MK/Fantasyland “Early Morning Magic” (EMM) FAQ & Discussion

[Brett Wyman]

Makes sense... Thank you! I missed that part.

But you do have the ability to beat the rope drop crowd, which line up in several places around the hub, to other popular attractions.

 

[DanFromNY]

But you do have the ability to beat the rope drop crowd, which line up in several places around the hub, to other popular attractions.

I was there on 5/5 and was able to beat a large majority of the RD crowd to Tomorrowland. My family had to be one of the first 20 people to ride Buzz. If you look back yo can see the detailed post of what I did. I'm not sure how to link it in my reply.

 

[Mellymc]

We attended EMM on May 14th. We had done the old format and this was our first time since the switch. I went in nervous because of some bad reviews. It is nothing like the old format but it was still worth it for us. We took the bus from Wilderness Lodge and arrived in plenty of time. We were able to ride PP once, meet all four princess’s at Fairy Tale hall and ride 7DMT five times. We could have probably gotten one more ride in but wanted to line up for rope drop. Breakfast was okay. We would have no issue doing this again.

 

[mekay1012]

We attended EMM on May 14th. We had done the old format and this was our first time since the switch. I went in nervous because of some bad reviews. It is nothing like the old format but it was still worth it for us. We took the bus from Wilderness Lodge and arrived in plenty of time. We were able to ride PP once, meet all four princess’s at Fairy Tale hall and ride 7DMT five times. We could have probably gotten one more ride in but wanted to line up for rope drop. Breakfast was okay. We would have no issue doing this again.

Its nice to see a positive review! I'm glad you had a good time.

 

[sjb95u]

My group of 8 did EMM this past Sunday 5/19 and we really enjoyed it. 3 adults, 5 children (ages 4,5,8,9,9).

We rode Peter Pan 2x (fastpass line open) then 7DMT 4x (standby line open) then Little Mermaid Under the Sea followed by Ariel meet and greet.

9:30 ate lunch (very good and plentiful) then used fp+ for Space Mountain.

I would book this again in a heartbeat.

 

[SFMommy]

Are there any thoughts or speculations if this will be offered in November when the park hours appear to have gone back “normal”?

 

[ColoradoMom12]

Are there any thoughts or speculations if this will be offered in November when the park hours appear to have gone back “normal”?

I’m crossing my fingers for November!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Are there any thoughts or speculations if this will be offered in November when the park hours appear to have gone back “normal”?

Really depends when/if they go back to normal. How long Disney extends any longer hours at parks like MK on account on SWGE is TBD. At some point that other ride will open, which could be like x2 on this whole setup.

I’m going to go with there will be more early MK openings through the end of the year and less EMMs than last year, but that’s a total guess!

 

[SFMommy]

Really depends when/if they go back to normal. How long Disney extends any longer hours at parks like MK on account on SWGE is TBD. At some point that other ride will open, which could be like x2 on this whole setup.

I’m going to go with there will be more early MK openings through the end of the year and less EMMs than last year, but that’s a total guess!

I would also be happy with early opening times or more morning EMH's added. For us a 9:00 a.m. opening is soooooo late to get started! We are happier with very early opening times!

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I would also be happy with early opening times or more morning EMH's added. For us a 9:00 a.m. opening is soooooo late to get started! We are happier with very early opening times!

We’re also very happy with earlier opening times. I especially love when MK opens at 8:00, and morning EMH is at 7:00. Not everyone finds 7 AM quite as magical a time as my DD and I, lol.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

We’re also very happy with earlier opening times. I especially love when MK opens at 8:00, and morning EMH is at 7:00. Not everyone finds 7 AM quite as magical a time as my DD and I, lol.

I was hoping for some 8am opening times with MK on our trip next week, but no luck. 9am will do, but my son is up most mornings before 7am because of when he gets up to get ready for school. That doesn't go away when we are on vacation. I reminded him waking up at 6am while in Disney is actually 5am for us...but considering he's up at that time or around 5:15 anyway, I suppose we'll be okay.

 

[SJSloan]

I've been watching the wait times of the last few EMM Fantasyland events to prepare for this coming Sunday when we are going. I got really nervous this morning when I saw a 35 minute wait for SDMT and Pooh being down. Then it switched to both SDMT and Pooh being closed. But it quickly turned to both being open with relatively minimal waits.

I hope I don't jinx us, but I'm getting excited!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I finally got to do the new format EMM this past Sunday. I’ll write up a detailed review with time stamps here in the next day or so.

My TLDR version, all in all, it was a good morning. We enjoyed the greater selection of rides/attractions. I can’t prove this statement , but it does feel like the guest count is a bit higher than before - but I can’t say it materially changed our experience.

Did not encounter any material waits at all.

Did not do 7DMT until 8:31pm. Rode 5 times between then and 9am, never waited longer than 3 minutes, 27 seconds.

We had the train to ourselves on our last ride right at 9am.



Guess I need to figure out the new boards, not sure why that image rotated!

The line for 7DMT looked much longer at the beginning. Not sure what actual waits were like but I wasn’t going to try it.

Biggest old vs new setup negative was the breakfast, will get into that later.

But overall, despite losing some of the “intimate” feel of the old version, we did every ride/attraction during the event time except IASW plus 5 rides on 7DMT ranging from no to 3 min waits. No complaints there and it was a very effective way to start the day, for our style.

Also, surprisingly the gates opened at 7:40-7:41, it has been more like 7:45 from our experiences and past reports. Really appreciated having that extra 5ish mins to make our way back to Fantasyland. YMMV there of course.

Will post more detail when I get a chance.

 

[goofygal531]

@GADisneyDad14 Would love to hear your detailed comparison.

I really enjoyed our first EMM back in Feb 2018, the crowds felt very light. We went again in Aug 2018 and it felt like twice the amount of people!

Are you able to line up for Tomorrowland Speedway prior to RD? Or close by? With the new breakfast location I’m wondering where they hold everyone now?

 

[Lsdolphin]

Is the walkway around Sleepy Hollow where you usually enter fantasy land for EMM closed if so how do they have you enter for EMM?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Is the walkway around Sleepy Hollow where you usually enter fantasy land for EMM closed if so how do they have you enter for EMM?

That was the old way for EMM. On Sunday they directed you towards the bridge to Tea Cups and you enter that way. I ‘think’ that has been the new setup since the new version of EMM was introduced, although not totally sure about that.

FWIW, that Sleep Hollow castle path is closed/under construction right now. It’s being widened.

 

[Lsdolphin]

That was the old way for EMM. On Sunday they directed you towards the bridge to Tea Cups and you enter that way. I ‘think’ that has been the new setup since the new version of EMM was introduced, although not totally sure about that.

FWIW, that Sleep Hollow castle path is closed/under construction right now. It’s being widened.

Yes, that’s what I thought...we were there in March. Going 6/27 basically just to ride PP maybe Pooh, and LM. One more question will they let you use FP entrance for LM...I thought it was unfair that when we went to DAH we wasted time having to thru the standby line and am hoping that won’t be the case for EMM

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Yes, that’s what I thought...we were there in March. Going 6/27 basically just to ride PP maybe Pooh, and LM. One more question will they let you use FP entrance for LM...I thought it was unfair that when we went to DAH we wasted time having to thru the standby line and am hoping that won’t be the case for EMM

We used the FP entrance for LM on Sunday (thank goodness!).

 

[bperk3]

I was there on Sunday too. We took the path by Cinderella's wishing well to get to Fantasyland and were the first ones walking into that area and the first onto PP. After Pan, we went to Pooh, then Mine Train 3 times before heading to LM. We did also use the FP line for LM. Our plan was to get to Space Mountain with the RD crowd, so we hit Tea Cups and then waited near the entrance to Speedway with the group heading that way. We were right near the front and had less than a 15 minute wait to get on Space before heading to breakfast after that.

 

[goofygal531]

I was there on Sunday too. We took the path by Cinderella's wishing well to get to Fantasyland and were the first ones walking into that area and the first onto PP. After Pan, we went to Pooh, then Mine Train 3 times before heading to LM. We did also use the FP line for LM. Our plan was to get to Space Mountain with the RD crowd, so we hit Tea Cups and then waited near the entrance to Speedway with the group heading that way. We were right near the front and had less than a 15 minute wait to get on Space before heading to breakfast after that.

Thank you for reminding me about that path!!!

Were EMM guests able to line up at the Speedway?