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

[GADisneyDad14]

We were there this morning and I was not very happy. We rode TSM once, AS2 once and Slinky only twice. Both times the wait was right at 30-35 minutes (I timed it). And that was at the end of the event. They let us in late but did seem to hold the rope drop crowds back because they didn't enter the land until 9:05. If they hadn't, we would have only gotten one ride. Slinky didn't seem to be down because we could hear it early on. I'm not sure how many trains they usually run. There seemed to be two running today. The youngest in our group was 15 so no strollers or little ones. It did feel like there were too many people, but maybe my expectations were too high. My mood might improve once I've had a nap.

That doesn’t sound like a good experience. 30-35 min actual waits are not the norm for this event, historically speaking, from the many reviews on this thread. Possible, just not all that common.

There should be 3 trains on the track, I believe. If there were in fact 2, that explains a a lot. That would slow down that ride tremendously.

Sorry you did not have a great experience.

 

[Madame]

We are just back and did EMM on Monday 5/20. We were let back into the land at 7:15. We did SDD, TSM, SDD, A$$, SDD and TSM by 9. The first two rides on SDD had maybe 5 min lines. The last time was longer- maybe 20 min. Not sure if they took a dog out of service.

We missed the rope drop for R&R but were able to walk right through the show and pretty much on to the ride. We got back into the standby line and were the first group held for the show but it was pretty quick after that on to the ride.

Breakfast was very good- a bit chaotic as they neared closing bcs they ran out of forks and there were no plates for the pastries or bowls for the fruit. CM's were willing to go get them but it did take some time.

Overall pleased with the event. As we were walking out of the land, the rope drop crowd had arrived and the line for SDD was 80 min.

We were there as well! Yes, they took a dog off the track. There was a group of disabled adults that they were having difficulty transferring in and out of the car at the back and had to unload the train, pull up a new one and load again - we waited about 25ish mins during that time. We got back to TSL at 7:20 as I didn't think they would be opening that early, so we were behind the ball already.

In general I was not overly impressed with EMM. I'm glad it was just DD and I, as 5 people at this price would have been ridiculous.
There were too many variables that I had no control over and it stressed me out with that much $$ on the line - other visitors, weather, waiting alone for a boat from BC and thinking one wasn't going to show at 6:40, etc.
The breakfast was so-so. If I'd had a choice, I'd have preferred DAH, but it wasn't offered during our stay. YMMV

 

[mercydisney]

Now I am nervous that I dropped my $ on this event for 8/28. I thought I was smart and getting in early would make this my only HS day.

 

[Ariel620]

Today's experience seems to have longer waits than usual. Does anyone know if today was the first day they opened up a 3rd set of reservations? For months they have been opening up 2 sets (they open a 7am slot after the 7:30 sells out), but very recently they opened more slots after both of those sold out, and I'm wondering if today is the first event they did that, which would explain the overselling comments, and not bode well for future EMM. But if it really was just that they had to take one coaster off the track, then I would expect the remaining EMM to be ok.

I'm sorry you guys didn't have a good experience. I would go to guest services, 45 min is too long during this paid event IMHO.

 

[Smrtalec33]

Now I am nervous that I dropped my $ on this event for 8/28. I thought I was smart and getting in early would make this my only HS day.

We are going on Monday, for exactly the same reason. A four day trip, and that will be our only time at Hollywood studios.

My attitude is the money is already spent, we are going in with a strategy, and it is hard to imagine a situation in which we are not at least able to do all three rides once and then Get to Tower of terror before the rope drop crowd.

Also, given the current and expected temperatures, it will be nice to be in toy story land from 7:30 to 8:45 in the morning rather than any other time.

 

[CarlyMur09]

Went today as well. Due to issues with getting an accessible Minnie van for DF (told him if we do another one of those, taking a bus beforehand), we didn’t get to HS until 7:15, and was pretty much at the back of the crowd until they opened the land at... 7:35, I think it was.

Rode TSM first, was about a 10 minute wait with the ECV / wheelchair combination we have, then got on Slinky. First wait wasn’t too bad since they let us go through the fast pass line thanks to a nice CM, so that was maybe 5-10 minutes there.

Took a quick bathroom break, then we tried to figure out which ride to do next. (Didn’t want to do TSM since the ride takes forever to get in and out of, and i think they were only running the two original tracks today.) got into line for slinky, and got on in about 20 minutes or so. (Posted wait has been 35?) once we got off, we realized they still hadn’t let the crowds in and SDD had no line at that point, so we got on again! (This was after 9! Were they holding the crowd back to let the EMM crowd get their last ride in since they opened later than normal?) while we were on the ride, we could see the crowd starting to filter through the line

Breakfast was ok. A little crazy with the crowd , but at least we had food and shade, so can’t complain too much.

