Are there usually more people arriving early on 9am openings?

[hakepb]

My favorite rope drop story:

I had a co-worker recently telling me about her trip to Disney World. They seemed to be pretty good planners and tried to maximize their time the best they could.

She was very excited to tell me about her experience riding Midway Mania without a Fast Pass. The got up really early, got to the gates about 45 minutes before they opened and waited in a pretty large crowd. Then they hurried as fast as they could to the ride and the wait was *only* 15 minutes. By the time they got off the line was almost an hour long. There were people all over the place.

I rode the same ride 4 times in about an hour late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

And now they cut out late nights

I loved the late EMH at DHS because it was so easy to do RnR and TSMM.
But late normal hour opens don't happen, either

 

[Klayfish]

And now they cut out late nights

I loved the late EMH at DHS because it was so easy to do RnR and TSMM.
But late normal hour opens don't happen, either

TSMM is a breeze to get on before park closing now (or even RnR). We rode TSMM at 9:10pm, with a 9:30pm park close and the CMs were literally standing there waiting for guests to come and get in the cars. We did that on multiple nights, and never waited more than 2 minutes. It's a ghost town after 9pm. So is ToT. RnR has some line...but we just use FP+ so I can't say exactly how long it is, but I know it's far shorter than during the daytime.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

We are planning to arrive at AK by 8am for our October visit and the opening time is 9am. I am gonna try for a FP for FOP, but it is our 2nd day of the trip and probably won't get it.
We will be at AKV so we plan to be up and at the bus stop by 7:30am. So that won't be too bad or early compared to what I get up at home. We have no plans the night before so we can turn in early. AK is the only park I plan to be at an hour early. Epcot we will probably arrive 30-40 min early. Morning is usually good no matter what. Avoiding EMH days! Good luck

 

[Robo]

Morning is usually good no matter what. Avoiding EMH days! Good luck

My opinion is the opposite.
I nearly always go to AM EMH at every park that it is offered.
That first hour is virtually always an advantage for the reason that the earlier the entry, the fewer the guests.

BUT, I usually don't STAY in that AM EMH park for the entire day.
That park will tend to get very busy as the sleepy-heads stumble in, the later in the morning it gets.

So, after we've enjoyed the lower crowds at EMH Rope Drop, we will take a break for lunch and/or to
hop to another park, or to return to that same park, but much later in the day, as the crowds tend to die down again.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

My opinion is the opposite.
I nearly always go to AM EMH at every park that it is offered.
That first hour is virtually always an advantage for the reason that the earlier the entry, the fewer the guests.

BUT, I usually don't STAY in that AM EMH park for the entire day.
That park will tend to get very busy as the sleepy-heads stumble in, the later in the morning it gets.

So, after we've enjoyed the lower crowds at EMH Rope Drop, we will take a break for lunch and/or to
hop to another park, or to return to that same park, but much later in the day, as the crowds tend to die down again.

Well I only said that because last year in November we had no choice ,but to go to Epcot on EMH morning and I never seen so many people in my life! The line snaked around longer than I have ever seen...It was so crazy and we did head straight back to FEA and the line was already one hour by the time we got back there. It was so disorganized and crazy and hard to tell which line at Epcot was for EMH and which were for non resort guest so after that experience I decided we would avoid EMH mornings. It was a Thursday in November and I never imagined it would have been that busy. Never had that happen before. So for October we decided to plan around EMH mornings. I do like the evening ones a lot! I do agree about leaving after the morning hours though if you do go on one of those mornings. So hard to judge how it will be day to day...

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We like to hop in to a park later in the day that had EMH morning. The theory is that guests that got there early will tire out and not stay late.

Here just a sample of what we were able to accomplish in under 4 hours during a recent summer visit on a crowd level 8 day that happened to be an EMH morning at MK. We arrived around 8 pm to find bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park:

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[Speedi]

Keep in mind that the posted wait times are intentionally exaggerated late at night to discourage riders. We've often found the posted time on some headliners to be 4x the actual wait. This works best on rides where you can't see the line. A good example was Midway Mania before the recent expansion. Disney uses a technique known as "line stacking" to give the appearance of a longer line. They would close off almost all of the queue area and let the short line spill out into the court yard. Then they would post a 50-60 minute wait time which caused most guests to just turn around and leave. In reality, you could get in line and go straight to the 3D glasses pick up spot and be on the ride in about 10 minutes.

@Babe the Blue Ox, what are they trying to accomplish?

 

[Robo]

@Babe the Blue Ox, what are they trying to accomplish?

Trying to make the waiting line shorter so that the CMs can close the attraction sooner after "closing time."

After closing time, if there is still a huge line of guests waiting, the CMs must continue to operate the attraction until all guests in that line have ridden.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

@Babe the Blue Ox, what are they trying to accomplish?

They're also trying to funnel guests to the gift shops. Human nature leads us to believe that "closed" means leave so we're more likely to shop before closing time even though most of us know that the shops are open well past the posted close time.

One of the most frequent questions posted on this board is how are some shows performed after the parks close. Many guests are simply conditioned to leave by closing time and just don't understand that many options are still available after "close".

