Early Admission (MM/EMH/APEE) Super Thread

[Chereya]

It's all explained in the OP, but for a quick answer I'd say...

Try and get there 15-30 min early (so 6:30ish). When they let the rope drop at 7, follow the Wide-Right technique: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2971596

You should be able to be one of the first ones on the Radiator Springs Racers. Then you can do Luigi's, which might have a wait of 5-15 min, and you can head down to Toy Story, which shouldn't have a long line either. If you want to ride the Racers again, jump in line for a FP right before the park opens to the general public at 8.

As DLR29 mentioned, the 1st post of this thread is where you can find a concise run down of all the info he has collected. Here is the pertinent part to answer your question about the GC Entrance vs the main entrance to CA. BUT, if you do decide to utlize the GC Entrance instead of the main entrance, please report back here about your experience and if you felt it was faster or slower.

Last updated: 12/12/12

2. Extra Magic Hour (EMH)

What? Entrance to Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure one hour before official park opening to ride select attractions

Who? Guests can take advantage of EMH by staying at one of the 3 onsite hotels (Grand Californian (including the new VGC DVC places), Disneyland Hotel, or Paradise Pier Hotel). This will entitle the hotel guests EMH every day during their stay, including arrival (yes, possibly before your room is ready) and departure days.

When?
The schedule for EMH is as follows:
-EMH for Disneyland Park is offered on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
-EMH for Disney California Adventure is offered on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Again, EMH (at both parks) begins 1 hour before park opening.

There have been times where EMH is offered at both parks each day. This is not guaranteed. This happened from July-September 2012, and again from 12/20/12-1/4/13.

How? Each guest must have a valid source of park admission and also show their active hotel room key card. In the past, a piece of paper explaining EMH procedures has been given to onsite guests at check in. That paper, by itself, does not grant any EMH privileges, so you cannot pass it on to someone else. All you need is your ticket and your room key.

Where? Guests can line up for EMH at either the main entrance to DCA or the Grand Californian Hotel entrance. The main park entrance is probably a faster route to hit up Carsland.

For DCA, it seems best to run to either Radiator Springs Racers or Luigi's. But unless you are there at the beginning of EA, you may run into long lines.

If RSR is operating during EA, run to that first and hopefully hop on with a short line. Follow that with Luigi's and then Toy Story or Mater's. It's not cruicial that you ride Mater's during EA because its line seldom reaches more than 30 min during the rest of the day, especially during late afternoon/early evening.

If RSR is not operating (due to technical difficulties) at the beginning of EA, do not waste your precious EA waiting in line for a closed ride. Go to Luigi's first, followed by Toy Story/Screamin several times, and then get in line for RSR FP distribution which begins at 8AM.

What time should I arrive for EA?
Half an hour before EA time (1 1/2 hours before official park opening) is generally a good time to be at the gates. However if you want to be one of the first ones on Peter Pan or the rides in Carsland, plan on arriving 45+ before EA time (so 1 hour and 45 min before official park opening). You may be surprised at the number of people lining up that early.

 

[5ofus]

Okay, I have a question and. Don't think it's been answered in here yet. We are getting 10 day park hoppers which will include one MM. We are saying off site for the majority of our stay, but for our first two nights I'm surprising DH with a say at the Villas at GC . So, this will entitle us to two hotel guest EE mornings. So my question is this... When we go into the parks on our first two mornings for EE, will the MM entrance be deducted automatically from our ticket because we are going in early. I'd love to use the MM later on, but I have a feeling that the turnstiles wont recognize that we are hotel guests and the MM will be deducted on our first day.

I hope this makes sense and somebody can answer my question.

 

[larina]

Okay, I have a question and. Don't think it's been answered in here yet. We are getting 10 day park hoppers which will include one MM. We are saying off site for the majority of our stay, but for our first two nights I'm surprising DH with a say at the Villas at GC . So, this will entitle us to two hotel guest EE mornings. So my question is this... When we go into the parks on our first two mornings for EE, will the MM entrance be deducted automatically from our ticket because we are going in early. I'd love to use the MM later on, but I have a feeling that the turnstiles wont recognize that we are hotel guests and the MM will be deducted on our first day.

I hope this makes sense and somebody can answer my question.

