Help! EMHs...to go or not to go?

[Lucille]

A while back we decided which parks we'd probably visit each day of our trip. We made our decisions based on park hours and stuff.

(Wait...let me back up a bit. In January 2008 we went to WDW around the same time. We thought the crowds were nice and low on every day except one. It was the Sunday we were there. We went to the Magic Kingdom because we wanted to do the evening Extra Magic Hours. They were the only EMH's we did the entire time. I'm not sure if the park was crowded because it was Sunday or because of EMHs.)

We really liked the extra magic hours even though the park was crowded during the rest of the day. I'm not sure if we ended up in any parks last time on the same day as any extra morning hours (we aren't early risers.)

So this time we wanted to use some more of the EMHs. But today I saw touringplans.com had the chart up for the days of our trip. And basically they say to avoid the parks that have EMHs...which of course, we had planned on actually using.

Yeah...so now I'm not sure if we should just go on the EMH days or avoid those parks. Hmmmm....

We do have park hoppers but we don't want to park hop every single day as it does waste a bit of time.

Here's a little chart (it has the info from touringplans.com and also the parks we had planned to do each day. Saturday we plan on resting and heading to Epcot in the evening for dinner. We planned on park hopping only on the last few days of the trip.)

 

[WDW 3]

Go!! We love evening EMH's. AK is very cool at night and it is the only time it is open past 5.

After getting 21" of snow, I wish I was there!

 

[Lucille]

Go!! We love evening EMH's. AK is very cool at night and it is the only time it is open past 5.

After getting 21" of snow, I wish I was there!

Where are you located? We've been stuck in our house for a few days now because of snow.

After talking to my husband for a while....we may end up keeping most things the same as that chart. Except the last two days.

We have a few ADRs that go with that plan and we don't want to have to get rid of them.

I just hope we don't end up with super crowded parks.

 

[Master Yoda]

As a general rule early EMH's are consistently good. Most people do not want to be up in time to make it to a park by 7:30-7:45 and because of this you will have the run of the parks until 10-11 if you hit an early EMH. However, if you do not plan on attending an early EMH avoid the park that has it as you will be greeted with an already somewhat full park first thing in the morning. Evening EMH can be hit or miss. I have seen times where the parks where ghost towns at an evening EMH while other times it felt like 11:50 PM at Epcot on NYE. Because of this we tend to avoid evening EMH save for AK. AK takes on such a different feel when the sun goes down that it is worth the risk of a busy night.

 

[dvcnut39]

Our general rule is- go to the morning one as early as possible to ride and stay at the evening one to browse.

 

[Victoria]

I generally skip morning EMHs just because I don't feel like getting up that early....as does the rest of the World. You end up with the run of the park. If I am skipping the morning EMH I will not go to the park that had it. I don't like walking in at 10am to a mob scene. If I am going to take advantage of an evening EMH I normally go to a different park all day long and then switch parks about an hour before the EMH begins. This works especially well when MK has evening EMH. I'm walking in a getting on rides while everyone else is standing around watching Wishes and the parade.

 

[Lucille]

Question....if people go to morning EMHs....do they typically stay in that park all day? Or do they leave at some point?

I would assume a lot of people use park hoppers but I don't know. Maybe they don't.

 

[RNRguy]

i have done magic hours.. they are awesome.. , we did one morning hours and thats was epcot.. but thr rest were evening.. and the best was magic kingdom.. at 1am.. its something magical about a dole whip and seeing the castle in lights!

 

[Lucille]

i have done magic hours.. they are awesome.. , we did one morning hours and thats was epcot.. but thr rest were evening.. and the best was magic kingdom.. at 1am.. its something magical about a dole whip and seeing the castle in lights!

With us going in January, I really think we'll use the evening hours for sure since the parks close so early (typically around 8pm.) We are night owls...not early birds...so those work well for us.

Sadly, it looks like they'll be doing stuff to the castle while we're there....which stinks because I really like seeing it lit up at night.

We'll most likely be at MK on a morning extra magic hour day (but knowing us...we won't get there until 9:30am or so.) I just hope that doesn't make the park TOO crowded all day.

 

[WDW 3]

Where are you located? We've been stuck in our house for a few days now because of snow.

