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

[disneyshan]

I just booked for April 10! I'm so excited - thank you for all the information posted in this thread!

 

[anricat]

Well, I'm probably crazy, but I booked this for our trip in June. We have Fantasyland EMM and then the next day Toy Story Land EMM. Anyone done one the day after the other? Are we going to be exhausted? I have to try to figure out when to watch HEA now. We were going to go Tuesday night but with an early day Tuesday and Wednesday, now I'm not sure. Ugh. We have a short trip (only 4 days). I really should know I can't cram everything in. Something has to give!

 

[ninafeliz]

Well, I'm probably crazy, but I booked this for our trip in June. We have Fantasyland EMM and then the next day Toy Story Land EMM. Anyone done one the day after the other? Are we going to be exhausted? I have to try to figure out when to watch HEA now. We were going to go Tuesday night but with an early day Tuesday and Wednesday, now I'm not sure. Ugh. We have a short trip (only 4 days). I really should know I can't cram everything in. Something has to give!

Sounds fun! I would definitely do both (in fact we are, but not back to back), but personally I would not do HEA the night before TSL EMM. That’s the earlier of the 2 EMM, and I know my family (DH included) would revolt if I kept them up that late and got them up at 5:30 am! I guess with older kids and not doing a full day after the TSL one I might be tempted (leaving the parks noonish or so after TSL EMM) but as it is now for us it wouldn’t fly. Good luck juggling it all! There’s often next time, I don’t see HEA going away anytime soon since it’s pretty new

 

[KrazeeK120]

Well, I'm probably crazy, but I booked this for our trip in June. We have Fantasyland EMM and then the next day Toy Story Land EMM. Anyone done one the day after the other? Are we going to be exhausted? I have to try to figure out when to watch HEA now. We were going to go Tuesday night but with an early day Tuesday and Wednesday, now I'm not sure. Ugh. We have a short trip (only 4 days). I really should know I can't cram everything in. Something has to give!

We did it on our last trip in reverse...TSL on Monday and Fantasyland on Tuesday. It was the first 2 days of our trip, so we were pretty fresh. Also, our son wasn’t quite 3 yet and is up early every day anyway. We chose not to do any nighttime entertainment on favor of keeping his bedtime the same.

 

[Lease257]

Thanks for this review! I'm not sure if my (very tall) three year old will ride SDD or not, so glad to hear it all worked out switching off. Did you also do the Woody & Jesse and Buzz M&Gs? I'm wondering at what point we should try and fit those in. I just don't want to waste too much precious time during EMM in their lines.

We did not do M and G. My 7 year old does NOT like the characters either fake large heads . And after one trip through TSM the line was super long and hearing from people here it moves slow. The Characters were already leaving for a break when we passed at7:50

 

[Ermise]

Just back from our February vacation trip last week. We attended the Hollywood Studios EMM on Wednesday, 2/20. Overall our experience was similar to most of the reviews on this thread. I was surprised that they didn't start walking us down until 7:25 based on some other reports, but we were still in the queue for SDD before 7:30. I tried typing in the times of when everything occurred on my phone as it happened since I knew I wouldn't remember it when I got back. Here is the run down:

We caught a bus from Fort Wilderness at 6:30 and arrived at Hollywood Studios at 6:50. I was checking the transportation times while we were getting ready to go and there was an even earlier bus expected to arrive at Fort Wilderness at 6:16am - so it seems like bus transportation is readily available.

Getting through bag-check, scanning magic bands and getting the wristbands was all very quick. There were many cast members available to help. All during the event it seemed like there were cast members at every turn available to assist.

As previously posted, cast members were all directing everyone to the breakfast. Since we had time to spare (it wasn't quite 7am yet) we walked down to the Backlot Express so our kids could get a quick pastry and juice. They were so mad when I told them we didn't have a lot of time to eat! There were some folks eating when we got there - a few ordering hot meals, but overall not very crowded. At 7:10 we walked back down to the Chinese Theater and there was a single file line formed with about 50-60 or so people ahead of us. I was expecting them to walk us down at 7:15 or so, but we ended up standing there until 7:25. Everyone was very orderly walking down. We entered the queue for SDD at 7:28 and were on the ride at 7:38.

