Waiting for August Hours - All hours are up!!

[marciemi]

They are the exact same amount, by my counts. 4 in the morning (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Monday) and 4 in the evening (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday).

Or do you mean if you're leaving on the 31st, so you don't get DS's Evening hours?

No, I think they meant that for those of us looking at July to try to plan, there were pretty much EMH's every morning and evening, so a lot more than 8 total for the week (more like 13). I was really hoping at least there would be one somewhere on August 30th so we'd have a bit of extra time before we have to catch our flight home. I was counting on Epcot, but now there isn't an AM one anywhere. Similarly, I saw Tuesday morning MK EMH's every week in July, and was really hoping to do that our first full day August 25th. Oh well, maybe that means it won't be crowded and we won't need them?!

 

[PaulaSB12]

Is it me or have the hours been cut. In the 2008 calender the hours are
1 - 17 august
magic kingdom closing either 11 or 12 from 18 magic kingdom shuts at either 9 or 10
but this year its either 9 or 10 for the whole month

animal kingdom is mostly 6 or 7 last year until 23 then its 5
this year its mostly 6 or 7 for the whole month better this year

DHS

last year seems to alternate between 9 and 8 until 24 then its mostly open until 8
this year it alternates between 9pm and 7pm until 23 when it alternates between 8.30 and 7

 

[DISNEYNY]

It was my day to make the ADRs and I got up at 6am to do it. I took til 6:08 til I got thru and then they put me on hold til 6:38! I did get all the reserv I wanted: Aug.6 at 50's Prime time HS; Aug. 9 at Crystal palace for lunch MK; and Boma for dinner on Aug. 10 at AK. I was glad about that. Didn't get done til 7am. so good thing I didn't have to work today. also glad the hours finally came up so I could finalize my planning the day before.

Are you on central time? Just wondering...the call center for making ADRs opens at 7:00 am eastern correct?? I don't want to be late.

 

[mrstomrice]

Are you on central time? Just wondering...the call center for making ADRs opens at 7:00 am eastern correct?? I don't want to be late.

Yes, the call center opens at 7 am EST I tried calling about 2 minutes before last year and got right through after all of the prompts.

 

[DISNEYNY]

Yes, the call center opens at 7 am EST I tried calling about 2 minutes before last year and got right through after all of the prompts.

Cool, thanks. I'm planning to take a vacation day to make my ADRs. I know I'm nuts, but this is important stuff...my friends think I'm crazy!! LOL!!

 

[Traveliz]

Wishes is always at regular park closing. i.e. Park closes at 9 PM then Wishes is at 9 PM.

No that isn't true - Wishes is sometimes at park closing but often its at 9 or 10 when park closing (for everyone) is 11-12 or whatever. I don't think I have ever seen Wishes (regular) past 10 when park closing is actually later.



Liz

 

[NattysMom]

Now that all the hours are up, I'm kind of paralyzed with indecision.

My daughter will be 5 and when we went in January we had to stick to a normal bedtime because no matter how late she stays up she does not have the ability to sleep in and then becomes a crankypants.

I hear "don't go to morning EMH" but then I hear "people don't want to get up early on their vacation so go for rope drop." Whom should I listen to??

I'm staring at these hours and can't decide where to go which day!

 

[tlenzendorf]

Now that all the hours are up, I'm kind of paralyzed with indecision.

My daughter will be 5 and when we went in January we had to stick to a normal bedtime because no matter how late she stays up she does not have the ability to sleep in and then becomes a crankypants.

I hear "don't go to morning EMH" but then I hear "people don't want to get up early on their vacation so go for rope drop." Who should I listen to??

I'm staring at these hours and can't decide where to go which day!

I take other people's thoughts into consideration and then make a decision by both how I know our family is and what others think. We are only going to make sure we are up for MK rope drop once, and not on an EMH day. We are not morning people, especially not DD5. We are going to do the evening EMHs since we're going to go back to the resort in the afternoon and rest/relax to be able to stay up, even though we have heard avoid evening EMH. With it being so hot in August those hours in MK from 10pm-1am are for us.

 

[mrstomrice]

Now that all the hours are up, I'm kind of paralyzed with indecision.

My daughter will be 5 and when we went in January we had to stick to a normal bedtime because no matter how late she stays up she does not have the ability to sleep in and then becomes a crankypants.

I hear "don't go to morning EMH" but then I hear "people don't want to get up early on their vacation so go for rope drop." Whom should I listen to??

I'm staring at these hours and can't decide where to go which day!

