Why avoid EMH?

[sleepydog25]

Morning EMHer here, and it works for us, even on vacations vice missions. We are early risers, anyway, and once we finish the morning EMH park, we relax until afternoon and hit another park with FPs in hand. Works for us, though for many it won't. As several have said, find a strategy that works for you.

 

[nacho113]

It definitely can vary a lot depending on what is going on at the parks.
Generally we love the PM EMH at Epcot when we visit April-Oct, the evenings are pleasant (pleasant temps and no rain) and we can spend our evening eating/drinking our way around the world.
Thought we had the perfect idea for the PM EMH at Epcot when we were down in Sept/Oct.
Started our day in MK and planned to hopped over to Epcot for supper at the Food and Wine festival.
We arrived at Epcot along with about a million other people who had the same idea. After an hour of pushing through the crowds, we gave up and hopped back to MK for supper and hit a few rides. Hopped back to Epcot after 11pm and strolled/snacked our way around the world until 1AM with only minor crowds.

 

[meggiemouse]

Before children: Sleep in, relax at resort, then go to the park to do EMH in the PM.

With children: Rope drop at non-EMH park, mid-day naps or swims, then go back.

 

[galaxygirl76]

We(read: my husband) are not rope drop people, so AM EMH is not for us. However the PM EMH are awesome. Last September we met Ariel with only one person ahead of us and A&E with only a 15 minute wait and got some rides in with next to no waiting.

 

[Shanti]

We(read: my husband) are not rope drop people, so AM EMH is not for us. However the PM EMH are awesome. Last September we met Ariel with only one person ahead of us and A&E with only a 15 minute wait and got some rides in with next to no waiting.

Same here. We met Anna and Elsa after a 15-minute wait during PM EMH last 4th of July weekend. It was around 1am, which didn't bother us- we loved staying & playing late. You've got to have a child old enough to stay up late on occasion, & who also wants to. My son fits the bill, so we always had a blast during late-night EMH. MK is so peaceful with the crowds gone, & we enjoyed short or no lines on most rides.

 

[dawgsgirl]

The EMH park is always more crowded, at least in my opinion. Several years ago I was staying at POFQ. The AM EMH park was AK, opening at 8:00. I arrived at the bus stop about 8:00 and I was going to Epcot. The Epcot and AK buses load at the same stop at POFQ. The bus stop was absolutely jammed! At about 8:15 an AK bus arrived and EVERYONE got on but me. I was shocked. Later that evening I was talking to other guests and they were complaining how crowded AK had been that day. I used that experience as a lesson. I might go to either an early or late EMH, but I never plan on spending the entire day in that park. ymmv

 

[B-Ride]

Morning EMH are a 50/50 thing. They can still be crowded but we sometimes do them. On the other hand we never bother with evening EMH. They are always packed and in our opinion of no value.

 

[monkyby87]

The EMH park is always more crowded, at least in my opinion. Several years ago I was staying at POFQ. The AM EMH park was AK, opening at 8:00. I arrived at the bus stop about 8:00 and I was going to Epcot. The Epcot and AK buses load at the same stop at POFQ. The bus stop was absolutely jammed! At about 8:15 an AK bus arrived and EVERYONE got on but me. I was shocked. Later that evening I was talking to other guests and they were complaining how crowded AK had been that day. I used that experience as a lesson. I might go to either an early or late EMH, but I never plan on spending the entire day in that park. ymmv

Like rope drop, I feel you need to arrive at the start of EMH to really take advantage. While EMH in the morning makes it seem like there are more people, I've still found it to still be a low crowd time. Last time I went to AK for a morning EMH we walked on all rides multiple times in a row.

 

[Shanti]

Morning EMH are a 50/50 thing. They can still be crowded but we sometimes do them. On the other hand we never bother with evening EMH. They are always packed and in our opinion of no value.

That has been the opposite of our experience. Evening EMH are excellent on nights that the park closes to regular guests at midnight. That leads to 2 hours with no crowds and short or no waits for rides. We've experienced this peak season, on 4th of July weekend, for example. Maybe your experience was on a night the park closed earlier for regular guests. If it closes at 9pm, and there are EMH until 11pm, I agree, that likely won't have as much benefit. Still better than before EMH, however. There just aren't enough resort guests at WDW to "pack" the parks by themselves.