Lack of EMH

[PrincessBelle39]

Are evening EMH not really a thing any more? Hours are out for our 12 night trip in June/July and there are only 3 nights with EMH - 2 at MK and 1 at Epcot. Nothing at either of the other parks. Can we expect that these will be added at a later time? We made the decision to stay onsite to make the most of these so that we could tour at night when it was cooler. But it doesn't seem that this is an option. We were there same time in 2017 and it seems that there were heaps of them. I recall being in AK until 1am.

 

[GroupB]

They definitely have been reduced over the years. I do miss the days where being at MK well past midnight with EMH was fairly common. We’ve personally seen EMH schedules change about 2-3 weeks before some of our trips. I don’t know if this is normal or expected however.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

The reason you had EMH at AK at night in 2017 (probably most or all nights of your trip) was Pandora opening. It's not typically like that. MK and EP are the only ones with pm EMH typically. I wouldn't expect any AK nights to get added but you never know. AK EMH was added every morning in May in 2018 for some unexplained reason so it could happen.

Edit: If you want to have DHS pm EMH, you could delay your trip by about 6 months.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

The reason you had EMH at AK at night in 2017 (probably most or all nights of your trip) was Pandora opening. It's not typically like that. MK and EP are the only ones with pm EMH typically. I wouldn't expect any AK nights to get added but you never know. AK EMH was added every morning in May in 2018 for some unexplained reason so it could happen.

Edit: If you want to have DHS pm EMH, you could delay your trip by about 6 months.

Ok, maybe we were just spoilt last time. 3 nights out of 12 just doesn't seem a lot. I think I'm going to reassess our accommodation to find something a little more suitable. I was expecting a few more.

 

[brockash]

Are evening EMH not really a thing any more? Hours are out for our 12 night trip in June/July and there are only 3 nights with EMH - 2 at MK and 1 at Epcot. Nothing at either of the other parks. Can we expect that these will be added at a later time? We made the decision to stay onsite to make the most of these so that we could tour at night when it was cooler. But it doesn't seem that this is an option. We were there same time in 2017 and it seems that there were heaps of them. I recall being in AK until 1am.

Yes, EMHs have greatly been reduced. Really it started, and we knew, when they started having after hour events - it was basically emhs that you paid for, just with a few more perks and longer hours. - That was around the time pm EMHs went from 3hrs to 2....and now it's very hard to find many weeks that has 1 pm EMH for each park, which used to always happen, even during slow times.

 

[bryanb]

Increasing EMH was also a way to help fill more on-site hotel rooms, although on-site occupancy has been very strong even as nightly room rates continue to rise and EMH is less plentiful. I like staying onsite a great deal, but some of my favorite trips have been at nearby offsite hotels where I can save a ton of money to be used for more vacationing.

 

[mrsap]

I agree, it’s disappointing- we only do evening EMH, and I’ll plan our park days around them. I look forward to them, but they’re few and far between now.

 

[snappy]

My observation my last few trips:Few and far between, reduced to 2 hours and heavily attended.

 

[purpliequeen]

We were there the busy Christmas week and were surprised, compared to past Christmas week visits, how limited EMH is now - especially in the evenings. Although MK did seem to have opening hours from 7am to 1am throughout the week and I do admire their ability to keep that park open for as long as they do. I will add, for the OP, to keep checking - I don't know if it was bc it was Christmas week, but the EMH and hours overall changed A LOT from 180+ days out when I was trying to make dining ressies to even the week before our trip. It pays to continuously check the calendar/hours.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Disney belt tightening, more focused on bottom line profits.

 

[HydroGuy]

Any observations on crowds at EMH parks vs non-EMH? I have always been in the school of thought to avoid EMH parks because they are more crowded. With the reduced EMH it would seem that would even more true now.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Any observations on crowds at EMH parks vs non-EMH? I have always been in the school of thought to avoid EMH parks because they are more crowded. With the reduced EMH it would seem that would even more true now.

Last July we did 2 late nights at MK. One was EMH open till midnight(?) and the other was a normal day open until 11(? I just know it was an hour earlier than EMH closing). We felt that we rode more things on the non EMH night.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Any observations on crowds at EMH parks vs non-EMH? I have always been in the school of thought to avoid EMH parks because they are more crowded. With the reduced EMH it would seem that would even more true now.

Our way of doing it also. Avoid emh.

 

[mamamelody2]

I love being in the parks late! It is really disappointing how the late hours/evening EMHs have dwindled.

 

[Ds4angels]

Sadly if you want late nights in DHS and AK, you're going to have to pay for them in way of a after hours magic party. So with what you save, staying off site, maybe you could swing a couple of those.
I'm trying not to sound, bitter, but I am salty about the lack of onsite perks here lately

 

[snappy]

It’s definitely a different landscape RE: extra hours, both early and late compared to a few years ago. Disney has monetized them. I guess there no free lunch.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Sadly if you want late nights in DHS and AK, you're going to have to pay for them in way of a after hours magic party. So with what you save, staying off site, maybe you could swing a couple of those.
I'm trying not to sound, bitter, but I am salty about the lack of onsite perks here lately

I think that is exactly what we are going to do. Hopefully dates for DAH will be announced soon for during our trip. We will move to Windsor Hills, everyone will have their own bedroom and bathroom and we will have our own private pool. Even with a car and a night at each of the three DAH, we will be in front. And the bonus is that we will save on meals. We won't have to eat out as much as we were going to have to which will save us a fortune and give us a much more relaxed trip. There doesn't really seem to be any perks of staying onsite apart from 60 day FP as opposed to 30 days and in all honesty, we didn't have difficulty getting what we wanted within 60 days last time. At 60 days we struck trouble but after a few days, we were able to swap and change as we wanted. And with DAH, this will give us the opportunity to hit the rides with the most sought after FP.