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

[scottmel]

We are going on the 8th as well and just saw the 7:00 added. I used your idea of canceling the 7:30 and adding the 7:00 through mydisney experience; it was super quick and easy to do. Great idea and thanks for sharing!! Now to see how it works on the credit card...

I really want to book this but the fine print says non refundable and non moveable so I am concerned yet in reading your post you were able to cancel and rebook?

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

We are going on the 8th as well and just saw the 7:00 added. I used your idea of canceling the 7:30 and adding the 7:00 through mydisney experience; it was super quick and easy to do. Great idea and thanks for sharing!! Now to see how it works on the credit card...

My new charge came through within a couple of minutes. Based on doing the same thing with CRT, I expect to get a refund in about a week. See you there!

I really want to book this but the fine print says non refundable and non moveable so I am concerned yet in reading your post you were able to cancel and rebook?

The confirmation email says you can cancel, which is in direct conflict with the info on the website. Some people seem to have had luck with calling the Dining people, but I don’t have their U.K. number so I just did it online and it seems to have worked fine. It functioned exactly like a normal ADR: I picked the 7am slot and it warned me that I had a conflicting ADR (ie the 7:30am slot). I clicked the button to cancel it, and it went through exactly as if I were cancelling a normal ADR. I got a cancellation confirmation email and a confirmation email for my new time.

If you are concerned, I would do it the way I did, rather than cancelling the 7:30am and then trying to rebook at 7am. Because the system overwrites it, it doesn’t cancel your existing reservation until your new one is confirmed.

Edit: Is that clear? What I’m saying is: don’t cancel and rebook. Book the 7am as a new reservation and let it overwrite the 7:30am reservation with the new, 7am one.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I really want to book this but the fine print says non refundable and non moveable so I am concerned yet in reading your post you were able to cancel and rebook?

The cancellation policy is 1 day, despite what the website says. EMM (both MK and DHS) acts like an ADR and can easily be booked/cancelled online with no issues. When cancelling, the exact timing of getting a refund depends on your credit card, but for us it’s usually 1-3 days.

 

[scottmel]

My new charge came through within a couple of minutes. Based on doing the same thing with CRT, I expect to get a refund in about a week. See you there!



The confirmation email says you can cancel, which is in direct conflict with the info on the website. Some people seem to have had luck with calling the Dining people, but I don’t have their U.K. number so I just did it online and it seems to have worked fine. It functioned exactly like a normal ADR: I picked the 7am slot and it warned me that I had a conflicting ADR (ie the 7:30am slot). I clicked the button to cancel it, and it went through exactly as if I were cancelling a normal ADR. I got a cancellation confirmation email and a confirmation email for my new time.

If you are concerned, I would do it the way I did, rather than cancelling the 7:30am and then trying to rebook at 7am. Because the system overwrites it, it doesn’t cancel your existing reservation until your new one is confirmed.

Edit: Is that clear? What I’m saying is: don’t cancel and rebook. Book the 7am as a new reservation and let it overwrite the 7:30am reservation with the new, 7am one.

PERFECT explantion! THANKS!

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

PERFECT explantion! THANKS!

You’re very welcome. Good luck!

 

[AngiTN]

I figure the 2 different times for this are no different than the 2 different times for a dessert party. They are meaningless. Everyone can show up at the same time

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

I figure the 2 different times for this are no different than the 2 different times for a dessert party. They are meaningless. Everyone can show up at the same time

I suspect you are right, but it required a certain amount of knowledge that contradicts what Disney tells you. If you booked early you were given the 7:30am slot, and there has been no communication telling us that we can get in early - the initial email says you can check in “from 7am” for 7:30 entry. So unless they read forums or for some reason were playing around with other options on the website, guests who booked early would not know about it, and are essentially being penalised 30 minutes in the park for booking early. That’s pretty rotten.

 

[AngiTN]

I suspect you are right, but it required a certain amount of knowledge that contradicts what Disney tells you. If you booked early you were given the 7:30am slot, and there has been no communication telling us that we can get in early - the initial email says you can check in “from 7am” for 7:30 entry. So unless they read forums or for some reason were playing around with other options on the website, guests who booked early would not know about it, and are essentially being penalised 30 minutes in the park for booking early. That’s pretty rotten.

Yep, agree 100%
Granted, the same goes for the Dessert Parties.
People think they have to check in exactly at the time shown on their reservations. They have no clue that they can check in so much ahead of that time. Nothing on the website tells them that and if you were to call, they'd never know that either.
Just one more in a LONG line of things that Disney gets wrong, or contradictory. I really find no excuse for it either.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Yep, agree 100%
Granted, the same goes for the Dessert Parties.
People think they have to check in exactly at the time shown on their reservations. They have no clue that they can check in so much ahead of that time. Nothing on the website tells them that and if you were to call, they'd never know that either.
Just one more in a LONG line of things that Disney gets wrong, or contradictory. I really find no excuse for it either.

I didn’t realise that we could check in much earlier for the dessert party - thank you for that!

As a WDW newbie, I’m finding all the contradictory advice from Disney to be incredibly frustrating. Certainly it’s a huge operation, but there seems to be little consistency. I’m incredibly glad I found this board and podcast!

 

[Rileygirl]

The cancellation policy is 1 day, despite what the website says. EMM (both MK and DHS) acts like an ADR and can easily be booked/cancelled online with no issues. When cancelling, the exact timing of getting a refund depends on your credit card, but for us it’s usually 1-3 days.

This very helpful information. I wonder if you might put it on the first post as an update?

I was also curious on the dates it starts but the Disney website only shows me dates that are available. So when is the actual first emm for DHS? I am wondering who will give us real time experience.

