EMH: Useful, worth it? Views?

[mdcpr]

Hi - I would love some feedback on EMH
- if a park has EMH, is it worth going to another one that DOES NOT have it because crowds will be smaller?
- is EMH better for MK since it is a busier parker?
- is it worth using EMH for Animal Kingdom since it is so small?
- is there a 'good for EMH' list of rides anywhere?

Thank you!

 

[nickys]

You will get differing views.

If you have park hoppers and can get there in time for the start of EMH (and at AK and DHS that means at least 30 mins, better would be 45-60 mins, before the start), then it’s worth it IMO.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Our strategy is generally:

If crowds are moderate or less, we avoid the parks with EMH and simply arrive well before regular opening rope drop.

If crowds are heavy (e.g., during a vacation week), we buy parkhopper tickets and make use of morning EMH whenever possible, since that extra hour becomes more precious when the lines are going to be getting longer, faster. We'll leave around lunchtime to spend the afternoon at the hotel, and in the evening, hop to a different park (not necessarily the one with evening EMH, since we'll want to get to bed at a reasonable hour so we can be up early for EMH the next day).

 

[mdcpr]

You will get differing views.

If you have park hoppers and can get there in time for the start of EMH (and at AK and DHS that means at least 30 mins, better would be 45-60 mins, before the start), then it’s worth it IMO.

Yes, I do have park hoppers. While I have my days planned, I also can changed my mind and like to keep my options open.

 

[mdcpr]

Our strategy is generally:

If crowds are moderate or less, we avoid the parks with EMH and simply arrive well before regular opening rope drop.

If crowds are heavy (e.g., during a vacation week), we buy parkhopper tickets and make use of morning EMH whenever possible, since that extra hour becomes more precious when the lines are going to be getting longer, faster. We'll leave around lunchtime to spend the afternoon at the hotel, and in the evening, hop to a different park (not necessarily the one with evening EMH, since we'll want to get to bed at a reasonable hour so we can be up early for EMH the next day).

Excellent advice. We're going for Thanksgiving break, so it will be pretty busy.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

What exactly are you talking about because EHM does not make sense.
EMH is Extra Magic Hours.
EMM is Early Morning Magic.
I'm gonna guess you're talking about EMH.
My opinion on it is if staying offsite avoid. If staying onsite then I seek out the morning EMH as much as possible.
Its a perk for staying onsite so why not utilize it.
Also I find that people tend to take advantage of the night EMH more than they do the morning EMH.
Its worth doing at every park in my opinion.
Its time that the GP does not have on the rides and you do.

 

[nickys]

Sorry, I was cut short posting by a phone call!

During morning EMH, as long as you get there in time for the start, you have the chance to knock out several rides in an hour.

At MK it’s just Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. You should be able to do quite a few rides in FL or TL during that hour. Most will rush to 7dmt and PP, or Space. And if you are in FL, you can line up for rope drop ready for the race to HM, Splash or BTMRR, probably just beating the park opening crowd if you’re at the front.

At DHS, the vast majority race to TSL. At AK it’s FoP. If you’re heading anywhere else it’s a walk on.

 

[Rsj88]

EMH are tricky. I don’t have experience with thanksgiving week so I’m not sure how crowded they will be then but they can be very beneficial. I think it depends on if you are a morning person. Most of the time I avoid morning hours because they are just a little too early lol and they usually don’t line up with the order we like to do the parks in. When MK opens at 7 for EMH that means 6 for us because we are on central time so getting the kids up at 5 our time to get ready leaves them a bit too tired the rest of the day. But that is just us. If we are not going to make it for the extra morning hours we avoid that park. If the morning hours start at 8 we will use them and hop to a different park if it gets crowded. We do like to take advantage of evening hours when we can. When one park closes we usually hop to whichever park is open latest Epcot is nice to stroll around and shop at late at night.

 

[zeebs758]

On our upcoming vacation in November, we have our days set around EMH. We plan on making use of them as best as we can. Personally, I never really used EMH but we care going with some folks who love using it so I'm going to give it a try on this upcoming trip.

One piece of advice I've heard is that is this. If a park has magic hours, you should visit that park the day before or the day after because there should be less resort guests. Some people swear by that advice.

 

[RememberWhen]

We were there for Christmas week last December. We did EMH at MK a couple times and it was fantastic. We did so much more in that hour than we did the rest of the day. Totally agree with @Weather_Lady

 

[JIMINYCR]

We take advantage of them. However I tend to utilize the evening ones more because I find more people tend to leave earlier and the last hour or so, so theres less crowds that build lines. But the morning hours do give you some advantage to jump on the first few popular attractions before the real crowds build. DS wants to sleep in and doesnt want to get up early so I usually go it alone.

 

[me_stitch]

I avoid EMH parks until the evening. If MK has evening EMH I'll go to say HS that day and then head over to MK until closing. I can usually hit multiple rides in that last hour or so before closing.

 

[correcaminos]

We avoid EMH as a whole. We don't like rushing on vacation and so morning EMH are out. Since we keep to regular bed times, often night EMH are out too. So we just skip and enjoy quieter parks.

 

[Kingoglow]

Morning EMHs, can be great if you have a good plan of things that you want to accomplish during that time. IMO, no food or photos (unless you want that one good shot in front of the castle) or shopping. That time is for using the low(er) crowd level to your advantage for rides; specifically things that you couldn't get a fastpass for. Once the park opens to everyone, you can slow it down and eat and shop etc, while all of the new arrivals rush into lines. Have a seat, take a breath and relax for a while before diving back in.

Since Disney has added Morning EMH everyday, every where except Epcot, you wont be able to really plan . around them. Your best bet is to take advantage while off-site guests cannot get in.

I have never really been a fan of Evening EMH. Lots of people like them though. I find that the park is working at such a chaotic energy level; not as relaxing as the morning hours. If I want to take part in late night at the parks I go for an After Hours ticket, when they clear out day guests early. That quiets things down a lot.

 

[KikoKea]

The last 2 EMHs DH and I did this Spring were at AK, and we still waited in line for FoP 1hr and 1.5hrs, and there were plenty of people from the EMH group that came in behind us.

 

[JillC LI]

We ALWAYS use Morning EMH because people don't like to sleep in. By dragging ourselves out of bed we get several hours of no crowds, even at the most crowded times of year. It's always worth it.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

My experiences from this past January:

Semi-related but Animal Kingdom opens up Pandora half an hour early on non-EMH days. We arrived a bit after they did at 8:30 rope drop and walked onto Navi River Journey twice, before the rest of the park opened. Skipped Flight of Passage at that time, it had a lengthy wait unless you were at the front of the crowd.

Evening Magic Hours at Epcot: the headliner attractions (Frozen, Test Track, etc.) had lengthy wait times. Heck, 'Soarin had a shorter posted wait time earlier in the evening. If doing Epcot evening hours, it's best utilized doing less popular attractions like Spaceship Earth, Nemo, and Gran Fiesta Tour etc., in my opinion.

Evening Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom: felt more beneficial due to the larger attraction count. We did Pooh with almost no wait, Small World as a walk on, Haunted Mansion and Pirates with minimal waits. I don't remember everything we did but it felt worthwhile.