To magic hour or not to magic hour?

[ontario_disneyfamily]

That is the question. Some people say that I should take advantage of the extra hour and some say NO the chosen parks get way to busy after the public comes in. I'm so confused. Help!

 

[FOV]

I would go to Magic Hour if:

* your family are early risers

* you don't mind going to a different park when the Magic Hour park starts to get crowded around 11am

We make it some days and other days we just want the extra hour of sleep in the morning. Remember - only select rides are open during the M.H.

 

[newholiday]

what about in the summer?
would the Magic Hour be more beneficial than during the rest of the year?

 

[I Intrigue You]

I had to vote no. My family never would dream of getting up early on vacation but, I know a lot of people who love early entry and they do get a lot done. I think it depends on what works best for you.

 

[denman007]

It's only worth it if you're at the gate when the parks opens.

 

[bubba's mom]

We are NOT morning people by any means, so when I told DH we were getting up at 6am to be at MK by 7:30 for EE, he was rather confused. Since DS was only 5 1/2 at the time, and his first visit to Disney, we had to do everything. We did EE and went straight to Fantasyland....first ride? Dumbo, of course! Well, beings it was EE, we were able to breeze thru Fantasyland. (this was early August). We had no waits and if we had a small one, it was maybe 5 minutes! We were thru Fantasyland within about 45 minutes and finished Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and TTF by about 12noon! Definately worth getting up a bit early to beat those lines!!! Who wants to wait in line all morning when you have later in the day for that when the park opens to the public!?!

 

[swilphil]

Originally posted by newholiday
what about in the summer?
would the Magic Hour be more beneficial than during the rest of the year?

The big benefit in the summer is that you get to enjoy the parks for an extra hour without the terrible heat and humidity.

Also check which rides are open during EMH and whether your family likes those rides. We only go early to MK, then we leave around 11 a.m. or noon when the crowds and heat starts.

For the other parks, we go the day after their EE.

 

[Disnutty]

You really can do allot with the extra hour. FOV is right you have to be early risers to take advantage. Getting to Fantasy land and riding Dumbo two times before any lines is a great advantage it you have younger kids. You can also get rides on Space mountain and Splash Mountain in the extra hour if you like coasters. It does make for a long day but you can get a jump on the crowds. If you answer the questions is your family early risers and do you want ot do it all in one day then the extra hour is for you.

 

[tinkerbee]

We have used EMH for the Magic Kingdom and it worked out great. We got up early it wasn't to bad because there are some beautiful sunrises. We were there about 30 minutes before the park opened. Don't stop to "talk" with the characters because you can do that later. We rode all the rides that were open within an hour and a half never stood in line for longer than the ride was. Rode space mountain 3 times buzzlightyear 4 times splash mountain 2 times and thundermountain railroad two times. Went to toon town met with the characters and then milled around for awhile. Then we hit a few more rides before noon. After that the park got a little crowed(it was spring break) so we went back to our room for lunch, went swimming, and took a nap. There were 3 adults and two kids 7 and 8. It worked out great.

Then around 6 we ate dinner and went back to Magic Kingdom to watch the parade and ride some more rides. I don't think it works so well for the other parks because not so much stuff is open. The only thing at Animal Kingdom it works for is Kilimanjaro Safaris because by the time we did that and got to DINOSAUR it was a 45 minute wait anyway so we got fast pass.

Good Luck and have fun!!!!

 

[mitros]

We have always found it better to go contrary to an early park opening. It really does get too crowded too quickly. We have found it better to go to a park that does NOT have early opening. It has always worked for us.

 

[Histosue]

It is only an hour and we think it only makes sense if you are at the gate at opening

 

[goofy4tink]

We are really early risers and normally are up early. So when we are in WDW doing that early entry works for us. We are there usually before the gate has opened and we stay until around 10:00, then switch to another park. We always do EE at MK, sometimes at Epcot and MGM and usually not at AK.

 

[MNSusan]

We, too, are early risers and took advantage of the Eearly Entry. We enjoyed the short lines and were out of the park by the time it got crowded. Back to the hotel for a swim and nap and then a different park in the afternoon. Worked great for us.

Its probably not worth it if you're not up early anyway. Nobody wants to be tired and crabby and stumbling around the parks, do they?

 

[bassoongirl]

I voted "no'" on the poll. In my DH's opinion, a vacation isn't a vacation if he can't sleep in! He'd prefer to sleep until about 9:00 a.m., have a big breakfast and then hit the parks! There is no way in the world the rest of my family would allow that! So my one concession to my DH when we visit WDW is that we won't try to get to the parks for EE, but we will try to get to the other parks at their normal opening time. We also go back to our hotel room in the afternoon so my DH can take a nap and the rest of us can go swimming. These plans help keep the peace within my family during our WDW vacations.

Gayl

 

[Disnutty]

Thats why they make chocolate and Vanilla ice cream. As FOV said if your family or party are early risers than the EE is for you. If you are commando type DISers than EE is for you. If time is an issue (not enough time in the day) than EE is for you. If you have to see everything and want to go on all of the rides then EE is for you. If you like to sleep in on vacation EE is not for you. If you only want to see a few attractions than who needs EE. If you only want to see the fireworks or parades and don't care about riding Space Mountain two or three times than EE is not for you. If you will be back at the park tomorrow or next week than EE is not for you.

There is no right or wrong answer here, it's all in what your priorities are. It is interesting that the vote is running two to one for EE. I guess that the DIS board is made up of more Commando type personalities than the stop and smell the roses tourers. I have been both types when we have stayed over more than five days (Probably because we were so burned out from running full bore for the first few days) but I like being a Commando when we are there for a short stay because I hate to miss something and there is so much to see and do.

If I only had two or three days at Disney I would absolutely use the EE or I would feel that I did not get my admissions fee worth of Disney magic. I figure we can always catch up on sleep on the airplane or the next weekend but I am only at Disney for a very short time. I am Disnutty for Disney.