Talk to me about EMH

[SunniKC]

Okay, so I have searched but not really finding an answer so figured I'd ask. This is our first time on property, we have always either stayed with family or off site hotel. So...EMH I mean, I know what they are, but when I looked up park hours for May I notice every time they list EMH for a park they recommend not going to that park that day. Does it really bring in that many more people? I was kind of thinking of planning one of our 2 MK days for the evening EMH day but is that a good thing? or not?

 

[Dan Murphy]

They do get crowded. We tend to avoid them. Keep in mind not everything is open in the morning one, especially Magic Kingdom. Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open.

 

[tobikaye]

I love EMH, but I always have park hoppers. For morning EMH, I usually start there at rope drop and then head out of that park between 10 am - 1 pm. Although, once I was heading for the exit at AK as they were letting non-guests in at 9 am since I was only there for Dinosaur, EE and Safari and did all of those. For evening EMH, I might not arrive until the start, although I do not do these as frequently.

The biggest issue is that most guests staying onsite without park hoppers are going to basically go to the park with EMH. I would say that 30-50% of the people staying on site at WDW on any given day, does not research crowd levels and just goes where they think they will get the most time.

 

[cassie58]

We love morning EMH! Since only onsite guests can take advantage, and many do not want to get up early for it, or avoid it due to recommendations as you said, it is a great jump start to the day. You can get a lot done in the first few hours, and it is a little cooler as well. Even though everything is not open yet, you can get done the things you like that are available for that hour, and then you are already in the park when others are just making there way back to start the day, so you can head to areas you want to hit next. When we do it, we either book a late brft, like CP at MK or TH at AK(sorry for all the abbreviations!), and take a break after our first few hrs., or grab early QS lunch and have dinner planned for later. You can plan your FP for early afternoon, when it will be more crowded, and then try for more after those. Some people like to hop to another park later after they do a lot in the morning, and make their FP for there, figuring first park will get more crowded. You just have to commit to being there early, since you do not want to go to EMH park at regular opening. Now for evening EMH, it is more of a toss up. Since people are already in the park for the day, it is always harder to say if it will be crowded, so those aren't always as good. We have found that when the parks are open very late with EMH(like 1 am), it tends to quiet down later after fireworks(and formerly parade) are done, and people leave, especially with younger kids. We have gotten a lot done late nt. on those. You just have to decide which works best for you - early is always best, whether its RD at regular park or EMH at that park.

 

[Robo]

Never attending EMH's because they will be "too crowded or overly-stressful,"

is like never eating grapes because they will be "too sour."



CAN be that way.

Doesn't HAVE to be that way.



Each EMH experience can be different.



We always go to AM EMH (virtually every day of the trip

that we did not do a PM EMH late the night before)...

never ONCE regretted an AM EMH... they are amazingly

empty and easy to ride the open attractions.

If that park then starts to fill 2 to 3 hours later...

We're happy with "doing" that park for the day and we

can HOP elsewhere or do lunch and take a rest until

later.



PM EMH's are a mixed bag. I've been when they were

"packed"... but on other nights (sometimes within the

same trip), the crowds were basically so low that it

was like "free rides" on all the open attractions.



The rule seems to be, it is far easier for guests to

STAY UP at the end of the day, than it is for them to

GET UP at the start of the day.



Generally speaking:

Expect a PM EMH which begins before 10PM to be much busier than one that begins much later.

Expect the first hour of PM EMH to be busier than the last hour.



Those who have attended PM EMH's and say that "they

are too crowded" are right... but that may have been only on the nights

they have attended.

I can say from personal experience that EMH's CAN be

virtually empty, or overly full... or somewhere in-between for attendance,

often within the same week.



The crowd situation at PM EMH can change so much (either way,)

that saying it was "like X" on a given night, can have little relation

to another night in the same time-period. So, you

simply "won't know unless you go."

It's similar to saying

that you attended on a given night and it rained, so

guests should never go on that night because it will

probably be rainy.



But, it can all boil down to your particular timing.



If you just consider that EMH's are FREE to attend...

You might just take a chance.

If it's too busy, just people-watch... or hit the exit.

(Where ELSE are ya gonna go at 10pm, anyway?)



But, if its not busy... you'll be ALL SET for EXTRA FUN!



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[jmkjr72]

We love emh. just remember a pre park breakfast on an am emh day does you no good you are wasting your time if you are out to maximize rides

One trip pm emh mk closed at 1 am they had a major rain dump just before wishes the park emptied out and it was almost like having the park to ourselves

most pm emh we have found give it a bit for the crowd to thin out and it's fairly manageable

 

[Ciandella915]

I think a lot of it boils down to a couple of things. One, the time of year. Crowds vary drastically depending on that. And two, time of day. Like Robo said, people have a harder time getting up than staying up. I think you'll also find people have great intentions, but wind up not getting up early enough for AM EMH, but they've already planned out their week and that's the park they're going to that day regardless (especially if they don't have park hoppers). So by noon, you've got crowds, but not necessarily during EMH.

Weather also contributes. We were there in April 2015 and there was an 11-1am EMH. It wound up raining and everyone left because the fireworks were cancelled. We sat there and waited out the mass exodus and the temporary shower. Then we just walked on ride after ride. PoTC is incredibly creepy when you're the only people in your boat and there's an empty boat behind you!

We went to a Sunday morning EMH at MK this week and it looked like there were crowds when we all waited for rope drop, but it thinned out quickly in the park. We walked in at 8:00am and rode five rides by 9:15, including 7DMT. We didn't really start seeing crowds until 10-10:30.

 

[snowybelle]

I'm not bothered by the crowds EMH bring to the PARKS (especially in the AM!) -- but what has turned me off occasionally are the LINES it creates at the bus stops in the morning, depending on which resort you are staying at. Since it is a perk for those staying on-site, MANY people at your resort will be wanting to taking advantage of it.

But YMMV:

Recently stayed at Pop Century -- the bus lines for Magic Kingdom EMH in the morning were so long I decided to skip the whole mess and paid about $25 for a taxi.

Also recently stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge -- not as much of a problem there.

 

[jvz82]

I've been seeing too that everyone seems to recommend not going to the parks that have EMH. But we've done it in the past and really enjoyed it. We get a TON done in the morning. This time we're going to MK on 2 different days that both have EMH in the morning (it opens at 7 am for EMH). This wasn't my original plan, as one of the days wasn't originally an EMH day but they just recently added it in their hours. We fully intend to get there right at 7 am (or before if possible) and head back to the resort at noon for a long break. In the past when we've done this, we see practically everything just in the morning! Then when it really gets busy around lunch time, we're at our hotel not dealing with crowds. I guess we'll see how it goes!

 

[kaybird]

If you are going to get there on time for an AM EMH, you will get more done by 11 AM than the rest of the day. If you are going to be late, choose another park. Park hoppers are great for this strategy, get your stuff done, then hit the next park!

 

[SunniKC]

Thanks!! This helps. I am now thinking for certain we may shoot for one of our MK days to hit the AM EMH---do what we can (if we can get BOG for late breakfast or early lunch) then go back to the resort and chill by the pool before returning for the rest of the day. Maybe AK too--
Not 100% sure about the late ones unless we do a break back to the hotel. I'm just trying to get an idea before we make ADR's on Tuesday Part of me is thinking just go with the flow---what day can I get this ADR? and plan for that park for that day.

 

[soniam]

If you actually get here for AM EMH, then it's awesome. Many people won't actually show up that early, so by the time they get to the park, it's more crowded than if the park hadn't opened so early. We always do AM EMH and love it. It's amazing how much you can get done in that hour, especially if it's a 7am EMH.