I feel like our experience with EMM last Sunday wasn’t the norm, so I’m curious what others have experienced. We have done EMM in the past when it was just the three rides and breakfast at PVH. This was our first experience with the new format. It was extremely chaotic when we arrived at MK shortly after 7. In the past, I find arriving between 7:10 to 7:25 to be ample time. Any earlier, and I listen to my DD complain about how I woke her up early just to stand outside the MK.
This trip, we were doing EMM on our check-out morning, so we had been awake for a while packing and getting our luggage checked in. When a bus arrived to MK at 6:40-ish, we decided just to go. I warned DD we would have a bit of a wait once we got there, but I wanted to take that particular bus since it was there and we didn’t know when the next one would come along.
In the past, we have experienced that EMM is considered a “dining reservation,” and any CM with a tablet had the ability to scan our MB and send us over for wristbands. We got to a CM with a tablet and were told no, that was strictly dining reservations; EMM was a separate line. She pointed to a gigantic mass of people backed up towards the monorail. I had assumed the large group was there because they had gotten off the monorail and didn’t realize there were different lines.
We joined the back of the line. It creeped along very slowly. We discovered there were only two CMs checking in for EMM, and their tablets weren’t working so they were using clipboards instead. It was craziness. It was 7:42 by the time we had out wristbands and had tapped our MBs. Usually my DD complains that I have gotten us to the MK waaaayyyyy too early and will sit down on the ground, which she did automatically this time. I told her not to as we would be let in any minute (a line she hears from me often at Disney...), but she did it anyway. It was less than a minute later that they let us into the MK.
We are accustomed to being routed to the left of the castle upon being let in. We automatically went that way, but when we got to a CM, we were told EMM had to go around the castle the opposite way. We had to show our wristbands as we went past the CMs standing there. There were a few more CMs with clipboards and extra wristbands for anyone who didn’t have them.
It was lucky we arrived at MK as early as we did! We literally didn’t have a minute to spare before they let us in. Even with our mistake heading around the castle the wrong way, we were able to do all of the rides (we did SDMT twice) and had a very, very fun morning. I love the new format. It felt so nice that we were essentially done (other than meeting Ariel and ETWB) with Fantasyland once the park opened. We grabbed a pastry for DD from the breakfast at about 9:30, otherwise we skipped it entirely.
So I have a few questions from our experience for others who have done this. We have plans to do EMM again in July, and I would appreciate feedback from others who have done this.
1. Is EMM now a separate check-in line from dining reservations? If so, how many CMs are usually checking in? (Two did not feel adequate, although maybe it is faster when the tablets are functioning.)
2. Which way are people being routed around the castle for EMM?
I'm so happy we get to sleep in!
