[Matty G]

I just got back from a great trip to Disney (July 21 - July 27). Our trip was awesome and we had a great time. I was really looking forward to Extra Magic Hours at every park and being able to spend 3 extra hours in every park. I was hoping that Extra Magic Hours would be similar to E-Ride Nights. Last year, on our honeymoon, my wife and I did E-Ride Night at Magic Kingdom and it was awesome. There were barely any lines and the park was almost empty. There was a $10 charge but it was definitely worth the money to not wait in lines. I think that E-Ride Nights limited number of tickets (10,000-15,000 or so). This year during the Extra Magic Hours (at night) the parks seemed to be more crowded than during the day. Every Disney Resort guest could get a bracelet to stay in one of the parks and everybody seemed to be taking advantage of this (as they should). Instead of the resort guests being spread out among all the parks, they all funneled into one park. The lines during Extra Magic Hours were still 60-80 minutes long. To get a bracelet I usually only had to show a CM my "keys to the kingdom." I think that alot of people may have borrowed Resort Guests's "keys" so they could get a bracelet too. My "keys to the kingdom" was only scanned once and I was asked where I was staying once. My wife and I actually avoided the parks with Extra Magic Hours on our last two days and the other parks we went to emptied out around 2-3 hours before closing. Extra Magic Hours is a great idea and it is a great benefit for Resort Guests but something needs to be done to shorten the lines at night. Disney should somehow limit the number of bracelets given out each day.

[Dana]

I would imagine in the summer when the days are pretty corwded that many guests tried to take advantage of the EE in the evenings to get on some of the attractions whose lines were long in the day time. I guess it kinda back fires in the busy times. I did the EE in the MGM park and in the MK when I was there in January and didn't find the lines to be long at all. Again, it must be due to the time of year we were there. I still think the EE in the mornings are the best. People don't mind staying up late on vacation, but getting up early isn't always in their game plans. You have a better chance of shorter lines in the mornings always. I am always on hand for rope drop at every park and have my touring almost done by lunch time.....long wait attractions are done anyway. We take break at that point and then hit the shorter waits rides in the evening. We have toured this way since our disaster trip in 2000.

[mickey]

This has always been true for the early morning extra hours, no surprise that it carries over to the late nights. I have always tried to avoid any extra hours, as it seems as though resort guests plan around those, meaning more people in that park that day. I would guess that during times that are less crowded, the night time extra magic hours aren't too bad.

[karenbur]

how much is the extended hours and is this offered daily or just certain days of the week?
Thanks Karen

[Matty G]

The Extra Magic Hours are free for Disney Resort guests. I think the schedule is usually
Sunday - MGM
Monday - MK
Tuesday - AK
Wednesday - None
Thursday - Epcot
Friday - MK
Saturday - None

[LURK]

Welcom to DC, Matty. Good thread. Thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by Matty G

The Extra Magic Hours are free for Disney Resort guests. I think the schedule is usually
Sunday - MGM
Monday - MK
Tuesday - AK
Wednesday - None
Thursday - Epcot
Friday - MK
Saturday - None

Those are the normal summer evening hours. In September I think the norm reverts back to this:
Sunday - MGM
Monday - None
Tuesday - AK
Wednesday - MK
Thursday - Epcot
Friday - None
Saturday - None

[hiner]

I think a lot of the guests go to a park where there is no EMH hours during the day and then hit the park with EMH hours after dinner that night. We too noticed it was very crowded and miss the E-Ride nights. Felt like you had the park to yourself.

[gingles]

Originally Posted by mickey

This has always been true for the early morning extra hours, no surprise that it carries over to the late nights. I have always tried to avoid any extra hours, as it seems as though resort guests plan around those, meaning more people in that park that day. I would guess that during times that are less crowded, the night time extra magic hours aren't too bad.

As always, this trip we avoided any park with early morning entry (now called Extra Magic).

However, one night we tried the Extra Magic Hours at night at MK and experienced the same. The lines were as long as midday lines. It was pretty much a complete waste. It was nothing like the last trip when we did the "E-Night" at MK and were able to ride Space Mountain over ten times. But E-Night limited attendance at MK to 5000 people.

[lovemysons]

We actually found the EMH at night at MK decent. But at Epcot they did not work for us. Too many people all trying to go on the same rides. But at MK, we found that around midnight, the crowd started thinning out. We usually make sure we are at the park opening for EMH in the morning, and then leave by midmorning. This usually works for us.

[Tinkerbelle67]

We found the Extra Magic Hours in the morning worked out great for us. We got so much done in that first hour, without having to deal with crowds and heat.
One park that is definately worth the effort to make the a.m. EMH is Animal Kingdom, the animals are up and at 'em early on Kil. Safari. We were on our truck around 8:30 and saw so many animals before the heat of the day had set in.

[palmickey]

I hope that the crowd levels in October are better as we have planned our days around the extra magic hours. But even if all we do is walk around and enjoy the night lights it will be worth it as we will be at Disney and that is all that matters!

[Laneysdad]

The E-Ride format was so much more "magical". I really hope they see the err in their wats and bring these back vs EMH. I didn't mind the extra money for the prviledge.

[Kippage]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbelle67

One park that is definately worth the effort to make the a.m. EMH is Animal Kingdom, the animals are up and at 'em early on Kil. Safari. We were on our truck around 8:30 and saw so many animals before the heat of the day had set in.

I haven't done EMH at all, but I've heard about. The AM one at AK definately makes sense to do. The animals will always be up and moving during the morning, then head off for shade as high noon comes.

[Tinkerbelle67]

I have to say it was the best Safari for us ever. Even the driver was making comments as to how many animals were out and how long our ride was due to stopping for animals in our path. If there is one park you wake up early for I highly recommend AK. Just don't hit PI the night before!!!! (reason why is in my TR)

[gingles]

Originally Posted by lovemysons

We actually found the EMH at night at MK decent. But at Epcot they did not work for us. Too many people all trying to go on the same rides. But at MK, we found that around midnight, the crowd started thinning out. We usually make sure we are at the park opening for EMH in the morning, and then leave by midmorning. This usually works for us.

Glad it worked for you. When we did it at MK (a little over a week ago), the Space Mountain line was 60 minutes at 12:30 am.

However, the CM working the line there said that WDW was issuing fast passes during EMH and the CM's considered that a mistake. It evidently not always done and when they do it, it keeps the lines long for the whole three hours as the fast-passers keep coming through.