MK/Fantasyland “Early Morning Magic” (EMM) FAQ & Discussion

[TheMaxRebo]

Just wanted to share quickly our experience with this event. We attended on Thursday, February 20th and it had the Cinderella "extras"

Actually, as I type this up, I am not being really quick, but here is the cliff notes version:
- got to ride Carousel, Peter Pan, Mine Train 2x, Winnie the Pooh, and Tea Cups, and then rope dropped Space Mountain
- breakfast food was ok and plenty of it but organization at the food location was a bit of a disaster
- based on crowds that day, super glad we did this as only way to get done as much as we did so would definitely recommend when crowds are high/shorter trip with not a ton of MK park days


Detail
We took the bus over from Caribbean Beach and got there about 7:15 - we went over to the area and it wasn't really clear which line we needed to be on (which was for this vs for early dining reservations) so had to ask a few people to get to the correct line. Then we got checked in, but they didn't specifically say we then had to get on another line to get our bracelet before lining up to get in, but we figured it out and were in line to get into the park at 7:27 (not a huge deal, just a few signs or CMs directing people would have helped)

We then had a few issues (our end, not Disney's fault) as my son announced he needed to go to the bathroom - but there is none in that area and we would have had to go all the way back out and to the other end on the entrance to go by guest services and recheck in and stuff and just concern about timing of all that - so he said he could wait until we were let in and use the ones near City Hall. Also at this point, my youngest flipped out a bit as she refused to wear the bracelet saying it bothered her (and she actually slipped her hand out of the bracelet), but CMs informed us she needed to wear it. (this is the first time something like this has happened with her - she is totally fine with magic bands, so not sure what it was about this bracelet that set her off). So once the park opened I took my son to the bathroom and then we spent the next 10+ minutes trying to calm my daughter down/think up some way around this. We finally calmed her down and were able to get towards Fantasyland where there was a line of people to get into the area as some people didn't pick up their bracelets so were just checking in there and that held up the line of everyone else who had already gotten their bracelets. ... so between all of this, it was already 8 by the time we got into Fantasyland. So not the most productive first 5th of our time ... things then greatly improved

Part of what got my daughter calmer was agreeing to ride the carousel first. So we did that with no wait (although they were waiting a bit to let more people come to ride so still felt like not the best use of our time to just be sitting on a non-moving carousel, but whatever). We got to ride and everyone had fun. We did see some of the Cinderella characters out (the mice, the stepsisters, and the fairy Godmother) but no one else in my family had any interest in meeting them so we didn't. I did notice at least once a CM was very active in telling people that no lines could be formed to wait to meet the characters, they were just roaming and set for just quick interactions, not formal meets

After the carousel we rode Peter Pan with like a 2 min wait which was great! then we went over to Mine Train and the wait said 20 mins, we waited about 17. Once off we saw the wait time down to 15 mins we rode again and only waited like 10. We then rode Winnie the Pooh, and then the Tea Cups and then got in the area to line up to "rope drop" into Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. They held us there and then finally at 9am let us walk slowly behind them and then another CM held us for a little more while people form the main entrance came over and we got merged in with them - actually flet like the main entrance folks got a bit ahead of us which was a bit annoying (wasn't expecting a huge headstart or anything, but at least to be even) and then was like a mob to get filed into the entrance, but in the end we got on Space Mountain and were off by 9:25 so really can't complain. (also had another issue her in that my wife's cell phone fell our of her pocket

We then went to Cosmic Ray's for breakfast and the organization there was not great at all. Huge lines waiting for the hot food which was being served to you at the counters, took way too long, they ran out of coffee (and even if we had gotten any only had the little creamers) and like 1/2 the CMs were over by the coffee (I guess trying to figure out how to get more?) rather than dealing with guests. Once we got food it was hot and was plenty of it and decent tasting, just the organization made everything very inefficient. The "fixin bars" were set up with cold foods - meats and cheeses and fruits and they also had oatmeal - but they only had plates, no bowls, so not sure how one was to eat the oatmeal. They can pastries out along the sides and they all had Cinderella embellishments was a nice touch and they were all pretty fresh and good tasting.

I know I might be giving an overall negative take on breakfast, but honestly "what" was available was all pretty solid for an included meal and plenty of options, etc. - just the organization was not good at all and they need to rethink this

Overall I am really glad we decided to do this. The crowds that day were crazy - 55 mins for Small World, constantly 40+ for people mover, etc. - (was the end of a holiday week and I am sure the fact Splash was down for refurb and then Pirates was down most of the day just due to issues I am sure didn't help) and just feel without this we would have gotten very little done. During the day we did use our three FPs (Big Thunder - which was carrying 130min waits at times), Haunted Mansion, and Jungle Cruise, and then also did Tiki Room and met Mickey. Later we we split up as my wife and our youngest did Carousel again (and then People Mover) while I took the older to to do Underthe Seat that had a posted 20 min wait but CM said that was incorrect and was actually 45 mins, so decided to do Dumbo which said 25 mins and CMs assured us that was correct - but it wound up taking us 50 mins! and that is it until fireworks. (we did take a mid day break which we might not have if we didn't do EMM).

