Strategy for DHS Extra Extra Magic Hours (6-9am Sept 1- Nov 2)

I plan on going Sept 15th to DHS. I'm a west coaster, but I'll be there by 6am still :) Are the crowds really going to be that bad at 6am in mid-September? Do we expect the park to max out?
 
Is Oga's Cantina going to be open at 6 am? I am not opposed to some morning drinking, but 6-9 am is a little crazy to get started on alcohol. That coupled with a short night sleep pretty much guarantees I would need to take a nap at 10 am.

I'm rather annoyed that all the EMH are so early in the morning. Alternating AM and PM EMH would have been better. Or all evening EMH like Pandora did.

Also, thinking about hitting the first EMH on Sept 1st. How much more crazy will it be on that day since it's the first EMH day and it's 3 days after SWGE opens?
 
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Is Oga's Cantina going to be open at 6 am? I am not opposed to some morning drinking, but 6-9 am is a little crazy to get started on alcohol. That coupled with a short night sleep pretty much guarantees I would need to take a nap at 10 am.

It's been opening at 8 AM out in DL, so I would expect it to open at that time here if not earlier.

I'm rather annoyed that all the EMH are so early in the morning. Alternating AM and PM EMH would have been better. Or all evening EMH like Pandora did.

I imagine this wouldn't be ideal from a park ops perspective--having the ride open until after midnight or so one night, and then having to begin running it again prior to 6 AM for the next day's EMH. That doesn't allow for a lot of down time for the ride. I am not and have never been a CM so I don't know the specific logistics, but just a layman's guess.

Also, thinking about hitting the first EMH on Sept 1st. How much more crazy will it be on that day since it's the first EMH day and it's 3 days after SWGE opens?

Definitely crazy packed, but I would do it anyway. We are opposites on this point though - the earlier the EMH, the better, in my mind :)

My thoughts in red.
 
I imagine this wouldn't be ideal from a park ops perspective--having the ride open until after midnight or so one night, and then having to begin running it again prior to 6 AM for the next day's EMH. That doesn't allow for a lot of down time for the ride. I am not and have never been a CM so I don't know the specific logistics, but just a layman's guess.
I hadn't thought about this from an operational perspective, but you are right. Can't really alternate.
 


I plan on going Sept 15th to DHS. I'm a west coaster, but I'll be there by 6am still :) Are the crowds really going to be that bad at 6am in mid-September? Do we expect the park to max out?
the park is expected to hit phase 4 capacity probably on the first couple of days for a couple of hours. Mid sept. will be a wait and see how crowds react to the land. I expect the land to hit capacity daily but maybe not Phase 4 for the park.
 
I'm planning on doing EMH and showing up before the park opens. How are wheelchair rentals handled in these situations? Will they allow people past the tapstiles to where we can rent wheelchairs BEFORE the 6AM offical "rope dropping"? My fear is by the time we rent a wheelchair, if they don't let us in before 6AM, that GE will be full up by the time we get back to it.
 
I'm planning on doing EMH and showing up before the park opens. How are wheelchair rentals handled in these situations? Will they allow people past the tapstiles to where we can rent wheelchairs BEFORE the 6AM offical "rope dropping"? My fear is by the time we rent a wheelchair, if they don't let us in before 6AM, that GE will be full up by the time we get back to it.
You'll be able to rent a wheelchair only when they open the tapstiles, not before. Have you considered renting from an outside company?
 


Do people really leave a park for a "nap" and then go back to a park? I find this odd as some complain about spending time in a restaurant for 1.5hrs+ for a meal but end up leaving a park for a "nap" for 4+hours and then come back....With the SWGE, leaving and coming back seems odd......

I am a wondering how the EEMH will affect crowd levels, I hope this is not their way for crowd control, get them in and out early......
 
Do people really leave a park for a "nap" and then go back to a park? I find this odd as some complain about spending time in a restaurant for 1.5hrs+ for a meal but end up leaving a park for a "nap" for 4+hours and then come back....With the SWGE, leaving and coming back seems odd......

I am a wondering how the EEMH will affect crowd levels, I hope this is not their way for crowd control, get them in and out early......
Lots of people leave mid-day and come back.
 
I haven’t been for ten years but we did a nap in the middle of the day. Mid day is hot and miserable and the lines are awful. If I can swap out 4 hours during midday for a few extra hours at night, I will totally do that. At Disneyland, we did rope drop to close but we only had a 2 day trip. For disneyworld, we have 6 park days so we need to be able to handle multiple days.
 
Lots of people leave mid-day and come back.
Especially in August. It is sooo hot in the middle of the day.

We definitely have taken mid day breaks and then gone back in the evening. The resort we are at and the park/s we are visiting can be a factor.
 
