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

[cpdisney]

I would read through the reviews linked on Post #3 of this thread. The event is very new and we’re still digesting strategies, timing, crowd levels, etc. But the experience posts so far (particularly the ones 10/1+) will help get a feel for how people are approaching things.

 

[cpdisney]

Thanks for your help

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I could have done both but for whatever reason, the TOT line was really long early on.

We RD’d RNRC with less than 10 minutes wait, most of it walking the queue. We beat my husband who did TSMM back to ABC. We had 9:35 FP for TOT so that worked well for breakfast.

We were leaving TSL at 8:48 and in front of RNRC at 8:52. If you wanted a little more insurance time on doing both rides, leave TSL 8:40-8:45 which means you may lose one last TSL ride though.

The walking time wasn’t that great (I took a picture of my food at 9:15) we just more decided not to do TOT because we had a FP for it and didn’t want to wait at all.

Thanks. You gave us lots to think about. Our potential party date is Monday July 1. So, it will be a packed day.

I guess if we rd rnrc and tot, and fp star tours, is the extra FP we could choose worth having to hustle a bit to make breakfast.

If by some chance Mickey rr is open by then, the answer will be yes (assuming we could get a fp for it at 60+1).

Then again, maybe Mickey rr will become part of emm.

 

[jsmla]

Yes, this is correct more or less. The key is to not pre-book all three. If you pre-book all three then you need to use them/let them expire before booking FPs at another park. But if you only pre-book one or two, once you use them you can book a FP at another park (obviously subject to availability at that moment in time).

Here is a link to the FP sticky with more info: https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...ing-anytime-fps-cl-fps.3538258/#post-56320829

Hope that helps!

Thank you so much for this, I had no idea!

 

[CarolynFH]

DH and I attended this morning (10/15). We drove in from offsite so parked and made the long walk in, but cleared security quickly and were through the gates around 6:50. We were not the first, by a long shot! We were guided to the Commissary and enjoyed breakfast — my shrimp & grits were a little salty but fine otherwise, and DH liked the chilaquiles. About 7:20 we joined the group in front of the theater and shortly afterwards followed everyone in to TSL. We had ridden SDD last night at closing (thanks for that tip, DIS!) so we headed to AS2 first then SDD. We took advantage of the ice water provided outside of Woody’s Lunchbox (it was so humid that the air was heavy to breathe and made us old folks move s-l-o-w-l-y) then tried to ride TSM but it was down so we did SDD twice more followed by more ice water and finally TSM. By that time it was just after 9, so we headed out of what had become a much more crowded TSL. In addition to our 3 rides on SDD and one each on AS2 and TSM, we had photos taken in front of each ride (but didn’t meet any characters).

All in all we enjoyed it and were happy we had taken advantage of the opportunity. Since we couldn’t book FPs for this trip until 30 days out, we had not been able to get one for SDD. Now we’ve ridden it 4 times and AS2 once, we’re content to concentrate on other attractions the rest of the week. We might have done more if it hadn’t been so oppressively hot and humid and we had been able to move more quickly!

 

[disneyworldsk]

DH and I attended this morning (10/15). We drove in from offsite so parked and made the long walk in, but cleared security quickly and were through the gates around 6:50. We were not the first, by a long shot! We were guided to the Commissary and enjoyed breakfast — my shrimp & grits were a little salty but fine otherwise, and DH liked the chilaquiles. About 7:20 we joined the group in front of the theater and shortly afterwards followed everyone in to TSL. We had ridden SDD last night at closing (thanks for that tip, DIS!) so we headed to AS2 first then SDD. We took advantage of the ice water provided outside of Woody’s Lunchbox (it was so humid that the air was heavy to breathe and made us old folks move s-l-o-w-l-y) then tried to ride TSM but it was down so we did SDD twice more followed by more ice water and finally TSM. By that time it was just after 9, so we headed out of what had become a much more crowded TSL. In addition to our 3 rides on SDD and one each on AS2 and TSM, we had photos taken in front of each ride (but didn’t meet any characters).

