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

[WhitneyMB]

The land certainly filled up quickly and we headed over the RNR and Tower for quick rides before breakfast. Photopass shows RNR at 9:15 and Tower at 9:29

This is what we're considering doing. It looks like on 11/7 the parks were only a "4" in crowds overall and a "3" at HS (according to Touring Plans). When we are going the end of March it should be more like a 7-8 due to Spring Break, and the plans are saying that using the same strategy will result in us getting over to the ABC Commissary at about 9:50/55. We're not sure we want to plan it quite that tight. Hmmm.

All the reviews are very helpful! Thank you!

 

[Iowamomof4]

This is what we're considering doing. It looks like on 11/7 the parks were only a "4" in crowds overall and a "3" at HS (according to Touring Plans). When we are going the end of March it should be more like a 7-8 due to Spring Break, and the plans are saying that using the same strategy will result in us getting over to the ABC Commissary at about 9:50/55. We're not sure we want to plan it quite that tight. Hmmm.

All the reviews are very helpful! Thank you!

Maybe you'll need to just keep an eye on the time and pick your favorite ride first (TOT or RNRC) and be prepared to abandon the second ride if the first takes too long or the line on ride 2 is too long when you are ready to enter.

 

[RachaelA]

This is what we're considering doing. It looks like on 11/7 the parks were only a "4" in crowds overall and a "3" at HS (according to Touring Plans). When we are going the end of March it should be more like a 7-8 due to Spring Break, and the plans are saying that using the same strategy will result in us getting over to the ABC Commissary at about 9:50/55. We're not sure we want to plan it quite that tight. Hmmm.

All the reviews are very helpful! Thank you!

They were still serving food at ABC (had condensed the drinks and pastries down to one table) at 10:15 on 10/31 when we did our EMM.

 

[DisneyDogFan]

Just moved our 1/30 reservation to the 7:00 group. I know it probably doesn’t matter but it feels better.

Any recent reports on the character lines? My goal is SDDx3, AS2x2, and TSMx2 plus both meets but I feel that might be kind of ambitious, particularly since we want to rope drop RNR before eating breakfast.

 

[ninafeliz]

Just moved our 1/30 reservation to the 7:00 group. I know it probably doesn’t matter but it feels better.

Any recent reports on the character lines? My goal is SDDx3, AS2x2, and TSMx2 plus both meets but I feel that might be kind of ambitious, particularly since we want to rope drop RNR before eating breakfast.

We did SDD x 4, AS2 x 2, TSMM x 2, and Buzz and Jessie. I guess we could have skipped the last SDD and gotten in line for Buzz and accomplished what you want, except it would have depended on the Buzz line if you could still do RNRC before breakfast or not. I think you probably could.

 

[kittylady1972]

Thanks for all of the updates here. We have a group doing EMM at HS next week (Thanksgiving Week) because I have a 4yo and 6yo who I think will love Toy Story Land rides and the characters. I'm not sure I like spending so much money for them to eat there, but I guess like the character meals we aren't really paying for the food. I am curious as to how good the food is there, as it seems to get mixed reactions. We have until this weekend to cancel.

 

[WhitneyMB]

Thanks for all of the updates here. We have a group doing EMM at HS next week (Thanksgiving Week) because I have a 4yo and 6yo who I think will love Toy Story Land rides and the characters. I'm not sure I like spending so much money for them to eat there, but I guess like the character meals we aren't really paying for the food. I am curious as to how good the food is there, as it seems to get mixed reactions. We have until this weekend to cancel.

I can’t answer your question about the quality of the food, but I will say that—like many others I’ve seen mention this—I consider each FastPass worth about $10-15 depending on the time of year. If my family gets 5-8 rides/charectar interactions during EMM with a short wait, we’ll consider that good value. We see the food as simply a bonus.

 

[kabbie]

I agree - I have EMM booked for the peace & mind of not having to rope drop Toy Story Land and not having to worry about booking fastpasses.
Truth, I may not even eat the included breakfast since I'm looking forward to trying Woody's Lunch Box offerings.

 

[lookin4goofy]

My family of six attended on Nov 14. We were waiting and ready to enter before the rides opened. We were only able to ride five rides before regular park opening. No character meets. We went right from ride to ride with no breaks. First we rode TSM to let the crowds get through SDD. That wait took 8 minutes. Then we went to SDD. The posted wait was 30 minutes. The CM told us we were very lucky to wait only 30 minutes. The actual wait was 22 minutes. Then we rode AS2 once, SDD again and TSM again. The rope drop crowd was in the area when we got out. I thought this was a pitiful amount to accomplish at a high priced event. But my family was happy and actually didn’t care to ride more so it worked out okay.

 

[Iowamomof4]

My family of six attended on Nov 14. We were waiting and ready to enter before the rides opened. We were only able to ride five rides before regular park opening. No character meets. We went right from ride to ride with no breaks. First we rode TSM to let the crowds get through SDD. That wait took 8 minutes. Then we went to SDD. The posted wait was 30 minutes. The CM told us we were very lucky to wait only 30 minutes. The actual wait was 22 minutes. Then we rode AS2 once, SDD again and TSM again. The rope drop crowd was in the area when we got out. I thought this was a pitiful amount to accomplish at a high priced event. But my family was happy and actually didn’t care to ride more so it worked out okay.

Umm.... you PAID to wait way less than that! Sigh.

 

[kniquy]

The CM told us we were very lucky to wait only 30 minutes. The actual wait was 22 minutes.

Yikes! That is one of the longest waits I have seen reported. I hope that this is not the trend of the party.

