HydroGuy Tips Compilation

[HydroGuy]

I am bumping this because I changed the OP to give make sure folks who come to this thread I wrote know about the great information available on DIS. There is a treasure trove of information that the moderators and others have put together on DIS that has kind of been buried in recent years but is now more accessible. I encourage everyone to look there and point others to this information whenever it comes up.

FWIW, here is what I added to my OP...

WHERE TO FIND GENERAL INFORMATION

My threads below tend to be pretty specialized, but if you want general DLR information there is a lot of it available on DIS that others have written. First, there is the new Disneyland menu bar on the forum. You should be able to see it above and the first entry is "Disneyland Information:". Go to the menu items there for lots of great information!

Second there is Mary Jo's sticky thread: * DLR Info/Links - Maps, Hotels, DISer Reviews, Hydroguy's tips, NEWBIE INFO here! where she gives links to some of my threads below and lots of other links as well.

My threads below tend to be a mixture of the informational and the observational/philosophical with lots of advice thrown in based on my opinion and experience over 40 years. The idea is to help you avoid common pitfalls by understanding park trends.

I am not and do not claim to be a super-duper expert Disney visitor. I only visit DLR about once per year. However, I do have a knack for taking different pieces of information, observation and experience and weaving them together into practical advice. I hope it helps you have a more magical visit to the Disney parks.

 

[Judy from Boise]

Can I also add that there is a DLR planning guide in the "header" box. For example here is the link to the "DLR Discounts section.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/discounts.htm

 

[paape04]

For a first time visitor these tips are awesome! Thanks for putting this all together in one spot!!

 

[Cruz Family]

Great info...thanks so much!

 

[jpow5]

Helped make our trip so great!!! thanks for the great tips!

 

[Grendalynn]

Subscribing!

 

[TeddiBarra]

I have a couple of questions that I haven't (readily) found for Hydroguy.

Have you ever written about the WDW resorts you've stayed at? (or visited)

And wondering if you could expound on the EMH debate. You've clearly seen DLR in all it's seasons... and I'm wondering if you could do a comparison for how much more busy WDW parks are with the EMH... and also just the overall waits in general as they compare to DLR waits.

And maybe more on a weather comparison... really starting to rethink the idea of "late september" and wonder if pushing it back to February might be worth it. Never been to FL, and we are Cali born and raised. DH hates the heat.

 

[HydroGuy]

Have you ever written about the WDW resorts you've stayed at? (or visited)

Nope!

And wondering if you could expound on the EMH debate. You've clearly seen DLR in all it's seasons... and I'm wondering if you could do a comparison for how much more busy WDW parks are with the EMH... and also just the overall waits in general as they compare to DLR waits.

I have never been to an EMH and have only gone to a park that had morning EMH once. And never to a park with an evening EMH. So I have zero direct experience.

I do look at the various subscription sites like TGM and TP and it is clear the EMH parks have more people. I also see the busses in the morning and the parks with morning EMH always have lots more people in line waiting to go.

Most WDW hotel guests are like lemmings that just go to the park that "Disney recommends", which is the EMH park. By skipping EMH we already get enough park hours in to get us extremely tired. Why spend more at EMH?

In any case, there are many experts on the WDW forum who advocate for going to EMHs - at least some of the EMHs.

If you go to WDW in a season with reduced park hours then EMHs may make more sense.

And maybe more on a weather comparison... really starting to rethink the idea of "late september" and wonder if pushing it back to February might be worth it. Never been to FL, and we are Cali born and raised. DH hates the heat.

Here you go:

"Comparison of Weather For WDW and DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1711098

Sept is hurricance season you know. On our first trip to WDW we were there for 10 days in June - the start of hurricance season - and a tropical storm came thru. Whoa. So much wind and rain! We got completely drenched at Epcot even with rain ponchos.

Overall Orlando is warmer which can be nicer in winter (when rain is less). But Orlando can get much more bitterly cold than Anaheim in the winter.

WDW does not have the off-season issues that DLR does. I really liked our trip to WDW in late May. For me I would choose May if I could.

Our trip this year in March was not nearly as crowded as I was expecting from the supposed Spring Break hordes. But we did avoid EMH parks which I am sure helped. And the weather was just perfect. Similar to what you get at DLR in the summer. 80 degree highs and moderate humidity. I doubt March at DLR is that nice.

HTH

 

[skiingfast]

And wondering if you could expound on the EMH debate. You've clearly seen DLR in all it's seasons... and I'm wondering if you could do a comparison for how much more busy WDW parks are with the EMH... and also just the overall waits in general as they compare to DLR waits.

