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View Full Version : Morning Extra Magic Hours - Worth It?



iheartdisney
09-28-2010, 04:39 PM
I'm trying to plan our November trip and I'm debating about taking advantage of the extra magic hours in the morning. We would arrive at extra hour opening and plan on leaving by lunch time.

How do you feel about the AM extra hour for resort guests? Is it worth it? Is it only worth it in certain parks?

I'd love your opinions! :thumbsup:

plutosnana
09-28-2010, 05:08 PM
my family is defiantly early birds!
Gotta say, xtra morning hours!


:goofy:

Sylvia
09-28-2010, 05:11 PM
Definitely worth it for all parks, but especially Magic Kingdom. It's the only time of the day where certain very popular attractions (i.e., Dumbo :blush:) have short lines.

GrmGrninGost
09-28-2010, 05:29 PM
We like the extra time in the evenings. It's hard to get up extra early for just an hour, especially if you've been in a park till 11:00 or 12:00 the night before.

Laughin' place
09-29-2010, 02:53 PM
Another strong vote for worth it for all parks.
We can get three hours worth of daytime touring in during that first hour or so.
Also, for the non-commandos out there, there is a certain energy and atmosphere in the early mornings, before the crowds swell in. Its a great time to see and enjoy sights and details you might miss at mid-day:thumbsup:

TikiLounger
09-29-2010, 03:09 PM
I voted that they were worth it for all even though we only managed to take advantage of the once or twice during past trips. We're not really morning people. We'd rather stay out late and take our time in the morning.

eeyorepoohfan
09-29-2010, 04:14 PM
:thumbsup:My DH and I took advantage of all early and late EMH last December (yes we are nuts!)! I loved the early morning hours because we could ride on average, 5-10 rides in that one hour! We really used it to our advantage at AK, we rodes EE about 5 times and grabbed a fastpass, plus we rode Dinosaur 2-3 times. All in the first hour! :cloud9: At DHS, we were able to grab FP for Toy Story, then ride RNRC and ToT about 2-3 times each! At MK, we rode Space Mountain plus a fastpass, and did much of Fantasyland in that first hour! At EPCOT, we were able to grab fastpasses for Test Track, ride TT, ride Soarin and got fast passes for Soarin. It really allowed us to hit our favorite attractions, or the normally long wait attractions, pretty quickly. That way if the fastpasses were all distributed later in the day, or the lines were real long, at least we had already ridden many of our favorites at least once! We plan to take advantage of morning and evening EMH again this December! :santa3:

Pagan
09-29-2010, 04:48 PM
WAY worth it for AK. We did that last week and took the safari...more animals closer to the vehicle than we've ever seen. Even the cheetah was closer than normal!

brownie
09-30-2010, 10:57 AM
We've always avoided morning extra magic hours. They added the evening extra magic hours since our last visit. We'll be taking advantage of those and planned our trip around them.

joonyer
09-30-2010, 11:41 AM
Absolutely, especially if you like short lines at popular attractions. Two visits ago, we had an 7:05 seating at CP when MK opened at 8 (EMH) we were finished with breakfast by 7:50 and waited with the CM outside of CP for rope drop, then went straight to Frontierland and rode our favorite attraction, Splash mountain 4 or 5 times in a row with no waiting, walked right on, in that first hour. We also rode BTMRR several times with no waiting too. It was well worth getting there early. I think we had ridden every major attraction before lunch with no more than a five minute wait. (we did not ride Dumbo). This was in October.
Morning EMH is great for getting character autographs and pics as well.

CU Tiger
09-30-2010, 12:22 PM
We found using EMH for AK the most useful for us. This way, we can do all of AK in one half a day and finish the day at DS. Two parks easily done in one day. The other two parks either take a full day or multiple days.:mickey:

crltkcagle
10-02-2010, 08:43 AM
Absolutely worth it! You have to figure only Disney Resort guests can get in early. And they are not all going to get up early. Its usually not very crowded and you can get a lot done in that precious hour. We always do EMH and usually leave the park early afternoon and go back for a nap. Then we can come back to the park later and stay up late.

TheVBs
10-03-2010, 02:18 PM
Would love to take advantage of EMH on our next trip! We aren't good at getting up early, but I'm thinking if we do an AM one in the first few days, it will be easier on us. We usually avoid the parks with the evening EMHs, because they seem to be so much more crowded.

LynBug
10-03-2010, 03:37 PM
WAY worth it for AK. We did that last week and took the safari...more animals closer to the vehicle than we've ever seen. Even the cheetah was closer than normal!


