For our upcoming 3 gen. extended family vacation this August, we have park days for DHS and AK chosen because of the lower CL but they are both EMH parks on those days. I was thinking of changing my plans to avoid the EMH park but was getting scared off by the 7 at AK instead of a 5 at DHS and a 8 at DHS instead of a 5 at AK.
I already have reservations for 17 for TH “brunch” on our AK that I would need to try to change.
Am I overthinking this? Is the difference between a 8 and 5 that noticeable? Do I not try to get a group of 17 up and moving for EMH? 
Decisions, decisions, decisions. I suggest that you make personalized TPs for each park and run them for each of the days you are looking at and see how much of a difference it makes.
Also, as you are herding a large group, I would assume that you are NOT going to make RD, either mEMH or normal, and adjust the TP start times accordingly. Either that, or you announce “This is my plan for the day, and you are welcome to either join me or tour on your own. However, I will not be waiting for stragglers in the morning.”
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My strategy has always been: avoid EMH park unless definitely going to be there b4 RD. That said, we always choose EMH if available to us (sometimes stay offsite).
As @brk says, can always tell group you’re leaving at certain time, come along or meet us there.
With such a large group, I think it would depend for me to choose plan A or B, depending on whether most of group will make timeframe, or if could turn into a major mutiny! haha.
My instinct is to avoid EMH, though I did choose an EMH day for AK because of other factors. That was on Presidents Day and it was CL 10. I took the opposite approach and came in the afternoon after a morning at the pool. We had FPs for all major attractions that we wanted to do so it was fine.
For HS, if you want to sign up for Jedi Training, then don’t go on an EMH day unless you are definitely going to be there for EMH. Without Jedi Training, it’s less clear-cut, though I’d still say avoid EMH. The crowd calendar is only a predictor and it is not usually exactly right. It could easily be that the day that was predicted to be a 6 is really an 8 whereas the day predicted to be an 8 turns out to be a 6. I had debated between 2 different days for MK, one predicted to be a 7 and one an 8. I decided that those were too close and to not to let that be a factor in the decision. I went with the 8 day and checked back afterwards to see what they really were - both 9’s!
I am quite unclear on whether a difference of even several levels will matter much in practice. What does it matter if a wait time is 60 minutes or 120 minutes when I would never do either one? I use FP and order the day to try to avoid lines longer than 15 min.
Good luck with such a large group! May I suggest setting your walk speed on your plan on extra slow. Even with a group of 8, we couldn’t keep up with our plan. The constant grouping and re-grouping and bathroom breaks take time.
My advise would be to add a break on your TP’s 60/90 mins after your start time. This is where the rest of the group can join you. If they make it over before then they can see from the plan where you’re likely to be, and don’t book any FP’s before 10am.
Thanks for everyone’s help! I think we will try to avoid the EMH parks. Even though I would make rope drop, I’m not certain the other 16 people would, so I’ll let them sleep an extra hour.
I fully expect the “mutiny” but I’d rather it not be on one of the first two days.
I expect rivers of light will affeck the crowd calendar. Pick what day works best and stick to it. Also expect changes in hours at ak for ROL.