DHS/Toy Story Land "Early Morning Magic" (EMM) FAQ & Discussion

I think only viewing the cost of the event as being worth it by how many times you experience a specific attraction might be the wrong way to put a value on it. You're going to get multiple rides on some of the most popular attractions with a very minimal weight and that definitely has value and is what most people are paying for. The breakfast certainly has value as well. Josh mentions a part of this but I think where the value really kicks in is that it free up the rest of your HS day. Quite frankly, with so little do actually do in this park right now HS has become a park most people can experience in less than a half a day now so now you have more time in other parks (or resorts, water park, etc). Additionally, no need to worry about getting SDD FP+....you won't need them so direct that attention to FOP or 7DMNT, etc. The value of the EMM really starts to add up once you factor in all the flexibility it gives you through the rest of your trip, IMO.
Obviously “value” is a very personal decision, but very much agree. Great points made here.

I agree with this too. We're doing both EMM at TSL and at MK, and honestly one of the biggest benefits to me is not having to worry about getting fastpasses for those attractions, and being able to devote my three for those days to other rides. We're only at WDW for 6 full days, so we don't have the luxury of going to every park multiple times. Also, my partner doesn't like crowds or heat particularly (I realise both crowds and heat are unavoidable at WDW obviously!) so if we can get these high-value attractions done when it's cooler first thing in the morning, and when the crowds are less than normal, then that's a massive win for me.
 
I think only viewing the cost of the event as being worth it by how many times you experience a specific attraction might be the wrong way to put a value on it. You're going to get multiple rides on some of the most popular attractions with a very minimal weight and that definitely has value and is what most people are paying for. The breakfast certainly has value as well. Josh mentions a part of this but I think where the value really kicks in is that it free up the rest of your HS day. Quite frankly, with so little do actually do in this park right now HS has become a park most people can experience in less than a half a day now so now you have more time in other parks (or resorts, water park, etc). Additionally, no need to worry about getting SDD FP+....you won't need them so direct that attention to FOP or 7DMNT, etc. The value of the EMM really starts to add up once you factor in all the flexibility it gives you through the rest of your trip, IMO.

I completely agree with you, and believe me, if I didn’t see that advantage to the event I would cancel. But that won’t happen haha! I want to soak up as much of this land as possible with minimal crowds! We are both so excited for this experience, so I apologize if I came across as negative. I am just disappointed that they increased the ticket numbers to saturate the event, just to get more money. That’s all.

I am so grateful for everyone on these boards posting their experiences with this and many other events so I can get a better idea of what to expect. We have 3 full days in the park, so freeing up our time by going to the EMM TSL is critical. MK EMM is the morning we leave, and I’m trying to win any contest or lottery I can so I can fork up another $168 plus two extra park tickets (roughly $475).
 
I think only viewing the cost of the event as being worth it by how many times you experience a specific attraction might be the wrong way to put a value on it. You're going to get multiple rides on some of the most popular attractions with a very minimal weight and that definitely has value and is what most people are paying for. The breakfast certainly has value as well. Josh mentions a part of this but I think where the value really kicks in is that it free up the rest of your HS day. Quite frankly, with so little do actually do in this park right now HS has become a park most people can experience in less than a half a day now so now you have more time in other parks (or resorts, water park, etc). Additionally, no need to worry about getting SDD FP+....you won't need them so direct that attention to FOP or 7DMNT, etc. The value of the EMM really starts to add up once you factor in all the flexibility it gives you through the rest of your trip, IMO.



This x 1000.
 
I completely agree with you, and believe me, if I didn’t see that advantage to the event I would cancel. But that won’t happen haha! I want to soak up as much of this land as possible with minimal crowds! We are both so excited for this experience, so I apologize if I came across as negative. I am just disappointed that they increased the ticket numbers to saturate the event, just to get more money. That’s all.

I am so grateful for everyone on these boards posting their experiences with this and many other events so I can get a better idea of what to expect. We have 3 full days in the park, so freeing up our time by going to the EMM TSL is critical. MK EMM is the morning we leave, and I’m trying to win any contest or lottery I can so I can fork up another $168 plus two extra park tickets (roughly $475).

