To EMH or Not to EMH - That is my dilemna

[jmsvss]

Our trip last March was the first time we used EMH and it worked out fairly well. This year we will be there Feb 15-22 - spending the 16-19 at WDW parks so I figure we may have to contend with President week crowds. There seems to be a well published philosophy out there to avoid EMH parks at all costs whether you are staying at a Disney resort or not because all of the resort guests will be there. It seems to me that you either contend with the resort EMH crowds or you contend with all of the non-resort crowds and those resort folks who avoid EMH. Has anyone done both - EMH and not - during crowded times of year? What was your experience? I will be traveling with DH, DS15, DD12.

The advice to arrive early and take a break midday sounds wonderful. However, I have trouble because fastpass return times. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[iliketoby]

We EMH in the mornings, when possible, and leave around 11:00 - 11:30. Then we go back around 3:30 or 4:00.

First thing in the morning, the FP times don't have us coming back after 11:00. We'll usually get just one -- like on the way to Splash, we'll pick 'em up for Jungle Cruise or on the way to Rock n Roller, we'll pick 'em up for ToT. Sometimes we get a FP in the afternoons, but not usually. If you get there early enough, you can ride the biggies then and save stuff like the TTA for the afternoon.

We don't use the EMH nights because it is hard to stay late and get up early, and we prefer mornings because in our experience there have been more people there at night.

We always take the break. We just can't go all day in that sun, with all those people around.

 

[jmsvss]

Thanks for your reply. I would be interested in hearing who goes for the early morning/park opening. Are you people with small children or, like me, who have teenagers.

The EMH experience seems like it may be crowd and weather dependent. If we don't EMH then I may not pay the extra for park hoppers. Any thoughts?

 

[Lives4Disney]

We did the evening EMHs over our Thanksgiving trip. I have 3 kids, 5, 9, and 15. We lose and hour going to FL and like to sleep in a bit on vacation so the evenings work out best for us. If you can stay up late (we did MK EMH from 11pm to 2 am the night before Tgiving) it can be awesome. The later the better, IMHO.

The EMHs were our best times on this Thanksgiving trip. We had so many rides that were walk ons and most with hardly any wait if there was one.

Good luck & happy planning!!

Lives4Disney

 

[huskies90]

Mornings are great at all parks. MK on 11/25 (day after T'Giving) was great. Walk ons everywhere. The park started to get crowded so we left for a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's then back to the resort for a rest/swim etc. We came back for the parade and fireworks. The evening EMH at MK on Wed night was amazing. Everything was open and the park was flat out empty. It was almost eerie. Granted it was pretty cold that night but nobody was there. My daughter and I had the park to ourselves. I took pictures on Splash Mountain because we were the only two in the boat and the two boats ahead of us and behind us were empty. Now, the next night was just as cold and we did EPCOT but it was packed. After Illuminations there were long waits for Test Track and Soarin' and not much else was open so we just left.

 

[Perdygirl]

I was nervous about EMH too, because of what I had read here, but we tried anyway, and loved it. We went to evening EMH at MK and couldn't believe how much we got done. It really emptied out after 11pm, so if your kids can stay up late I'd do it. The only morning EMH we did was AK. That was great too, because we went right to the Kilamanjaro Safari, and the animals were really active. I do not recommend riding Kali River Rapids early in the day, unless you like walking around in wet pants.

Have a great trip!!