I think this has been mentioned on the post before, but they split the line into two just before you get on. Even numbered parties (2,4, etc.) on the left and odd numbered parties on the right. Our experience was that the cast member took more 2-4 folks because quite frankly I think it was easier to assign rows for them. It was a little frustrating being a party of 5 trying to do as much as possible in the time we had. I did notice the cast member who asks "how many" occasionally signal to the cast member assigning rows to take more of the "odd" people because the line was backing up.

We decided to ride SDD again right away (it was so much fun!) and the line was a little longer the second time. We were off by 7:54. We then decided to ride Alien Saucers (We had to to try it once!). We must not have timed that great because we had to wait for one ride before we got on. We were off by 8:07 and then headed to Toy Story Mania. As previously mentioned walking through the queue to get to the loading area, and again to exit the ride is such a time waster. We were able to ride it twice, and then did one final SDD. Our boys are a little older (14,12,9) so they weren't interested in any of the meet and greets.

In summary:
SDD x 3
TMM x 2
Saucers x 1

I'm sure we could have gotten at least one more ride in, if not two, if we stayed a little longer, but we left the area at 8:40 to head over to Tower of Terror as we wanted to get there before the crowd.

As we were leaving there were several cast members providing information/assistance with where to go for breakfast, etc. We told them we were headed to Tower of Terror and they directed us to Sunset Boulevard where cast members where holding the EMM attendees until the park opened. There were only a handful of people waiting with us from EMM (maybe 20 or so?). It was quite a sight seeing the regular ticket crowd being held on Hollywood Boulevard. We had maybe a 100ft head start on them. Once the park opened at 9am we were walked up to the rides. I'd say the split was 65%/35% Aerosmith Coaster/Tower of Terror. We were among the first 20 or so people on Tower of Terror so it worked out great. We chose Tower of Terror over Aerosmith because we had a 9:15am Fastpass for Aerosmith, but either ride is doable at rope drop.

After riding both rides we headed back to the Backlot Express for a fuller breakfast and arrived at 9:40. It was very crowded, so clearly everyone understood the benefit of waiting to eat. There were no lines for anything, but it seemed like all of the tables were full. My family stuck to the pastries, but I tried the chicken/cronut and I thought it was very good. The cronut in particular was really tasty and light. I could have eaten many more. Right at 10am the crew started removing the pastries, cereal and juices so it seemed like they were sticking closely to the 10am close. Our son has Celiac and they did have some gluten free muffins (chocolate and blueberry) and a type of donut for him which they brought out from the back. He wasn't interested in the hot options so I'm not sure what would be available.

Overall I thought the experience was worth the money being a new area/attraction that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to enjoy fully otherwise.

Thank you to everyone that posted their experiences previously. I found them all extremely useful in preparing for our day at the park!

 

[jbethel77]

Just booked a EMM for Toy Story...the price was hard to swallow especially without any DVC or AP discounts! But, the benefit outweighed the price for our family...

Question: Can you get more than one of the hot breakfast entrée options? They all sound so strange to us, and while we are open to trying something different.. I'm afraid we'll get something we don't like. Just curious if we'd have to opportunity to go back to the counter & order something else?
Could always fill up on the cold portion offerings....but after paying so much, I'd like to get something warm that we enjoy!

Thanks!

 

[chris benton]

We went back a few times for more. No big deal.
I told the fam to go get a seat, and peruse the buffet offerings while I waited at the counter for the entrees. I asked for one of each, and loaded up my tray. After we tried everything, we went back to the counter for the entrees and got more of what we liked-no big deal.

 

[mcurran]

Looking at July dates myself. Is this something that sells out quick? Or can I wait on this for a while?

 

[holden]

Okay, after all the glowing reviews, I booked it for us on July 8. It will be our first time at TSL, so wanted to make it nice.

Question for those who have done it: Is it possible/advisable to leave when the main crowd arrives and go do Rockin' Roller Coaster or should we not try to do that and go directly to breakfast? Seems like there is a good hour or so in there where we could pop over and do RRC, but I'd love to hear experiences. We don't want to miss breakfast b/c this will be our brunch, basically, since we'll just skip lunch and have an early dinner.

