The Parks Beyond Midnight.

[bethymouse]

We tried night EMH @ DHS. It was a disaster! The wait for TSMM! was over 1 1/2 hours. Tof T was 30 minutes, not bad. Rock n RC was 1 1/2 hours! Never got lucky that time.
We are early birds, so we do morning EMH, but I love the nightlife! Maybe some day when the kids are older or w/o kids.

 

[The Mighty Tim]

Not so much a late night, but more a case of stamina.

Last time I went, on our arrival day, we checked in at our resort, got changed and headed to MK where we stayed until about 9 - 9:30pm. Now that doesn't sound impressive by any stretch of the imagination, but you have to remember that I had been up since 6am UK time (1am WDW time) plus I'd had a 9 hour flight across the Atlantic squished up in a tiny seat, and hadn't eaten much during the day so my energy levels were low.

It was the excitement and adrenaline keeping me going. I actually managed to get a "Plane-to-Pirates" time of 2.5 hours (that's the time from the plane's wheels touching the ground to stepping on to the boat in POTC), which I think is pretty good going!

 

[AswaySuller]

I remember the heydays of the early 90s in the height of summer when midnight and beyond was the norm

 

[Crazy4WDW1]

The parks are a blast after midnight but you really need to stay to the end to make it worth while. What I mean is that if you are going to MK for EMH until say 3am the park will still be fairly busy until around 1:30am then it starts to die out. If you can do it it's awesome. Being the last ones out and having Main St. all to yourself is something you'll remember for a long time!

I so agree! When EMH first started, we were sometimes the only people in the parks late at night. I think most guests weren't really sure how the late hours worked. I remember once walking from Future World to the International Gateway to the Boardwalk Villas and there was not a guest around. Just us and a couple of CMs!

 

[King Racoon 77]

Good Day Everyone..Heres my question to all you night owls. In my 5 vacations to WDW,Ive yet to stay in the parks beyond midnight. I know,terrible.But we are up so early that the bird hasn't even had its first worm.But I'am curious on how quiet the parks are,mainly MK, on the extra hours for on site guests.Now we always go in July ( the party season ) So is it worth making the effort,if only just for one night out of our fourteen nights,to stay in MK until the wee hours.

Didn't think scotsmen were allowed in the parks after midnight and don't get them wet .... Or was that something else short and fuzzy i was thinking of ?

 

[PUSH]

I'd loved to stay that long, but others in my group say they're too old for that anymore. When I go on my own someday, it will happen. This is a reason why solo trips intrigue me.

 

[fireworksandfairytales]

I think it gets pretty exhausting if you stay from opening until EMH ends and then get up the next morning and do it all over again. But if you take a nap in the middle of the day or use the next morning to sleep in a bit it's definitely worth it. I think the parks have a special kind of magic after hours that can't really be experienced at any other time. Especially Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. <3

 

[littleroo]

Have not yet but hopefully when the kids get older! I would love to try it!

 

[KappleB2]

TAKE A NAP!! And stay late!! I loved it in MK!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I've never stayed until 3 (although, we have had the option). The latest we've ever stayed is about 1am in MK...and even that was nice...amazing how much the place clears out. Part of the problem is that our kids are just too young for this. If we give them a really solid rest/nap mid day - midnight to 1am is possible- even with an 8am breakfast the next morning...but it does wear us down a bit as well. One day I'd love to go when they can handle showing up at a park at midnight and just play in MK until 3am.

 

[R W B]

I went the week of July 4th a few years ago, iirc MK had 3 nights of EMH til 3am each and my g/f and I stayed til they shut things down each night. I remember one night we jumped in line for Space Mountain about 2:55 am and it had a decent bit of a wait and by the time we got off and we were walking to the buses it was 4am. After riding the bus to our resort and taking showers it was after 5am before we were in bed. Normally id sleep til 1pm or so but we were up at 8am everyday that trip.

 

[Nero the dog]

On our trip last August we were there after midnight (don't remember the exact time) and it was so quiet that they actually let us sit on the train on Big Thunder and ride multiple times without getting off.

 

[RunnerFool]

I was out running one morning, and I swear I saw at least 6 buses going to Magic Kingdom at like 6:30 am - with people on them! Why is that?

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Good Day Everyone..Heres my question to all you night owls. In my 5 vacations to WDW,Ive yet to stay in the parks beyond midnight. I know,terrible.But we are up so early that the bird hasn't even had its first worm.But I'am curious on how quiet the parks are,mainly MK, on the extra hours for on site guests.Now we always go in July ( the party season ) So is it worth making the effort,if only just for one night out of our fourteen nights,to stay in MK until the wee hours.

I dont think Ive ever been in the parks past 10:30pm LOL Up at the crack of dawn, walk my way thru the world, eat so much food I need a nap (yet dont take one) then walk some more (throw in 2 cocktails during this all) Im lucky Im able to do that Epcot Death Ramp up to the monorail after llluminations. Kudos to those who are in the parks after midnight!! You are much stronger than I am!!

 

[Gonzo79]

We love the nightime EMH.Especially at MK and Epcot.I think the latest we ever stayed was till 2 or3 a.m. at MK.You should definitely give it a try next time.

 

[l4dybu6]

The late night EMH are so worth it! You get to experience the parks without many kids running around and many rides are walk-on at that point
Not to mention being nearly alone in the park later on

 

[jaklgreen]

We have done several late nights(2am). It is great, there is hardly anyone around and no sun burning you but it is still warm. We never set our alarm on vacation. We sleep in until we naturally get up, eat something and then head on over to a park that does not have morning EMH, which is usually around 10am. But then we go to the EEMH park and stay late. There is no way I am getting up at the crack of dawn and being tired the rest of the day. It is just one of our vacation things like not cooking or cleaning on vacation. That is why WDW is so great if you are a morning person then you can go early, or if you are a late night person they have times for you too.

 

[Stu bailey]

We do exactly the opposite and have forever. We stay at park that has EMH as late as possible. It is our experience that no matter what, the parks really thin out late in the evening. We walk on almost everything right away. We essentially stay up late and sleep until around 9:30 in the AM, lounge around the pool and head to a park for a meal and touring around noonish. For us the essence of a great vacation is stay up late, sleep a little late, otherwise the time schedule is the same as work/school. AM rope drop will not see us ever. When there are no PM/EMH we go to a park anyway that has a traditional lower att. on that day of the week and do what we can with no wait. Then it is off to a lounge or two while the kids overindulge in rides.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Never have but I hope to in July!

 

[MarkTwain]

This thread makes me laugh... on a couple of days where the Magic Kingdom has been open til 1am, I've gotten to the park at midnight. I have pictures of the completely empty express monorail I took to the park to prove it. The most recent time I did this, I had time for a quick spin on the PeopleMover, Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain.