Any feedback on EEMH at Hollywood Studios? 6am till 9am. What was your experience?

Reading this, sounds like, for tomorrow 9/16, we should be golden to arrive by 8ish and just do RNRC and TOT.

So, we can do those 2 desired rides for her, then hop to MK and ride POC, SM....maybe a few others before we need to exit the parks by 2 to drive back to MCO.

Gee, if we have time, think I could get a decent parking spot for the World of Disney store?

As you saw in person today, wait times for RnR and ToT have not been anywhere close to significant during EEMH.
 
I'm happy to see how efficient MFSR seems to be at moving people through. Checked the app Saturday morning to see what wait times were like on a Saturday (we're going Oct 5) and 30 minutes at ~8:30, with only 25 minutes for Slinky Dog and 10 minutes for RnR and ToT is great. Originally we were thinking we'd just head to TSL and not "fight" to do SWGE on this trip... just do it next year.

Glad to hear I'll be able to experience and enjoy it this time!
 
We are arriving the 25th and have the 26th and 29th as our EEMH DHS days. I also planned to avoid Saturday crowds but then following the app this morning, it showed the most consistently low waits across the board for the entire week. There's really no predicting anymore haha.

Sounds like a popular schedule! We will also be there next week - doing EPCOT on the 25th, then EMH at DHS the day of the 26th & MK After Hours Party the night of the 26th. I'm gonna be studying the wait times on the app this Thursday morning during EMH to see how the Thursday before our Thursday looks... :-)
 
Sounds like a popular schedule! We will also be there next week - doing EPCOT on the 25th, then EMH at DHS the day of the 26th & MK After Hours Party the night of the 26th. I'm gonna be studying the wait times on the app this Thursday morning during EMH to see how the Thursday before our Thursday looks... :-)

Haha, we're doing the same thing! Arriving on the 25th, EEMH at DHS the 26th and DAH at MK that night. Going to be a long day but we're so excited!
 


Originally we were thinking we'd just head to TSL and not "fight" to do SWGE on this trip... just do it next year.

We had the same kind of thought. We were going to skip DHS completely this trip to avoid the wave of humanity. Now I'm getting optimistic we can do a 6AM to 9AM visit on TUES 10/08. So, if the crowds start getting crazy first thing in the morning, blame me and my dang optimism. :earboy2:
 
Seriously, HS is not busier than any of the other parks. We had an incredible low crowd day there last Thursday. It was my favorite day in HS ever and by far the least crowded I have experienced there.
 
We're going to the world for 2 days 10/5 and 10/6, primarily to experience GE. We're arriving at the Boardwalk villa on the night of 10/4 and plan to be at HS for 6am rope drop. What time should we be there to be near the front of the line?

From anyone's experience...is there a big crowd at 6am? Should we do SR first or get a walk in at the cantina?


Thanks in advance
 


We're going to the world for 2 days 10/5 and 10/6, primarily to experience GE. We're arriving at the Boardwalk villa on the night of 10/4 and plan to be at HS for 6am rope drop. What time should we be there to be near the front of the line?

From anyone's experience...is there a big crowd at 6am? Should we do SR first or get a walk in at the cantina?


Thanks in advance
I merged you with the main EEMH thread
 
Haha, we're doing the same thing! Arriving on the 25th, EEMH at DHS the 26th and DAH at MK that night. Going to be a long day but we're so excited!

And that makes 3. We are doing the same too (minus the DAH). I hope we don't ALL have the same idea!!

That is IF we can make it up on the 26th....our bodies will still be on Pacific time so it will be like waking at 2 am and simultaneously dealing with jet lag after a long day of travel on the 25th. I SO hope we will make it!
 
to be at the front of the line try to get to security check between 5 and 5:20 am security will let you thru around 5:20 and they will hold the crowd just past the tapstiles on the road in front of chinese theatre. then at 6 they will march you back on to smugglers run. We did this first week of sept and there were abt 20-30 ppl in front of us (be sure to take a restroom break before joining the crowd preferably outside the park by the tram drop off as you will lose ur spot in the crowd if you peel off into bathroom once you start moving. Cantina will take walk ups... they actually have ppl out front asking if you want to come during the emh. I would recommend hitting the rest of the park after smugglers run, we walked on to everything and then hit the cantina. have fun!
 
