Why avoid EMH?

[Robo]

1. So I am assuming you do NOT want to prebook FP's during EMH, right?
2. Are they even available then?
3. Do you book your FP's for right when the park opens, or later in the afternoon?
4. The sooner you use them, the sooner you can get more, right?

1. Nope.
2. You CAN'T book FP during AM or PM EMH.
3. Lots and lots of FP+ strategies out there. You must decide for yourself.
4. Yup.
But, some desirable (for some) FP+ must be booked well in advance.
Some of those attractions don't HAPPEN (parades, fireworks) until near park closing time,
so if you want to pre-book those, you won't be able to book any more than the 3 original FP+ that entire day.

The answer?
See my #3 above.

 

[Robo]

This kind of information is explained in the FP+ thread found HERE. Read post #1 and #2 for FP+ usage, recommendations, and timing advice.

-Also see-

Booking and Modifying FP+ found HERE and HERE.

 

[epcotty]

Of course if you're staying offsite it's best to avoid EMH because you won't be able to take advantage of it and it will be the park that draws the largest amount of crowds that day. If you're staying onsite as probably about 95% of people here always do, it still might be a good idea to avoid it as other parks will be far less busy and you might well be able to actually do more at the other parks throughout the day

 

[DavidNYC]

I'd agree with the statement that you should avoid EMH parks if you're not actually going to take advantage of EMH. But if you are - go for it - especially if you have hoppers.

 

[smiths02]

We have had good success using morning EMH. Our kids would not do well at their ages with the evening EMH.
Parks like Epcot and AK, I think are good candidates for using morning EMH because you can get a lot done in those first couple of hours, those parks are large land wise, so they don't feel like wall to wall people, even if you don't park hop, you can wait until afternoon (when the rest of the folks have arrived) to use FP+ or do things that don't have line (walking trails in AK or world showcase countries in Epcot)

For instance, on our trip in June, we did Dinosaur! twice, then went to the Dino land area and did everything in there (some of it several times), did the Safari with FP+, watched the bird show, posed with the photographers, and ate lunch with an ADR--so we were unaffected by crowds...our kids were done by then, but we still would have had 2 FP+ left to do other things (or we could have done the Safari without FP and used the FP in another park altogether later in the afternoon/evening)

Morning EMH are also good for us in the summer because the chances are it will be really hot, so we don't want to be in the park in the afternoon anyhow. Also, it's probably going to rain in the afternoon, so, again, not as fun to be in the park.

Now, if you are offsite (so you can't use EMH), you won't either get up early or stay up late...then don't go to parks with EMH
If you don't want to park hop, then you need to think about EMH because that park will get more crowded and you won't be able to go to another park (this is not a problem for us as we have 3 year olds...we are probably only going to get so many hours of touring anyhow)

 

[W.E.D.]

We absolutely love the a.m. EMHs. Depending on the time of year, you can experience numerous attractions before the park fills up and save your FPs for later.

 

[Julylady]

We only take advantage of EMH at Magic Kingdom. All other parks we make the 9am rope drop. This strategy allows the tweens to get an extra hour of sleep which can make a huge difference on a longer trip.

 

[twinprincesses09]

Do any of the parks beside MK ever change their opening times? We are considering AM EMH at AK this summer (early June). We could be there early for a 8am RD, but don't think we could make a 7am.

 

[Jon84]

1am to 3am MK EMHs is bliss at some times of the year. In early December the place just cleared out. Walked on rides, chatted to CMs, shopped without getting barged into. Obviously the next morning was a pool morning!

 

[Robo]

1. Do any of the parks beside MK ever change their opening times?
We are considering AM EMH at AK this summer (early June).
2. We could be there early for a 8am RD, but don't think we could make a 7am.

1. Yes. (But, like for MK, it only occurs during very busy times of year.)
2. You never know.

 

[mindeola]

We used to base our days in the parks on EMH. Now, I tend to base the days on crowd predictability. We will usually head to a park with late EMH after dinner.