After talking to my husband for a while....we may end up keeping most things the same as that chart. Except the last two days.

We have a few ADRs that go with that plan and we don't want to have to get rid of them.

I just hope we don't end up with super crowded parks.

North Dakota - final total 25.1"

 

[dreamfinder]

Question....if people go to morning EMHs....do they typically stay in that park all day? Or do they leave at some point?

I would assume a lot of people use park hoppers but I don't know. Maybe they don't.

It goes both ways. Even if some of the crowd leaves, you still would have more than if it was a non EMH day. (In theory) Personally, I don't see the value in hopping unless you are there for an extended length of time as you waste more time hopping from one park to another than you do waiting in lines. But thats just my opinion.

 

[RNRguy]

Question....if people go to morning EMHs....do they typically stay in that park all day? Or do they leave at some point?

I would assume a lot of people use park hoppers but I don't know. Maybe they don't.

well on our lst trip to the world in halloween of 07 we had park hoppers , but we opted to stay in one park...

and i guess it would depend on the park too.. like say animal kingdom.. i would say definatly usepark hoper there bc of thehalf a day park.. and the hours.. but this trip we might jump around alot.. sincw we are going to be there for a week this time..

 

[obrienIII]

I agree with the earlier poster. Park hop. Enjoy another park for the day, and hop over an hour before extra magic hours begin. I learned this trick while visiting in January this year with my sister(sweetpee_1993) and again in May. I'm with you though, I'm a night owl so we don't catch many morning EMHs, and those parks usually are very crowded so avoid them unless you plan on attending the morning EMHs. I also agree that the parks do close rather early in January, so definitely take advantage of the evening EMHs. We arrive January 23rd, so maybe we'll run into each other. Have a wonderful trip!:wave:

Another thing is to visit the same park that had EMHs the night before, the next morning. It usually is less crowded the morning after. Just my opinion.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

^^^^
I am so proud!

Yes! If you go to an evening EMH that's usually a great park the next morning (at least in January it is).

The MK I'll show up for an evening EMH around park closing time unless I'm having dinner in that park. At the other 3 parks I think getting there an hour after an evening EMH starts is a better way to go. Why? Initially the EMH attractions will be mobbed. Guests will either get done with what they want to do or give up on the mobs and leave. That last hour or so is always niiiiiice. I'm gonna change up my strategy just a bit to try NOT to enter an evening EMH park at or even just after regular park closing.

Morning EMH's are nice but you gotta be there so early to really take advantage. I'm not a morning person so I've only had success once. I'd rather stay up late and sleep a little more. :snore:

 

[H20Babie]

As a teacher, our spring break coincides with Easter this year; and the way things worked out, we'll be on the beach the week before and checking in at WDW Easter Sunday. The plan for us is to hit the morning EMH's, stay at that park until 12-1 pm, head back to the resort for some swim time, and then park hop to the evening EMH. If, as sometimes can happen, we sleep in a bit and miss the morning EMH, we will go to the park that had its evening EMH the night before. As we know it will be busy, we also have a list of 3-4 "must do's" at each park. Everything after that we can ride, do or see after those is gravy.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Question....if people go to morning EMHs....do they typically stay in that park all day? Or do they leave at some point?

I would assume a lot of people use park hoppers but I don't know. Maybe they don't.

We utilized EMH on our trip last week and loved it. We were at MK on December 20 (evening) and 25 (morning) and it was awesome. Also used EMH at DHS on the 21st and had a blast as well.

Crowds definitely thinned out. Wait times were minimal (for most rides) compaired to what they were during normal hours.

We did hop over to another park in the afternoon of the 25th simply because we were able to accomplish a lot at MK thanks to EMH that morning.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Our general rule is- go to the morning one as early as possible to ride and stay at the evening one to browse.

I will second that!
More folks are content in spending the extra hours in the evenings and aren't able to get up first thing. Even on the most crowded of days, being at a park for morning EMH or standard morning opening gives you a few hours of normalcy.

 

[brifraz]

As a teacher, our spring break coincides with Easter this year; and the way things worked out, we'll be on the beach the week before and checking in at WDW Easter Sunday. The plan for us is to hit the morning EMH's, stay at that park until 12-1 pm, head back to the resort for some swim time, and then park hop to the evening EMH. If, as sometimes can happen, we sleep in a bit and miss the morning EMH, we will go to the park that had its evening EMH the night before. As we know it will be busy, we also have a list of 3-4 "must do's" at each park. Everything after that we can ride, do or see after those is gravy.

