to use or not to use EE?

[Mainebound]

Hi all,

I'm confused. One of the great benefits of staying on-site is EE. But the Unofficial Guide to WDW says to avoid the EE park at all costs. We are travelling with small children and plan to be at each park for opening, and go back to AKL to veg out each afternoon. Should we use EE or not?

Thanks!

-Mainebound

 

[tar heel]

ABSOLUTLELY! EE is a major benefit, especially at MK. If you don't do EE, then pick a different park. Also, since a lot of people stay in one park all day, the EE park does tend to get more crowded during the day. For that reason, after our afternoon break, we generally go to a different park than the one we toured in the morning.

 

[kevind65]

take advantage of EE to see the attractions before the crowds set in. this is of particular benefit for fantasyland in MK. The unofficial guide most likely is referring to the fact the EE park will tend to be the most crowded by say noon or 1pm(especially the MK). go to EE, do what you need to do, and then get out and go back to AKL. you'll love it.

 

[feenie]

We always use EE. We see what we want to see, then if the park starts to feel a little too crowded we head to a different one.
(of course if you don't have a park hopper ticket, then it would not work!)
You can walk onto rides that have hour long waits most of the day

 

[camper]

Yes, ee is one of the great benefits of staying on site. I would at least try to get to MK for ee. We also like to go to AK for ee and get right to the safari.

 

[pintrader]

i might think that the advice to avoid the ee park is directed to those not staying on property. If only those staying onproperty were to visit the ee park. It would not be so crowded.

All the above comments are quite accurate. This is the only REAL benefit to paying such a high amount to stay on property. Take advantage of it. You can ride half of the ee rides in that first hour.

 

[Bete]

That early hour is wonderful because you accomplish so much in that time. We take afternoon breaks and this is the only way I feel I've had my monies worth from the parks.

When the park is at it's peak time we are relaxing out of the park because we took advantage of this perk.

If you have a very, long extended stay at Disney this feature becomes less important. I agree with the previous poster that non-Disney guests should avoid the EE parks because they don't get the perk; so, for them it's better to go to another park.

 

[Mainebound]

Wow! I would not have guessed the answer was so obvious to all the experts. Thanks! Now to re-do all my touring plans....

--Mainebound

 

[lentesta]

Hi Mainbound,

I think the question of whether EE is a benefit depends on what park you're going to, what you want to see in the park, and the time of year you're visiting.

For example, preliminary results from the Animal Kingdom over Christmas seem to indicate that EE conveys no benefit - you'll spend the same amount of time (on average) waiting in line if you take advantage of EE or go on a non-EE day. This is probably due to the fact that relatively few attractions are open in the AK during EE, the capacity of AK's attractions, and crowd size during the holidays.

We're pretty sure that EE is a good idea for the MK most of the time, and probably also Disney-MGM Studios. If you have a specific park/time-of-year question, drop me a line and I'll see what our statistician says.

Sincerely,

Len