Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland WATCH for the Holidays

[rasadkowski]

i actually just called that travel number you posted @ColoradoMom12 and i was transferred to the FP dept. for some reason. She pretty much said the same thing....it should open. She hadn't heard of it being discontinued. I asked her if she usually does find out beforehand if these events will be soon discontinued and she said yes. but, who knows. still hoping i don't really think they know at all.

 

[slpeters]

It is a bit frustrating that I am supposed to pick my FastPasses next week and, while I thought I had my basic itinerary planned for a couple weeks now, I keep finding stuff I want to do that will move the days around. Between not knowing if we will be able to do EMM and them just moving up the holidays at Epcot I'm about ready to scrap my whole plan and start over, but I feel like I once again don't have enough information.

Dh keeps reminding me that lots of people are in the midst of canceling their plans and my "problem" is that I keep finding new and exciting things to do there. He's sometimes better at perspective than I am--it's helpful... and a little irritating.

 

[monique5]

Just checking in...PP on FB group posted that CM advised her that EMM was being discontinued. Has anyone else heard this rumor?

 

[Three cats]

I haven't heard anything but have pretty much given up at this point.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I haven't heard anything, but honestly I haven't been paying too much attention lately. FP day is Monday for me and I am just giving up on EMM. If they add it and it works I will book it.

 

[notrub98]

Just checking in...PP on FB group posted that CM advised her that EMM was being discontinued. Has anyone else heard this rumor?

I have not heard that. I called today and CM told me there is no indication of it being cancelled and they are notified when things are cancelled/discontinued. I am still holding out hope for Sept 30th update.

 

[notrub98]

I called again and was told by a CM that there is no update but also no note about it being discontinued.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

My experience over the years is that phone CMs rarely know about Disney moves ahead of time. Sometimes I know about them before the CM I get on the phone knows. Until there's an official announcement, I won't assume anything about whether this is continuing or not.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I'm going to stay hopeful for November until either we see dates added or the calendar officially becomes November.

 

[slpeters]

So my FP window opens on Friday morning and I am still hoping to do Early Morning Magic should it be offered in November. So I'm trying to figure out how best to plan my FastPasses.

I guess I pick FastPasses based on no EMM. So I'm assuming that if EMM is offered it will be on Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (just based on the September and October offering). Tuesday is our arrival and departure day and neither Tuesday would really work for EMM, so if it's only on Tuesday I guess we give it a pass. If it's Thursday or Sunday it involves flipping a Magic Kingdom morning for an Epcot or Hollywood Studios morning. The MK day that moves is the Seven Dwarfs day so in the event it moves to accommodate EMM I would no longer need the three FastPasses I would book for that morning (Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh). The Epcot day that moves isn't the day I'm hoping to do Frozen Ever After on so I figure whatever I need at Epcot or Hollywood Studios in the event of a swap would be obtainable at fifty days or so. None of the Animal Kingdom days (we're doing two parks a day with a break in between) are affected so I don't see FOP being an issue.

Does that sound right? I've never been to Disney World before and my husband's only been once for an afternoon at a conference so any input would be appreciated.

 

[notrub98]

So my FP window opens on Friday morning and I am still hoping to do Early Morning Magic should it be offered in November. So I'm trying to figure out how best to plan my FastPasses.

I guess I pick FastPasses based on no EMM. So I'm assuming that if EMM is offered it will be on Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (just based on the September and October offering). Tuesday is our arrival and departure day and neither Tuesday would really work for EMM, so if it's only on Tuesday I guess we give it a pass. If it's Thursday or Sunday it involves flipping a Magic Kingdom morning for an Epcot or Hollywood Studios morning. The MK day that moves is the Seven Dwarfs day so in the event it moves to accommodate EMM I would no longer need the three FastPasses I would book for that morning (Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh). The Epcot day that moves isn't the day I'm hoping to do Frozen Ever After on so I figure whatever I need at Epcot or Hollywood Studios in the event of a swap would be obtainable at fifty days or so. None of the Animal Kingdom days (we're doing two parks a day with a break in between) are affected so I don't see FOP being an issue.

