I am looking at all the crowd calendars and planning my days around them. Everything I have seen indicates that the parks with EMH are predicted to be the most crowded that day. I am avoiding those parks, but we don’t have park hopper, so are we missing out on the perks of EMH by not going the day EMH are available or are we better off avoiding them?
1 Like
We always go to morning EMH if available and rarely hop to another park. We go a lot over busy spring break, and have never thought the parks with EMH were too crowded. That extra hour in the morning is great for getting in multiple rides on headliners. Late night EMH can be good for this too, at least at Epcot and MK. My kids are teens so we only do Fantasyland rides at MK during night EMH, after the strollers have all left for the evening. The rides are usually walk on late. At Epcot we have been able to do a ton of rides during evening EMH, and the temps are so much cooler than the daytime. I think I saw you are going in summer? I would definitely plan going as early in the morning as you can, leaving midday for 4 hours or so to swim, rest, just sit in the A/C and be thankful to have a cool room, and then head back for late night hours at the parks. I would not avoid the EMH’s if you are sure you will use them. If there is only a slight chance you will go early or stay late, stick with the parks without EMH.
2 Likes
The conventional wisdom is that you should go to an EMH park if and only if you are going to take full advantage of the extra time. If you do so, then everything you will be able to do during that time will more than make up for the higher crowd levels during the rest of the day.
3 Likes
I agree with the above posts. I almost always go to AM EMH parks, and if I have hopped later in the day it was to go to a different park for an ADR or because it was my second day at a park and I didn’t need to spend all day - not because of crowds. Just remeber, if you go to an EMH park, BE THERE right at EMH RD; if you do not make it right at opening, many of the benefits are lost.
I don’t do as many PM EMHs. My favorite is EP PM EMH because I love WS, and the extra couple of hours after many people have left is very relaxing - and WS is beautiful at night. If MK has PM EMH until 2 AM, you can ride a lot of things in the last few hours. I’ve never found PM EMH at DHS to be very useful other than getting to spend more time in the park (but it does make leaving the park a bit easier after all ofthe PM show folks exodus}.
2 Likes
So, how accurate is the EMH calendar right now for June? Is it possible that it may change and more EMH’s will be released closer to June?
Yes, it can still change. We are going in April and they just recently switched EMH at Epcot from Tuesday evening until Thursday evening, and then also changed the morning EMH at Epcot from Thursday to Tuesday. This was not great for my plans, but they did it anyway. 
2 Likes
That is exactly what I worry about. Granted none of my days are planned at the EMH parks according to the current schedule, but I’d hate to have it all change cause they my OCD will go into overdrive and I won’t know how to handle it. LOL!
1 Like
Anything can change, but it is more likely that WDW will change park opening/closing times than changing EMH days.
1 Like
Wow! They’ll change park hours? Our amusement park here kicks you out at closing and it does NOT change it’s hours. — Is the change of hours common in summer? Does it change on the day of or just closer to the day of?
You will tear your hair out numerous times watching the hours change between now and your trip - for all times of the year. They cut them back, they move them out. Some people say they’ve seen them change on the day of their trip. I agree that the EMH don’t move around nearly as much at all. Once they decide on a weekly pattern, they tend to use it for several weeks - maybe with just a few changes for a holiday.
1 Like
So, I would assume extra hours at the park are a good thing…is that wrong? Does it make the plans harder?
The biggest gripe people have about extra hours is that an earlier opening time makes their pre-RD breakfast ADR no longer pre-RD.
@ItaliAnna you will find a mixed bag of people who love EMH and those who avoid it. I am in the camp of those that try to avoid it but that doesn’t always work. The reasoning is that everyone will flock to the EMH park and ti can be more crowded than a park without EMH. Disney can and will change hours all year long if they determine it necessary.
Since ADRs are best obtained at the 180 day mark, you can only go with what information you have at that time. And, if you are getting difficult to obtain/change ADRs, then you stick with your predetermine schedule at the 180 day mark and you just have a rock solid touring plan! Which brings me to my main point - a well thought out touring plan will overcome even the most crowded of days. And if they change hours a week or so before your trip, you won’t freak out because your touring plan will save the day!
1 Like