Everything to Know about Disney’s Extra Magic Hours

Screen shot of Disney World's My Disney Experience App — Find EMH in the My Disney Experience app or online.

Disney World offers something special just for their resort guests called Extra Magic Hours (EMH).

If you are staying at a Disney resort, you can take advantage of EMH on your trip! These EMH allow you to enter the park an hour before it officially opens or stay 2 hours after it officially closes. You can check the Disney website to see when EMH are offered and at which parks during your stay.

Here are some things to consider regarding Extra Magic Hours as you plan your Disney vacation.

MORNING EXTRA MAGIC HOURS

Morning EMH allow resort guests to play in the park an hour before it opens to all other guests. This is a great time to knock out some otherwise very busy attractions.

If you aren’t morning people and you DO NOT plan on using the morning EMH, DO NOT visit the park with morning EMH that day. Disney World has over 30,000 resort rooms, and growing. EMH encourage all of those guests to go to the one park with EMH. Trust me, you do not want to show up to any park at 9am when it opened for EMH at 8am. You will likely be disappointed in the crowds that are ALREADY there, and the wait times at “Park Opening.”

Toddler lying down on curb at Disney World's Hollywood Studios — Not a morning person, and probably should have just slept in 🙈

If you DO plan to take advantage of morning EMH, get there early and maximize that hour by doing as many attractions as you can. (Check our Rope Drop Strategies post to see how to maximize your morning)

Once crowds start getting thicker, that’s a great time to eat, take pictures, site see (ie. not stand in line for rides). Use the FastPasses you booked in advance.

If you have a Park Hopper ticket

Head to another less crowded park once the crowds get thicker.

If you don’t have a Park Hopper ticket

That’s okay! Enjoy the park! You can also head back to your resort for rest time or lounge around the pool while the park is at it’s busiest hours. Then you can head back to the park when it is a little cooler and hopefully less crowded.

Even with a Park Hopper ticket, you may want to consider how your vacation would look if you avoided mornings at the parks with morning EMHs. If you go to a different park, you could still Rope Drop with and extra hour of sleep. This would help you avoid all of the resort guests at the EMH park.

Kyle overlooking Disney World's Crescent Lake and Boardwalk Resort — Taking a midday break away from crowds on the Boardwalk

EVENING EXTRA MAGIC HOURS

Evening EMH allow Disney resort guests 2 extra hours to play in the parks after it closes to all other guests. If you and your family can stay up this late, it’s a great opportunity to enjoy the park at cooler hours and with thinner crowds.

Cinderella Castle lit up at night at Disney World's Magic Kingdom — It’s hard to hang until the nighttime shows, which usually happen at park closing! I highly recommend a midday break so you don’t miss this 👆🏼

If you have a Park Hopper

I’d recommend avoiding the park with EMH during the day. Then head to the park with evening EMH for the nighttime show and to enjoy those EMHs.

If you do not have a Park Hopper

Decide if you can even hang that late at night. If not, then that means you won’t be using those EMHs, so avoid that park for the day.

If you can stay up to enjoy those EMH, then then consider visiting the EMH park for the day! Remember that you can go to the park in the morning, and then leave to escape the crowds. Then you can come back at night!