Our plan is to head over to RNR and TOT around 8:40 or so in order to avoid the massive crowds that will be entering TSL. We figure we can do those two rides and then grab breakfast around 9:30.

 

[cakebaker]

Sounds like if you’re early enough, there’s more than enough time to grab something quick to eat before going over to wait for TSL.

I’m really torn about spending time eating early in the morning and wasting the shorter wait times, but hate to blow off a breakfast we paid for!

 

[chris benton]

Our plan is to head over to RNR and TOT around 8:40 or so in order to avoid the massive crowds that will be entering TSL. We figure we can do those two rides and then grab breakfast around 9:30.

You have the right plan, imo. EMM is also a way to be at the very front of the pack for RNR, and a possible walk on of TOT.
Pay attention to Star Tours. If TOT is a quick walk on after RNR, you might be able to sneak Star Tours in before you eat as well! You also might be able to get two rides of TOT in - depending on the crowd that day. Assume RNR will fill up after your first ride though. I doubt two rides on RNR will be possible, but a RNR + TOT is very possible.

 

[RachaelA]

So do we think I’ll be able to park my stroller, ride SDD once and then get in line for W&J with still being one of the first sets of families for W&J?

I totally forgot I’m going to have to deal with a stroller (mommy and me trip with my 5 year old who cannot walk a whole trip without crying).

Or is there somewhere I can park my stroller early before they even let us into TSL?

 

[jodi90]

I'm late to the planning for the Toy Story EMM. I want to book on 4/29 and it appears to be sold out. Do dates ever open up again?

 

[Suejacken]

Looking at July dates myself. Is this something that sells out quick? Or can I wait on this for a while?

I booked mine immediately for July 1st for two reasons. One is I have a party of 11, the other is that since it’s 4th of July week, I was afraid it would sell out faster.

 

[dachsie]

Just booked a EMM for Toy Story...the price was hard to swallow especially without any DVC or AP discounts! But, the benefit outweighed the price for our family...

Question: Can you get more than one of the hot breakfast entrée options? They all sound so strange to us, and while we are open to trying something different.. I'm afraid we'll get something we don't like. Just curious if we'd have to opportunity to go back to the counter & order something else?
Could always fill up on the cold portion offerings....but after paying so much, I'd like to get something warm that we enjoy!

Thanks!

yes you can

 

[Brett Wyman]

The 6:30 am bus from the Poly is empty except us. Weather looks great. On the way.

Great day! SDD x 6, 3 x TSM, and a couple AS2s. Crowds were definitely on the lighter side based on our EMM here back in November. The rope drop line at 9:05 was all the way back to Little Mermad entrance. Pure insanity. It says 75 minutes from there but that can’t be right is it?

Cool have a great time. Do you plan on doing tower of terror or rock and roller coaster after without using fast passes? I was curious about what the wait times would be

It’s just me and my young daughter this trip so I can’t ride anything she can’t. But I’ve heard people have had great success walking on to those two at rope drop. And I see why. The entire park ar RD heads to SDD.

 

[dachsie]

Looking at July dates myself. Is this something that sells out quick? Or can I wait on this for a while?

I would book now and cancel it you need to. It will probably fill pretty fast

ETA - I booked May 8 when they opened a couple of weeks ago. My date at 7:30 is full and they have now opened a 7am slot

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

Just booked for 5/13 (7AM) after reading mostly positive reviews for this experience. Looking forward to riding SDD, TSM, and AS2 without much of a wait.

Kudos to everyone who has posted about their experience with this event. Much appreciated.

 

[Suejacken]

Great day! SDD x 6, 3 x TSM, and a couple AS2s. Crowds were definitely on the lighter side based on our EMM here back in November. The rope drop line at 9:05 was all the way back to Little Mermad entrance. Pure insanity. It says 75 minutes from there but that can’t be right is it?



It’s just me and my young daughter this trip so I can’t ride anything she can’t. But I’ve heard people have had great success walking on to those two at rope drop. And I see why. The entire park ar RD heads to SDD.

Thank you so much for your reply. You certainly got a lot done. Hope we get to do as much when we go