I look at EMH like this. Sure everywhere you can find avoid or go this park on this day because it's less busy. All to avoid the park with EMH. But if you stay onsite EMH is great, not many people get up for the early EMH or stay up for the 2nd and 3rd hour of late EMH. I just hop to avoid the rest of the day in the EMH park. I also like that during the 3 hour night EMH you can still use FPs.

MM crowds in DL feel similar crowdwise. Mostly because MM only lets you into TL and FL, so less people in half the park. And less total parks to tempt people to spend their mornings elsewhere.

Overall I find the lines much worse at WDW. Somewhere around 50% to 100% longer. There are just not enough attractions to spread people out in a WDW park. There are a lot more FP attractions though. While the FPs help you get on more WDW attractions with short waits, in DL I ride more of my favorites with FP multiple times. Using about the same number of FPs per day in WDW as DLR.

 

[skiingfast]

 

[HydroGuy]

I look at EMH like this. Sure everywhere you can find avoid or go this park on this day because it's less busy. All to avoid the park with EMH. But if you stay onsite EMH is great, not many people get up for the early EMH or stay up for the 2nd and 3rd hour of late EMH. I just hop to avoid the rest of the day in the EMH park. I also like that during the 3 hour night EMH you can still use FPs.

Ski, the counter-arguments to this - FWIW - is that while there are light crowds especially for morning EMH, the extra people that get drawn to the EMH parks makes the EMH park busy the entire rest of the day. So you get a nice morning EMH followed by heavy crowds. Further, with the effort required to get to a morning EMH that starts at 8AM that means leaving your hotel room even earlier at maybe 7:15AM. And finally many people complain about the limited number of rides open during EMH. Apparently MK is the only one with a reasonable number.

I am not not trying to argue with you, just to let the PP know what the pros and cons are that are commonly given. As I said, many WDW experts believe in EMH and I am not saying they are wrong.

I have been persuaded that avoiding EMH is best for us - but it really depends on your stamina and whether you have kids who like to sleep or young kids that need to sleep - and what value you get getting up extra early or staying late.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I think lodging makes a big difference in EMH. For example if you are staying at a walking distance resort at Epcot (Like us at the Swan) you have nothing to loose by going to evening EMH at Epcot or Studios. Nothing else is open....and it is a great time to soak in the after dark beauty of the parks. Really it is such an experience to be walking home to your resort after a 2 am ride on Soaring ! Plus the Boardwalk itself is a cool experience at that time in the morning. Evening EMH are literally the only time you can see the night beauty of AK.

But to put it in perspective, we have been there so often we are way past needing to be efficient. We sleep in most days and hit the parks for an early lunch then stay through or "hop" to the EMH park. I am not the typical visitor.

 

[DangerMouse]

My very favorite memory from my first ever trip to WDW this year was EMH at MK (closed at 3 am). What an incredibly fun and ride packed evening/morning.

Sorry, Trey, but I'm so glad that I didn't take your advice and avoid the EMH altogether.

 

[BillyFan]

My very favorite memory from my first ever trip to WDW this year was EMH at MK (closed at 3 am). What an incredibly fun and ride packed evening/morning.

Sorry, Trey, but I'm so glad that I didn't take your advice and avoid the EMH altogether.

That was definitely the Best. Night. Ever. I wouldn't want to try many EMHs, but the late, late MK night was awesome!!!

 

[HydroGuy]

My very favorite memory from my first ever trip to WDW this year was EMH at MK (closed at 3 am). What an incredibly fun and ride packed evening/morning.

Sorry, Trey, but I'm so glad that I didn't take your advice and avoid the EMH altogether.

Glad it worked out for you. We were happy to hit rope drop every single morning. So there!

 

[tanyaewa]

What does EMH stand for????

 

[skiingfast]

What does EMH stand for????

Extra Magic Hours. In WDW each day a park opens an hour early for resort guests and one park closes upto 3 hours late for resort guests.

In Disneyland there is Magic Mornings(MM), when DL opens 1 hour early on Sat, Sun, Tue and Thur for resort guests. Also Park Hoppers of 3 days or longer have access to one MM.

 

[HydroGuy]

What does EMH stand for????

Pretty much all the abbreviations around here are listed here:

DLR Abbreviations List

 

[larina]

This is such a great list/tool. Thanks for all the work you put into these tips!!!!

 

[bakerudall]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I could have interviewed 100 people about their trips and not got as much info as I did from this thread.