working against the EMH seems to be the thing to do

[disneyholic family]

as i mentioned in my earlier mini-report, I decided to try scheduling us in opposition to the Extra Magic Hours.
So I have us visiting parks that don't have any EMH, morning or evening.

In my earlier report I said that it worked well in MGM (where the park was literally deserted for the first 2 hours) and Epcot.

Well I can happilyl report that it also worked quite well for AK and MK.

In fact, there were times that it didn't even feel like psycho crowded July.

So I definitely recommend trying this.

The best seems to be visiting a park (you MUST get there before opening) on the morning following the day that it had evening extra magic hours.

That was the best. But even on those days we couldn't do that (due to prior booked reservations) as long as we totally avoided the EMH we were fine.

By the way, it is so excruciatingly hot and humid that there is really no way we can stay in the parks past 2 in the afternoon, without pushing ourselves way past the limit (and you should take into account that we come from an exceedingly hot climate and so our bodies are probably more acclimated than yours to hades like weather).

We had planned on going back yesterday evening, but the late afternoon storm was again too severe to go walking about and by the time it stopped we were too tired to venture out.

To give you an idea of what we were able to accomplish in that limited period of time at AK and MK here goes:

Wednesday was AK day:
Upon opening, we raced over to Dinosaur (there are no CMs leading here, so it's pretty much a mad dash). We rode Dinosaur twice - first time in the front row, second time in the back row). Then over to Kali River Rapids (which opened a half our after opening). We rode that twice (and i got TOTALLY soaked....and i mean totally.....and this was the first time i forgot to bring a poncho....totally soaked...through and through)..which is why we rode it twice....we were already so wet it didn't matter...

then over to Festival of the Lion King where we sat in our favorite section (Lion)....the place seemed to be filled about 60% with the Brazilian teens and they very much enjoyed the show....all 4 of those who got up to lead the calls were from brazil!.

let's see.....from there we went for FPs at kilomanjaro, and then headed over to see tarzan rocks, which we happen to love...

fromt here we went over to dinoland again to see Lucky the Dinosaur...

that was it for us...by that point it was just too hot...

so we decided to save all the trails, KS, and It's tough to be a bug, for next week...

Thursday was MK day....the first time it wasn't our first park of our visit....MK is still my favorite park - though i love all 4...

we took the bus from OKW (we usually drive to the parks, but to MK it's easier to use internal transportation).....we got there before opening and saw their new opening show, which is cute..

the train wasn't going for 30 minutes so we couldn't use our train trick to get to splash mountain... so we hoofed it over to SM.....by the time we got there, there was no line at all (the beginning line was already gone)....so we rode it twice....we're not thunder mountain fans, so we skipped that and headed for Haunted Mansion (no line at all - straight walk in), then to fantasyland, where Mickey's Philharmagic was about to start so we walked right in there as well.....then as we walked by snow white we saw there was no line there, so we walked right in there as well...
then we picked up FPs for Winnie the Pooh and continued on over to Tomorrowland (the removal of the submarine pool makes fantasyland look very different)....in tomorrowland we headed to TTA, then Carousel of Progress, then to get FPs for Stitch....then a snack, then back to Winnie to use our FPs and then on to Pirates of the Caribean before our lunch PS......Pirates was also a walk on (5 minute wait and this was at 12:15)...
then over to the Plaza Restaurant for our 12:30 PS.....i happen to love this restaurant....it's like an island of peace and quiet....we had a nice liesurely lunch and then headed back into Tomorrowland to try Stitch.....it wasn't as bad as i was expecting....it still can't hold a candle to Alien, but it's not bad....we won't go see it again, like we would alien, but it was ok...

then it was over to Space Mountain and that was it for the day for us...
as we headed out, it was 10 minutes before the parade, and there was a perfect spot open on main street, so my daughter sat down to watch it....and wouldn't you know it....after the lead car went by, a major rainstorm started and the parade was delayed.....so i ran in, bought ponchos and we headed back to the bus...

it was a nice day at the park for us.....we still have lots to do, but i'm sure we'll get to it all before we leave..

yes, it is crowded, but it's fine.....and yes it is HOT....HOT...HOT..HOT....and humid.....carry a washcloth from the hotel with you.....it will come in handy for mopping down your forehead....

today is TL and Crush and Gusher!!

 

[sue&and]

That's brilliant advice. Where can I find out when the EMHs are?

Thanks

 

[Clare D]

Right on these boards. Click on DIS home at the top of the page and it takes you back to the homepage. Down the left hand side column near the bottom the EMH are listed through to September. I am waiting for them for Oct as I too have read somewhere that you need to avoid these days.

 

[wicket2005]

Thanks for that tip re going to parks the day after they have had an EMH. I am off to check my itinerary.

 

[disneyholic family]

it has to do with a lot of people using tickets that are non-hoppers...
so if there is an EMH in a park, it tends to be the more heavily travelled park that day (since people can't hop if they don't have a hopper ticket)..

You can also check the Disney site itself for the EMH hours....just put "extra magic Hours" in the search function and you'll get the hours...

it really does seem to work...

however, i'm not sure if it will be as important in lighter times of the year....
July is just so very crowded, anything you can do to avoid a few people is helpful....

we were at the MK yesterday (thursday) and it really wasn't too bad....i didn't feel overwhelmed with people...

by the way, TL today was also good....when we passed BB at 12:30, there was a big closed sign in front, but the sign said that TL was still open...on thursday when we passed TL at about the same time, it was also closed.....

we managed to get all the slides at TL done by 11:00 and were out by 11:30....and that was doing all 3 of the crush and gushers twice each, plus all the storm slides, the tube slides and humunga cowabunga...however, we skipped the lazy river this time around....we also skipped the wave pool.....we're slide people....

 

[Miffy2003]

Beth this is extremely helpful (especially for those of us going soon!)

Thank you very much for taking the time to post this!

Hope you are having a brilliant time!

 

[disneyholic family]

Beth this is extremely helpful (especially for those of us going soon!)

Thank you very much for taking the time to post this!

Hope you are having a brilliant time!

indeed we are having a BRILLIANT time....
the one most important tip, that everyone on this board knows already, is you must get to the park before opening..........those first two hours are the best time of day.....not too hot, not too crowded.....