All in all we enjoyed it and were happy we had taken advantage of the opportunity. Since we couldn’t book FPs for this trip until 30 days out, we had not been able to get one for SDD. Now we’ve ridden it 4 times and AS2 once, we’re content to concentrate on other attractions the rest of the week. We might have done more if it hadn’t been so oppressively hot and humid and we had been able to move more quickly!

If an attraction breaks down do they compensate somehow for emm? like a magical fp for later on or something?

 

[WaterLinds]

DH and I attended this morning (10/15). We drove in from offsite so parked and made the long walk in, but cleared security quickly and were through the gates around 6:50. We were not the first, by a long shot! We were guided to the Commissary and enjoyed breakfast — my shrimp & grits were a little salty but fine otherwise, and DH liked the chilaquiles. About 7:20 we joined the group in front of the theater and shortly afterwards followed everyone in to TSL. We had ridden SDD last night at closing (thanks for that tip, DIS!) so we headed to AS2 first then SDD. We took advantage of the ice water provided outside of Woody’s Lunchbox (it was so humid that the air was heavy to breathe and made us old folks move s-l-o-w-l-y) then tried to ride TSM but it was down so we did SDD twice more followed by more ice water and finally TSM. By that time it was just after 9, so we headed out of what had become a much more crowded TSL. In addition to our 3 rides on SDD and one each on AS2 and TSM, we had photos taken in front of each ride (but didn’t meet any characters).

Thanks for your review! Every experience shared helps those of us trying to decide if it’s right for our trips.

How long did the SDD lines get when TSM was down? Did they offer people FPs or anything as a result of the closure? I guess everyone still likely had a chance to ride everything, just not as many chances as they might have expected, but TSM being closed for roughly 1/4 of the available ride time has to have been disappointing.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I've been trying to read through but I'm trying to pack so I'll just ask: What is the last possible time you can get in linr for breakfast?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

If an attraction breaks down do they compensate somehow for emm? like a magical fp for later on or something?

For MK EMM, just for context, if a ride has been down for an extended period during EMM the default resolution has been unlimited FP line access through noon (you just show your wristband to the FP CM). This works well for some folks but not so well for others who may have other plans or may plan to park hop afterwards.

TBD what will happen with TSL EMM, they may do things differently than MK. Unfortunately, and while rare, ride break downs will occasionally happen at EMM over time.

 

[gatechfan99]

We did the EMM this morning and thought I’d pass along the details and timeframe.

-Drove in and parked in the lot around 6:55
-Navigated through parking lot and bag check with 3 kids and were in Park about 7:05.
-As others have said, they told us to go to ABC but we noticed group of around 10 waiting to the left of the Chinese Theater so we stopped there.
-After about a minute, group was released to go forward to closer to right edge of Chinese Theater and held there. Based on photo on my phone, it was probably about 7:09. We had stroller so we were on left side of the pack to use the ramp to TSL instead of steps.
-Around 7:20 the CMs started slow rope drop line walk to TSL. We made it to SDD and were about 20th in line.
-They didn’t actually start loading the ride until 7:30 so we waited there a few minutes.
-When it started moving we hardly stopped until we loaded on.
-After riding, the crowd looked big so we went to Alien Saucers and then TSM. Both were essentially walk-on.
-We then decided to do SDD until EMM was over starting right around 8:00. The first repeat ride was definitely the longest wait, probably around 15 minutes. Each time the wait was less and the last couple of times were almost walk-on again. Did it 5 times in a row.
-After the last time, it was probably around 8:45. We went and got some of the free water and a photo pass picture. We then saw the regular crowd storming to SDD.
-Then we decided to go do TSM one more time and were still allowed on before regular crowd already lined up.
-Finally we went after all this to ABC and breakfast. My wife tried shrimp and grits along with chicken and donuts. She said both were ok, but liked chicken the best. Kids and I just did the pastries, cereal, and juice, but I also got a Powerade from the soda fountain to go.

All in all, I’ll give it high reviews. Definitely more people than I thought, but waits were still on with everything close to walk-on except about half the time at SDD. Made the rest of our day easier as well by having TSL done by 9:00

 

[CarolynFH]

If an attraction breaks down do they compensate somehow for emm? like a magical fp for later on or something?

