I am planning on going to the evening Extra Magic Hours in June at the MK. How much of a crowd can I expect? Will I need a plan or will I just be able to wing it?
Also, do you have to scan your magic band to ride? Are people staying off site able to stay in the park?
I cannot speak for what the crowds will be like in June, but I was there a couple of weeks ago. We stuck around for the evening EMH at Magic Kingdom after attending the Fireworks Dessert Party. It seemed that most people were just hanging around soaking in the Disney ambiance. The rides themselves didn’t seem that busy. You have to be staying at a Disney resort to partake in the EMH. The cast members at each of the attractions will scan your Magic Band to check if you’re a resort guest.
There was still a big crowd in mid August when EMH was 10-midnight. All the headliners still had long lines. And yes we did scan our bands to ride, it might have only been one of us, I can’t quite remember. We didn’t end up riding much at all but we really enjoyed the atmosphere.
They allow everyone to stay in the park. They typically only scanned one member of our party. (Sometimes if it was a total walk-on they didn’t bother.)
We were there on a Wed EEMH a couple weeks ago, and 7DMT had a 30 min wait all the way to the end. Others were a short to no wait.
I’d still set up a touring plan so you have an idea of how much you can accomplish, but we only loosely followed ours.