Does early morning magic at MK affect rope drop crowd levels?

[kniquy]

I just happened to be looking at our April trip park hours -- one of the mornings we plan on hitting MK i noticed that there is now early morning magic offered (the paid event). I am wondering if that makes any major difference with the plan of hitting rides with low waits at rope drop.

 

[CAS239]

No it doesn’t affect crowds at all

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I just happened to be looking at our April trip park hours -- one of the mornings we plan on hitting MK i noticed that there is now early morning magic offered (the paid event). I am wondering if that makes any major difference with the plan of hitting rides with low waits at rope drop.

Agree with PP, EMM has a very small headcount... 200ish... so too small to have any impact on anything.

One slight bonus is that if you’re going on an EMM morning, park opening is guaranteed to be 9AM... so no need to worry about changing hours.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

It does impact your first 60 minutes in the park. Those people are still competing with you for rides. Peter Pan in particular is impacted since it is a slow loader. The guests try to ride each ride multiple during their special time. So..........be aware it does impact your first 60 minutes in the park since those people already in the queues in front of you, but the impact on the overall crowds for the day is negligible.

If you have a choice, go to MK when the EMM is not occurring. You will get more done in your first 60-75 minutes in the park.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

It does impact your first 60 minutes in the park. Those people are still competing with you for rides. Peter Pan in particular is impacted since it is a slow loader. The guests try to ride each ride multiple during their special time. So..........be aware it does impact your first 60 minutes in the park since those people already in the queues in front of you, but the impact on the overall crowds for the day is negligible.

If you have a choice, go to MK when the EMM is not occurring. You will get more done in your first 60-75 minutes in the park.

Are you talking about EMH (Extra Magic Hours) or EMM (Early Morning Magic)?

If you do mean EMM, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. EMM is from 7:45-9AM. A large majority of EMM guests will have gotten their fill in of 7DMT, PP, and WTP during that time and are off to other rides/parts of the park, or going to the breakfast, once the rope drop crowds arrive at 9ish. Even so, the number of EMM guests is so small, they really don’t impact anything.

If you mean EMH, I do agree that it can often be best to avoid MK on a AM EMH day (if not utilizing the EMH).

But otherwise I would have no qualms about rope dropping an EMM day.

 

[Babs1975]

No, shouldn't affect it.

 

[Nikki G]

I have been wondering the same thing for our trip the end of April! We snagged an 8:00a BOG reservation with the express idea of getting into MK early to enjoy the ambiance without the crowd and get into position for where we want to be when the rides open up (likely would've been 7DMT). Then we saw EMM was added to the schedule and didn't know what to do. But the size you are reporting for the event seems like it shouldn't effect us too much. We would still be in a better position than the people who are waiting to get in to the park via rope drop. Would you still stick with the BOG plan on an EMM day?

 

[Happy_2_B]

Are you talking about EMH (Extra Magic Hours) or EMM (Early Morning Magic)?

If you do mean EMM, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. EMM is from 7:45-9AM. A large majority of EMM guests will have gotten their fill in of 7DMT, PP, and WTP during that time and are off to other rides/parts of the park, or going to the breakfast, once the rope drop crowds arrive at 9ish. Even so, the number of EMM guests is so small, they really don’t impact anything.

If you mean EMH, I do agree that it can often be best to avoid MK on a AM EMH day (if not utilizing the EMH).

But otherwise I would have no qualms about rope dropping an EMM day.

Will chime in as agreeing with this assessment. Although it doesn't apply to the OPs situation, the only exception I can think of regarding avoiding the MK on an EMH day is on party days- the park is very quiet in our experience first thing in the morning at the MK on party days- EMH or not.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I have been wondering the same thing for our trip the end of April! We snagged an 8:00a BOG reservation with the express idea of getting into MK early to enjoy the ambiance without the crowd and get into position for where we want to be when the rides open up (likely would've been 7DMT). Then we saw EMM was added to the schedule and didn't know what to do. But the size you are reporting for the event seems like it shouldn't effect us too much. We would still be in a better position than the people who are waiting to get in to the park via rope drop. Would you still stick with the BOG plan on an EMM day?

My opinion - the only group of people that truly is impacted by EMM is the BOG PPO crowd. The reason is because they will hold BOG PPO folks at 7DMT right up until very close to 9AM (when EMM ends), compared to a non-EMM morning where they often let people start riding earlier.

You still have the benefit of being close to 7DMT and will likely be in line before everyone else, but you don't have the significant time advantage you might otherwise have on a non-EMM day.

I use words such as "likely" and "might" above because opening procedures can change and a minute or two of being held here or there can have a big impact on one's exact experience. So like many things Disney, YMMV!

 

[Nikki G]

My opinion - the only group of people that truly is impacted by EMM is the BOG PPO crowd. The reason is because they will hold BOG PPO folks at 7DMT right up until very close to 9AM (when EMM ends), compared to a non-EMM morning where they often let people start riding earlier.

You still have the benefit of being close to 7DMT and will likely be in line before everyone else, but you don't have the significant time advantage you might otherwise have on a non-EMM day.

Thanks for the info. I was figuring the main impact would be not being able to get into the line itself early, but if we decide to just hover nearby it should still give us an advantage over everyone else. We were unsure what the overall number of people would be for the EMM, but it sounds like it's pretty small. While we wouldn't be able to reap the full advantages to the 8:00a reservation, it sounds like it would still be worth our while.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We RDed PP on an EMM day. We would not have known it was EMM from the line. It was so short they hadn’t opened the queue through the house yet.

 

[Babs1975]

Thanks for the info. I was figuring the main impact would be not being able to get into the line itself early, but if we decide to just hover nearby it should still give us an advantage over everyone else. We were unsure what the overall number of people would be for the EMM, but it sounds like it's pretty small. While we wouldn't be able to reap the full advantages to the 8:00a reservation, it sounds like it would still be worth our while.

They will line you up and hold you in a separate line for 7DMT until just before the regular rope drop crowd comes. They will let the EMM crowd have every minute of their experience before they open up the line.