V.I.Passholder Nights in MK and EP

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PolyRob said:

I am now thinking... if MK rides were this crowded and people got more accomplished during EMH, can you imagine what the Epcot AP event will be like? PM EMH in Epcot are pretty much useless (IMO).

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This is about how I’m feeling. I’m reconsidering my plan to skip Fantasmic and rush over to Epcot for the AP event now. I’ll just arrive by 10, hopefully. Even though I wasn’t planning on being ride heavy, I feel like food booths might still have lingering day guests in line.

And I’m rapidly forgetting any idea I had to ride the big Epcot rides during the event.

We asked when we received our bands about how many sign-ups there were and were told: "about 18,000". No idea if that's true, but that seems like a lot.

I’m not sure why anyone was expecting an event on caliber with DVC or a special ticketed event. It wasn’t advertised that way.

jpeterson said:

We asked when we received our bands about how many sign-ups there were and were told: "about 18,000". No idea if that's true, but that seems like a lot.

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Well if the rumors are true capacity wise, the MK can accommodate 100k people, and Phase Closures begin at 65k.

So if it was capped at 18k, that's only 27% of capacity before Phase Closures, and only 18% of MAX capacity.

For me, the process of getting the ticket felt more "exclusive" than the actual event.

memo10 said:

I’m not sure why anyone was expecting an event on caliber with DVC or a special ticketed event. It wasn’t advertised that way.

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I was just hoping they would manage to shoo day guests out. It sounds like they remained for the entire AP event. And reports of not checking wristbands are pretty meh.

I'll see how my Epcot day goes - I'm still excited to attend, because more time in the parks is more time in the parks. And it is a free event, as you mention.

jpeterson said:

We asked when we received our bands about how many sign-ups there were and were told: "about 18,000". No idea if that's true, but that seems like a lot.

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Interesting, I asked when we checked in and they told me it was capped at 7,000.

We aren't going to be able to go to our event early and will probably get there at exactly 9 or a little after. Do you think this will cause any issues not being able to go early?

I'm still looking forward to the Epcot one on 9/6. It's a Thursday during a notoriously "slow" week. Hoping that makes a difference. Either way it helps us make the effort to see Illuminations, which I thought we would be skipping.

We had a great time last night, park felt empty, weather was beautiful, got to ride everything we wanted virtually walk-on except for 7DMT, which we skipped as waits never posted below 30 minutes and we have FP for it tomorrow.

I did notice a lot of non-banded guests until 11 or so, and it seemed like they were pushing up the waits at some attractions when the event first started. I asked at check-in at main entrance (short line at 7:30) about capacity, and was told the event was capped at 7,000, fwiw. Agree with others that 3 hours might have been better.

Here’s what we ended up doing:

Check in 7:30
Castle PhotoPass
Dinner at Skipper Canteen 8:00
Pirates
Splash w/9:25 FP
Haunted Mansion
Buzz
Space Mountain
Little Mermaid
Tangled Lantern PhotoPass
Big Thunder

We were signed up for the event but DD wasnt feeling well so we skipped it and hit the park this morning at RD. Sounds like it might have been the right decision.

armerida said:

View attachment 341716 We had a great time last night, park felt empty, weather was beautiful, got to ride everything we wanted virtually walk-on except for 7DMT, which we skipped as waits never posted below 30 minutes and we have FP for it tomorrow.

I did notice a lot of non-banded guests until 11 or so, and it seemed like they were pushing up the waits at some attractions when the event first started. I asked at check-in at main entrance (short line at 7:30) about capacity, and was told the event was capped at 7,000, fwiw. Agree with others that 3 hours might have been better.

Here’s what we ended up doing:

Check in 7:30
Castle PhotoPass
Dinner at Skipper Canteen 8:00
Pirates
Splash w/9:25 FP
Haunted Mansion
Buzz
Space Mountain
Little Mermaid
Tangled Lantern PhotoPass
Big Thunder

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Nice picture! Glad you had a good time!

Lower wait times with some rides being walk on but the majority just having a decreased wait time from the standard. I think Peterpan was 25min, Buzz maybe 10min....examples I can recall

The walk ones were the typical Little mermaid and Small world among a few others.

I have had a better experiences during EMH during slow times of the year.

We live 2.5hrs away and come down here a a few times each month. I would be lying if I were to say I didn't expect more and had made an unplanned trip just for this event. I probably wouldn't do it again unless it just happened to fall when we were going to be here in the future.

I knew at 7 when we went to the event check in at TT amd seem the line was 100+ feet long that this event wasn't as "exclusive" as I perhaps mistakenly anticipated. Just from the narrow window of registration, short notice from announcement to event I figured many would book and not make it.

We ended up waiting til 9:30 after eating at Cosmic Rays to get our bands from Stitch and it was still a 10 min wait but the lines had minimized.

All in all decent. Don't go in with amazing expectations. Band checks were intermittent but I did see some families get turned away from rides but not asked to leave the park which isn't too bothersome to me.

