To EMH or not...

[rosiegmendez]

We going during a low crowd season late January with shorter park hours.

We planned to hit am EMH then hop to a different park to avoid crowds (we'll have hoppers and are staying VGF/BC). Does it make sense to hop when the parks close so early in the evening?

I recall hitting am EMH at Disneyland when we stayed at the GC during the most crowded of times (December 29th) and it was incredible! We did most of Fantasyland before the park even opened then we went back to the hotel for the babies to nap when it got crowded.

Is EMH just as good at WDW? Please help, thanks!

 

[Robo]

We going during a low crowd season late January with shorter park hours.

We planned to hit am EMH then hop to a different park to avoid crowds (we'll have hoppers and are staying VGF/BC). Does it make sense to hop when the parks close so early in the evening?

I recall hitting am EMH at Disneyland when we stayed at the GC during the most crowded of times (December 29th) and it was incredible! We did most of Fantasyland before the park even opened then we went back to the hotel for the babies to nap when it got crowded.

Is EMH just as good at WDW? Please help, thanks!

Never attending EMH's because they will be "too crowded or overly-stressful,"
is like never eating grapes because they will be "too sour."

CAN be that way.
Doesn't HAVE to be that way.

Each EMH experience can be different.

We always go to AM EMH (virtually every day of the trip
that we did not do a PM EMH late the night before)...
never ONCE regretted an AM EMH... they are amazingly
empty and easy to ride the open attractions.
If that park then starts to fill 2 to 3 hours later...
We're happy with "doing" that park for the day and we
can HOP elsewhere or do lunch and take a rest until
later.

PM EMH's are a mixed bag. I've been when they were
"packed"... but on other nights (sometimes within the
same trip), the crowds were basically so low that it
was like "free rides" on all the open attractions.

The rule seems to be, it is far easier for guests to
STAY UP at the end of the day, than it is for them to
GET UP at the start of the day.

Generally speaking:
Expect a PM EMH which begins before 10PM to be much busier than one that begins much later.
Expect the first hour of PM EMH to be busier than the last hour.

Those who have attended PM EMH's and say that "they
are too crowded" are right... but that may have been only on the nights
they have attended.
I can say from personal experience that EMH's CAN be
virtually empty, or overly full... or somewhere in-between for attendance,
often within the same week.

The crowd situation at PM EMH can change so much (either way,)
that saying it was "like X" on a given night, can have little relation
to another night in the same time-period. So, you
simply "won't know unless you go."
It's similar to saying
that you attended on a given night and it rained, so
guests should never go on that night because it will
probably be rainy.

But, it can all boil down to your particular timing.

If you just consider that EMH's are FREE to attend...
You might just take a chance.
If it's too busy, just people-watch... or hit the exit.
(Where ELSE are ya gonna go at 10pm, anyway?)

But, if its not busy... you'll be ALL SET for EXTRA FUN!

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[Hootch]

will be more crowded at WDW than at DL for two major reasons: a) a large percentage of visitors at DL are within reasonable driving distance and can visit multiple times a year and b) WDW has over 20K rooms onsite.

We were at DL a couple of years ago when Carsland just opened. We did not have EMH so normal entry time. First stop was in DCA to get Radiator Springs Racing FPs. It was probably 9:30 before we hit DL. Still most of Fantasyland was walk on.

The first couple of hours at a WDW AM EMH, the crowds will be relatively low. Starting around 11 the park will often be more crowded than usual. Some people do not want to get up early on vacation. I generally recommend doing AM EMH if you have park hoppers. You can go to a less crowded park later in the day. I don't think I would go to an AM EMH park without PHs unless it was a park I had to go to for some reason.

 

[JennyDrake]

Never attending EMH's because they will be "too crowded or overly-stressful,"
is like never eating grapes because they will be "too sour."

CAN be that way.
Doesn't HAVE to be that way.

Each EMH experience can be different.

We always go to AM EMH (virtually every day of the trip
that we did not do a PM EMH late the night before)...
never ONCE regretted an AM EMH... they are amazingly
empty and easy to ride the open attractions.
If that park then starts to fill 2 to 3 hours later...
We're happy with "doing" that park for the day and we
can HOP elsewhere or do lunch and take a rest until
later.

PM EMH's are a mixed bag. I've been when they were
"packed"... but on other nights (sometimes within the
same trip), the crowds were basically so low that it
was like "free rides" on all the open attractions.


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DITTO!! This has been my experience in 30 trips over 10 years.

 

[rosiegmendez]

I think we will give itAM EMH a try a couple of times and see how it goes.

 

[nooneshome]

We generally avoid EMHs but for our upcoming Nov trip we had planned to go to MK the night we arrive. Now they have added EMH to MK on that day so we still plan to go. We know it could be crowded but whatever we can get done will be lagniappe. I was thinking of using FP+ and get some late FPs for the new Mine Train ride and maybe A&E.