We do morning EMH every time we come. In general, if you are willing to do the early wake-up call, you can do everything you want before the crowds decend. I am a teacher as well, so our trips are always Easter, xmas, or mid-summer and the parks are always packed. But, for example, this week (xmas to New Year's) we've done morning each day and been very successful and out around noon. MK on xmas, we did everything (OK, we skipped Stitch's, but other than that everything) by noon. Same thing the 26th at MK and the 27th at EC. We did much the same last Easter. Even if you are a normal nightowl, it is worth changing your body clock. We set the alarms for 6am, but are back in the room by 1pm for daily napping, back to a night park after dinner (or dinner in the park). It's the best way to get to do all the attractions IMHO.

 

[Lucille]

North Dakota - final total 25.1"

Nebraska here. Not sure what our total was. A foot or two, I think. But we have some 6 foot tall drifts in our backyard!

It goes both ways. Even if some of the crowd leaves, you still would have more than if it was a non EMH day. (In theory) Personally, I don't see the value in hopping unless you are there for an extended length of time as you waste more time hopping from one park to another than you do waiting in lines. But thats just my opinion.

We plan to hop on a few days. but we also like to do a full day for AK, full day for epcot, and full day for magic kingdom. I'm concerned because the day I picked for our fill MK day happens to fall on a morning EMH day (it's a Thursday.) I just hope it's not insanely crowded. And I'm not just talking about waits for rides, I just mean crowded in general. I like to be able to walk around at a leisurely pace to take photos without feeling like I need to rush to get out of people's way.

I agree with the earlier poster. Park hop. Enjoy another park for the day, and hop over an hour before extra magic hours begin. I learned this trick while visiting in January this year with my sister(sweetpee_1993) and again in May. I'm with you though, I'm a night owl so we don't catch many morning EMHs, and those parks usually are very crowded so avoid them unless you plan on attending the morning EMHs. I also agree that the parks do close rather early in January, so definitely take advantage of the evening EMHs. We arrive January 23rd, so maybe we'll run into each other. Have a wonderful trip!:wave:

Another thing is to visit the same park that had EMHs the night before, the next morning. It usually is less crowded the morning after. Just my opinion.

^^^^
I am so proud!

Yes! If you go to an evening EMH that's usually a great park the next morning (at least in January it is).

The MK I'll show up for an evening EMH around park closing time unless I'm having dinner in that park. At the other 3 parks I think getting there an hour after an evening EMH starts is a better way to go. Why? Initially the EMH attractions will be mobbed. Guests will either get done with what they want to do or give up on the mobs and leave. That last hour or so is always niiiiiice. I'm gonna change up my strategy just a bit to try NOT to enter an evening EMH park at or even just after regular park closing.

Morning EMH's are nice but you gotta be there so early to really take advantage. I'm not a morning person so I've only had success once. I'd rather stay up late and sleep a little more. :snore:

Thanks for the info. Is it really less crowded to visit a park that had evening EMH's the next day? I don't nkow if we have any of that planned. Maybe I'll do a little pre-trip report to figure out my plans.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Thanks for the info. Is it really less crowded to visit a park that had evening EMH's the next day? I don't nkow if we have any of that planned. Maybe I'll do a little pre-trip report to figure out my plans.

It seems like we used this strategy at least once last January and again in May with success. Also, in talking with other guests at the bus stops and such and comparing notes it seems to be a recurring hint. At least 4 times last January we'd be on a bus talking about how busy a park was the day before with fellow guests who told us how dead a different park was. I've also decided that if a park is too busy for my liking I'll be happier to hop to a different one than keep fighting the masses. It seems if 1 park is crazy another is bound to be better. Hopping doesn't have to take forever either. If time is that much of an issue just spring for a $25 cab ride. You'll be to your next destination in no time with a quiet, relaxing ride to boot.

((The hubby & I spent some time researching rental cars for hopping & early reservation purposes last week and found we could take 2 cab rides per day for what we would pay to rent a mini-van for our party of 6. Just a thought for ya! ))