Go in thinking it's free extra time in the parks with other like minded people that generally know what they are doing and were they are going within the park.

That alone makes everything's run smoother even with more people.

SaintsManiac said:

Nice picture! Glad you had a good time!

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Thanks! I’ve wanted that photo for a while and the line was short last night : )

We arrived at MK at 2:30. Decided to watch the FoF parade. Maleficent is still missing. It was so hot, we could feel the heat coming up from the sidewalk into our shoes. My DW really doesn't play well in the heat so we had to be careful. We placed ourselves on Main Street right by the Ice Cream plaza. The crowd was manageable. We then walked over to the People Mover, i don't know why, but a personal favorite. There was no wait. Sitting in the shade, with a breeze and a the air conditioning in Space Mountain helped the DW a lot.

I had made a last minute Dining Reservation at a place I've never heard of; The Plaza. Wow, what a great place, I'll post about it on the dinning board. We had such a great time, then our waiter surprised us a FP for any ride except the Mine Train (which is okay, we're not big fans of it). Pixie Dust! We left the Plaza around 6. We really enjoyed the leisurely, delicious dinner away from the sun and hear.

I had gotten use FP+ for Haunted Mansion and the timing was perfect as our window opened just as we finished dinner. Then, we rode the train because I know it shuts down well before Happily Ever After. When we parked at Main Street, we looked over the entrance to the park and saw dozens standing in the Passholder line and only 3 or 4 in non-passholder lines. I pointed out to DW how people are like lemmings, they think they HAVE to use the Passholder line when any line will do. Amusing.

By then it was a bit after 7 and line for wristbands at Stitch wove all the way back to the castle. 1st indication that check-in was a bit disorganized and the number people at the event was going to be larger than I expected. Well, we said screw that, and used our FP for Splash, one of our favorites. By then the line for wristbands at Tortuga was only a few minutes long and we got ours. It seemed like almost anyone could skip the check in and claim one, I'm not sure who much they were actually paying attention. We then did the Country Bears and decided to watch the fireworks from just outside the Frontier Marketplace in the inner loop. What a great decision that was! They are right in front of you. Granted, this takes away the Castle Element, but we've seen that and just wanted to focus on the fireworks. Then, before the event started, we got in line for BTMR, the wait time said 20 minutes and it was right on the dot.

Now it was 10PM and we did the following attractions:

Pirates (10 min)
Dumbo (10 min)
Barnstormer, solely out of curiosity, (no wait)
Pooh (10 min)
Peter Pan (25 min)

Snow White still showed 40 minutes and by now it was 11:45 and I didn't want to wait so we left. Nice to leave the parks without being part of a mob.

So, we got in all of 5 rides. Granted we lost time walking from Pirates to Dumbo. I'm glad we did HM, Splash and BTMR before the event started as there is no way we would have gotten all those in within the allotted time.

So, glad we went. Very glad we didn't have to pay for it as 5 rides in 2 hours is just okay.

OWD

Went to the AP event last night and most likely would not go to another one if similar.
Splash Mountain must have had a mechanical issue because we waited a good 30-40 mins for it, which took up almost half of the event.
Got to ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain in 2 hours. It was nice to walk the streets with little to no one there.
To echo other thoughts: 3 hours would be nice to let the leftovers work their way out of the park after it closes. As an AP, it really is easier to just make Fast[asses and spend 2 hours in the park enjoying smaller lines.

Going to move things around and Fastpass rides at the Epcot event. Thanks for reporting back y'all!

emmabelle said:

I'm signed up for the Epcot one, starting to rethink it since we'll be staying at GF that night. My husband is usually spent by 8pm anyways, probably don't need to make him cranky.

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I know this is not DAH, but during DAH about a month ago, the monorail hours were not extended. We had to bus back. It was very chaotic cramming tons of MK resort guests into one bus when you could see your resort across the water. Not sure what time MK is open until, but IDK if the Epcot line will be running after this even so that could add to the "fun" of heading back.

Pdollar88 said:

This is about how I’m feeling. I’m reconsidering my plan to skip Fantasmic and rush over to Epcot for the AP event now. I’ll just arrive by 10, hopefully. Even though I wasn’t planning on being ride heavy, I feel like food booths might still have lingering day guests in line.

And I’m rapidly forgetting any idea I had to ride the big Epcot rides during the event.

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Based on what people are saying and the fact that Epcot really on has 3 main attractions, I like your revised plan to still enjoy Fantasmic! It is one of my favorites and it will still be nice to stroll the countries with less people and sun. Thats pretty much how I use the Epcot pm EMH.

I Have not seen it yet but the Tim tracker just posted a video on the event last night

PolyRob said:

I know this is not DAH, but during DAH about a month ago, the monorail hours were not extended. We had to bus back. It was very chaotic cramming tons of MK resort guests into one bus when you could see your resort across the water. Not sure what time MK is open until, but IDK if the Epcot line will be running after this even so that could add to the "fun" of heading back.

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Yeah maybe we should just hang out on the GF beach and watch the fireworks.