Just back with thoughts on EMM at MK and HS

[leeber01]

Just returned from an 8-day trip and had a wonderful time. I found it helpful to read other "just back" reports, so here's mine:

We did EMM at Magic Kingdom on Sunday. It felt more crowded than I expected, with full trains on 7DMT. PP was down the entire time, with Small World opening around 8:30 and carousel and Teacups open as well. Those didn't really interest us, so it was a bit of a disappointment. So we did Mine Train a bunch of times, then Winnie the Pooh, walked over to PP to be turned away, then had breakfast, and then headed to Tomorrowland for RD. We planned to ride SM at RD but it was down, so headed to Buzz. After Buzz, the wait for SM said 10 minutes, but it turned into 30+ minutes. Sigh.

Cast member told us that our wristbands would get us into ANY Fantasyland attraction until noon because of PP. Unfortunately, PP remained out of service for a good while past park opening, and every time we passed it, the FP return line was really long, so we ended up skipping it. We did use the EMM wristbands to get on the FP line at Barnstormer and small world later in the morning. The small world CM at the FP+ return had no idea what we were talking about with the EMM wristband, but still let us through anyway. The Barnstomer CM knew exactly what we meant.

Overall, it was an okay experience, but not as wonderful as I had read/hoped it would be. To be honest, we were sort of just wandering around with nothing to do and ended up eating at 8:30. Also, the breakfast options changed, with juice no longer being offered in bottles. Also, there were a lot of PPO ADRs, so the walk down Main Street still felt crowded, but obviously not as crowded as it would have been at regular RD. If you are willing to let the wave of people pass you, I bet you could get very uncrowded pics. I think the combination of PP being down (my fave) and then SM being down at RD made the morning feel very frustrating.

Overall, I wouldn't do MK EMM again, unless my kids become super-obsessed with Mine Train (as it was, we rode 5-6 times, and that was plenty). We had BoG PPO ADRs later in the week and that let us on Mine Train before the RD crowd and we were able to move onto PP right after and ride with minimal waits. As a note, we heard/saw the CM tell BoG ADR people that they would not be able to ride until 9:00 when the park is open when we were there for EMM.

After our MK EMM experience, I had low expectations for HS EMM but I actually really enjoyed it with my family. It seemed much less crowded, probably because there are way fewer people entering the park at that time. Our family did Toy Story about 5 times in a row without getting out (my arm was sore) and then met Woody and Buzz with no wait. They just hung out with us--so great! Then we met Olaf with no wait, and then headed to Star Tours. Finished that just as park was opening and then headed to RnRC/ToT for RD. We rode ToT with no wait, and then my husband and daughter rode RnRC while I headed to make a light saber with my son. After that, we met at ABC Commissary and had a very relaxing breakfast at 9:45. Totally unrushed, with fresh food options.

Sign ups for Jedi Training was definitely available during EMM, and I heard the meet with Kylo Ren was great. My kids aren't into Star Wars (besides my son wanting a light saber) but I still feel like we had a great experience with HS EMM and would totally do it again. We ended up using our FP+ for TSMM, Star Tours, and Little Mermaid, and having lunch (Fantasmic Dining package at H&V) and then heading back to the resort for a much deserved nap. I would definitely do HS again, but our family likes TSMM and character meets quite a bit. I think my kids will be into Star Wars more as they get older, so that would increase the appeal.

The hour of EMM exclusive time goes by really fast, so definitely have a plan.

In terms of general parks touring: rope drop remains great! The first couple of hours of each park allowed us to ride attractions with minimal waits. If you don't mind getting up early, it really makes a huge difference. Hitting RD (and I'm talking about being at the tapstile line around 8:30, not crazy early), doing your priority attractions, and then using FP+ really worked well for us. Besides at MK, we didn't have much luck getting 4th FP+ that we were interested in.

Overall, we had an amazing trip. We left the parks by 2ish, headed to the resort for naps or pool time and relaxed. Sometimes we had dinner reservations, and one night we did Fantasmic and another night we did MK parade and Wishes. After two EMM events back-to-back, we took it really easy the next two days (Blizzard Beach and then AK for morning only), which was perfect for us. It really felt like a perfect mix.

Also, we ran into some guest pixie dust our last full day. I was about to order our lunch from Captain Cook's, which a very nice lady walked up to me and asked if she could buy my lunch with her leftover dining plan credits! I thanked her profusely and promised to pay it forward in some way. So if you were the slender, blonder woman at Poly last Thursday, thank you!

 

[Clubhouse5]

Great post! Glad the Studios morning worked well for you!

We were also there on Sunday at MK for EMM when Peter Pan was down the entire time. We were told our bands would work only on those 3 rides though until park close, so it looks like they were telling people different things. We finally rode PP in the afternoon, but the FP line was long and definitely not the same experience it would have been in the morning (I was hoping for a better opportunity for pictures in the morning when my kids got on the ride - in the afternoon that wasn't possible). It also changed our plans, and we stayed later than we originally attended so that we could get PP in. On the plus side, we returned in the evening and rode Mine Train, which was great!

 

[ALittleWhistle]

Enjoyed reading, thanks!