How do you go from BC to DHS at 6:00 am? are the friendships working or do you walk?
 
We were at WDW (staying at the Beach Club) 9/8-9/15...DS and DDIL went to GE every single day, and twice on two of the 7 days...The line at Smugglers Run was listed at between one hour (right at 6 a.m. opening) to 30-40 minutes (all but twice--the one-hour 6 a.m. opening line and a line during the evening mid-week when it was listed at 20 minutes)...I went twice, rode Smuggler's Run once (wait time shown at 40 minutes, at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon); my kids rode it multiple times each of the 10 or so times they went to HS--never was the wait longer than 30 minutes and several times it was walk-on for DS and DDIL...

We got there at 6:30 one morning...walk on to Slinky Dog, Swirling Saucers & Toy Story Mania; also Rock 'n Roller Coaster--but weirdly, the wait for Tower of Terror was listed at 75 minutes (didn't go over there to see if it was a mistake)...mostly, the kids got there by around 7:30-8 a.m. and went back after dinner...

The Friendship boats started running well before 6 am (not sure how early they started), altho we walked over all but twice...no bus service from either BC or BWV, though...

SOOO not crowded (anywhere, really...we even walked on to Flight of Passage when we went to AK for extra extra magic hours (opening was at 7; it was 7:15 or so by the time we got there)...we were blown away by the experience; hadn't encountered such low crowds in years & years...and it was true for every park no matter the time of day (there were some lines at the F&W booths at Epcot at meal-time, but that was pretty much the only "sort of" crowding we encountered...
 
After reading these posts, I still feel unsure about relying on Disney for early morning transportation to HS on 9/30. We want to get to HS by 5:30am. We have a slight predicament because my mom has an ECV (So we can't use our rental car) and my niece is car seat size (so we can't use a taxi). I have no problem taking the bus...but we all know how predictable the buses are for early openings.😏 We are staying at AoA from 9/29-10/2 so in theory we should be able to ride the Skyliner with the scooter...but the Skyliner doesn't open until 5:45am according to the info Disney released and, just based on a rough estimate, that wouldn't even put us in the park by 6am after bag check and everything. We were going to reserve an accessible MinnieVan but from what I could find those don't start running until later in the morning (I'm going to call). Mom can walk short distances so I wish there was a way to drop off her scooter the night before at HS so we could just use our car to get over there in the morning. Any ideas? What is the success rate with the buses for getting to HS early for EEMH?

..........And then there's the matter of navigating that kind of crowd with an ECV while trying to get in line for SR. Has anyone attempted it yet? Can you bring the ECV through the line or do you have to transfer? Thanks for any insight!
 
After reading these posts, I still feel unsure about relying on Disney for early morning transportation to HS on 9/30. We want to get to HS by 5:30am. We have a slight predicament because my mom has an ECV (So we can't use our rental car) and my niece is car seat size (so we can't use a taxi). I have no problem taking the bus...but we all know how predictable the buses are for early openings.😏 We are staying at AoA from 9/29-10/2 so in theory we should be able to ride the Skyliner with the scooter...but the Skyliner doesn't open until 5:45am according to the info Disney released and, just based on a rough estimate, that wouldn't even put us in the park by 6am after bag check and everything. We were going to reserve an accessible MinnieVan but from what I could find those don't start running until later in the morning (I'm going to call). Mom can walk short distances so I wish there was a way to drop off her scooter the night before at HS so we could just use our car to get over there in the morning. Any ideas? What is the success rate with the buses for getting to HS early for EEMH?