I think a lot of people are disappointed by the numbers. The question is whether the value is there for you or not - it's a very personal decision. I think people are not criticizing your disappointment, just sharing a different way to look at value than "this event cost $x per ride." I certainly am looking at the overall whole experience and not putting a $$ value per ride.
 


I think a lot of people are disappointed by the numbers. The question is whether the value is there for you or not - it's a very personal decision. I think people are not criticizing your disappointment, just sharing a different way to look at value than "this event cost $x per ride." I certainly am looking at the overall whole experience and not putting a $$ value per ride.

Yep definitely, I'm disappointed to hear that the numbers are higher than people expected but for us it's still worth it :-) I definitely didn't mean to sound like I was criticising, sorry if it came across like that!
 
We're home now (sob) and here's my full TSL EMM review with pictures. It was our family of five, me, hubs, and three kiddos - 10, 8 and 4. Everyone was tall enough to ride everything and our priorities were to ride TSMM and AS2 at least once, a few rides on SDD and meet Buzz.

To start, this was our third time at HS this trip. We went to the Star Wars dessert party on Friday night (10/5), attended EMH on Sunday (10/7) and did EMM on Monday (10/8, a semi-holiday with holiday level crowds.) Touring Plans predicted a 7/10 and saw a 10/10. There was also MNSSHP at MK that day probably pushing visitors to other parks. So let's just say, it was pretty darn crowded. We didn't have a chance to observe TSL crowds on Friday as we were focused on the dessert party. On our EMH morning (Sunday, 10/7), my husband took our son to JTA sign ups and my girls and I rode TOT so we purposely avoided TSL knowing that we had this even coming up. At about 8:45, my girls and I headed to get in line to meet Chewie and the line for SDD was already out of the arches leading into TSL. Sunday afternoon, we made the mistake of trying to have lunch at Woody's lunch box and ended up eating off the top of trash cans because there was absolutely no seating to be found in TSL. What I'm getting at with all of this is that TSL is crowded. Always. And this event is really the only way to avoid it. So it might be oversold but it's still no where near what you're going to find on a regular day.

This was an event with both entrance times and I moved our original 7:30 to 7:00 but as we've seen, there's no difference between the two times at all.

We left Wilderness Lodge at 6:28 (first bus on the app was at 6:01 so no problems there!). The bus went by the Contemporary before going to HS and we were the only folks on the bus the whole trip. We arrived at HS at 6:50, at the entrance at 6:57 and had our wristbands on by 7:01. Everyone was very friendly and it was quite a festive atmosphere. I think there may have been some PPO folks in the mix but almost everyone seemed to be there for the EMM.

44550420764_7eda614fb4_z_d.jpg


Main Street was practically empty - it was a super fun experience.

We were all herded in the direction of ABC and told TSL would open at 7:30. However, some people were just hanging out in front of the Chinese Theater so they won't force you to go to eat. And TSL seems to open a few minutes before 7:30 so if it's important to you to be there literally first, don't wait until 7:30 to leave the restaurant.

When we checked in,the CM told us just to leave our wristbands on until 9, but I knew better. Listening to chatter around us in lines and at the tables, many people thought they had to eat between 7:00-7:30 which is not the case.

The lines for hot entrees were long but not for the buffets. We grabbed a few plates of pastries and a lot of coffee and took a bathroom break.

44550435214_f9a6ee8d38_z_d.jpg


Walking into TSL at 7:31

43458423420_2d55ee1f0f_z_d.jpg


A completely empty TSMM queue at 7:34 (they should really open up the FP line for this one)

We went and got in line for SDD at 7:44. Posted time was 25 minutes, but it was less than 15.

45222911652_6bdef785dc_z_d.jpg


Wheezy at 7:59. This was the longest we waited for SDD.

45222909552_acf0308b65_z_d.jpg


Galaxy's Edge at 8:02

31398063638_98cac2633d_z_d.jpg


AS2 at 8:04. They had the FP line open and no wait. I know this ride gets knocked a lot, but we had so much fun on it!