Agreed! We always do AK on the early mornings, when all the animals are out feeding. And the line is a lot shorter. We definately enjoy the extra magic hours in the morning more than the evenings. :thumbsup: Although it's cooler in the evenings, it usually seems more crowded than the mornings

goofy-4-disney
10-04-2010, 11:50 AM
I had to vote for the "never" option. I much prefer the emh in the evening. The parks seem emptier for these so you're able to do much more during this time. Plus, you dont have to be up as early for only 1 extra hour.

KylesMom
10-04-2010, 04:38 PM
I did not vote, as we're somewhere in between. We love morning EMH hours at DHS (following the late-night EMH at MK where everyone's been out late) and we enjoy morning EMH at both MK and AK on occasion.

It should be noted that we go in the heat of the summertime, and evening EMH have become much more crowded than morning EMH. Oftentimes the waits are longer than they are in the daytime - hence why we try to avoid them (the evening hours). Just our observations based on the time of year we vacation . . . but we enjoy the morning EMH & jump to another park (or relax at our resort) when the crowds peak . . .

Gator
10-04-2010, 04:57 PM
Being from CA, it's hard enough getting up for 9am opennings. To get up for 8am opennings would kill me, not to mention the family. I'm sure the parks are empty for that hour, but you won't see me there.

CleveRocks
10-05-2010, 07:37 AM
Have you ever heard a financial advisor say that someone who puts away X amount of money per year from age 20 to age 30 will end up with more money than someone else who puts away X amount of money per year from age 30 to age 50?

Well, it's the same with morning Extra Magic Hours. You'll get more done in that first hour than you would during the following 2 hours.

EJS-Houston
10-06-2010, 05:18 PM
We like the extra time in the evenings. It's hard to get up extra early for just an hour, especially if you've been in a park till 11:00 or 12:00 the night before.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's much more fun to me to stay 'til the park's closing...plus you get more magic time with the evening magic hours (2-3 hours).

Grumpy.
10-06-2010, 05:33 PM
I found early morning EMH allows you to hit every attraction you want with little to no wait. I did find that the parks with early morning EMH tended to be busier later in the day so that's when you use that park hopper ticket. Hit it hard in the morning, head back to the resort for a swim/nap then saunter off to another park for the evening. This plan worked out very well for our clan.

mainemajor
10-06-2010, 07:54 PM
We like the extra time in the evenings. It's hard to get up extra early for just an hour, especially if you've been in a park till 11:00 or 12:00 the night before.

:ditto:

BigThunderFan
10-07-2010, 01:35 PM
You should have another option: Worth it IF you have Park Hoppers.

I would never go to an EMH park unless I was able to skip out on the sure crowds for part of the day.

cer
10-07-2010, 01:57 PM
Yup, we are an early morning rope-drop family. :mickey:

MNNHFLTX
10-07-2010, 02:10 PM
I definitely think the morning EMH are worth it, even more than evening EMH (which have become too crowded, IMO).

dixielandings
10-07-2010, 02:10 PM
I ALWAYS recommend getting to the Parks early. Everything's fresh and clean, there are very few people there at that hour, and it's just a beautiful time to be in each Park. Most people aren't able to get up and out that early so the reward is a good one!

disneymom2000
10-07-2010, 06:31 PM
I love the extra morning hour because most people like to stay out late and then sleep in. I love the park in the early morning because it is emptier than I will ever see it. Even if half the people at the resorts show up it is still so quiet.

RAIDER
10-13-2010, 03:24 AM
I would agree for extra magic hours for Epcot and MK

MyDisneyworld
10-13-2010, 08:48 AM
We have young kids and they wake up early anyway so why not enjoy some nice relaxing time at the park. Then when the crowds start going up we might leave to take a nap at the resort as the youngest is only 3. Also this gives the kids time to run around without worrying about people tripping over them.
We will be there on Sunday can't wait.......

Mousemates
10-14-2010, 11:00 PM
We do both...but we also do something most folks have a hard time actually getting done...we come back and do pool time in the afternoon as well as sneak in about an hour (or 2) :blush: nap... refreshes us and gives us a second wind and allows us to make the most of the first part of the day at the early hours park. However, we do not tend to stay for the last hour of the night time EMH.

Minnie97
10-25-2010, 07:28 PM
As much as i love the extra magic hours i would only be able to get up for MK and Epcot:mickey:

IloveJack
10-26-2010, 09:39 AM
I think it's worth it for DHS, as you can get a fast pass for TSM and then get in line, too, and ride it twice before the park even opens.
MK is worth it, because it seems to be crowded, no matter what.
Although, we always close whatever park is open latest, so we don't always seem to make it to early EMH.

kemps@wdw
10-28-2010, 10:38 PM
Actually, we never use the AM EMHs. Resort crowds can get pretty big too. We just get to the park 1st thing, and can get all we want done by noon-ish anyway. And when I say 1st thing, I mean 1st @ the gate. We don't need an EMH for that. Now, we have been known to use the evening EMHs on occasion.