I am new to this website but not new to WDW. My husband has commented that he believes I enjoy planning the trip more than going on it.
I was really surprised to see the crowd calendar indicating that parks with EMHs would be less crowded. We have always followed the thought that parks with EMH’s should be avoided. (Other than the time we traveled during Christmas and MK had EMH mornings every day.) Are there some veterans to touringplans.com that have chosen the EMH parks, found them to be a good choice, and can reassure me that it is a wise decision?
Thank you!
I do but I take a break. I find I can get a lot done. For example- I am an EE junkie. I can do it over and over. On EMH days I can do it 5 times before 9:00, go over to Safari, have a snack, go to Lion King, head over to Dino Land, catch Nemo if I want and be out of the park by noon.
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We do EMH, stay until the park starts to get busy (close to lunch time) return to hotel and swim, go to park with evening EMH. Seriously, during EMH…you can get so much stuff done. Like PrincipalTinker said…almost the same schedule.
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If I stayed onsite I would def hit emh in the am. We chose to stay offsite so avoid emh parks if possible. When Mk had 7 am emh 2 easters ago we had no choice but to visit MK. Even then getting in park at 8 am we got sooo much done between 8-11.
We always do am EMH, get tons done in the first 2 hours with minimal waits, take a mid-day break just after lunch. May return to same park or hop elsewhere later in the evening when crowds start thinning out again.
Yes, wise decision! (So long as you can be at the parks when EMH start.)
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I do AM EMH whenever possible! The thing is, it’s only worth it if you get there before the park opens. For an 8 AM EMH, I try to be at the park by 7:30. But from about 8 to 11, I get a ton done. On my last trip I managed Peter Pan, Pooh, three rides on Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear by 9:30 or so. It was awesome.
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I’ve done amEMH and gotten there up to 30 minutes after park opening, still get tons done with very minimal crowds (didn’t make RD exactly the weekend before Christmas, still great experiences on high crowd level days). On a crowded day, the hoards start to arrive by around 9:30. On a less crowded day, it may be 11 before you notice a real uptick in crowds. We also tend to hop out around lunch time.
Keep in mind that crowd levels are like peak sunburn hours - they are determined mid-day. So, assume that 10 am - 3 pm is about the worst you’re going to see. If you’re done before then and take a break and come back later, you should be fairly happy.
The only caveat to that is that MK tends to get/remain pretty busy in the evening, particularly on Main St. 8-10pm on Main St. almost universally sucks regardless of the crowd level. If you’re going to do pmEMH in MK, you might consider heading in late (like 10pm or later) to get the benefit.
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I really like pm emh in the Magic Kingdom - especially if regular closing is at 10pm or later - I find the park really empties out, and a lot of the rides become walk ons. We tend to show up close to regular closing having had a bit of a rest and dinner.
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Sometimes the EMH park will be the most crowded that day, but other times not. Sometimes the park having EMH is still open fewer total hours than other parks (AK is usually open for a shorter time than the others) and morning EMH are not as popular as evening EMH. Also, MK is often open for longer hours on weekends without EMH than it is during a weekday with EMH. MK is often the most popular park even if other parks have EMH. So, it just depends! When I go to WDW, I just look at which 2 days the crowd level is lowest for MK, and plan to go to MK on those days regardless of EMH. Then I plan the rest of my trip from there. I like park hopper tickets because then I can leave a park after it closes and go to another one that is still open!
I almost always do EMH RD (I always stay on site). Granted I typically go at “lower crowd” times (if there IS such a thing anymore), and have rarely hopped due to crowds; if I hop, it’s because I have built that into my plan in the first place. If I was staying off site, I would NOT go to a park with EMH.
Thank you for the replies. Very reassuring. We approach our park days much like the rest of you. Arrive before scheduled opening, ride the best of the best (repeatedly if we can), maybe a lunch ADR, and out the gate as others come rolling in for the afternoon. I’m kind of excited to give the EMH mornings a try. Since our children are all in their teens now, I would think that we might even enjoy a late night in a park.
Principal Tinker - My oldest daughter and I share your appreciation of EE. We ride together the first time or two and then head for the single rider line. Odds are I’ve lost my equilibrium and bow out after the fifth ride but she just keeps on going while I hold myself upright by the railing until the rest of the family finishes KS. 
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I usually do the park with EMH am . Remember the advice to avoid EMH parks is because either the guests are offsite and not eligible or will not arrive at the park before EMH but show up after open.
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