EMH or not to EMH????

[MARN1234]

I'm a little confused. We're headed to WDW the week starting 4/19. One of the Web guides suggest going to alternating parks on eary entry days. In other words if Epcot opens early on Wed. you should go to the MK because Epcot will be so crowded. I know this is one of those "crystal ball" type questions but was wondering what ya'll thought. Maggie I do try to get my crew up, quick breakast and head to the parks first.......

 

[n2mm]

My opinion is that I NOW avoid EMH at the parks. I was a fan a couple of years ago after it was started back up. But last July we called it quits. It has become so popular that we find we do better at the parks the day after it's designated EMH day. For example, we do less at MK from 8:00 AM to noon, then we can do from 9:00 Am to noon. Since we called it quits in July, we have been back in mid-September, late October, and early February, and find it much more relaxing to go on the off days now. It was way too stressful for us. So now we enjoy a nice sit down breakfast at 7:30AM, get to the parks at 8:45 AM and all goes a lot better. Of course, since we go often, we tour at a much more relaxing pace than most, always knowing that there is another trip right around the corner.

 

[MARN1234]

Sort of what I'm thinking. We're repeat offenders too with two more trips in the works.

 

[donac]

I like EMH for MK. I don't think that it is necessary for any of the other parks. We always do EMH because I am a very early riser and my husband and boys just follow what I do. We did a lot of EMH last summer because we were camping and didn't have a tv to slow us down.

Dona

 

[NMAmy]

We're early birds so EMH makes much more sense than to have us sitting in the hotel room twiddling our thumbs waiting for the parks to open. I've got some great pictures from our trip the first week of March in which it looks as though we're the only people in the parks! We do all the major stuff in the morning and usually have a PS for lunch. Then, we head back to the hotel for a little rest and go back to another park for late afternoon/evening.

We had a couple of days that we did not do EMH because DD just wasn't feeling well and it seemed like we missed so much!

 

[Sansaarai]

I think EMH is a waste of time. Why get up early run to breakfast, which is crowded in the resorts at this time, run to the bus, whic are crowded this early in the morning, and try to cram everything possible in that early hour?

If you go on the parks off days, you can get the same experience without the rushing around and early wake up.

Go to the parks in this order during the week:

Monday: Epcot
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Wednesday: MGM Studios
Thursday: Animal Kingdom
Friday: Park Hop

I have used this set up for years. Getting to the parks around 9:30-10am and seeing all that I want to see with extra time to sit back and take in the surroundings of my vacation. The hustle and bustle for one hour is deffinatly NOT worth it.

 

[Chica650]

sorry to sound ignorant....but, what's EMH?

 

[Ratpack]

Originally posted by Chica650
sorry to sound ignorant....but, what's EMH?

EMH - Extra Magic Hour - Resort guests can enter a specific park each day one hour before official opening time. Not all atrractions are open though, usually just the ones considered the most popular.

For us, we enjoy EMH for MK, AK and DS. We do it every trip. All of our family are early risers so why not be there. We usually get all of what we plan to ride done in the first 1-2 hours and then we can just stroll and enjoy the parts that are not rides and are less crowded. By lunch we are back at the resort.

 

[EmmasGrammy]

This is how our family uses the EMH's. We are up early and head directly to the park hosting EMH. Let's say MK. We ride on everything of intrest to our group before the park is open to the general public. We have PS's made for a resturant in the park for our breakfast (In MK it's usually CP or perhaps 1900 PF @ the GF) and we schedule them for the time the park is open to the general public. We enjoy our meal while watching the masses roll in , then we leave that park and head to one of the other parks not offering EMH that day. We have done this each of our last 11 trips and it has worked like a charm!!

 

[MARN1234]

thanks everyone!....Sansarrai (am I spelling that right) I was actually thinking of the following: my first plan was to stick w/ the EMH's. Now I'm thinking DTD tuesday (that's our first day) we've never done Quest and that's on my 7 y.o.'s list. I'm getting AP's & attempting to prolong the clock ticking on them. We're also not big Hoppers. the rest of the week goes like this. What do you think? Maggie
Wed. MK
Thursday Epcot
Friday back to MK (booked @ Chef Mickey for dinner)
Saturday MGM (booked for Fantasmic Dinner Package)
Sunday AK
Monday----Boo Hoo, Back to CT

 

[karylrocks]

We are not early risers and so even when I have planned to do EMH, we have only made it a couple of times. Once was for MGM; I just couldn't get excited about RnR that early in the morning. The other time was AK, I enjoyed that because the animals are more active in the morning and we love the Safari - do it 2 or 3 times at various times throughout the day. I am not planning on doing EMH any more. If you have little ones, it is probably worth it at MK; go on all the Fantasyland rides first - they get way crowded later in the day. I would grab a pop-tart in your room before you go and then plan a late breakfast at MK or one of the monorail resorts when the park starts to get crowded.

 

[Sansaarai]

Originally posted by MARN1234

Wed. MK
Thursday Epcot
Friday back to MK (booked @ Chef Mickey for dinner)
Saturday MGM (booked for Fantasmic Dinner Package)
Sunday AK
Monday----Boo Hoo, Back to CT

Well I have never had a chance to visit the parks on the weekends, so I really cant help you there. I believe that Wed, Thurs, Fri with the days you have chosen, should be off days.

What time of the year are you going?