MK EMH vs. MNSSHP -which is better for rides?

[Bulldog36]

Hi everyone! Headed to WDW the last week of September and we are really excited. We are trying to figure out how we can get more rides done with the shortest waits. We have 8 and 5 year olds and we’re wondering if it would be worth it to do either pm EMH at Magic Kindom from 9-11 one night or to try the MNSSHP on a Tuesday. Does anyone have thoughts on which would be the best for getting the most rides done? I am assuming the park still has fairly long waits during regular hours even in late September. Thanks for your help!

 

[indoshakespeare]

MNSSHP is a gamble. Some nights have low crowds but i heard reports that it's as crowded as regular days. If you catch it on a quiet night, it's walk-ons on all rides except 7DMT(which will have 15-20 mins wait) It also has enhancements on some rides (for example last year the Pirates have live actors and the Space Mountain is pitch black). Some rides dont open during MNSSHP.

The advantage of EMH is it's free but 9-11 EMH is more crowded than 11-1 EMH

 

[Peppeperoni]

MNSSHP is a gamble. Some nights have low crowds but i heard reports that it's as crowded as regular days. If you catch it on a quiet night, it's walk-ons on all rides except 7DMT(which will have 15-20 mins wait) It also has enhancements on some rides (for example last year the Pirates have live actors and the Space Mountain is pitch black). Some rides dont open during MNSSHP.

The advantage of EMH is it's free but 9-11 EMH is more crowded than 11-1 EMH

I went on what was probably one of the more crowded nights, Halloween night, and the wait times were extremely low. I think the longest was pirates and it was maybe 15-20

 

[Peppeperoni]

Splash and thunder were both walk ons and I barely even waited at space

 

[Bulldog36]

Splash and thunder were both walk ons and I barely even waited at space

Oh that is awesome! Would love to have wait times like that on our visit.

 

[drjackal31]

We will be there that week too and are doing both Not so scary and EMH on wednesday. September has usually been pretty good crowds wise, but with SWGE opening who knows how the other parks will be.

 

[Tia1977]

We have only done 1 MNSSHP (early Oct), we’re doing our 2nd this coming Fall (same time period). While we found several walk ons during party time (no joke 5x’s Splash bk to bk during 2nd parade ), we’ve also had good success during pm EMH’s early Oct as well (running bk & forth btwn Splash & BTMR, 3x’s in a row @ Space, etc)...

I personally would only pay the party tix if you have interest in @ least a party parade, fireworks, & possibly a Hocus Pocus show...if no plans on any party M&G’s...

To me, it’s $$ enough for normal park tix’s & any extra has to be worth it..While EMH’s have been reduced over the years & attendance increased, you can still get a lot done if you’re willing to stay until rides stop.

Disclaimer: I have not been to a pm EMH since it’s been extended to the current Disney Springs hotels...Along w/the SW’s madness we’ll face this Fall, I might be in for a rude awakening of how pm EMH’s look like from now on ...if they’ll even survive in the future

 

[Happiest.Haunt_999]

We went in late Sept last year and you could hardly move.

 

[Bulldog36]

We went in late Sept last year and you could hardly move.

Yikes! Was that the MNSSHP, EMH or just regular days in the park?

 

[Bulldog36]

We will be there that week too and are doing both Not so scary and EMH on wednesday. September has usually been pretty good crowds wise, but with SWGE opening who knows how the other parks will be.

Yes, I am wondering the same thing.

 

[Bulldog36]

We have only done 1 MNSSHP (early Oct), we’re doing our 2nd this coming Fall (same time period). While we found several walk ons during party time (no joke 5x’s Splash bk to bk during 2nd parade ), we’ve also had good success during pm EMH’s early Oct as well (running bk & forth btwn Splash & BTMR, 3x’s in a row @ Space, etc)...

I personally would only pay the party tix if you have interest in @ least a party parade, fireworks, & possibly a Hocus Pocus show...if no plans on any party M&G’s...

To me, it’s $$ enough for normal park tix’s & any extra has to be worth it..While EMH’s have been reduced over the years & attendance increased, you can still get a lot done if you’re willing to stay until rides stop.

Disclaimer: I have not been to a pm EMH since it’s been extended to the current Disney Springs hotels...Along w/the SW’s madness we’ll face this Fall, I might be in for a rude awakening of how pm EMH’s look like from now on ...if they’ll even survive in the future

We do have an interest in seeing the party parade and trick or treating and general atmosphere of the party, but I admit to short ride lines being my main focus. Two little ones are not interested in the character meets, so that will save us the lines for those. I was wondering if you can get much more done on a MNSSHP night or EMH night that it would be worth sleeping late and doing that instead of trying to get it all done during the regular park hours.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Splash and thunder were both walk ons and I barely even waited at space

That sound like a normal summer evening to me. Quite often, evening lines during regular park hours are shorter than at EMH or the special events.

 

[GillianP1301]

EMH are nowhere near as exclusive as a party or EMM/DAH event. You will definitely get more done during 5 hours of a ticketed MNSSHP than you will at 2 hours of extended park hours for everyone on property. Now, if you wanted to compare DAH to MNSSHP, that's a different story. We did both on our last trip and by far we covered way more ground (just talking rides) during DAH than you ever would during MNSSHP. However, you are paying for more than just ride access during MNSSHP, it's more about the shows, parades, fireworks, trick or treating, characters, etc...

 

[Happiest.Haunt_999]

Yikes! Was that the MNSSHP, EMH or just regular days in the park?

MNSSHP. It was bad last September, which caught us very off guard because it was during the week. We had gone in Sept of 2014 on a weeknight MNSSHP as well and it was great, but it's gotten too crowded in recent years.


ETA: Epcot which is our fave park was crazy all week as well because of Food and Wine Fest.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would not count on MNSSHP for low wait times. We did it in 2017 (first party) and 2018 (second party) and the crowds in 2018 were quite large. As PP's have said, unless you are interested in the Halloween offerings, I wouldn't spend that kind of money hoping for shorter waits. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest doing EMM instead if it's offered during your dates. Instead of a late night with young children, it's an early morning and essentially offers very short wait times for seven different attractions in Fantasyland plus breakfast. You can then use your 3 other FP+ (plus additional when they are done) to explore the rest of MK. It's also cheaper than MNSSHP.

 

[VAtink]

Before last September I would have definitely recommended MNSSHP since in years past most rides (besides really 7DMT) were walk-ons. However the party we went to last September was crazy crowded, at times so bad you couldn't even move through the masses of people, and we didn't experience the walk-on rides we had grown accustomed to. The lines weren't horrible, but in the 20-30 minute range, which was a bit of a shock after our experiences in years past where we could stay in our ride vehicle after a ride to ride again since there was no one waiting! Guess the secret got out about the walk-on rides during the parties!

I would still lean towards MNSSHP though. The atmosphere at the party is so much fun, plus the parade is our favorite, that song will get stuck in your head for weeks! If you go in not expecting walk-on rides, you'll be in good shape. Just watch out for the area near the HM, last year during the party we attended it was just a sea of people and was really hard to make it through at times!

 

[DQUIN5340]

We did both last year, the last week of September. DAH was awesome. No wait for anything. Rode BTM 3 times without getting off. MNSSHP was a different story altogether. So crowded. Going again in September and praying for DAH again, hopefully for MK AK and Hollywood. Because I will be going to all three.

 

[Turk February]

We did a MNSSHP 5 years ago and it was the single best night of any WDW trip we've ever had. That said, it sounds to me like Disney is probably selling more tickets than they used to, making things not quite as great as they were. We're going the last week of September and had planned to try the party again, but I might save our money and hope for a DAH instead.