 

[MYD714]

Sounds like we might have done EMM at MK and DHS on the same days. I think it's interesting that we were told that our bands would be good on PP only until noon. Seems like they need to do a better job getting the details right.

On our DHS day, TSMM was closed for a while around 9am and we were told that we could use the bands for it all day long. We went to ride after breakfast, and the CM gave me a slightly hard time until I explained it to him. Becuase of that, we didn't try to ride it again and left for Epcot instead.

We loved these events. My niece was so shocked to be able to walk right onto the mine train and get the first row. The CMs at Mine train and Star Tours kept telling us to choose any row we wanted, and we had Star Tours all to ourselves on one ride. We rode TSMM five times without getting off, and we rode the mine train seven times in a row.

We loved breakfast and thought it was better than other breakfasts we've had at WDW. The quality of breakfast and not having to fight crowds made it worth it for us. We'd jump at the chance to do it again. The one negative that I felt was that the hour does fly by really fast, but I liked that breakfast is open until 10.

 

[jlnten17]

Thank you for the review! Sounds like a great trip and that you were able to make the best out of what could have been very frustrating situation at MK EMM.

 

[TreeFalls]

Thank you for the review! We are going in a few weeks and it is nice to read others' experiences to see what to expect. A take-home for me is to ask several different CMs about how we are "comped" if something is down.

 

[RachaelA]

Thanks for the reports!

 

[leeber01]

Also, in addition to EMM, I wanted to add my RD experience at Epcot. We went twice, once heading for Test Track at RD (with FP+ for Soarin later in the day) and once for Soarin' at RD (with TT FP+). At TT, we were let right onto the ride/design area before 9:00. We finished that pretty quickly and moved onto Sum of All Thrills right after, Colortopia, followed by Mission Space, all done around 10.

The day we headed to Soarin at RD, tapstiles opened at 8:40ish but we were then held at an internal rope right before Character Spot until 9:00. People who had ADRs were able to get into Soarin ahead of this crowd. We were near the front of the internal line but didn't run after it was dropped, like many of the other people. We had a bit of a wait getting into the theater but was done with Soarin around 9:35, so still pretty good. By the time we came out, there were long waits (45 min+) at both TT and Soarin. Single rider at TT seemed to remain steady between 10-20 minutes all day.

We didn't RD at Animal Kingdom, but our touring plan still worked well for us, with FP+ at Safari, EE, and Kali. A quick thunderstorm cleared out the crowds and the heat for a bit and it was great, so even if there is rain in your forecast, don't despair!

Transportation was good, although we are now thoroughly spoiled by Poly's location and monorail access. The express monorail having reduced hours affected our plans a bit, it wasn't nearly as noticeable as I had worried. Being able to walk to the TTC from Poly was great!

Our dining was more of a mixed bag, had some surprisingly good meals (Chef Mickey) and some really disappointing ones (1900 Park). Others were just fine (CRT, H&V). Overall, I felt like we had to wait less for our table after checking in than in our previous trips, so that was nice. Counter service was just fine for us, but I don't expect fine dining at CS, you know?

Overall, we really had a magical time and we're all missing Disney already.

 

[leeber01]

Great post! Glad the Studios morning worked well for you!

We were also there on Sunday at MK for EMM when Peter Pan was down the entire time. We were told our bands would work only on those 3 rides though until park close, so it looks like they were telling people different things. We finally rode PP in the afternoon, but the FP line was long and definitely not the same experience it would have been in the morning (I was hoping for a better opportunity for pictures in the morning when my kids got on the ride - in the afternoon that wasn't possible). It also changed our plans, and we stayed later than we originally attended so that we could get PP in. On the plus side, we returned in the evening and rode Mine Train, which was great!

Interesting...actually, we chatted with another family that went to EMM at MK the same day as us. They were told their wristbands would be good on ALL Fantasyland attractions until park close! So yes, very mixed messages...

 

[micandminforever]

What time were you able to catch a bus for HS on your EMM at HS? That is my only worry not being able to make it by 7:45.

 

[Christinaxo]

Glad to hear you were happy with the transportation at the Poly! We are checking in on Saturday and I was worried about the limited monorail access. So you were able to get to the parks early with no issues? (I mean like PPO ADR/ EMM early)

 

[leeber01]

Glad to hear you were happy with the transportation at the Poly! We are checking in on Saturday and I was worried about the limited monorail access. So you were able to get to the parks early with no issues? (I mean like PPO ADR/ EMM early)

Yup, the resort monorail got to MK got us there twice before 7:30. The second time, we had just missed a monorail at 7:15 and I was worried it would be a long wait, but not even 5 minutes later, another one pulled right in.

It's the express monorail from the TTC that had more shutdowns while we were there. On the times guide that the hotel handed out, the express monorail was listed as running start at 8:30 to Epcot on some days. However, both Epcot days, the monorail was actually running earlier than that. But I would def get to the TTC as early as possible just in case if you are trying to RD or make an ADR.

The express monorail had a different schedule most days, so definitely check times.

 

[leeber01]

What time were you able to catch a bus for HS on your EMM at HS? That is my only worry not being able to make it by 7:45.

Sorry, can't help there. Had a rental car so we drove ourselves to HS. I definitely saw buses pulling up when we got there for EMM though.

 

[wdwnut61]

Welcome Back