44550342514_2e65c54c79_z_d.jpg


We made sure to take advantage of the picture opportunities (earlier on we saw a photographer here but I guess s/he was roving)

44360875585_bed9e1890e_z_d.jpg


Then back to SDD for as many rides as we could fit in. We ended up riding four times, opting once or twice to wait for a dog so we could ride in the back.

Biggest complaint is that you had to walk through the long standard queue each time. Would have been really nice and a few minutes savings if the FP line had been open.

31398136178_3659d2470d_z_d.jpg


There was no wait to meet Buzz but there was a wait for Woody & Jessie.

At 8:45, we split up. Hubs, one daughter and son went on TSMM. Big girl and I went to RD RNRC.

And we saw the reality of the rope drop crowd with our own eyes. Y'all. It's insanity.

45222819942_07bd404749_z_d.jpg


44550434644_c80d8a80e6_z_d.jpg


May the odds be ever in your favor.

31398145488_3cdced24da_z_d.jpg


As you can tell, no such crowds over to see Aerosmith.

We actually beat my husband back to breakfast. The Commissary was well stocked, maybe just two or three people at each line to order hot foods and everyone was very welcoming and friendly. I'm not going to expound (much) on the food as that's been well covered. We're adventurous eaters and had been up for a solid four hours at the point, so we were very pleased with the offerings of entrees and what was on the buffet. Also, for these sort of offerings, we view the food as a bonus, not as a main event, so we're not picky.

Some things they could do better - open the FP lines for SDD and TSMM.

Cutting back on the tickets sold would be nice of course, but honestly, it didn't feel crowded to me. There was a wait for SDD at first but there was a wait for SDMT at MK when we did this event as well, so I think those two events are fairly even. Our family loved every minute of it and it is the highest ranked of all the paid events we did on our trip (EMM at MK, HEA dessert party, SWAGS dessert party, FOLK dining package, MNSSHP and this event.) When we go to Disney again, if they continue to offer it, it's something we'll make sure we always do. As others have said, it freed up our rope drop experience, freed up the rest of our day and provided so much TSL fun for us. We weren't going to see how many times we could ride SDD but rather, to just enjoy the whole thing and fully delivered on that.
 
We're home now (sob) and here's my full TSL EMM review with pictures. It was our family of five, me, hubs, and three kiddos - 10, 8 and 4. Everyone was tall enough to ride everything and our priorities were to ride TSMM and AS2 at least once, a few rides on SDD and meet Buzz.

To start, this was our third time at HS this trip. We went to the Star Wars dessert party on Friday night (10/5), attended EMH on Sunday (10/7) and did EMM on Monday (10/8, a semi-holiday with holiday level crowds.) Touring Plans predicted a 7/10 and saw a 10/10. There was also MNSSHP at MK that day probably pushing visitors to other parks. So let's just say, it was pretty darn crowded. We didn't have a chance to observe TSL crowds on Friday as we were focused on the dessert party. On our EMH morning (Sunday, 10/7), my husband took our son to JTA sign ups and my girls and I rode TOT so we purposely avoided TSL knowing that we had this even coming up. At about 8:45, my girls and I headed to get in line to meet Chewie and the line for SDD was already out of the arches leading into TSL. Sunday afternoon, we made the mistake of trying to have lunch at Woody's lunch box and ended up eating off the top of trash cans because there was absolutely no seating to be found in TSL. What I'm getting at with all of this is that TSL is crowded. Always. And this event is really the only way to avoid it. So it might be oversold but it's still no where near what you're going to find on a regular day.

This was an event with both entrance times and I moved our original 7:30 to 7:00 but as we've seen, there's no difference between the two times at all.

We left Wilderness Lodge at 6:28 (first bus on the app was at 6:01 so no problems there!). The bus went by the Contemporary before going to HS and we were the only folks on the bus the whole trip. We arrived at HS at 6:50, at the entrance at 6:57 and had our wristbands on by 7:01. Everyone was very friendly and it was quite a festive atmosphere. I think there may have been some PPO folks in the mix but almost everyone seemed to be there for the EMM.