 

[jsmla]

I have a question for the night owls, how late is late? For my dates, unless you are attending MNSSHP, 11:00 PM (EMH at Epcot and AK) is the latest the parks will be open. I would think more people would remain for a 9:00 PM close than one at 1:00 AM. I plan on trying evening EMH at MK (8:00-10:00) and was just wondering what to expect. Right now, given the earlyish close combined with the three MNSSHP nights that week, I'm thinking it's going to be packed. I would love to hear all about how wrong I am!

 

[gap2368]

Maybe I should have been more clear as to why we want to arrive early. This is mostly for AK so we can RD FOP, and possibly Epcot for FEA. I don't think we will be able to ride either of those rides 4 times in a span of an hour.

if you are looking t riding FOP with out a FP getting to the parks 90 minutes before they open and going straight there is a great idea, for FEA I would think an hour would be good

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I have a question for the night owls, how late is late? For my dates, unless you are attending MNSSHP, 11:00 PM (EMH at Epcot and AK) is the latest the parks will be open. I would think more people would remain for a 9:00 PM close than one at 1:00 AM. I plan on trying evening EMH at MK (8:00-10:00) and was just wondering what to expect. Right now, given the earlyish close combined with the three MNSSHP nights that week, I'm thinking it's going to be packed. I would love to hear all about how wrong I am!

"Late" is more of a relationship with closing time than an actual time on the clock. For example, when AK closed at 7 in the summer, the park would generally empty out after about 3 pm leaving the rest of the afternoon/evening wide open.

At MK, if the park closes at midnight with parades at 9 & 11 and fireworks at 10, then rides tend to die down when guests start lining up for the first parade. Generally 8 pm or so.

At DHS, if the park closes at 10 pm with Fantasmic at 9 & 10:30, then things slow when guest start to line up for the early Fantasmic. Again 8 pm or so.

Epcot is a little different as the nighttime entertainment occurs when the park closes at 9 pm. However, Future World dies down when the crowd heads back to the World Showcase for Illuminations.

Also keep in mind the "beat the traffic" factor. There will always be guests leaving before closing time, no matter the hour. It's similar to fans leaving a sporting event early even if the outcome is still in doubt.

 

[Robo]

"Late" is more of a relationship with closing time than an actual time on the clock.

I do tend to talk about "late" at the parks in clock terms.

By "late" I mean after 10:30PM.

If a park offers PM EMH and it begins at 11PM, there will be far fewer guests in that PM EMH park between 11PM and 1AM,
than if the PM EMH runs from 9PM to 11PM.

I am basing my assessment on clock time,
because many guests (especially with younger kids in the party)
tend to not attempt to stay in a park into the "wee hours."

 

[sorahl1]

Yep, really low. We were just there and on multiple occasions walked into the FEA line between 9:30am and 10:00am and never once waited more than 10 minutes. One time, we literally walked right on, and that was around 9:45am...on 4th of July week (forget exact day).

dumb question... World Showcase opens at 11am, but FEA opens at 9am..?(not questioning your post. I see that these are the hours) what am I missing?

thanks,

john

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I am basing my assessment on clock time,
because many guests (especially with younger kids in the party)
tend to not attempt to stay in a park into the "wee hours."

All families are different. Even when they were little, I always found that it was much easier to let my kids stay up late vs making them get up early.

My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mtn moments before midnight with her screaming "One more time Daddy" all the way. She's 21 now. How time flies.

 

[Robo]

dumb question... World Showcase opens at 11am, but FEA opens at 9am..?(not questioning your post. I see that these are the hours) what am I missing?

World Showcase opens at 11am, but FEA opens at 9am.
(And, at 8AM for 8AM AM EMH at Epcot.)

Also, a couple of WS food locations open at 9AM.

 

[Robo]

All families are different. Even when they were little, I always found that it was much easier to let my kids stay up late vs making them get up early.

My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mtn moments before midnight with her screaming "One more time Daddy" all the way. She's 21 now. How time flies.

I am talking about what "generally" happens.
A rule-of-thumb at WDW:
The later in the evening it gets, the less busy it gets.
And, the earlier it in the morning it is, the less busy it is.

This is the reason that early AM EMH is effective for those who DO make the effort to get up early.
And, why extra-late PM EMH can be effective, as well.

 

[jsmla]

Does anyone have experience with a MK evening EMH that begins at 8:00 PM during a week with three MNSSHP nights? Is it crazy nuts? I know the one time we went to a later closing night during a party week it was super busy. I plan to go just for the experience but all of these reports of slower nights have me wondering.

 

[Robo]

Does anyone have experience with a MK evening EMH that begins at 8:00 PM during a week with three MNSSHP nights?
1. Is it crazy nuts?

2. I know the one time we went to a later closing night during a party week it was super busy. I plan to go just for the experience but all of these reports of slower nights have me wondering.

1. If a PM EMH starts at 8PM, it will be very, very busy.
2. HOWEVER... In this case, I'm thinking that the regular hours closing will be extended to at least 10PM, 11PM or later,
and the PM EMH will, therefore, start much later.

 

[jsmla]

Thanks!