Does that sound right? I've never been to Disney World before and my husband's only been once for an afternoon at a conference so any input would be appreciated.

Yes, plan for FP without EMM is a good plan for now. You can always switch FP later. Might not get everything you want, which is highly frustrating, but operate as if it would be a nice perk at this point. Sundays tend to be busier at HS but it depends on the extra magic hour.

However, EMM is highly unlikely to be offered during Thanksgiving week if I am calculating your dates correctly so definitely make plans without it. EMM has been historically excluded from that week.

I know you didn't ask but since you are new.... park hopping is time consuming. It certainly has value for a lot of people, but keep that in mind. Hopping every day with a break is going to eat up a lot of time. That may be your intention so not a criticism! Some people "need" a few hours "off". I just know a lot of people who wondered "where did my day go" when they were new to park hopping. Keep that in mind with dinner reservation times.

 

[slpeters]

Yes, plan for FP without EMM is a good plan for now. You can always switch FP later. Might not get everything you want, which is highly frustrating, but operate as if it would be a nice perk at this point. Sundays tend to be busier at HS but it depends on the extra magic hour.

However, EMM is highly unlikely to be offered during Thanksgiving week if I am calculating your dates correctly so definitely make plans without it. EMM has been historically excluded from that week.

I know you didn't ask but since you are new.... park hopping is time consuming. It certainly has value for a lot of people, but keep that in mind. Hopping every day with a break is going to eat up a lot of time. That may be your intention so not a criticism! Some people "need" a few hours "off". I just know a lot of people who wondered "where did my day go" when they were new to park hopping. Keep that in mind with dinner reservation times.

Thanks for the advice!

I'm really hoping for the Thursday prior to Thanksgiving. If they extend the September hours that would be where it will fall. Fingers crossed but no biggie if it doesn't happen.

As far as the park hopping I have kind of struggled with whether or not it made sense. We will have seven days in the parks including our arrival evening. We had initially planned on five but between the sixth being free and how the price scales down over time the difference between five and seven for both of us was like $40 so I went with it assuming maybe we would wander over for fireworks on our non-park days. Once I had the option it sort of seemed like a waste to just not go. Plus I really want to rope drop--it really seems like the most effective way of touring and we're early morning people any way. Plus having never seen any of the evening shows I would really like to see all five. Rope drop to fireworks is a long day, even with the earlier shows. And while my husband would do thirteen hour theme park days, maybe even seven of them, I have a hard time imagining he would actually enjoy it--I mean it is supposed to be a vacation, plus even though I've never been I feel pretty confident that I will LOVE it so I would really like to be able to go back. So we are doing the extra magic hours and actually planning on anywhere between 3 and 6 hours of nothing each afternoon, hopefully avoiding the busiest hours. I know some of that will be eaten up by transit but we are also looking at being able to walk to and from one of the resorts most days. I'm thinking there will still be time for the pool, some cocktails and maybe a nap each afternoon. Plus it works in a lot of wiggle room if something doesn't go as planned.

Never having done anything quite like this before I'm not really sure what to expect but I am optimistic that such a plan will work for us. Wish us luck!

 

[rasadkowski]

I'm not sure if some of you guys saw this, but someone from a December fb page posted a special event that she had been waiting for. The "highway in the sky" dining event. She had been waiting for this to be released for Nov/Dec for awhile. It was released yesterday, or at least I saw that the dates were now highlighted. Maybe one has to call to actually book. I had asked her for some specifics, and she mentioned that up until yesterday, the dates only showed through the end of Sept. She did say that someone in Special Services told her that dates would be released in Sept...so at least she did get some info. from a CM, unlike what we are really getting. It seems like we are all getting consistant info though...ie ..."theres no news of EMM being discontinued, and usually we find out ahead of time."

I am now hoping there may be a silver lining to EMM also being released this late

 

[notrub98]

Well.... take this with a grain of salt, but I just spoke with someone at Disney Dining who said she has been informed that EMM is being suspended for the entire months of November and December, and will resume in March. She said they are focusing Nov/Dec on parties only and EMM is not scheduled to return until Spring 2018. She said they will not be doing EMM in Jan/Feb as they are doing Disney After Hours instead in those months.

