how the crowd composition changes depending on the size of crowd and what is happening in the area at the same time. I really feel that the smaller the crowd, the less effective emh is and larger crowds in the afternoon. Now when another event like a hurricane, it keeps less knowledgeable fans away and it completely changes. In that senario Rope drop is when the crowd is out and afternoons is when the parks are clear and the resorts are full.

I've never been able to figure out what is different when it's a slower week where 1 park everyday is crazy and the rest are empty. (yes I analyze this too much) but it ties into my nature and what I do for a living so I am genuinely interested in the crowd dynamics and how a 365 day a year entertainment destination does things differently.

 

[JZCubed]

Going to be at WDW 1/7/16 - 1/14/16, which is typically one of the slower periods, relatively speaking. Every touring plan I read says to avoid parks on days they offer extra magic hours. Is this still the rule of thumb? Or does it apply more to parks when they offer extra hours in the evening? Are some parks worse than others?
Where does everyone stand on extra magic hours?

The rule of avoidance applies to morning EMH if you are arriving well after rope drop.

The standby lines for E-ticket rides will already be clogged when off-site guests arrive.

However, if you participate in rope drop at morning EMH, then you will have already completed E-ticket rides before off-site guests arrive. Of course, you can still schedule your FP+.

And we've done this: Rope Drop EMH @ 8am, 1st FP+ for 9am or a bit later (which can be used until 10am), etc. - done by 12pm with a lunch plan or time back at the pool. Maybe back to a Park for evening entertainment.