Just a couple things. First, do you mean you are getting 2 5-day hoppers. There are no 10-day hoppers at DL, the maximumid 5 days. Most of us would suggest getting Annual Passes, or the 2 5-day option if blackout days are an issue and you don't want to spring for APs. Second, on-site guests get Early Entry every day, it just switches back and forth between parks.

 

[Nonsuch]

There are no 10-day hoppers at DL

10-day are available to Australians.

 

[mom2rtk]

So DL is offering Long Lost Friends week which benefits the locals who can make it there on short notice.

And they offer longer term tickets to those crossing an ocean.

All I want to do is travel half way across the country to visit. Right now I'm just not feeling the love.

 

[lizzywoods]

We are coming from the UK and can only get 5 day tickets maximum as far as I know - doesn't make sense as we are travelling so far and would like to do more days!

Annual pass is just too expensive though as we will only be coming once this year!

 

[DLR29]

so you would also recommend not going through GC entrance and instead use the main? What if I could be one of the first in through the GC Entrance?

Because there are only a couple bag checkers and ticket turnstiles at the GCH entrance, it is significantly faster to go through the main entrance. To be one of the first through the GCH entrance you'll have to be there like an hour before EMH begins. OR you could get there 30 min before EMH begins and be perfectly fine using the regular gates.

 

[Nonsuch]

... When we go into the parks on our first two mornings for EE, will the MM entrance be deducted automatically from our ticket because we are going in early. I'd love to use the MM later on, but I have a feeling that the turnstiles wont recognize that we are hotel guests and the MM will be deducted on our first day.

It is likely your MM would be deducted, so speak to the CM at the gate about your situation before even giving them your ticket. The CM should be able to prevent the MM from being deducted, but might not be able to add the MM back to the ticket once it has been scanned.

 

[5ofus]

It is likely your MM would be deducted, so speak to the CM at the gate about your situation before even giving them your ticket. The CM should be able to prevent the MM from being deducted, but might not be able to add the MM back to the ticket once it has been scanned.

Thanks so much, this is what I thought would happen . Will indeed ask a CM to see if the MM can be re-added. We are indeed coming from Australia so can get the 10 day pass. We use to be able to get 14, which was even better.

 

[5ofus]

We are coming from the UK and can only get 5 day tickets maximum as far as I know - doesn't make sense as we are travelling so far and would like to do more days!

Annual pass is just too expensive though as we will only be coming once this year!

We have the same problem when going to WDW. UK residents get awesome deals going to WDW which aren't available to us Aussies . Not cool since we spend 21 hours minimum flying to Orlando . Would be good if Disney started offering the 10 day passes for DL to the UK and the good WDW deals to the Aussies

 

[TinkFlies]

I've spent a bit of time reading threads on this now but it's getting blurry. And I know one of you can help me easily.

We will be on property from noon on Thursday through Sunday (May 16-20) leaving early Monday am. We have 4 day park hoppers which gets us a MM and we're staying at DLH which gets us an EHM (I think?) and it's a AAA deal so we get an extra EHM (I think). I say I think on that one because I'm assuming it's a separate AAA thing vs. being the hotel thing.

Also add some grad nights into the mix and a 6 year old who probably won't (heh can't) get up early EVERY morning.

Thanks to you all I think I've got the "how" down and what to do once in. Enter at the Monorail or do the "go right" thing at DCA. But the when is going to optimal is not clear to me yet.

What days would you do MM/EHM and where? Carsland is of course a must do. New to us.

 

[bumbershoot]

We will be on property from noon on Thursday through Sunday (May 16-20) leaving early Monday am. We have 4 day park hoppers which gets us a MM and we're staying at DLH which gets us an EHM (I think?) and it's a AAA deal so we get an extra EHM (I think). I say I think on that one because I'm assuming it's a separate AAA thing vs. being the hotel thing.

Staying onsite means that the AAA extra and the 4 day hopper entrance mean nothing. You get EMH based on the hotel stay, including days of check in and out.

From the sticky:

When?
The schedule for EMH is as follows:
-EMH for Disneyland Park is offered on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
-EMH for Disney California Adventure is offered on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Since "MM" is for DL park and is on Tues, Thurs, and Sat, it's the exact same *thing* as EMH for DL, but for different people.