We like to do DHS, AK and MK once while we are there for early emh. This way we can get the bulk of the important things done while everyone else is sleepping. You can do all of Fantasyland in that first hour. I think this would be important since you won't be in the parks late. We try to do an earlier evening the night before and stretch the emh's across the week if possible. We swear by the early emh because it is so beneficial!

 

[NattysMom]

I think we'll have to do something like that- staggering them because maybe we'll be so exhausted from the heat that we won't get up early every day.
Also, that's assuming that we get ADRS for the days we want! So stressful!

It's so funny that it's such a magical, amazing vacation and a daunting one all rolled up together!

 

[DISNEYNY]

Now that all the hours are up, I'm kind of paralyzed with indecision.

My daughter will be 5 and when we went in January we had to stick to a normal bedtime because no matter how late she stays up she does not have the ability to sleep in and then becomes a crankypants.

I hear "don't go to morning EMH" but then I hear "people don't want to get up early on their vacation so go for rope drop." Whom should I listen to??

I'm staring at these hours and can't decide where to go which day!

If your daughter is up anyway and your family can make there I would do some AM EMH. It is great to be there while everyone else is sleeping. My DS & DH can never make it. My DD & I usually go to 1 AM EMH at MK each year and the boys meet us there later. We get alot done.

 

[Tomh]

I think that the confusion with the AM EMH recommendations is this: If you do NOT have park hoppers, you will often find that the AM EMH park gets a lot more crowded toward the middle of the day than the other parks do, and you're going to be stuck in that (quite possibly very) busy park for the duration of the day. If you DO have park hoppers, then you can obviously hop to another park later in the day if the crowd levels get out of hand.

Of course, this depends on the time of year you are there, and how crowded the parks are to begin with. During slow times of the year, the extra crowds that build in later may not be a big deal. If you are the afternoon break kind of people, or you are going to tour in the morning, and then leave the parks early in the afternoon, it may not matter either. I say give it a try, and see how it works for you. If it doesn't work out, then you know not to do it again.

 

[MidwestK]

you will often find that the AM EMH park gets a lot more crowded toward the middle of the day than the other parks do, and you're going to be stuck in that (quite possibly very) busy park for the duration of the day.

I never quite understood this. If the AM EMH itself isn't crowded, why would extra people show up in that particular park after the EMH is already over? I know I'm probably missing something simple, but to me it just doesn't make sense to me that all those people would flock to the AM EMH park later on in the day.

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

I think it's more that people go to the EMH park, and then the same number of people who would regularly come at normal hours also come, either from offsite or just not doing EMH, and so you have the EMH people plus the regular people, rather than just the regular number of people.

I don't think it's a matter of people flocking - I think it just somehow ends up being a combination since each park is naturally attractive to people, plus people who might have chosen another park chose to do the EMH and then stay on afterwards.

 

[MidwestK]

Ah, okay, that does make sense. Thanks, I knew I had to be missing something!

 

[marciemi]

I'd heard it was just more "good intentions". People get there (who haven't done any planning beforehand), look at the schedule they get at checkin, and say "Hey, we can get it early tomorrow if we go to MK!" Then they don't get up early, but already have it in their minds that that's where they're going. A bit of the "the CM's at the resort TOLD me to go here" mindset, no matter when they arrive.

An even better question would be why someone who didn't have EMH would go to a morning EMH park on that day, knowing they'd arrive a full hour after many folks? But lots of the General Public are not quite as well briefed as we are here on the DIS. My kids have had SO many friends go whose families do nothing to plan. When I tell them that if nothing else they should get there for park opening, they're like "oh, how do I find out when that is?" And this will be the day before they're leaving to head down!

 

[jlr9882]

I'm sorry I didn't read through ALL of the replies before asking. I have never made an ADR before and have to do it this week, so I need help fast!! My CM cousin is at AK right now and can only get us into the parks for 3 days as of right now. We will be there 7 nights. She hopes that by the time our trip comes she will have another TA (so she won't be paid hourly) and be able to get us in more. So right now, I don't know what days we will be at which park and what time. My Mom and I are staying at Pop with my almost 3 year old son. He loves Mickey, so we want to do a Chef Mickey's breakfast. What time should we go and how do I make the ADR? I know I have to call that number, but what time does the phone line open and close? Do I have to pay for it then or do I pay for after the breakfast? What happens if I have to cancel it? I don't know if I should even take in account the EMH when making the ADR, since I don't even know what parks I will be at what days until we get down there. If it works out right, we will do this breakfast on a day we won't go to the park, unless she can get us in more days. Thanks for your help. Oh yeah, what is the "crowd calendar" and how do I find it? I have always been the babysitter or child going on my Disney trips and never the one really planning it, so I need help.

