Go during EMH or not?

[momof3+twins]

I'm trying to decide if I should go to MK on an evening EMH day (which is rated a 1) or go on the following day (rated at 2). We would use the extra hours BUT is it going to be busier on the EMH even though it's rated a 1? I'm confused...every EMH in the evening that I've been to has been busy. September advice please.

[manutd1]

We NEVER Go to a given park during EMH. Almost every Disney planning web site...book etc..will show and from my experience..the parks that don't have a EMH will be less busy than with one.
I plan my 7 day trip accordingly to never be in a park when there is a morning or evening EMH.
Note: we don't park hop

[VWL Mom]

When EMH first started we always took advantage of them, especially morning when my boys were younger. I agree, nighttime EMH just seemed to get more and more crowded as time went by and we have slacked off. I still have memories of walking through a deserted Frontierland at the end of the night and thinking it was pretty special.

[crazygoalie39]

When EMH first started we always took advantage of them, especially morning when my boys were younger. I agree, nighttime EMH just seemed to get more and more crowded as time went by and we have slacked off. I still have memories of walking through a deserted Frontierland at the end of the night and thinking it was pretty special.

Agreed. We would always go to morning EMH and blow through almost everything we wanted to before the park even opened to the public. It was fantastic. Now that we've experienced everything many times we don't ever feel the need to rush around. We tend to avoid morning EMH now since we like to get the extra sleep, but I wouldn't say they're bad per say. We go to evening EMH a lot of the time though even not to ride anything just because we love WDW at night. I do think for the most part the EMH park has higher crowds, but isn't always the case. For example, I'm sure if MK has morning EMH on a F&W Saturday, Epcot will be more crowded. I'd probably trust your site, but if not, it's not like a 2 is going to be incredibly packed. You'll be fine regardless.

[tjstrike]

Are you morning or evening people ? If you're evening people go to EMH because, more than likely no other parks are open, and stay till the end. All EMh's are deserted at the end, then sleep in the next day. That's what we do. (we're not a morning, rope drop type of family.)

[GAN]

I've found that the only way PM EMH is worthwhile is if you plan to stay the distance -the park does empty out significantly after midnight, but is BUSY before that point. AM EMH are great, especially in the warmer months, you breeze through attractions up till maybe 10AM, but by then you've hit almost all the busier rides. By 2PM we head back to the resort and swim/relax and do something in the evening.

[TheVBs]

Mostly what everyone else has said. It will be busier, but can be worth it if you're planning to really stay late. In our experience, the crowds start to significantly thin (during slower times) after about 10 or 11pm.

[minnie04]

We plan our time around the EMH. If MK has EMH evening then we do all the other parks during the day and come back around mid night and by 1:30 or so the park is empty (well less crowded) and we can ride everything we want with little to no wait times. Now I have older kids so we don't need to see the fireworks, parades & shows every time we go, so once that is over the crowds start getting thin. My DS loves it. We are night people so we don't mind getting in late and sleeping in the morning. I have never done the EHM mornings..That would be too hard to get everyone up...not happening for us.

Just checked and for our next trip at the end of the month there are NO EHM PM except MGM till 11:30. It's spring break time down here at the end of the month, so Im surprised they don't offer at least one night in the MK.. oh well

[joonyer]

Really late evening EMH's are usually not real crowded. We went to evening EMH at MK two days after this past Christmas. While all the parks (especially MK) were super-packed during this week, that evening EMH lasted from 1:00 am until 3:00 am. It was the LEAST crowded two hours of our entire Christmas week visit. By 1:00 am (normal park closing) the vast majority of families with small kids were long gone, and most of the rides were practically walk-on. Space Mountain took about 10 minutes and 7DMT took 15-20 minutes. Most others, including Peter Pan, had no wait at all. My 18 year old son and II rode our all-time favorite Splash Mountain as our last ride of the night, and as we walked out of FrontierLand at about 2:45 am, we were the ONLY two people on the street, well except for one lonely cast member standing outside the Country Bear Jamboree. Other than that there was no one on the street until we got back over to FantasyLand. I have never experienced the park so empty. Took a picture, cause I'll probably never see that again. Granted, this was a very late (early) EMH because of the already extended park hours, but we still had a great time.

[momof3+twins]

The schedule for the evening is 9pm close, EMH to 11pm...Would that even be worth it?

[conan617]

I would agree that parks with EMH are busier during the afternoon- mornings weren't bad at all, but I would also add that we were in WDW last Sept and found the late EMH to be the best time to be in MK. We found that the park starts to empty as soon as Wishes is over. The day guests begin to leave right after Wishes and the park gets less crowded the later it gets. The other item to consider is MN$$HP is going to take some of the evenings away starting in mid Sept. We found that MK was busier during the afternoon when the party was occurring that night. (side note - if you can (afford to) go to MN$$HP on a Tues, after Hallowishes the park was empty. My DS and DD walked on and off SpaceMT 6 times in a row).
I don't know if you are planning to park hop or not, but we found the best option was to spend the morning/afternoon in a different park and hop to MK for dinner or sometime in the early evening and stay for the EMH. We would do non-ride activities first like shopping, or watching the parade from Liberty Square and then enjoy the attractions after Wishes. Honestly, we felt like we were alone in Frontierland last year at the end of EMH. We talked to the CMs and took loads of unobstructed pictures. When we didn't hop, we went to MK as close to rope drop as we could get out of bed and stay until lunch, go back to the resort for a swim or nap and go back for dinner or early evening.

We're going back this Sept so maybe we'll see you there!