Finally, the first post does not mention the new 7 am time slot, and that might be relevant information for anyone who just has found this thread. I think most people read the first post or two, then skip to the current posts, and then end up asking questions.....it might be helpful to keep up the first post?

 

[PrincessDuck]

This very helpful information. I wonder if you might put it on the first post as an update?

I was also curious on the dates it starts but the Disney website only shows me dates that are available. So when is the actual first emm for DHS? I am wondering who will give us real time experience.

Finally, the first post does not mention the new 7 am time slot, and that might be relevant information for anyone who just has found this thread. I think most people read the first post or two, then skip to the current posts, and then end up asking questions.....it might be helpful to keep up the first post?

The list of dates are in post #2, so the first date is September 17, 2018.

 

[Rileygirl]

The list of dates are in post #2, so the first date is September 17, 2018.

Oops..

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I suspect you are right, but it required a certain amount of knowledge that contradicts what Disney tells you. If you booked early you were given the 7:30am slot, and there has been no communication telling us that we can get in early - the initial email says you can check in “from 7am” for 7:30 entry. So unless they read forums or for some reason were playing around with other options on the website, guests who booked early would not know about it, and are essentially being penalised 30 minutes in the park for booking early. That’s pretty rotten.

Yep, agree 100%
Granted, the same goes for the Dessert Parties.
People think they have to check in exactly at the time shown on their reservations. They have no clue that they can check in so much ahead of that time. Nothing on the website tells them that and if you were to call, they'd never know that either.
Just one more in a LONG line of things that Disney gets wrong, or contradictory. I really find no excuse for it either.

The only thing I'd add is that I really don't have a desire to get to a dessert party early -- there's plenty of time to eat a few desserts and I'm really there for the viewing area. If I had 30 fewer minutes of riding attractions (assuming that can be the case here), THAT would annoy me...

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

The only thing I'd add is that I really don't have a desire to get to a dessert party early -- there's plenty of time to eat a few desserts and I'm really there for the viewing area. If I had 30 fewer minutes of riding attractions (assuming that can be the case here), THAT would annoy me...

This is very true! I’m doing the dessert party for the view too, but it’s good to know that if we need a break in the time before it, we can go earlier than stated. I’m doing Keys to the Kingdom the morning of the MK dessert party, so I may be very grateful for earlier access to a sit down and some snacks after 5 hours of walking!

 

[anomamatt]

Yep, agree 100%
Granted, the same goes for the Dessert Parties.
People think they have to check in exactly at the time shown on their reservations. They have no clue that they can check in so much ahead of that time. Nothing on the website tells them that and if you were to call, they'd never know that either.
Just one more in a LONG line of things that Disney gets wrong, or contradictory. I really find no excuse for it either.

I agree with your sentiment, but I think it's intentional on Disney's part. I think they do the staggered times as a means of crowd control. But they allow people to come any time to make sure there are no inequities enforced (to prevent people complaining, they'll just say "oh, the fine print says you can check in at 7 for the 7:30am slot and you would have been let in").

 

[GADisneyDad14]

This is OT for this thread, but getting in early for dessert parties before the ADR time can be variable to the desserty party in question. The ADR time for the Plaza Garden viewing version at MK, for example, is already 1.5 hours before fireworks time. They might start letting people in 10-20ish mins earlier on any given night, but it’s not usually going to be materially earlier. For the FEA/Illuminations party we did in Feb and April, it was around 5-10 mins before the ADR time. YMMV of course since they can do different things on any given night.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

I agree with your sentiment, but I think it's intentional on Disney's part. I think they do the staggered times as a means of crowd control. But they allow people to come any time to make sure there are no inequities enforced (to prevent people complaining, they'll just say "oh, the fine print says you can check in at 7 for the 7:30am slot and you would have been let in").

I think you are right, but I also think it is a rotten thing to do. Particularly in this case, where those who bought tickets first are penalised by 30 mins. It also suggests that they are letting in more people than at MK EMM, which doesn’t have/need staggered entry.

This is the same fine print on my 7:30am booking, now cancelled, and my new 7am booking:
Guests will check-in at the main entrance of Disney's Hollywood Studios starting at 7am and receive a wristband for event identification.

We had always intended to arrive about 7am. However, with a 7:30am start, I had assumed we would be nearer the front of the queue. Had I not read this forum, I would have arrived to find that the 7am entry people had been queuing since 6:30am, while we hung around our hotel room, bored and wide awake.

Edit: Off-topic comment removed

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

This is OT for this thread, but getting in early for dessert parties before the ADR time can be variable to the desserty party in question. The ADR time for the Plaza Garden viewing version at MK, for example, is already 1.5 hours before fireworks time. They might start letting people in 10-20ish mins earlier on any given night, but it’s not usually going to be materially earlier. For the FEA/Illuminations party we did in Feb and April, it was around 5-10 mins before the ADR time. YMMV of course since they can do different things on any given night.

That’s great to know; thank you!

 

[anomamatt]

It also suggests that they are letting in more people than at MK EMM, which doesn’t have/need staggered entry.

I'm wishfully hoping it's double MK EMM numbers... TSL EMM must have significantly higher capacity with TSM, SDD, and AS2 (and the M&G) compared to MK EMM... so as long as they didn't make it 10x the numbers, I think it will still be awesomely awesome.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

This very helpful information. I wonder if you might put it on the first post as an update?

I was also curious on the dates it starts but the Disney website only shows me dates that are available. So when is the actual first emm for DHS? I am wondering who will give us real time experience.

Finally, the first post does not mention the new 7 am time slot, and that might be relevant information for anyone who just has found this thread. I think most people read the first post or two, then skip to the current posts, and then end up asking questions.....it might be helpful to keep up the first post?

Thanks for the note and suggestions. Yeah, I’ve got some updates I need to make to Post #1. I rushed when info first came pour. I’ll work on it soon.