Extra magic hours- never again

[scrapquitler]

Just curious...why don't they open WS until 11am? I've always wondered.

I've always assumed it's so they don't need to staff two shifts of employees.

 

[Robo]

I've always assumed it's so they don't need to staff two shifts of employees.

Correct, sort of.
(They still need multiple shifts, but just not as many CMs.)

When EPCOT Center first opened, ALL of it was open at 9AM.
But, Disney soon discovered that most guests naturally spent the first few hours in FW, and then moved on to WS later.

So... that's how they have subsequently made the schedule work.
And, yes, it saves on CM power.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We don't find Epcot morning EMH to be beneficial because we stay at the BC and enter through the IG. The main gate crowd beats us to TT or Soarin' every time. Now we book an 8:00 AM breakfast at GG on a morning where Epcot opens at 9 and we can get on Soarin or at least get in line for TT before the main gate crowd.

We used to LOVE morning EMHs at AK before Pandora.. there was hardly anyone there... now I'm sure it's probably crazy. We also find morning EMHs to be beneficial at MK.

I am hoping that we will still love. We won't be going into Pandora during that time. So, maybe the rest of the park will be as per normal?

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

I am hoping that we will still love. We won't be going into Pandora during that time. So, maybe the rest of the park will be as per normal?

From what I've heard the rest of the park is pretty quiet.. I just hate standing outside of the gates waiting for the park to open when it's really crowded. When we used to do morning EMHs at AK the lines at the tapstiles never went past the ticket booth.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Morning EMH are gold to us.

Evening EMH not so much since the park isn't cleared out.

Looking forward to AK EMH this trip and essentially having the park to ourselves outside Pandora.

 

[Delirium]

Just curious...why don't they open WS until 11am? I've always wondered.

Time Zone Difference

 

[Robo]

Time Zone Difference

Yup.
It's well known that the UK is on ZULU time.
So, the rest of Epcot's timing must be off.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Yup.
It's well known that the UK is on ZULU time.
So, the rest of Epcot's timing must be off.

Sooooooo "walking the world" should leave you with one pounding case of jetlag!

I understand why people would want to do EMH and why some would not.
I really don't think I could do it. Sleep is important. Shorter lines for breakfast are also important.

I talked my DH into the idea of paying for a EMM morning at MK at our next trip (if it's offered) but that is only because I know we will get up and make it "worth it" if we are paying extra for it! But EMH, yeah I understand why it doesn't seem like a bonus to mingle with strangers' sweat for an extra few hours...

 

[stinkpickle]

If you run around the world showcase fast enough, and in the correct order, you can go backwards in time...without needing a flux capacitor. It's science.

 

[Robo]

If you run around the world showcase fast enough, and in the correct order, you can go backwards in time...without needing a flux capacitor. It's science.

88 mph.

(Sadly, even Test Track tops out at about 64 mph.)

 

[momimouse27]

I can't speak to morning EMH, because I am NOT a morning person. I rarely get to a park before 10 am. But we love the evening ones. Time and again, we run into a crowd at night, but for the most part it's wonderful, especially at MK and Epcot.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

If you run around the world showcase fast enough, and in the correct order, you can go backwards in time...without needing a flux capacitor. It's science.

I've done that before with flights connecting through Atlanta. My estimated arrival time would be "before" my departure time due to passing from Eastern into Central time. Flying to/from Europe/Asia really is even more interesting time wise.

 

[Aurora0427]

With it being the first day of F&W it's not surprising that Epcot is super crowded today.

We love morning EMH and typically get a lot done in that hour.

We were at Epcot all day yesterday, beginning at 8am. It was great. We rode Soarin twice and Frozen in that first hour. My mom and I took the baby back for a nap about noon. My husband and older daughter stayed and scored fast passes for Test Track, Soarin, meet Mickey and Friends, rode Figment, did Nemo and all the aquarium stuff, innoventions.

My mom and I came back about 5:30 and did F&W. minimal lines. Went to the booths we wanted and then rode Soarin again and spaceship earth. It was great.

Animal Kingdom is an entirely different beast.... Pandora is pretty nuts.

 

[Aurora0427]

First day of F&W---it's gonna be a flippin ZOO no matter what time you go in.

We aren't rope drop people so EMH in the AM is a never, ever for us

It wasn't though. We were there.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've had good luck with Morning EMH. Evening EMH has been hit or miss for me. I still check it out but sometimes don't stay.

I also learned to avoid Casey's the hour before the MK fireworks up to an hour afterwards for the same reason as the OP. I got stuck in the line and missed the fireworks. Live and Learn I guess.

For Pandora, I've found that if I'm not going to Pandora until later in the day - the rest of the park is much easier to move around except for Africa. Africa was still crowded.

 

[pens4821]

We love the am emh. I hate getting up, but I do when we are at Disney. Crowds are usually much lower. I'm surprised about ge problems. I'm going this week next year and have been looking at wait times. When I looked at 930 yesterday I was thinking how great the wait times looked at Epcot for being open an hour and a half after open. Roughly, FEA was at 30 minutes when I looked, TT was 60, soarin was 20, ms was 10.

I'd be happy with all that. My plan as of now is tt, ms, soarin, land, nemo, se. Then if fea is 45 or less ride that. Lunch then walk around ws/break at hotel depending on weather.

 

[Cee]

I always avoid the park with EMH and visit another which is usually less crowded.

 

[Beth Pagan]

Here now. Did extra magic hours at animal kingdom on Monday and today at Epcot

I will never do it again. It is not worth it at all. Waking up 75 minutes early, spending an hour baking in the sun smashed together with strangers, stampeding to attraction only to wait in a half hour line is not worth it. I got separated from my group so I didn't even ride. The crowd at Epcot this morning was huge.

I'll definitely stick with the theory to stay away from the extra magic hours park in the future.

I have been to Disney many times and happen to be there when you were. I agree. Epcot was the busiest I have seen it for a magic hour. It was terrible. It has to be because it is the first day of the Food festival. We still managed to get on Frozen and Test Track. I would highly NOT recommend going to AK on the early magic days. We went the day after. It may have been because it was raining, but we had a great time. Very little wait for all ride except for FOP. We waited 1 1/2 in the evening. It was worth it.

 

[JackOliva07013]

Writing this on our last day of a trip I can say that it's truly depend on your luck. It helps to be prepared and know where to go but all it takes is one ride to be down and throw out everything. Example: upon entering Epcot via international gateway were told FEA was down. We didn't plan to ride it but the crowd went to other headliners and we had to adjust. Weather plays the role in lines. On hot day Epcot will be less crowded in afternoon. Rain will chase some people away. MS - it was 60 min at 10:30am but walk on both missions at 4pm.

My suggestion: if you play FP game right - you can get 5-6-7-8th selection on any given day at any given park and accomplish same thing. Hollywood studios / epcot - perfect examples as we ride TSM/Soarin multiple times with FPs.