Touring Plans and EMH

[TJ22]

I was looking at touringplans and they suggest avoiding the EMH. They say it brings more people to the park. I have read here that morning emh is a great time to get in some major attractions.

So should I go with touring plans and avoid emh parks or should I hit the one with morning emh?

Also can you get fastpasses while in EMH? If not at what time do fast passes start being available?

 

[TJ22]

I already found the answer regarding FP.

 

[nightowlky]

I know they say to avoid EMH parks but I, for one, plan on hitting EMH mornings several times (with a day of rest in the middle).

I'll be park hopping to a non-EMH park once the lines get long or the park just gets too crowded or after we leave to go cool off.

 

[Kick Save]

I was looking at touringplans and they suggest avoiding the EMH. They say it brings more people to the park. I have read here that morning emh is a great time to get in some major attractions.

So should I go with touring plans and avoid emh parks or should I hit the one with morning emh?

Think about this a little...the UG, and by extension touringplans.com, make a living by studying the parks at several times during the year to get crowd patterns, wait times, etc. People that post here go once, twice a year...who has more data to forumlate their opinion?

Sure, you're going to find people here that will say, "We LOVE EMH!! It's the only way to go!" Then you find out their a couple in their 20s, no stroller to push around, get up at 6am every day for fun, and can move through a crowd without caring. If that fits your situation, you'll probably be fine.

But the UG scopes out the whole crowd for an extended period of time and determines that EMH brings in a much larger crowd to that particular park. The larger crowd ups the wait times and makes things more congested. I trust their opinion, they've got way more to go on than Bev from Boston.

 

[rlovew]

I use the morning EMH a lot. We are up early so it is not hard to get there. But the park does get more crowded so we hop away from that park by lunchtime. If yoiu have the option of park hopping I think they are worth it. To be honest all anyone can look at is historically what has happened and that never promises to happen again. Some fluke might cause any day to be more crowded and one would never know until they arrived.

 

[jsmla]

We use the morning EMH a lot but we always park hop and leave the EMH park before noon. Tried a couple of evening EMH and with the exception of Animal Kingdom (before Everest) found them extremely crowded.

However, DD (then 17) went to the EMH at Magic Kingdom last June. The EMH hours were midnight to 3:00 am and by 1:00 am the park was practically empty. This was on a day that had seen massive thunderstorms in the afternoon and that may have affected the crowds.

 

[Magnetic]

We have always done (and love!) EMH at Magic Kingdom at night. Last year, we too were in the parks until 3:30am and rode -everything- with minimal waits (10 minutes or less.) On this past trip, we stayed until about 1am and the waits for the big rides were running 10-15 minutes. On our past two trips, we don't even bother going into the MK until 10pm or later -- we have had no MK time in daylight! We just get the kids to rest up, then have a power night at MK.

We also did EMH at the Animal Kingdom in the morning and were able to ride Everest twice in 20 minutes' time. In the same week we did MGM's EMH mornings and rode both Rock & Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror in a 20-minute span. The key is getting up and BEING there before the gates open, then getting right to what you want to do.

I subscribed to TourGuideMike before this trip and was extremely disappointed that he didn't recommend EMH, because we have always taken advantage of it and enjoyed it immensely. The fact that he totally writes it off as something not to do made me disagree wholeheartedly -- we've always had great experiences with it, and I assumed his touring plans would include making the most of EMH.

And with regard to the comment upthread, we're in our 30s, with a 10-year old and a 1-year old in a stroller. Families can definitely take advantage of this time just as much as speedy singles in their 20s

 

[Goofy4]

I
So should I go with touring plans and avoid emh parks or should I hit the one with morning emh?

Also can you get fastpasses while in EMH? If not at what time do fast passes start being available?

It all depends on timing (day of week / time of year), age of kids, and a little luck.

Some attractions leave the fast-pass machines bagged until a significant line builds (Jungle Adventure). I don't know if there is a set policy on that.

For PM EMH, I've heard that the MGM headliners (ToT, RnR) often re-issue FPs for EMH. I did not notice any open FP machines on 5/14 for MK PM EMH -- but then again, there was no need.

 

[Kick Save]

And with regard to the comment upthread, we're in our 30s, with a 10-year old and a 1-year old in a stroller. Families can definitely take advantage of this time just as much as speedy singles in their 20s

Sweet, you fit my theory I was stating above regardless of the age of those involved: Single posters here will sing the praises of EMH based on their personal experiences. That's great, but in comparison to the amount of data that the UG or TGM collects, one person's experience is going to be based much more on their personal opinion than on actual crowd size and patterns.

You may have no problem with big crowds (doesn't sound like you do), so to you the EMH was great. Or, you were there when crowds were down anyway, in which case the EMH theory won't apply as well. But you're still hitting a rather small number of EMH days/nights. The UG and TGM have YEARS worth of data and studies to go off of and the recomend against it. That's all I was really getting at.

It's going to boil down to personal choice. If you want to hit EMH, both UG and TGM will suggest how to do it to make the most of it. If you take their recomendations, you're likely to experience smaller crowds and still get in every attraction you want. We've toured that way a number of times and it works great. (And we've done some EMH days, too. Not a fan, though, especially of the nights.)

That said, I see nothing wrong with offering up an opinion to help the OP out with his/her choice. My opinion: Go with the pros...ESPECIALLY at peak times of the year...and avoid EHM altogether. The one exception would be to hit an EMH morning and be gone by 11-ish...and don't hop to the EMH evening park.

 

[Magnetic]

Yes, we have no problem with crowds. We're the ones running through the restaurant on the left to get to Rock & Roller a little faster than everyone walking down the street. I agree, it is going to be up to what kind of experience you want to have. We were there during Star Wars weekends too, so the crowds had the potential to be big, but we didn't feel they were big at all at MGM's morning.

The one exception would be to hit an EMH morning and be gone by 11-ish...and don't hop to the EMH evening park.

See, again I'd disagree with this. The same morning we did EMH at MGM, we were at MK at night. It's a LONG day and you definitely need to give yourselves/your kids a break in between, but if your goal is short lines and minimal waits, regardless of time of day, we have found it's a great way to go.

 

[PortieOwner]

My strategy is to get there for the early open and leave by about 1030 or 11am for a breakfast either in the park or at one of the nearby hotels. Then back to the room for some rest or a swim then off to a non early-entry park for the afternoon and early evening.

Portie

 

[TAKitty]

I was looking at touringplans and they suggest avoiding the EMH. They say it brings more people to the park. I have read here that morning emh is a great time to get in some major attractions.

So should I go with touring plans and avoid emh parks or should I hit the one with morning emh?

Also can you get fastpasses while in EMH? If not at what time do fast passes start being available?

I really suggest that you try one for yourself and see what you think. Most people can't make it to the parks that open at 9. Arriving before 8 in the summer doesn't happen for many.

We went to the EMH (am) the first week of April and no one was there. EMH at night is fun to experience the park at night, but if that is your only time to tour, you may want to reconsider.