..........And then there's the matter of navigating that kind of crowd with an ECV while trying to get in line for SR. Has anyone attempted it yet? Can you bring the ECV through the line or do you have to transfer? Thanks for any insight!
You can bring the ecv through the line but you must transfer to go on the ride, then you exit through an elevator
 
Just did EEMH yesterday, nephew and I left BC at 5:15, friendship boat was going by, but didn’t stop at our dock, we weren’t sure if it was because no one was there? But our plans was to walk anyway. I noticed a friendship boat had just arrived when we were going thru bag check.
We got to HS at 5:30. Starbucks was open :worship:.
We were sort of in the middle of the group, we couldn’t see the storm troopers when they came out, only when we went around the lake. But the march music was pretty cool.

We did smugglers run first, line said 60 minutes, but we boarded at 6:28, and that included the initial walk over. We left the area, did all three toy story land rides, (the only one not showing a 5 min wait was slinky dog, but we boarded in 15 minutes, wait was posted as 20) star tours, nephew wasn’t feeling RNR that early, and refuses to do tower of terror, but both had a posted 5 min wait time.

After star tours we returned to Batuu, explored the land with more light, went in the cantina, did the droid building experience, (I had later reservations for both of these things, but we did them early with no problem)

We were walking out of the park at 9:05, having done everything we wanted, and we really could have squeezed in more rides if we had wanted to. (Save the droid building for last, the box does have a handle, but it’s still kind of a cumbersome size)

It’s totally worth waking up for, the 6:00am march to batuu is pretty cool as well. If you are not interested in Star Wars stuff, you could really arrive at any time during EEMH, as there were really no significant waits anywhere else
 
I dropped in yesterday. went in around 8:30, rode MFSR with no wait at all (single rider), they had a 45 minute wait sign up for the standby line. When 9 PM came it filled up fast and the line went back around the Falcon. So many people. My first experience was Hurricane Dorian's weekend and there were a lot fewer guests then. As usual, Oga's was packed. Had a reservation with some friends who were staying offsite, they weren't able to come in until 9. Apparently they had an issue with someone sneaking into Oga's without being let in by the CMs, and they had to (politely) corral him and show him the door.
 
What time do the busses leave the resorts? I have went through all the replies and I don't seem to see an answer. We are at an All Star if that makes a difference. (For the 6am opening)
 
What time do the busses leave the resorts? I have went through all the replies and I don't seem to see an answer. We are at an All Star if that makes a difference. (For the 6am opening)
WE stayed at Sports last week & did EEMH last Thursday. Got to the bus stop at 5:00 & a bus pulled up 3 minutes later :). Not sure if another bus had come earlier or not - sorry!
 
Do we know yet when Disney will announce EMH for HS past the Nov 1 date? With 60 days being this week I would of thought they would of announced by now.
 
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Sorry for the long post…
Just returned yesterday evening from 4 days at WDW. We stayed at AoA and I just wanted to relay our experience and some tips for anyone traveling to Batuu or planning on using the Skyliner for HS GE EEMH or staying at a Skyliner resort.

