Extra magic hours from 11 pm - 1 am...

msnewfie

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 3, 2009
My question is , how much can I expect to see at this time of the night?

Will all the families with small children be gone home?

Will line ups still be long?
 
I was at a 10-12 EMH on Sunday of MLK in 2012. All I was able to do was 1 ride on Space and one on Thunder.

I did a 12-2 EMH during Spring Break this year and did

Ariel
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Pooh
A&E
Haunted Mansion
Thunder
Buzz Lightyear X 2
Speedway
7DMT (got in line at 1:55)

So I had two completely different experiences.
 
We went 11-1 on Wednesday (5/25) and hit:

Teacups
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Buzz
Astro Orbiter

This was with three kids, aged 5-10 with the youngest in a stroller, and we took a very slow pace. We also weren't in a ride queue at "closing." Could have done a lot more.
 


We rarely take advantage of evening EMH. Mostly because we find it more beneficial to be at the parks at RD and it's hard to get up after being out that late! We went once in July last year, DD fell asleep in the stroller so DH and I took turns riding Splash Mtn, and then had Dole Whip floats at 1 am :) It was July 3rd, and it wasn't significantly less crowded and lines for the big rides were still long.
 
We've done 2xs and now we're hooked on EMHs :) Once was last November (1st few days of mo) and it was actually more crowded than our April (2nd week) trip this year. But great experiences both times. I remember April better as far as everything we did...let's see
Started with magic carpets-during wishes...absolutely amazing highlight of the trip.. zero line, cms were awesome! Fireworks still going so they asked if we wanted to go again, so we were up in the air pretty much entire length of show.
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
BTMRR
(Tried but splash was closed)
Haunted mansion
7DMT (got slowed down here it was 11ish or so, posted wait was 20, but was actually 40).
My mom and preggo sis did small world, winnie the pooh and PP while we did 7dmt.
Finished on Teacups, 2xs.

This was a 10-12 emh.
So i think that's 9 rides if you count going on 2, 2xs.
I think next time I'd save 7d for very last, but kids were tiring out and that was priority since we had done a last min trip and were unable to fp it.

I think experiences will be different every time, but we are really loving it and the atmosphere so much less crowded and just peaceful feeling. We ended up getting a snack on main street on the way out and staying through the kiss good night. Good memories!
 
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Kids at Disney often have no problems staying out late, even if they do at home. We don't do EMH but we do late hours and DGD has always been right there with us, going as long if not longer than us. I wouldn't expect to see kids gone
 


We often have an easy morning and return after a good dinner and long nap with our little kids. They are well behaved though, and we leave the second we feel they've had enough.

Two trips ago with two little ones we did:

Splash(multiple)
It's a small world
Ariel ride
Barnstormer
Space mountain
People mover
Carpets
Dumbo
Pirates
Carousel

All in about 2 hours. Was totally worth it. Made the following day a pool day though. Don't try rope drop after these things lol.
 
From what I've read (haven't been able to experience EMH myself yet)..morning EMH tend to be more beneficial (speaking in generalities here though) and evening EMH tend to be more of a mixed bag. I do think for a lot of people (especially ones traveling with non-morning people) getting up early can be much harder than staying out a bit later. Of course as you can see one person's trip can be completely different than their next trip.
 
I am an EMH fan as I can't do late nights but a positive of them I can see is I love riding the attractions at night and you can assess what the weather is like that day before going.
 
MK night EMH is a roll of the dice. sometimes it's the most pack I've seen MK, other times it's dead. You cant' predict which crowd you'll have and just be ready to possibly not do more than 1 or 2 attractions with long waits and anything esle is just a bonus...

Now at night, many of the more family rides tend to be empty so it's a good time to catch up on classic disney attractions.
 
My question is , how much can I expect to see at this time of the night?

Will all the families with small children be gone home?

Will line ups still be long?

The lines will get shorter as the time goes by, there will still be families with small children, you can get a lot of rides done. Evening EMH at MK are our favorite time to be in the park, but we are night owls and never do rope drop or morning EMH.