44550420764_7eda614fb4_z_d.jpg


Main Street was practically empty - it was a super fun experience.

We were all herded in the direction of ABC and told TSL would open at 7:30. However, some people were just hanging out in front of the Chinese Theater so they won't force you to go to eat. And TSL seems to open a few minutes before 7:30 so if it's important to you to be there literally first, don't wait until 7:30 to leave the restaurant.

When we checked in,the CM told us just to leave our wristbands on until 9, but I knew better. Listening to chatter around us in lines and at the tables, many people thought they had to eat between 7:00-7:30 which is not the case.

The lines for hot entrees were long but not for the buffets. We grabbed a few plates of pastries and a lot of coffee and took a bathroom break.

44550435214_f9a6ee8d38_z_d.jpg


Walking into TSL at 7:31

43458423420_2d55ee1f0f_z_d.jpg


A completely empty TSMM queue at 7:34 (they should really open up the FP line for this one)

We went and got in line for SDD at 7:44. Posted time was 25 minutes, but it was less than 15.

45222911652_6bdef785dc_z_d.jpg


Wheezy at 7:59. This was the longest we waited for SDD.

45222909552_acf0308b65_z_d.jpg


Galaxy's Edge at 8:02

31398063638_98cac2633d_z_d.jpg


AS2 at 8:04. They had the FP line open and no wait. I know this ride gets knocked a lot, but we had so much fun on it!

44550342514_2e65c54c79_z_d.jpg


We made sure to take advantage of the picture opportunities (earlier on we saw a photographer here but I guess s/he was roving)

44360875585_bed9e1890e_z_d.jpg


Then back to SDD for as many rides as we could fit in. We ended up riding four times, opting once or twice to wait for a dog so we could ride in the back.

Biggest complaint is that you had to walk through the long standard queue each time. Would have been really nice and a few minutes savings if the FP line had been open.

31398136178_3659d2470d_z_d.jpg


There was no wait to meet Buzz but there was a wait for Woody & Jessie.

At 8:45, we split up. Hubs, one daughter and son went on TSMM. Big girl and I went to RD RNRC.

And we saw the reality of the rope drop crowd with our own eyes. Y'all. It's insanity.

45222819942_07bd404749_z_d.jpg


44550434644_c80d8a80e6_z_d.jpg


May the odds be ever in your favor.

31398145488_3cdced24da_z_d.jpg


As you can tell, no such crowds over to see Aerosmith.

We actually beat my husband back to breakfast. The Commissary was well stocked, maybe just two or three people at each line to order hot foods and everyone was very welcoming and friendly. I'm not going to expound (much) on the food as that's been well covered. We're adventurous eaters and had been up for a solid four hours at the point, so we were very pleased with the offerings of entrees and what was on the buffet. Also, for these sort of offerings, we view the food as a bonus, not as a main event, so we're not picky.

Some things they could do better - open the FP lines for SDD and TSMM.

Cutting back on the tickets sold would be nice of course, but honestly, it didn't feel crowded to me. There was a wait for SDD at first but there was a wait for SDMT at MK when we did this event as well, so I think those two events are fairly even. Our family loved every minute of it and it is the highest ranked of all the paid events we did on our trip (EMM at MK, HEA dessert party, SWAGS dessert party, FOLK dining package, MNSSHP and this event.) When we go to Disney again, if they continue to offer it, it's something we'll make sure we always do. As others have said, it freed up our rope drop experience, freed up the rest of our day and provided so much TSL fun for us. We weren't going to see how many times we could ride SDD but rather, to just enjoy the whole thing and fully delivered on that.

Great Review!!! Thank you so much for this!! I was starting to get a little worried!!
 


Hey, @kat_lh thanks for your review!

Perhaps an odd question, but you mention stopping in the restroom before heading to TSL. Where did you stop? I’m thinking about making my nearly 3 year old DS try to go before we go into TSL so hopefully he won’t have to go during the event. Trying to figure out the easiest way to accomplish that.
 
