At DHS EMH [Sunday 8/4] & won’t get a single ride in...

[glamdring269]

When we go in October we’re basically going to have to EMH every day. I guess the key will be to figure out which park is the one most likely to be visited by non-resort guests that day and avoid it.

We’ve always had success with RD, even at Christmas. The key is to get there well before RD and leave the bag back in the room. You want to be towards the front of the line so you can knock out a top attraction immediately.

 

[Rossie3]

When we go in October we’re basically going to have to EMH every day. I guess the key will be to figure out which park is the one most likely to be visited by non-resort guests that day and avoid it.

We’ve always had success with RD, even at Christmas. The key is to get there well before RD and leave the bag back in the room. You want to be towards the front of the line so you can knock out a top attraction immediately.

I like your strategy, it's much like mine. I already get up before 5 am for work, this makes doing RD a breeze for me. My upcoming trip is a solo trip so I do not have to worry about anyone slowing me down.

 

[Rossie3]

At HS as well and arrived around 7:50 with no bags so I had much better luck getting to Slinky Dog. We were in and out in under 49 minutes and then did Alien Saucers with a 35 minute wait which took us to our first fast pass for TSM at 9:15. After TSM, we were done Toy Story Land and then headed to Rock'n'Rollercoaster and got something to eat while waiting for our FP. The timing has all worked well and now we are waiting for our last FP at ToT in a half hour. So I think we did pretty well this morning.

Too bad those other 2 FPs starting at the end of the month will be Star Tours and some show before you can try and get a 2nd Tier 1. Enjoy this while you can. I would have spent more time at HS in May if I knew this was going to happen.

 

[pens4821]

We used to have much better luck with AM EMH than we did this January. We always get there between 730-745. It seemed to get crowded much faster. The one thing that helped is not trying to go right to the newer rides. In HS we went to RnRC then TOT, AK to Everest then Dinosaur, MK to Buzz a couple times then Pooh. AK wasn't bad, but we noticed that even for those rides the waits really started increasing much faster than we were used to.

 

[Madame]

We used to have much better luck with AM EMH than we did this January. We always get there between 730-745. It seemed to get crowded much faster. The one thing that helped is not trying to go right to the newer rides. In HS we went to RnRC then TOT, AK to Everest then Dinosaur, MK to Buzz a couple times then Pooh. AK wasn't bad, but we noticed that even for those rides the waits really started increasing much faster than we were used to.

Yeah, it’s more problematic when your kids won’t ride the alternate rides. At AK we used to do PW, but that’s down now too. Just seems there are many ride issues and massive crowds.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

The good thing about EEMH in September is that it will be EVERY day. We won't be corralled into 1 day for the week. Otherwise, I rarely bother with the am EMHs. Used to LOVE the evening ones.

 

[robinb]

If I’m following things correctly, you were on the first boat to DHS and you still didn’t clear security until 5 minutes before EMH started. By the time you made it into the park the lines were already ridiculously long. I do hope you complained. You did everything right and Disney dropped the ball.

 

[Madame]

If I’m following things correctly, you were on the first boat to DHS and you still didn’t clear security until 5 minutes before EMH started. By the time you made it into the park the lines were already ridiculously long. I do hope you complained. You did everything right and Disney dropped the ball.

Yes, that covers it. I didn’t bother. It was miserable there today. We hopped over to MK and picked up a Speedway FP then spent most of the afternoon in the pool. We are used to crowds traveling at Christmas & New Years often, but short park hours at night and the craziness this morning will make us stick to the very end of Aug for sure!

 

[Dr.Mickey]

This really is a shame. And this is one of my problems with morning EMH. It all hinges on everything going just right, or it is a waste of an early morning. The boat or bus pickup has to go just right. And there is a good chance it may not, which causes a lot of stress for me as the planner/breakfast gatherer.

But with that said, the 7am EMH are significantly less crowded than the 8am. It’s amazing how many families don’t really make the 7 time. I have especially found this true at MK. We got there at 7:55 for an 8 and it was packed. But we got there at 6:55 for a 7 during the holidays and it was surprisingly easy and uncrowded.

I say all this because, honestly, 6am opening at DHS is VERY early for most real families. Yes, everyone wants to see Star Wars, but with it available day after day for months (outside of the opening week), I think it will be surprisingly manageable for those who are really there by 5:45. And the non-SW rides should be VERY easy that first hour (assuming Disney actually opens them early).

 

[Madame]

This really is a shame. And this is one of my problems with morning EMH. It all hinges on everything going just right, or it is a waste of an early morning. The boat or bus pickup has to go just right. And there is a good chance it may not, which causes a lot of stress for me as the planner/breakfast gatherer.

But with that said, the 7am EMH are significantly less crowded than the 8am. It’s amazing how many families don’t really make the 7 time. I have especially found this true at MK. We got there at 7:55 for an 8 and it was packed. But we got there at 6:55 for a 7 during the holidays and it was surprisingly easy and uncrowded.

I say all this because, honestly, 6am opening at DHS is VERY early for most real families. Yes, everyone wants to see Star Wars, but with it available day after day for months (outside of the opening week), I think it will be surprisingly manageable for those who are really there by 5:45. And the non-SW rides should be VERY easy that first hour (assuming Disney actually opens them early).

We love Christmas week EMH at MK too! So productive. Leaving the park as the masses are fighting to get in is weirdly satisfying. I think we’ll just skip regular EMH from now on though.