Expect to have your MB scanned at the entrances to each ride, esp. at the beginning of the EMH window. CM may also ask where you are staying. And you'll probably see people complaining that they can't get on the rides because they 'didn't know' it was only for on-site guests during that time frame.
 
We have always had good success with EMH but when we go, the EMHs were later - like 12-2 or even one time to 3am. One time we went about 5 times on Buzz and 2 times SM, 2 times Laugh Floor, astro orbitor and People Mover. We love Tomorrowland late.

I think that we will not see those late hours again for a while. So sad. Have fun!
 
We love PM EMH!! DH and I did 11pm-1am on a Wednesday during spring break this year and were able to accomplish-

POTC
Carpets
Haunted Mansion
7DMT
Pooh
Peter Pan
Buzz

We also got some shopping in. It was great! Waits were minimal. We left our kids asleep in the room with my mom but there were lots of young kids still in the park.
 
We did MK Thanksgiving week in 2013 when it was open till 3 am. DD 10 wanted to try and make it all night, and we stayed till about 2:30. We hopped from AK in early afternoon, and did FP for Enchanted Tales, Mermaid ride(was new at the time), and HM(DD's first time making it all the way through!) We grabbed QS at Pecos Bills and saw projection show, Wishes, and the late MSEP. By around 11:30- 12:00, everything was a walk-on or 5-10min. wait. We did Splash, Buzz, PP, Pooh, Monsters Inc., Haunted Mansion, and a few more I am not remembering I'm sure!(this was pre-SDMT). It was one of the best times we've ever had in the park, reminded me of some of the pics people were posting from the recent paid nighttime event. We had planned for a late nt., so had a late brft ADR at Cape May the next morning, and got a cab from CSR, so we could wake up later. Later that week, we met up with friends from home, and the kids wanted to go on rides together, so got to MK after late dinner ADRs around 10:00, got their DD on HM for the first time with about a 15 min. wait, did Tink meet around 11:00 with about 20 min. wait, then off to BTMRR around 11:30 with about 25 min. wait, then Buzz with 15 min.wait, then Monsters Inc. about 10 min., and headed out around 1:00. So I think it is definitely worth it to try, but it is a toss up depending on the crowds that day, and which rides you want to do.

Early EMH is still the best if you can get up early, as you know you are the only people in the park, and even for the next hour or two, crowds are still lighter. But having teens now, late EMH may be more our thing, as they do not like to get up early, and last trip in Dec. with just DD12 and I, I was trying to drag her up each morning, and missing RD, defeating my FP/not FP since we will do first thing plans!:earboy2:
 
I did extra magic hour on Saturday of last labor day weekend at MK from 12am - 2am -- totally worth it! We saw Anna & Elsa at 12:30pm with a 5 minute wait, Cinderella & Rapunzel wiith 15 minute minute wait. Nothing else had a wait of note.

Unfortunately this year, for our trip 8/27 - 9/11 there are only 2 evening extra hours scheduled for MK, both ending at 11pm. I don't think the earlier EMH schedule is worth the effort of changing my existing plans. I am hoping that the MK hours on Labor weekend get extended.
 
My question is , how much can I expect to see at this time of the night?

Will all the families with small children be gone home?

Will line ups still be long?

1. A lot.

2. Yes! At least, most of them. (If you say "all", some indignant poster will go on about how her two year-old always loves to stay up until 1am.) I do mean "small" children, though. My 11 year-old son has no problem staying at the Magic Kingdom until the wee hours. He did it when was 9, too, but not when he was 5.

3. No. The longest line we had during Magic Kingdom evening EMH was on July 3rd last year, and it was a 10 minute line to meet Anna and Elsa. That being said, we started with the less popular rides, then moved to the headliners as the night wore on. There will still be offsite folks allowed into the lines until 11pm, and they'll stay in line until they ride, so it takes a little time for headliner ride lines to shrink. They will, though. It helps that during EMH there is no FastPass to slow the line down. Your target time for riding headliners should be about 11:30pm - 1am.
 
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