To EMH or not to EMH ???

[NYMom]

Help, I'm having major planning stress. We leave next Monday 7/28 for7 nights at the Swan. I have revised our itenary several times. EMH has always worked well for us in the past, But this is our first time visiting the world in the middle of the summer . For those who have recently returned please share with me your stratagy. I am the planner for our family (DH, DS9 & DS5) and have myself totally confused over EMH & the FTP. TIA !!!

 

[grinningghost]

If you go in summer, EMH is really, really worth it. The heat isn't nearly as oppressive early in the morning. Believe me, I hate getting up early, especially on vacation, but once I down a nice big cup of coffee and get into the park - I'm very glad I'm there. By 11:00 you can head back to your hotel, knowing you covered alot of ground already - and relax until later in the day. I recommend it highly.

 

[NYMom]

Thanks for the reassurance grinning ghost.
That was my original plan, but reading some posts about how crowded EMH has been recently, I was driving myself crazy trying to decide between EMH and going to the park the day after EMH.

 

[swilphil]

There have been several posts recently that right now EMH is mobbed. What worked for us was to go to a particular park, right at opening, the day AFTER that park had EMH. I guess the FTP is packing Disney Resorts. We found the crowds right before July 4 to be manageable with this strategy, plus we weren't up quite early enough to make EMH, but could make opening.

You also can get into parks a little early on non-EMH days by booking a PS at the restaurants in the park. We did this with MK and AK. We booked these PS's at the Dolphin Concierage desk the night before. I'm sure you can do the same at the Swan.

If your family is awake early enough, it might be worth it to do EMH for 2 hours, then switch to another park. Definitely stay away from the EMH parks in the afternoon.

 

[Iansmom]

We just returned home on Sunday. I wish I had thought about the last comment (Doing the park the day after the EMH.)

What we found staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort was that you would get your whole family up early for the EMH and then wait at the bus stop 30 - 45 minutes for a bus to the EMH park. Once the bus enters the resort, it stops at two or three stops until it's full then heads on to the park. If you aren't at one of those two or three beginning stops, you end up on the phone, grouching to whoever will listen, and then they send a "Special" bus to your stop.

On the other hand, once you get to the park(s) for EMH, it really is relatively cooler. We would get fastpasses for a popular ride, then hop in the stand-by line for the 5-15 minute wait. Ride the ride, maybe have time for one more 10-30 minute wait ride then go back and ride the first again with our fastpasses.

About lunchtime, the parks are mobbed and it's a good time to grab a bite, head back to the resort for a dip in the pool and take a nap. Get up about 4:00 pm and go to another park.

We really did have a fantastic time!

 

[NYMom]

Sherri, thanks for the info.
We will go to a different park after our mid-day rest.
Thanks Iansmom,
How early were you at the bus stop?
I believe the Swan is the first stop, so I was planning on catching the first bus to MK.

 

[Iansmom]

We were at our bus stop around 7:00 to 7:15. Epcot and MGM were the closest to our resort, so I didn't fret too much over those. But MK is relatively far away and I didn't want to waste any time getting there.
HTH