You get early entrance *somewhere* for the whole of your stay, by staying on site.



I never enter DL by monorail during MM/EMH (after doing it once); the monorail doesn't leave until the park opens for it, so you're getting in later. And it takes you to the station which is above Nemo, which means you have to walk a lot to get to wherever you're going for that hour. I suppose if Autopia is what you want to ride it's OK, or Nemo of course, but the one time we did the monorail for MM and then walked to Fantasyland, it was frustrating because in order to do the proper order (peter pan first!) we had to walk past all the OTHER rides. MUCH easier to walk in the front entrance and go straight to Pan from there.


I think I might have simply brought up more questions for you...sorry. But hopefully you get that the MM from the ticket and the AAA thing mean absolutely nothing to you, because you're getting your early entrances from being an onsite hotel guest.

 

[BigPayback]

Hello all!

I was surprised to find out that my family would be receiving the EMH for our stay during May19-21! Here's my question: Does the EMH allow enough time to get to Cars Land and ride RSR, and then go get a fastpass for RSR when the park opens at its regular time? Or will our family need to split up, with someone heading to the fastpass line while the rest ride?

Thanks in advance and I would love to hear any additional tips or strategy for using the EMH.

 

[DarthMole]

Hello all!

I was surprised to find out that my family would be receiving the EMH for our stay during May19-21! Here's my question: Does the EMH allow enough time to get to Cars Land and ride RSR, and then go get a fastpass for RSR when the park opens at its regular time? Or will our family need to split up, with someone heading to the fastpass line while the rest ride?

Thanks in advance and I would love to hear any additional tips or strategy for using the EMH.

First things first... Welcome.

If you get to the gate a good 30 minutes prior to the beginning of EMH and do the "wide right" tip, you'll have plenty of time to ride RSR and do other things before you need to get back to the FP line. You'll need to be back to the FP line about 50 minutes after EMH starts. So if EMH starts at 7 am and regular park opening is 8 am, you'd need to get back to the FP location by 7:50 am.

I recommend doing some reading around here and certainly look up the "wide right" technique as it's been proven time and again to be the fastest way to ride RSR during EMH.

 

[gcatt]

The EMH process at the main DCA entrance has improved recently. Security opens 30 minutes before EMH starts (as usual), but the main gates open (with welcome family and countdown) 15 minutes before EMH starts (rather than exactly on the hour).

There is a rope drop at the Carthay Circle Theater for EMH, and a second rope drop at the same location for regular park hours.

Does anyone know if the GCH entrance is also opening early on EMH days now? That would make a huge difference . . . .

 

[Snurk71]

Does anyone know if the GCH entrance is also opening early on EMH days now? That would make a huge difference . . . .

It is. But all reports are that you don't want to use it. The GC gate isn't nearly as fast as the main gates and there have been reports of it taking people 30 minutes to get in there.

Go to the main gates 15-20 minutes early and you'll likely be extremely pleased.

 

[HydroGuy]

It is. But all reports are that you don't want to use it. The GC gate isn't nearly as fast as the main gates and there have been reports of it taking people 30 minutes to get in there.

Go to the main gates 15-20 minutes early and you'll likely be extremely pleased.

Snurk has it right. Use the main entrance if you plan to be a rope drop person.

 

[BigPayback]

First things first... Welcome.

If you get to the gate a good 30 minutes prior to the beginning of EMH and do the "wide right" tip, you'll have plenty of time to ride RSR and do other things before you need to get back to the FP line. You'll need to be back to the FP line about 50 minutes after EMH starts. So if EMH starts at 7 am and regular park opening is 8 am, you'd need to get back to the FP location by 7:50 am.

I recommend doing some reading around here and certainly look up the "wide right" technique as it's been proven time and again to be the fastest way to ride RSR during EMH.

Thanks for the welcome, Darth, and thanks for the tips. The "wide right" technique will be our plan of action!

Does anyone know what the best plan of attack is for using the EMH at DL?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Mousequake]

So now that Annual Pass Early Entry has officially ended-- are there any rumors of it continuing unofficially, or any other kind of EE for AP holders?

 

[HydroGuy]

Does anyone know what the best plan of attack is for using the EMH at DL?

The OP gives some guidance on this.