Extra Magic Hour

[HailToPitt]

My family and I will be going to WDW the end of January, acutally the 24-31st. We will be staying on site for the first time, Pop Century.

I have read in a lot of the books to stay away from the parks that have early entry? Do many of you find it to be that much more crowded on those days? They also suggest to go for the moring to the park with early entry and then go to another park. I will be with my DD(4yrs) DW and parents. I hate to drag them around if it really isn't necessary.

Love the boards. Thanks

 

[GOOFY D]

I used to really enjoy EE (EMH) and still do somewhat. IMO, they do draw more corwds to the parks, so if you do not plan to get up and enjoy the extra hour, I would avoid that park on that particular day. Having said that, you can get a few popular rides in before the crowds start coming. I do not quite understand why MK does not have Adventureland or Frontierland open on EMH as it would help spread the corwds a little better. People would be able to go to BTMRR or Splash rather than everyone rushing towards Buzz and SM. IMO, EMH is not a big advantage at AK and does not warrant the extra crowds.

 

[swilphil]

I think EMH is worth it at MK, especially for Fantasyland. I do agree that it's a good idea to park hop in the afternoon. For the other parks, we followed the Day After approach where we went to the parks the Day After they had EMH.

 

[Jestocost]

I've always had good luck with getting onto the popular rides faster with EMH. This past Saturday we got to MGM at 8:00 a.m. and went straight to Rock'n Roller Coaster. Just a 10 minute wait. Sunday we did Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and several of the Fantasyland rides before the crowds came in at 9:00 a.m.

I was interested to note that you can get Fast Passes starting at 8:00 a.m. too, although the first times don't start until after 9:00 a.m. We got Fast Passes for Tower of Terror and got them for just a bit after we got off of the Coaster. On Sunday, we got Fast Passes for Space Mountain when we went to get in line the first time, so we were on twice by 10:00 a.m. (and done with SM for the day, I might add.)

At the MK, you can work your way around to Frontierland and Adventureland after they open the park at 9:00 a.m. Most people seem to head straight for Tomorrowland or Fantasyland from the entrance, so you can beat the crowds over there too.

 

[HailToPitt]

Thanks for the tips.

It's good to know you can get FastPasses before everyone else gets there! When it was just my wife and I and we lived fairly close we drove down a couple times. The crowds were very light and we could just about walk right on to anything we wanted including Space Mtn. I can't remember what time of year we went or even what day though! Obviously its been too long since we've been to WDW.