Hey, @kat_lh thanks for your review!

Perhaps an odd question, but you mention stopping in the restroom before heading to TSL. Where did you stop? I’m thinking about making my nearly 3 year old DS try to go before we go into TSL so hopefully he won’t have to go during the event. Trying to figure out the easiest way to accomplish that.

Oh I understand! We went at the restaurant. And it got crowded (at least the women’s did!) the closer to 7:30 it got so go early!
 
Hey, @kat_lh thanks for your review!

Perhaps an odd question, but you mention stopping in the restroom before heading to TSL. Where did you stop? I’m thinking about making my nearly 3 year old DS try to go before we go into TSL so hopefully he won’t have to go during the event. Trying to figure out the easiest way to accomplish that.

There is a bathroom on your left just before you enter TSL.
 
We're home now (sob) and here's my full TSL EMM review with pictures. It was our family of five, me, hubs, and three kiddos - 10, 8 and 4. Everyone was tall enough to ride everything and our priorities were to ride TSMM and AS2 at least once, a few rides on SDD and meet Buzz.

To start, this was our third time at HS this trip. We went to the Star Wars dessert party on Friday night (10/5), attended EMH on Sunday (10/7) and did EMM on Monday (10/8, a semi-holiday with holiday level crowds.) Touring Plans predicted a 7/10 and saw a 10/10. There was also MNSSHP at MK that day probably pushing visitors to other parks. So let's just say, it was pretty darn crowded. We didn't have a chance to observe TSL crowds on Friday as we were focused on the dessert party. On our EMH morning (Sunday, 10/7), my husband took our son to JTA sign ups and my girls and I rode TOT so we purposely avoided TSL knowing that we had this even coming up. At about 8:45, my girls and I headed to get in line to meet Chewie and the line for SDD was already out of the arches leading into TSL. Sunday afternoon, we made the mistake of trying to have lunch at Woody's lunch box and ended up eating off the top of trash cans because there was absolutely no seating to be found in TSL. What I'm getting at with all of this is that TSL is crowded. Always. And this event is really the only way to avoid it. So it might be oversold but it's still no where near what you're going to find on a regular day.

This was an event with both entrance times and I moved our original 7:30 to 7:00 but as we've seen, there's no difference between the two times at all.

We left Wilderness Lodge at 6:28 (first bus on the app was at 6:01 so no problems there!). The bus went by the Contemporary before going to HS and we were the only folks on the bus the whole trip. We arrived at HS at 6:50, at the entrance at 6:57 and had our wristbands on by 7:01. Everyone was very friendly and it was quite a festive atmosphere. I think there may have been some PPO folks in the mix but almost everyone seemed to be there for the EMM.

44550420764_7eda614fb4_z_d.jpg


Main Street was practically empty - it was a super fun experience.

We were all herded in the direction of ABC and told TSL would open at 7:30. However, some people were just hanging out in front of the Chinese Theater so they won't force you to go to eat. And TSL seems to open a few minutes before 7:30 so if it's important to you to be there literally first, don't wait until 7:30 to leave the restaurant.

When we checked in,the CM told us just to leave our wristbands on until 9, but I knew better. Listening to chatter around us in lines and at the tables, many people thought they had to eat between 7:00-7:30 which is not the case.

The lines for hot entrees were long but not for the buffets. We grabbed a few plates of pastries and a lot of coffee and took a bathroom break.

44550435214_f9a6ee8d38_z_d.jpg


Walking into TSL at 7:31

43458423420_2d55ee1f0f_z_d.jpg


A completely empty TSMM queue at 7:34 (they should really open up the FP line for this one)

We went and got in line for SDD at 7:44. Posted time was 25 minutes, but it was less than 15.

45222911652_6bdef785dc_z_d.jpg


Wheezy at 7:59. This was the longest we waited for SDD.

45222909552_acf0308b65_z_d.jpg


Galaxy's Edge at 8:02

31398063638_98cac2633d_z_d.jpg


AS2 at 8:04. They had the FP line open and no wait. I know this ride gets knocked a lot, but we had so much fun on it!