 

[havoc315]

So, extra magic hours are supposed to be great for getting in rides with less crowds, right? So why do I see some people mention avoiding parks that have EMH? Does the whole thing sort of backfire and parks with EMH get OVERcrowded? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose?

It's actually pretty simple --- By advertising EMH, a disproportionate number of resorts guests end up at that park.
Whether you can get value out of EMH depends on a lot of factors:

Morning EMH can indeed be a great less crowded time. Just like rope drop is a great less crowded time. It's the benefit of waking up extra early. So IF you are really capable of getting up that early, and getting to the park before morning EMH rope drop, then you can get great value out of the morning EMH.
But if realistically.. you are going to get to the park around 8:30-8:45... only getting in 15-30 minutes of the EMH... By 9:00am, you have the EMH herd PLUS the regular rope drop herd... So by 9:00 am, the park is MORE crowded than it would be on a similar non-EMH day.

Evening EMH has the opposite effect. Let's say the park closes at 10pm, but there is EMH from 10-1am. So the entire afternoon/evening, you have the regular non-resort crowd PLUS extra high number of resort guests who are there because of the upcoming EMH. So for the afternoon/evening, the park is MORE crowded than it would be on a similar non-EMH day. And as resorts guests tend to be more likely to stay up late rather than wake up early, the beginning of the evening EMH can be nearly as crowded as regular park time, with less rides actually operating. But as those evening EMH hours get later... the park does empty out. So by midnight, it can be a great experience, IF you are up and active at midnight.

So it's not that EMH hours are bad. They are great IF you really use them.. if you really can get there super early in the morning, or can stay at the park super late at night. The issue is, during the non-EMH hours, the park is more crowded than it would be on a non-EMH day. So if you aren't parkhopping, you may find that good extra couple of hours, not worth having a much worse regular hours.

 

[Badamon]

How do they effectively "clear" the park of non-resort guests for evening EMH?

 

[automaticsoap]

I think the general idea is not to necessarily avoid EMHs themselves, but the park overall throughout the day will be more crowded since EMHs draws more people there. So if you don't have parkhoppers, your overall day at that park will be fairly crowded compared to the other parks. If you do have parkhoppers, take advantage of EMHs but visit another park during the day since it'll have lower crowds than the EMH park.

 

[Jon84]

How do they effectively "clear" the park of non-resort guests for evening EMH?

They only stop them going on rides. Which means places like Epcot are a free for all on food and drink

 

[monkyby87]

They only stop them going on rides. Which means places like Epcot are a free for all on food and drink

Yeah, so in theory, you could stay in MK until a 3 a.m. EMH and hang out in the shops the whole time or just walk around without getting on a ride. Once people realize they can't rides anymore they'll probably work their way out of the park.

 

[Dan Murphy]

there is EMH from 10-1am

Night emh is now 2 hours.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I like to feel we are on vacation, not a mission.

I love this quote!

Our park experience has changed a lot over the years. When DS was little, I would have called our whole family super early-birds. DH was used to an early work schedule, DS was up at the crack of dawn no matter what, and I've pretty much always been early-bird by nature. Morning EMH made sense for us because we really would be there at the start (but then back at the resort by dinner time!)

Now we're more in the middle. We hit the parks early some mornings and relax other mornings, finish early some days and stay late other days - still not usually "evening EMH" late, though. I'm pretty useless that late at night, and really can't sleep in past a certain point. (DH can sometimes, and DS definitely can - he has seriously embraced the teenage sleep schedule. )

I tend to start with one of those crowd calendars, consider some personal preferences, and weigh the pros and cons of EMH on a day-by-day basis.

 

[havoc315]

Night emh is now 2 hours.

Oh. Even less valuable. I haven't been to Disney in a few years, going back this summer. It feels like there is less morning EMH than their used to be as well. (Yes, still 1 hour, but seems to be on fewer days). Maybe it's my imagination.

 

[Dan Murphy]

feels like there is less morning EMH than their used to be as well.

I don't think less necessarily, but it always has been pretty lean. Especially in Magic Kingdom, with only half the park, FL and TL open.