Again, we never know since CMs are wrong so often, but it is looking bleaker :-(. I hope she was wrong and I am still holding out hope for Sept 30th .

 

[SilSprBea]

Well.... take this with a grain of salt, but I just spoke with someone at Disney Dining who said she has been informed that EMM is being suspended for the entire months of November and December, and will resume in March. She said they are focusing Nov/Dec on parties only and EMM is not scheduled to return until Spring 2018.

Again, we never know since CMs are wrong so often, but it is looking bleaker :-(. I hope she was wrong and I am still holding out hope for Sept 30th .

Oh no! That is so depressing. However, that sounds like it might be real intel because it sounds too specific to be made up :-(

 

[rasadkowski]

Well.... take this with a grain of salt, but I just spoke with someone at Disney Dining who said she has been informed that EMM is being suspended for the entire months of November and December, and will resume in March. She said they are focusing Nov/Dec on parties only and EMM is not scheduled to return until Spring 2018. She said they will not be doing EMM in Jan/Feb as they are doing Disney After Hours instead in those months.

Again, we never know since CMs are wrong so often, but it is looking bleaker :-(. I hope she was wrong and I am still holding out hope for Sept 30th .

nooooo Im going to call now too and see if I can speak to a manager...do they even do that?! lol

 

[monique5]

nooooo Im going to call now too and see if I can speak to a manager...do they even do that?! lol

Yes! And report back. Thanks!

- If no EMM!

 

[rasadkowski]

Yes! And report back. Thanks!

- If no EMM!

ok.....so this is what I got....
she was very helpful...nothing "good" but I guess we can't lose hope......
she did say that she hasn't heard it was cancelled, but when I asked if they do get advance notice she said not really for example for Club Villian they did not get notice...it jsut stopped showing up on the schedule....

She also did say that if that cm had said it wasn't being availbe during MVMCP why would it be available during MNSSHP?

She did also text a supervisor via chat I assume who also said that she has not heard of it being discontinued and to just keep checking..

she said it was very popular, and that so looked back into past questions...Someone in may posted asking if was going to be availbe in Aug, and someone in Aug asked if it was going to available in Oct....

She said that these things can be announced whenever...it is totally random...( maybe even in the middle of the day?) @SilSprBea did you notice that the garden dessert party was announced midafternoon?)

I guess.....we still dont' know

 

[MimiOfTwo]

Well.... take this with a grain of salt, but I just spoke with someone at Disney Dining who said she has been informed that EMM is being suspended for the entire months of November and December, and will resume in March. She said they are focusing Nov/Dec on parties only and EMM is not scheduled to return until Spring 2018. She said they will not be doing EMM in Jan/Feb as they are doing Disney After Hours instead in those months.

Again, we never know since CMs are wrong so often, but it is looking bleaker :-(. I hope she was wrong and I am still holding out hope for Sept 30th .

Apparently this is good info. They just announced After Hours will be offered beginning in Jan. I'm sooooo sad we won't get to do EMM in November.

 

[anomamatt]

Well.... take this with a grain of salt, but I just spoke with someone at Disney Dining who said she has been informed that EMM is being suspended for the entire months of November and December, and will resume in March. She said they are focusing Nov/Dec on parties only and EMM is not scheduled to return until Spring 2018. She said they will not be doing EMM in Jan/Feb as they are doing Disney After Hours instead in those months.

Again, we never know since CMs are wrong so often, but it is looking bleaker :-(. I hope she was wrong and I am still holding out hope for Sept 30th .

As much as I never trust the phone center CMs, this does sound legit and understandable. When they don't offer EMM regularly, I can imagine it's harder to sell out. And they never offer it during holiday/peak times because the parks are open earlier. So I can believe this.

Still, those wanting to hold out hope have until October 1 to keep the hope alive. If we don't see Nov/Dec dates by then, not looking so promising.