44550342514_2e65c54c79_z_d.jpg


We made sure to take advantage of the picture opportunities (earlier on we saw a photographer here but I guess s/he was roving)

44360875585_bed9e1890e_z_d.jpg


Then back to SDD for as many rides as we could fit in. We ended up riding four times, opting once or twice to wait for a dog so we could ride in the back.

Biggest complaint is that you had to walk through the long standard queue each time. Would have been really nice and a few minutes savings if the FP line had been open.

31398136178_3659d2470d_z_d.jpg


There was no wait to meet Buzz but there was a wait for Woody & Jessie.

At 8:45, we split up. Hubs, one daughter and son went on TSMM. Big girl and I went to RD RNRC.

And we saw the reality of the rope drop crowd with our own eyes. Y'all. It's insanity.

45222819942_07bd404749_z_d.jpg


44550434644_c80d8a80e6_z_d.jpg


May the odds be ever in your favor.

31398145488_3cdced24da_z_d.jpg


As you can tell, no such crowds over to see Aerosmith.

We actually beat my husband back to breakfast. The Commissary was well stocked, maybe just two or three people at each line to order hot foods and everyone was very welcoming and friendly. I'm not going to expound (much) on the food as that's been well covered. We're adventurous eaters and had been up for a solid four hours at the point, so we were very pleased with the offerings of entrees and what was on the buffet. Also, for these sort of offerings, we view the food as a bonus, not as a main event, so we're not picky.

Some things they could do better - open the FP lines for SDD and TSMM.

Cutting back on the tickets sold would be nice of course, but honestly, it didn't feel crowded to me. There was a wait for SDD at first but there was a wait for SDMT at MK when we did this event as well, so I think those two events are fairly even. Our family loved every minute of it and it is the highest ranked of all the paid events we did on our trip (EMM at MK, HEA dessert party, SWAGS dessert party, FOLK dining package, MNSSHP and this event.) When we go to Disney again, if they continue to offer it, it's something we'll make sure we always do. As others have said, it freed up our rope drop experience, freed up the rest of our day and provided so much TSL fun for us. We weren't going to see how many times we could ride SDD but rather, to just enjoy the whole thing and fully delivered on that.


Thanks for the great review! I wonder why they don’t open the FP lines? Don’t they do that for MK EMM?
 
Thanks for the great review! I wonder why they don’t open the FP lines? Don’t they do that for MK EMM?
For TSMM they have said that they wanted people to experience Mr. Potato head when someone said something about that to one of the Cast members. Not sure how true that is though.
 
I debated about buying and now my date is sold out :( Did anyone find availability closer to their dates?

Definitely keep checking, I've seen people manage to get a booking when previously it was full. I think it's like any booking at WDW, people book stuff "just in case" and then cancel when they're plans change/other things crop up. I'm going in 10 days and I managed to snag an 8.05am BOG booking a week ago, and 6.30pm California Grill booking a couple of days ago! Both have been fully booked for months but I kept checking and eventually I got them :-)
 
Kat, if there's only one exit/entry, how exactly did you exit tsl while rd people were entering? ! Looks kind of impossible!
 
Kat, if there's only one exit/entry, how exactly did you exit tsl while rd people were entering? ! Looks kind of impossible!

There’s a wheelchair ramp to the right as you exit. They don’t let you use it to enter TSL when there’s a line or when RD is happening but you can use it as an exit
 
Thanks for the great review! I wonder why they don’t open the FP lines? Don’t they do that for MK EMM?

When we did the MK EMM they had the FP line open for Pooh and that was it. They did however, have two ropes down between poles on the SDMT queue so you could cut there without going all the way out. They didn’t open that though until the line was down.
 
I debated about buying and now my date is sold out :( Did anyone find availability closer to their dates?

What date were you looking for? I know for most of the dates in 2019, they only have a 7:30 entry time and it’s possible a 7:00am could still be added. Does the day your looking at fall into that category too—even if it’s not quite so far out?
 

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