 

[ZeroToHero]

I'm sorry I didn't read through ALL of the replies before asking. I have never made an ADR before and have to do it this week, so I need help fast!! My CM cousin is at AK right now and can only get us into the parks for 3 days as of right now. We will be there 7 nights. She hopes that by the time our trip comes she will have another TA (so she won't be paid hourly) and be able to get us in more. So right now, I don't know what days we will be at which park and what time. My Mom and I are staying at Pop with my almost 3 year old son. He loves Mickey, so we want to do a Chef Mickey's breakfast. What time should we go and how do I make the ADR? I know I have to call that number, but what time does the phone line open and close? Do I have to pay for it then or do I pay for after the breakfast? What happens if I have to cancel it? I don't know if I should even take in account the EMH when making the ADR, since I don't even know what parks I will be at what days until we get down there. If it works out right, we will do this breakfast on a day we won't go to the park, unless she can get us in more days. Thanks for your help. Oh yeah, what is the "crowd calendar" and how do I find it? I have always been the babysitter or child going on my Disney trips and never the one really planning it, so I need help.

For a Chef Mickey breakfast at the Contemporary Resort, you will either need to take a cab from POP, or take a bus to a park/Transportation & Ticket Center and then take another bus (if at AK or DHS) or take the monorail (if at MK or EPCOT) to the Contemporary. They serve from 7 to 11:30 am. If you're not going to a park, I'd go at 10ish, when a lot of people have already headed to the parks. Call the 407-WDW-DINE number at 7 am eastern time (6 am central, 5 am mountain, 4 am pacific, I think that's how it works, right?) 90 days before you arrive at POP.

I don't know about the credit card, but I don't think you need one when booking. Keep it by you just in case though - they only charge it after you eat. And you can cancel up to 48 hours ahead if they require the credit card, and that day if they don't.

The crowd calendar is on touringplans.com, and it tells you how long the estimated wait times are going to be in the parks, and which parks are best/worst to go to.

 

[kidsrfun]

For a Chef Mickey breakfast at the Contemporary Resort, you will either need to take a cab from POP, or take a bus to a park/Transportation & Ticket Center and then take another bus (if at AK or DHS) or take the monorail (if at MK or EPCOT) to the Contemporary. They serve from 7 to 11:30 am. If you're not going to a park, I'd go at 10ish, when a lot of people have already headed to the parks. Call the 407-WDW-DINE number at 7 am eastern time (6 am central, 5 am mountain, 4 am pacific, I think that's how it works, right?) 90 days before you arrive at POP.

I'm so glad you mentioned the cab idea. We're staying at the pop and hope to get an ADR at Chef Mickey's on a day off. I just assumed we'd take a bus to a monorail park or TTC and hop on the monorail to the Contemporary. But the cab idea would be so much quicker and we could actually sleep later! Does anyone know how much a cab would be from one resort to another? I've never thought about taking a cab while remaining on property.

 

[muppetmom]

Now that all the hours are up, I'm kind of paralyzed with indecision.

My daughter will be 5 and when we went in January we had to stick to a normal bedtime because no matter how late she stays up she does not have the ability to sleep in and then becomes a crankypants.

I hear "don't go to morning EMH" but then I hear "people don't want to get up early on their vacation so go for rope drop." Whom should I listen to??

I'm staring at these hours and can't decide where to go which day!

I had children who couldn't sleep in either! They got up with the sun or before the sun always....I spent the first 10 years of motherhood feeling sleep deprived. We always did early emh. The kids were up anyway and it wasn't hard to make it to the parks at rope drop. We even got to open the Magic Kingdom one year and my daughter got to ride Dumbo with Minnie! We often hopped to another park, never went back for a nap (not something my older two ever needed much of). We did try to plan dinners around 5:30 or 6. Then, back to the hotel and tucked into bed no later than 8....7:30 if we could. As they got older the bedtime got pushed back somewhat. But even the last time we went we did early emh, toured all day and back to bed by about 10. My almost junior in high school had no issue with going to bed early because he wanted to get to the park early. Just this morning I was looking at the spreadsheet that my DH and I had created the night before with the estimated muppetfamily touring plans and my DS14 looked over my shoulder and said with a horrified expression, "What does it mean sleep in on Friday? We can't do that it's Disney World!"

You know your child better than anyone. If she gets up take advantage of it. If she needs to go to bed early then plan to go back to the room early. Have fun!