4:50am Monday-We left our room traveling with 5 people, 1 ECV and a 19-month old in a stroller.
4:55am-Arrived to the bus stop. A bus was sitting there only partially full, but we could not load with the ECV because people were already on the bus.
5:05am-That partially full bus pulls away from us. No problem, we would wait for the next one. We sit for a bit waiting to find out when the next bus would arrive, but the digital bus board was not showing the ETA for the next bus. It just kept flashing the words ‘Use Skyliner’. We had the opportunity to ride the Skyliner on opening day with the ECV and it was relatively easy, but it takes a LONG, LONG time (but that’s a story for another thread). I had read here that the Skyliner was not going to open on Monday until 5:45am but I thought maybe they had changed their minds considering the crowds.
5:15am-So when the bus board had still not updated with a time and it was still flashing ‘Use Skyliner’ we started to wonder if the bus had been delayed or they had reduced the number of buses because of the Skyliner. So I walked inside to ask at the desk what we should do. The desk clerk told us the Skyliner was open and running (I clarified twice).
5:20-We headed to the Skyliner. Still no bus, and no one else but us in line for the bus. I know at one point the MDE app had bus times but for the life of me I could not find them on the app while we were there. So we make the trek back to the Skyliner bridge station and I’ll ruin the surprise for you now: The Skyliner was NOT open. Lol. The line was soooooooooo long they had to curl it back around and over the bridge again. The desk clerk unfortunately told us incorrect information.
5:30am-The CM tells us that they would be opening in 5 minutes. So we decided to wait because we still had no idea what was going on with the buses. Welllll, 5 minutes pass, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes pass and we are still standing there as the line grows.
5:45-And FINALLY they start running and loading shortly after. Now this is where it starts to get fun! *eye roll* The stroller and 3 people in the party waited in the regular line for the Skyliner (longer line, shorter launch time) and the ECV with two people waited in the handicap line (shorter line, much longer launch time). The stroller crew got through the entire line and all the way through the length of the Skyliner flight path before the ECV crew even departed the station.
6am-While the ECV group is sitting in the gondola waiting to depart, we get a phone call from the stroller crew saying ‘We are stranded at the Caribbean Beach Club because there is such a mass influx of people from 3 resorts for 2 parks that they had to shut down the Skyliner because they couldn’t handle the crowd and they are shipping everyone out in buses that aren’t here yet. They are saying the wait for the bus line will be over an hour long. Get out of the gondola now!’.....and just as the stranded stroller crew speaks those final words over the phone and we turn to ask to get out of the gondola the CM says ‘Have a nice flight!’ as the door to the gondola closes. At this point we have officially missed rope drop.
6:15ish am-By the time we get to the CB Skyliner station the CMs had figured out to tell people to head back to their resorts to catch buses and we have to disembark and re-board the gondolas back to AofA.
6:25am-After arriving back to AofA, we stopped briefly at the front desk to let them know the Skyliner was down and that it had not been running early that morning so they could let others know if they asked.
6:35/6:40-We went to stand in the bus line. Again no time showing on the digital board which is still flashing ‘Use Skyliner’, even though the Skyliner is officially closed.
6:55am-We board the bus and by the time we get to HS, get through bag check, and scan our tickets it was...
7:20am-We head back to GE after a brief hold up while they moved the stage through the park
7:35am-We arrived on Batuu at 7:35. Bright Suns all!

You know how they say to allow an hour for travel time on Disney property? It took us nearly 3 HOURS to get to Galaxy’s Edge. By the time we arrived, the wait for Smuggler’s Run was 75 minutes long which was exactly what we were hoping to avoid. We didn’t want my 19-month old niece to have to sit out and wait that long. I don’t even know what to say at this point. I tried laughing through the setbacks but I’m not going to lie; that morning SUCKED. We were so excited to be in Galaxy’s Edge in the dark of the early morning as the sun was rising and instead we got there in the heat of the morning crowd.

I can't even tell you there's a moral to this story or what I could have done differently to have avoided missing rope drop. I seriously believed that leaving more than an hour early would be plenty of time to get there and be near the front of the pack, but it unfortunately was not. If the bus boards had accurately reflected either the time of the next bus or the fact that Skyliner was actually not operating, we would have never left the bus line. If the cast member hadn’t told us the Skyliner was running, if we hadn’t been told they would be up in 5 minutes, or if they would have communicated between stations about the shutdown, if just one of those things hadn’t happened we would have gotten there on time.

Take-Away Tips for traveling to EEMH:
-The bus boards are currently not reflecting the accurate operating times of the Skyliner.
-The bus boards are currently not reflecting the ETA of the buses at the Skyliner resorts for HS or Epcot.
-The Skyliner is a fast and convenient mode of transportation for the average guest when operating.
-The Skyliner is a convenient mode of transportation for guests in wheelchairs or ECVs, but not a fast mode of transportation.
-The Skyliner is not a reliable transportation method for getting to EEMH rope drop at this time.

TL: DR-No matter what amount of planning and double-checking you do, sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want at Walt Disney World.
 

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