Why are crowds larger at EMH evening hours than EMH mornings?

[jasper]

It seemed like the morning EMH was always a great bet for getting the favorites in before the big crowds arrived, at which point you could move on to a different park when it got real busy.

If the EMH evening hours are also WDW resort guests only (though others apparently can walk around without riding), why are the early reports indicating that evening EMH is very crowded?

Is it because it is 3 hours instead of 1 so more take advantage of it? Is it because non-WDW resort guests are still there walking around? Or maybe because not as many people got up early enough to take advantage of the morning EMH, and many more will stay late? Or some other reason I haven't thought of?

 

[goofy4wdw2]

i think it's because a lot of people/families may not get to the park in time to enjoy the morning EMH, but once in the park, it's very easy to stay. just my thoughts.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I think it's because if given the choice, people would rather sleep in than wake early. (It's an exhausting, but fun, isn't it?) Also, one doesn't feel as rushed in the evening. We've never been to MK or MGM in the evenings (we visit off-season) and are looking forward to it next week. I might be singing a different tune, though, if I dislike the crowds. Then we'll go back to waking early. LOL!

 

[PCFriar80]

Agree with Mickeyhugger.......It's much easier to stay up late than to get up early!

 

[NotUrsula]

I think that the primary reason is that a lot of people don't manage to get up and out early in the morning when on vacation. However, I think that there is an add'l factor, which is the experience of the parks at night.

We usually go in shoulder season, and I always put as much night-time in each park as I can; not only is it cooler and more pleasant after the sun goes down, but the lighting is just beautiful.

 

[kilee]

We definetly can stay up later-- in the morning it's just so hard to get going at 6am to get ready on vacation.

Also think of all the people from the West Coast and the time difference. It's like getting in the middle of the night for them to get up and get ready.

I, for one, am really excited about the evening EMH. My family will definetly take advantage of that. We haven't ever done the morning EMH because it's hard enough for us to be there at 9am (which we seem to pull off by the skin of our teeth) much less an hour earlier.

 

[skiwee1]

We have only done the mornings once and that was enough. I hated getting up that early only to be greeted by throngs of people. I haven't been there since the evenings have started but will definitely utilize them. Since we don't get to the parks until after lunch it will be great to hang out at the parks later.

 

[djbc]

i'm planning a short 2/3 day trip from Boston for March and thought about how great it would be to be able to sleep late and do the parks in the p.m. I'm very surprised to be hearing how crowded the parks are during the extended evening hours. Two years in a row (2003/02) we did a bunch of e-ticket nights and the park got so empty it was spooky (but fun!). We rode splash mountain about 5 times with no-one else in sight and could hear the haunted mansion before we went down. I remember on those nights everyone without a special bracelet was supposed leave. Maybe they're not being so strict.

 

[lomillerin]

We were just there from Jan. 16th to Jan. 20th and loved the late nights. They were not crowded at all.

 

[rkrivas]

Two years in a row (2003/02) we did a bunch of e-ticket nights and the park got so empty it was spooky (but fun!). We rode splash mountain about 5 times with no-one else in sight and could hear the haunted mansion before we went down. I remember on those nights everyone without a special bracelet was supposed leave. Maybe they're not being so strict.

I think the reason that there's a crowd difference between the evening EMH and the old e-nights is that they sold a limited number of e-night tickets (I think it was around 5,000) while the current EMH is open to all on-site resort guests.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I wonder how many at the late MH really have wristbands?
Do CMs check for wristbands during any portion of the extra hours?

 

[powellrj]

I have never been to the extra magic hours at night, but I do know that on e-nights and after hours parties like MNSSHP they do check for wrist bands and make people leave the parks. We saw one famliy almost come to blows with a cast member when they were told they had to leave.

 

[kutchyone]

I suppose the true test and information that I am waiting for will be Spring Break crowds. I suppose those would be good comparisons to early June crowds don't you think?

 

[DisMN]

I wonder how many at the late MH really have wristbands?
Do CMs check for wristbands during any portion of the extra hours?

Yes, they were very good at checking wrist bands often. They checked ours before each ride. I was impressed that they truly kept this to resort guests.....

 

[t-roy]

Do you think fewer people take advantage of the EMH in the mornings now that they have introduced the extra evening hours?

 

[Carrieberry]

We come from the west as well and loved the evning EMH. We were there 1/21-28 and it was not crowded during the EMH at all and yes they did check wristbands at every ride. We just can't get up early enough to do the morning EMH.

 

[crzy4mk]

O.K., somebody help me out.

I've been reading about EMH nights being available to WDW resort guests, and I have a couple of questions regarding my upcoming visit:

1) How do they work? Will they close a particular park early on a certain day, or do they just tack on the extra 3 hours after regular closing?

2) We will be there in October. Is this a temporary trial thing, or do they plan to do this long term?

3) My understanding is during EMH, only WDW resort guests can ride the rides, but anyone else can stay and do other things (which I guess means shops, restaurants, etc.). Is this correct?

Your help is greatly appreciated. We always stay off-site (we have connections to a free vacation home) and want to know how I should plan for our October trip. Thanks!

 

[GoofieRuthie]

3) My understanding is during EMH, only WDW resort guests can ride the rides, but anyone else can stay and do other things (which I guess means shops, restaurants, etc.). Is this correct?

I was about to ask the same thing.(We are staying ONsite) Are all of the shops and restaurants open late as well? Even if it is too packed to get on all of the rides, I'd like to use that extra time to browse the shops and just enjoy the scenery. Something that I didn't take the time to do the first trip.

 

[Taja]

Definitely agree with the time zone change going from west to east! I haven't managed morning EMH at all in three trips, and 9:00 a.m. park opening only once!

I'm a night owl at the best of times, so evening in the parks is wonderful. And with WDW visits maxing at one week, by the time my body begins to adjust to ET, I'm on my way home!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We asked a CM the last time we were there and she says that only people with the wristbands are allowed in the park and they do check them before every ride. She said there are also people walking around the park to make sure that people with wristbands are the only one's in the park. If you are already in the park you have to go to certain locations to get a wristband and if you come in to the park you have to be there before the park closes to the public and you get your wristband at the gate (we had to show our room passes as well as our tickets) Almost everything remains open, a lot of the popular rides, stores, and some restaraunts. If you have PS at a place and don't have your wristband you can get it when you get out. I love EMH at night. I have never gotten up early to go to a park! If MK closes at 9 to the public then it's open until 12 for resort guests, as an example.