 

[mwheatley]

Yikes! That is one of the longest waits I have seen reported. I hope that this is not the trend of the party.

Bummer. I’ll be there in December but with a child that’s too short for SDD (and no apparent rider switch opportunity) we will be lucky to get two SDD rides for everyone else in the family...

 

[ColoradoMom12]

Yikes! That is one of the longest waits I have seen reported. I hope that this is not the trend of the party.

I agree! We are going on Monday, and now I’m feeling a little nervous. This is the first report I’ve read of a line with a wait that long.

 

[kniquy]

I agree! We are going on Monday, and now I’m feeling a little nervous. This is the first report I’ve read of a line with a wait that long.

My husband just talked to someone who was just at WDW. They waited 2 hours to ride slinky dog just once, so i guess if we get to ride a couple of times and get to take in the land without the masses of people the event will be worth it.

 

[DisneyDogFan]

We did SDD x 4, AS2 x 2, TSMM x 2, and Buzz and Jessie. I guess we could have skipped the last SDD and gotten in line for Buzz and accomplished what you want, except it would have depended on the Buzz line if you could still do RNRC before breakfast or not. I think you probably could.

This is encouraging!

My family of six attended on Nov 14. We were waiting and ready to enter before the rides opened. We were only able to ride five rides before regular park opening. No character meets. We went right from ride to ride with no breaks. First we rode TSM to let the crowds get through SDD. That wait took 8 minutes. Then we went to SDD. The posted wait was 30 minutes. The CM told us we were very lucky to wait only 30 minutes. The actual wait was 22 minutes. Then we rode AS2 once, SDD again and TSM again. The rope drop crowd was in the area when we got out. I thought this was a pitiful amount to accomplish at a high priced event. But my family was happy and actually didn’t care to ride more so it worked out okay.

And this is not so encouraging! I’m not sure that we can actually ride much more than you did (too much spinning makes both of us a bit green) but at the price point, it seems you should be able to do all of the activities, including characters, and not stand in 20 min plus lines. I’m 98% sure we will keep our tickets since it makes planning so much easier but I hope your report isn’t a trend. I’m happy your family was happy!

 

[Dbktmc]

My family of six attended on Nov 14. We were waiting and ready to enter before the rides opened. We were only able to ride five rides before regular park opening. No character meets. We went right from ride to ride with no breaks. First we rode TSM to let the crowds get through SDD. That wait took 8 minutes. Then we went to SDD. The posted wait was 30 minutes. The CM told us we were very lucky to wait only 30 minutes. The actual wait was 22 minutes. Then we rode AS2 once, SDD again and TSM again. The rope drop crowd was in the area when we got out. I thought this was a pitiful amount to accomplish at a high priced event. But my family was happy and actually didn’t care to ride more so it worked out okay.

Wow. This is a little concerning. If there are other days like this then we will not book as planned for our June date. I know that a 30 minute wait would be great on a normal day. But this is a paid event that isn't cheap. I'm hoping that other dates aren't like this but I'll keep watching the reports.

 

[WhitneyMB]

My family of six attended on Nov 14. We were waiting and ready to enter before the rides opened. We were only able to ride five rides before regular park opening. No character meets. We went right from ride to ride with no breaks. First we rode TSM to let the crowds get through SDD. That wait took 8 minutes. Then we went to SDD. The posted wait was 30 minutes. The CM told us we were very lucky to wait only 30 minutes. The actual wait was 22 minutes. Then we rode AS2 once, SDD again and TSM again. The rope drop crowd was in the area when we got out. I thought this was a pitiful amount to accomplish at a high priced event. But my family was happy and actually didn’t care to ride more so it worked out okay.

Yikes. That's pretty long. Was there any indication that there was a breakdown at some point? The only other reviews I recall that were this long was when it opened late or one of the coasters (or the three) was out of commission. As others have said, I hope that isn't a trend!

I'm glad you're family was satisfied and had a good day. We expect to have to wait a little, but might be disappointed with that long a wait.

 

[KSellers88]

My mom and I attended EMM on 11/5. The main reason we purchased this option was because my mom had a broken foot during our trip and we were afraid of getting trampled during EMH and could not get a SDD fastpass. We drove ourselves to HS as we were driving home from the park and arrived around 6:45AM. We were given wristbands at 6:51 and were able to scan our Magic Bands at 7:05. We arrived at TSL and were on SDD by 7:15. They did not make us go to breakfast first and actually walked us straight back into TSL from the Theater. We rode SDD back to back with no wait other than walking through the line, and were on the ride when it broke down during our third ride. Fortunately they got it working again for us to finish that ride and go one more time, for a total of 4 rides before it broke down permanently.

At that point, we moved on to AS2, which we rode three times back to back with a very short wait after walking through the line. We then moved on to TSM and rode a total of five times back to back with the exception of walking through the queue. They did not let use walk through the FP queue which slowed us down some, especially with my mom's walking boot. They actually let us stay on the ride without getting off between the 4th and 5th ride, which was great.

We were offered two anytime fastpasses to use due to SDD being down, but it is a little frustrating to hear others got refunds and we were not offered that option, especially considering we didn't even eat. LOL. I've emailed Disney to see if even a partial refund is an option, but since we still got to ride everything I will be okay if we don't get anything. In total, we rode SDD 6 times that day, TSM 5 times, and AS2 3 times. I've included some picture comparisons of the park during EMM and around 1:00 that same day. As well as the herd of people coming into TSL as we were exiting at 9:00. Overall, I do think it was worth it!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

OMG, that last pic.

 

[peeperino]

That last picture is bananas. How do you even get past that crush of people to get out of TSL when the event is over?