to EMH or not to EMH that is the question.....

[disneyholic family]

so tomorrow morning our ADR window opens (we're at 181 today)...
i've mapped out our daily schedule of parks and ADRs....
and now, at this 11th hour (really way past the 11th hour), we're suddenly wondering about the wisdom of not making use of morning extra magic hours..

so let me think out loud and ask for your opinions whatever they might be...

in recent years we have always planned our schedule in opposition to EMH hours....
that is, we only go to a non-EMH park...

which is how we've set up our schedule for this august....
only visiting non-EMH parks..

so we just started thinking that maybe we were giving up on one of the big perks of staying onsite...
that maybe we'd be able to 'do a lot more' if we go to the EMH park..

but on the other hand, we'll have two very young toddlers this time (we're a group of 8: 6 adults and 2 kidlets - 3 years old and 22 months old)...
getting everyone up and out of the hotel early enough to make it to morning EMH seems like a ghastly proposition..

so maybe i had it right to begin with? (and should stop trying to second guess myself? )

.

 

[pjweaver]

I find it tough to get my wife and me moving early enough for EMH, I can't imagine it with younglings.

 

[mousehockey37]

The morning EMH is usually just 1 hour. Not a huge difference, but it's an hour of people in front of you on rides and just in the park period.

If you're worried about getting up and out earlier than normal, then just go about your normal day. At least the EMH users will already through bag check!

 

[Bete]

I'm always using EMH AM and I always will. You do get to see way more in that first hour. Also, you can plan your FP+ a little differently to take advantage of more time in the park.

If you work yourself toward the back of the park in that EMH then you have even more time without the crowds in the back of the park.

Next, you will be ready for early lunch and it's less crowded at that time and that saves you a little time, too.

The little ones can nap in the park in their stroller.

 

[disneyholic family]

I find it tough to get my wife and me moving early enough for EMH, I can't imagine it with younglings.

DD was the one that started second guessing our schedule (that i thought was finally ready for our ADR d-day today)...
but after i posted this, she texted saying her husband had said getting up early enough to make it to EMH sounded painful and not the way to spend vacation...... so i guess we're good to go....no EMH parks for us again this year!!

The morning EMH is usually just 1 hour. Not a huge difference, but it's an hour of people in front of you on rides and just in the park period.

If you're worried about getting up and out earlier than normal, then just go about your normal day. At least the EMH users will already through bag check!

since i make our ADRs in just under 4 hours from now, that's it...we're going with the EMH avoidance strategy

I'm always using EMH AM and I always will. You do get to see way more in that first hour. Also, you can plan your FP+ a little differently to take advantage of more time in the park.

If you work yourself toward the back of the park in that EMH then you have even more time without the crowds in the back of the park.

Next, you will be ready for early lunch and it's less crowded at that time and that saves you a little time, too.

The little ones can nap in the park in their stroller.

when the kids were younger and i was in total control of our schedule, i always used EMH AM.....
and as you point out, it enabled accomplishing a great deal early on....
but things are no longer in my control...
we're 3 families now, not 1 ...(DH and me, DD and her husband, DS and his wife and two toddlers)...
so since we're working with a large group, i think the best strategy this time around is a sort of go with the flow approach..
that was what i thought from the beginning...it was DD who started second guessing it..
but she's come back to my thinking..
we're going to WDW to be together and to enjoy disney together...
so this trip will be less about what we've managed to ride on and more about enjoying the atmosphere..

if it were just DH and me, i would definitely go for all the morning EMH parks without a doubt!!!!

 

[chris benton]

You gotta weigh your options. If getting the fam up for am emh is gonna be a disaster, don't do it.
We are early risers, am emh is not even a big deal. They could move them to 7am, and we'd be fine. On the flip side of that tho...10pm Wishes would be a disaster for us.

 

[jeffbear]

Completely a matter of personal choice. What you gain in the first hour and a half of an EMH day, you likely lose around 10:00 am when the extra boost of early birds starts to make everything run like molasses. And if you aren't morning people in the first place, then maybe that little bit of torture tips the scales as well.

Personally I like to EMH the Magic Kingdom at least once per visit, but I'm out of that park and on to AK or Studios by lunchtime.