All in all, I think the last ride of SDD made the event worthwhile, but it’s still left us a bit leery about doing another one of these if this is what the new normal is.

 

[snoopy352]

With that in mind, I may cancel mine for 6/10. We are paying for a party of 8. I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience.

Is this even an option? You can get a full refund? If today was due to one of the tracks being down, ok, but if it was due to overselling, i will pursue a refund if that is on the table.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Is this even an option? You can get a full refund? If today was due to one of the tracks being down, ok, but if it was due to overselling, i will pursue a refund if that is on the table.

Are you asking if you can cancel? Yes. I canceled today.

 

[JennLTX]

Is this even an option? You can get a full refund? If today was due to one of the tracks being down, ok, but if it was due to overselling, i will pursue a refund if that is on the table.

I'm with you. I plan to wait and see what the next two EMMs look like, but if it's the same report, we're cancelling, ESPECIALLY since we were already pushing the envelope with AK DAH the night before.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

IMO Those waits are unacceptable, I would talk to guest services.

7:45??? That is 15 mins after the time you are supposed to be let in? I would have been at GS.

 

[Katrina Y]

We were there this morning and I was not very happy. We rode TSM once, AS2 once and Slinky only twice. Both times the wait was right at 30-35 minutes (I timed it). And that was at the end of the event. They let us in late but did seem to hold the rope drop crowds back because they didn't enter the land until 9:05. If they hadn't, we would have only gotten one ride. Slinky didn't seem to be down because we could hear it early on. I'm not sure how many trains they usually run. There seemed to be two running today. The youngest in our group was 15 so no strollers or little ones. It did feel like there were too many people, but maybe my expectations were too high. My mood might improve once I've had a nap.

That is terrible, you need to go to guest service and complain.

 

[Katrina Y]

We were there as well! Yes, they took a dog off the track. There was a group of disabled adults that they were having difficulty transferring in and out of the car at the back and had to unload the train, pull up a new one and load again - we waited about 25ish mins during that time. We got back to TSL at 7:20 as I didn't think they would be opening that early, so we were behind the ball already.

In general I was not overly impressed with EMM. I'm glad it was just DD and I, as 5 people at this price would have been ridiculous.
There were too many variables that I had no control over and it stressed me out with that much $$ on the line - other visitors, weather, waiting alone for a boat from BC and thinking one wasn't going to show at 6:40, etc.
The breakfast was so-so. If I'd had a choice, I'd have preferred DAH, but it wasn't offered during our stay. YMMV

How many rides were you able to do? Did it feel crowded?

 

[Katrina Y]

Are you asking if you can cancel? Yes. I canceled today.

I wondering about canceling too. I was concerned when they opened more time slots.

 

[Madame]

How many rides were you able to do? Did it feel crowded?

TSMM x 1, AS x 1 & SDD x 3. It felt more crowded than I anticipated for the cost.

 

[disneyfan150]

waiting alone for a boat from BC and thinking one wasn't going to show at 6:40,

How did that work out? We are staying at Yacht Club the night before our EMM reservation. I am worried about arriving early enough and how to get to HS.

 

[Madame]

How did that work out? We are staying at Yacht Club the night before our EMM reservation. I am worried about arriving early enough and how to get to HS.

The boat turned up & we stopped at BW & S&D before getting to DHS. I was worried it wouldn’t, but it did.

 

[AndreaDanger]

TSMM x 1, AS x 1 & SDD x 3. It felt more crowded than I anticipated for the cost.

Yeah, I'd feel frustrated with that. I mean, it's more rides than someone would get in for the same timeframe during regular park hours but as a comparison, we did SDD x 6, TSMM x 3 & AS2 x 4 during our January EMM and even just walked around and relaxed in between rides.

 

[123SA]

Hmmmm...since it doesn't look like there will be DAH during August, I booked this for two days for my family of 5. I know we won't eat the breakfast because the location is terrible...the only place more inconvenient than Backlot Express is the parking lot. 4 or 5 rides...not sure that's worth the price of this.

 

[jhoannam]

Hmmmm...since it doesn't look like there will be DAH during August, I booked this for two days for my family of 5. I know we won't eat the breakfast because the location is terrible...the only place more inconvenient than Backlot Express is the parking lot. 4 or 5 rides...not sure that's worth the price of this.

Why not eat the breakfast after 9:00AM? The strategy is to head over to RnR and/or ToT then head over to breakfast at 9:30.

 

[jhoannam]

Yeah, I'd feel frustrated with that. I mean, it's more rides than someone would get in for the same timeframe during regular park hours but as a comparison, we did SDD x 6, TSMM x 3 & AS2 x 4 during our January EMM and even just walked around and relaxed in between rides.

wow! how many were in your party?