 

[robinb]

Yes, that covers it. I didn’t bother. It was miserable there today. We hopped over to MK and picked up a Speedway FP then spent most of the afternoon in the pool. We are used to crowds traveling at Christmas & New Years often, but short park hours at night and the craziness this morning will make us stick to the very end of Aug for sure!

We have gone Christmas/New Years for the past 20 years. I know the crowds of which you speak. It's shocking to me that it's more horrible than that!

We will be there in less than 2 weeks for my DD's 20th birthday and our anniversary. I hope the crowds are better by then. We're offsite at Bonnet Creek in a 2 bedroom (for the same price at the All Stars AP rate for one room) so no EMH for us. Our DHS day is the 3rd day of previews (we're Gold so didn't rate a preview) and I hope that everyone else will flock to Star Wars.

 

[Madame]

We have gone Christmas/New Years for the past 20 years. I know the crowds of which you speak. It's shocking to me that it's more horrible than that!

We will be there in less than 2 weeks for my DD's 20th birthday and our anniversary. I hope the crowds are better by then. We're offsite at Bonnet Creek in a 2 bedroom (for the same price at the All Stars AP rate for one room) so no EMH for us. Our DHS day is the 3rd day of previews (we're Gold so didn't rate a preview) and I hope that everyone else will flock to Star Wars.

Late Aug is usually quieter, but all bets are off this year I think.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I don’t even bother with the morning hours. It’s the start of the day for everyone so it’s just going to get worse and worse (and it’s only an hour). Night time isn’t bad and lines keep getting better as time goes on.

How many hours before closing time does that usually start?

 

[Mambo Junkie]

How many hours before closing time does that usually start?

I find most parks thin out a lot after dinner time. It's getting late, kids are tired, locals heading home, etc. Exception (for me) is MK where people stay for the fireworks. Even that park is more manageable.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

This really is a shame. And this is one of my problems with morning EMH. It all hinges on everything going just right, or it is a waste of an early morning. The boat or bus pickup has to go just right. And there is a good chance it may not, which causes a lot of stress for me as the planner/breakfast gatherer.

But with that said, the 7am EMH are significantly less crowded than the 8am. It’s amazing how many families don’t really make the 7 time. I have especially found this true at MK. We got there at 7:55 for an 8 and it was packed. But we got there at 6:55 for a 7 during the holidays and it was surprisingly easy and uncrowded.

Yep, agree with all of this, except that I discovered how much having EMH an hour earlier (7am rather than 8am) makes a difference at DLR, rather than WDW. I thought it works at DLR because so many visitors are locals driving in. But by the third day of getting up to enjoy ghost-town parks for 60 minutes, I realized it is because even *I* don't like getting up at 5am on vacation any more than anyone else.
I'm still decided whether to change our usual plan to make EMH each day to Avoid the EMH park for our upcoming trip.

 

[yulilin3]

Just an FYI Bag check was extra long yesterday at all the parks because of the shooting. From the Epcot resorts it's always better to walk if possible. Not saying that it doesn't suck just something to keep in mind

 

[kboo]

I hear people having a lot of success with the late arrival/stay until closing plan. Now that my kids are finally getting older, I might start trying this some of the days. Especially when the previous day was an early wake up day!

My kids are still not old enough to internalize that taking a nap in the afternoon so they can stay up late means they will actually get to do MORE. We have a few more years of AM EMH...

I say all this because, honestly, 6am opening at DHS is VERY early for most real families. Yes, everyone wants to see Star Wars, but with it available day after day for months (outside of the opening week), I think it will be surprisingly manageable for those who are really there by 5:45. And the non-SW rides should be VERY easy that first hour (assuming Disney actually opens them early).

We are going to try this 1-2 days over Xmas because DH is a big SW fan. We did an AP TS-Land playtime last year that started at 7am? 6am? and while we were all groaning about walking to DHS in the dark (pushed the 2 sleepy kids in the stroller), it was worth it in the end. ODD rode SDD 5x, DH and I each rode it 2x, YDD rode Alien Saucers (not going to abbreviate that one) countless times, and TSMM 3x. I know we'll never get that experience again, but maybe the stars will align one of the days of our trip.

*ETA - it might be worth springing for an uber if it's not walkable, Disney transportation that early in the AM is just too unreliable

 

[serendipityaey]

Just learning the WDW ways (haven’t been in 10 years) and see everyone say skip EMH days but I see when we are there Sept 22-25 AK, HS, and MK have EMH days every single day. Is this completely irregular? A bit baffled

 

[UOAP]

Too bad those other 2 FPs starting at the end of the month will be Star Tours and some show before you can try and get a 2nd Tier 1. Enjoy this while you can. I would have spent more time at HS in May if I knew this was going to happen.

Wow. I just checked this out. That's awful! You'd think they'd want to draw people to the other rides and away from GE. Moving everything good to tier 1 just makes me want to skip HS entirely. I'd rather spend my fast passes on good rides in another park.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just learning the WDW ways (haven’t been in 10 years) and see everyone say skip EMH days but I see when we are there Sept 22-25 AK, HS, and MK have EMH days every single day. Is this completely irregular? A bit baffled

Disney is running an approx 2 month series of “Extra” Extra Magic Hours starting with SWGE opening on 8/29 featuring daily EMHs. It’s a nearly unprecedented offering.

So yes, hard to “skip EMHs” if traveling during your dates... but with so many options every single day, that should help to spread the typical EMH crowd around a bit.