Do people really leave a park for a "nap" and then go back to a park? I find this odd as some complain about spending time in a restaurant for 1.5hrs+ for a meal but end up leaving a park for a "nap" for 4+hours and then come back....With the SWGE, leaving and coming back seems odd......

I am a wondering how the EEMH will affect crowd levels, I hope this is not their way for crowd control, get them in and out early......
it is certainly an efficient way to control crowds. Most on site guests will go during EEMH, probably most will be done with the land by, let's say noon or 1pm, then it will leave more space for off site guests.
 
Do people really leave a park for a "nap" and then go back to a park? I find this odd as some complain about spending time in a restaurant for 1.5hrs+ for a meal but end up leaving a park for a "nap" for 4+hours and then come back....With the SWGE, leaving and coming back seems odd......

I am a wondering how the EEMH will affect crowd levels, I hope this is not their way for crowd control, get them in and out early......
When my son was little, that's exactly what we did: hit a park for a few hours in the morning, go back to our resort to swim and take a nap, then go back out for dinner and a couple hours of park time. He's a teen now, so our pattern these days is sleep really late and get to a park late afternoon to stay until closing. Either way, we're almost never in the parks midday.

For the EEMH, it's unlikely my son will want to use it, so my tentative plan is to let him sleep while I go to DHS for EEMH. I'll head back to the room around 10am and go back to sleep. Then we'll both head out to DHS for the evening.

But I've never complained about a 1.5 hour meal - I relish those! Definitely NOT a parks commando.
 
When it’s beastly hot, yes, a midday nap after an early rope drop is very refreshing. But we hop to another park after. I’ve never returned to same park the same day since we always have PH option.
 
Thank you for this thread and I will be following it. I have ten nights at GFVs and wanted to go to MGM SW just for "the fun of it" for a 6 am opening, but knowing I need to be there by approximately 4:30 am (earlier? not sure).
No way was I going to rely on Disney buses to get us there early and couldn't Uber since my mom will have a motorized scooter so I have have been stalking the DVC site for just one night in a studio at BWVs or BCVs and today found one night on September 10 at BWVs and took it. I won't check in/out of GFV, have that ressie too but will sleep at BWVs, pack a backpack and pack up and put in the scooter when we leave.

I plan on walking out the door approximately 4:15 am from BWVs. I'm a fast walker, I am guessing we don't know if this is a good time or not until August 30.

I am also guessing they will let us in prior to 6 am, since they still do this for AK FoP so will be watching this thread to see what time they are letting all in.

If my mom doesn't want to do SWs, I'm wondering if she should still come with me and get in and wait in TSL or scoot over about 5:30 am and meet me in TSL. I am wondering if there will be a crowd of people in that Land waiting on line for the attractions to open. She only will want to do TSM. After that we will do ToT a few other things and head back to GFVs.

Thank you.
 
Thank you for this thread and I will be following it. I have ten nights at GFVs and wanted to go to MGM SW just for "the fun of it" for a 6 am opening, but knowing I need to be there by approximately 4:30 am (earlier? not sure).
No way was I going to rely on Disney buses to get us there early and couldn't Uber since my mom will have a motorized scooter so I have have been stalking the DVC site for just one night in a studio at BWVs or BCVs and today found one night on September 10 at BWVs and took it. I won't check in/out of GFV, have that ressie too but will sleep at BWVs, pack a backpack and pack up and put in the scooter when we leave.

I plan on walking out the door approximately 4:15 am from BWVs. I'm a fast walker, I am guessing we don't know if this is a good time or not until August 30.

I am also guessing they will let us in prior to 6 am, since they still do this for AK FoP so will be watching this thread to see what time they are letting all in.

If my mom doesn't want to do SWs, I'm wondering if she should still come with me and get in and wait in TSL or scoot over about 5:30 am and meet me in TSL. I am wondering if there will be a crowd of people in that Land waiting on line for the attractions to open. She only will want to do TSM. After that we will do ToT a few other things and head back to GFVs.

Thank you.
yeah we won't know for sure how they will do the entrance. They could split the line for people going into SWGE to one side and the rest to another side. Definitely check reports once EEMH kick in
 
yeah we won't know for sure how they will do the entrance. They could split the line for people going into SWGE to one side and the rest to another side. Definitely check reports once EEMH kick in

Thank you, will do!
 
Does anyone have any ideas on when they will announce crowd control/Virtual Q line for SWGE...??? Tomorrow? Next week? A month before??? more? or Less??? I don't remember how far in advance they did this for DL..
 
Does anyone have any ideas on when they will announce crowd control/Virtual Q line for SWGE...??? Tomorrow? Next week? A month before??? more? or Less??? I don't remember how far in advance they did this for DL..
Probably at the end of this month, start of July. DL goes onto VQ June 24th so I'm sure WDW will look at that closely
 

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