When we first tried to ride TSM, two CMs outside told us it was down but that they hoped it would be back up soon. We went off to ride SDD a couple of times more, and TSM was working when we tried again. So no need for special FPs or other compensation today.

OTOH, we left TSL planning to ride Tower and RnR and then leave DHS. Tower wasn’t going to open until 9:30 so we got in the standby line for RnR. Ten minutes later came an announcement that it too was down and telling everyone to leave! I wish we could have gotten special FPs for that!

 

[WaterLinds]

When we first tried to ride TSM, two CMs outside told us it was down but that they hoped it would be back up soon. We went off to ride SDD a couple of times more, and TSM was working when we tried again. So no need for special FPs or other compensation today.

OTOH, we left TSL planning to ride Tower and RnR and then leave DHS. Tower wasn’t going to open until 9:30 so we got in the standby line for RnR. Ten minutes later came an announcement that it too was down and telling everyone to leave! I wish we could have gotten special FPs for that!

Oh man, that’s a tough day! Especially when so many people have noted that a big part of the value of EMM is being able to get all the DHS rides done early without burning FPs.

 

[chelynnah]

I have EMM for DHS. We are mainly doing EMM for the ease of getting to ride the attractions with very little effort (like FP scrambling/beat the crowds) and we are not the sort who need to ride multiple times. If we do, fine, but not the ruin of my day if we don't. That said, my plan is to leave TSL around 8:45 and have half the party go to RnRC while I take the kids to the M&M greet. Then Star Tours. I currently have fps for RnRC, ToT and ST, though I don't need the ST one. If I cancel everything besides ToT, I can get fps for later at MK, correct? For the girls and me, I can go ahead now and once they tap ToT, I can get them 2 more for MK? Is this a good plan, and will it work? Oh and after ST we will have breakfast. Would you also cancel ToT and try for a walk on? If I keep that one, I can still get 2 fp at MK after it's been tapped?

Yes, you can just use one FP in HS and once you’ve tapped into it you can then make 2 more FPs for a different park. It changed in early 2017 to allow this. What you can’t do is book for 2 different parks at the same time.

 

[Jasperann]

Yes, you can just use one FP in HS and once you’ve tapped into it you can then make 2 more FPs for a different park. It changed in early 2017 to allow this. What you can’t do is book for 2 different parks at the same time.

This is awesome!! Can you point me to a place I can read about this? I can't seem to find anything and it is a change since we last went.

 

[DisneyandBeerLover]

Booked ours for February 4!!

 

[chelynnah]

This is awesome!! Can you point me to a place I can read about this? I can't seem to find anything and it is a change since we last went.

From FP FAQ thread
https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...ing-anytime-fps-cl-fps.3538258/#post-56320829

 

[dachsie]

I was planning on booking this for my trip in February but the more I think about it and the more reviews I read, the less I think it will be worth it. I do not have a HS day planned for this trip but my son said he wanted to ride Slinky Dog so I thought this event would be the perfect way for him to ride but be able to save our 3 FP's for another park.

I'm really still on the fence. We did the MK EMM in July and loved it so I'm thinking we may do that again, especially since it's been expanded. Plus we're staying at BLT so transportation hang ups won't be an issue. Of course, we could always do both I suppose. We have AP's so spending $$ on events like this is a little more tolerable. Decisions, decisions...

If your son really wants to do this, then I would do it. You will get to ride SDD several times whereas if you just RD or use a day with FP you would only ride it once, maybe twice if you wanted to stand in a long line.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

If your son really wants to do this, then I would do it. You will get to ride SDD several times whereas if you just RD or use a day with FP you would only ride it once, maybe twice if you wanted to stand in a long line.

Yes, this was a must do for my grandkids and when my window opened there were no SDD left. So I went the easy route and focused on FOP and 7DMT

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thank you to @CarolynFH and @gatechfan99 for checking in with your reviews from this morning.

Links added to Post #3.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Thank you to @CarolynFH and @gatechfan99 for checking in with your reviews from this morning.

Links added to Post #3.

Thanks for the reports! If you go to ABC at 10 minutes before 10:00, will you still be served? Thanks!