So in someways a negative that it almost felt paying for an extra event was necessary, but we did this instead of adding on more days and/or having park hoppers and I think for us the trade off was worth it and, especially if going duirng a extra busy time, we would do again.

Let me know of any questions/more details you want.

 

[Skallywag Steph]

Just wanted to share quickly our experience with this event. We attended on Thursday, February 20th and it had the Cinderella "extras"

Actually, as I type this up, I am not being really quick, but here is the cliff notes version:
- got to ride Carousel, Peter Pan, Mine Train 2x, Winnie the Pooh, and Tea Cups, and then rope dropped Space Mountain
- breakfast food was ok and plenty of it but organization at the food location was a bit of a disaster
- based on crowds that day, super glad we did this as only way to get done as much as we did so would definitely recommend when crowds are high/shorter trip with not a ton of MK park days


Detail
We took the bus over from Caribbean Beach and got there about 7:15 - we went over to the area and it wasn't really clear which line we needed to be on (which was for this vs for early dining reservations) so had to ask a few people to get to the correct line. Then we got checked in, but they didn't specifically say we then had to get on another line to get our bracelet before lining up to get in, but we figured it out and were in line to get into the park at 7:27 (not a huge deal, just a few signs or CMs directing people would have helped)

We then had a few issues (our end, not Disney's fault) as my son announced he needed to go to the bathroom - but there is none in that area and we would have had to go all the way back out and to the other end on the entrance to go by guest services and recheck in and stuff and just concern about timing of all that - so he said he could wait until we were let in and use the ones near City Hall. Also at this point, my youngest flipped out a bit as she refused to wear the bracelet saying it bothered her (and she actually slipped her hand out of the bracelet), but CMs informed us she needed to wear it. (this is the first time something like this has happened with her - she is totally fine with magic bands, so not sure what it was about this bracelet that set her off). So once the park opened I took my son to the bathroom and then we spent the next 10+ minutes trying to calm my daughter down/think up some way around this. We finally calmed her down and were able to get towards Fantasyland where there was a line of people to get into the area as some people didn't pick up their bracelets so were just checking in there and that held up the line of everyone else who had already gotten their bracelets. ... so between all of this, it was already 8 by the time we got into Fantasyland. So not the most productive first 5th of our time ... things then greatly improved

Part of what got my daughter calmer was agreeing to ride the carousel first. So we did that with no wait (although they were waiting a bit to let more people come to ride so still felt like not the best use of our time to just be sitting on a non-moving carousel, but whatever). We got to ride and everyone had fun. We did see some of the Cinderella characters out (the mice, the stepsisters, and the fairy Godmother) but no one else in my family had any interest in meeting them so we didn't. I did notice at least once a CM was very active in telling people that no lines could be formed to wait to meet the characters, they were just roaming and set for just quick interactions, not formal meets

After the carousel we rode Peter Pan with like a 2 min wait which was great! then we went over to Mine Train and the wait said 20 mins, we waited about 17. Once off we saw the wait time down to 15 mins we rode again and only waited like 10. We then rode Winnie the Pooh, and then the Tea Cups and then got in the area to line up to "rope drop" into Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. They held us there and then finally at 9am let us walk slowly behind them and then another CM held us for a little more while people form the main entrance came over and we got merged in with them - actually flet like the main entrance folks got a bit ahead of us which was a bit annoying (wasn't expecting a huge headstart or anything, but at least to be even) and then was like a mob to get filed into the entrance, but in the end we got on Space Mountain and were off by 9:25 so really can't complain. (also had another issue her in that my wife's cell phone fell our of her pocket

We then went to Cosmic Ray's for breakfast and the organization there was not great at all. Huge lines waiting for the hot food which was being served to you at the counters, took way too long, they ran out of coffee (and even if we had gotten any only had the little creamers) and like 1/2 the CMs were over by the coffee (I guess trying to figure out how to get more?) rather than dealing with guests. Once we got food it was hot and was plenty of it and decent tasting, just the organization made everything very inefficient. The "fixin bars" were set up with cold foods - meats and cheeses and fruits and they also had oatmeal - but they only had plates, no bowls, so not sure how one was to eat the oatmeal. They can pastries out along the sides and they all had Cinderella embellishments was a nice touch and they were all pretty fresh and good tasting.

I know I might be giving an overall negative take on breakfast, but honestly "what" was available was all pretty solid for an included meal and plenty of options, etc. - just the organization was not good at all and they need to rethink this

Overall I am really glad we decided to do this. The crowds that day were crazy - 55 mins for Small World, constantly 40+ for people mover, etc. - (was the end of a holiday week and I am sure the fact Splash was down for refurb and then Pirates was down most of the day just due to issues I am sure didn't help) and just feel without this we would have gotten very little done. During the day we did use our three FPs (Big Thunder - which was carrying 130min waits at times), Haunted Mansion, and Jungle Cruise, and then also did Tiki Room and met Mickey. Later we we split up as my wife and our youngest did Carousel again (and then People Mover) while I took the older to to do Underthe Seat that had a posted 20 min wait but CM said that was incorrect and was actually 45 mins, so decided to do Dumbo which said 25 mins and CMs assured us that was correct - but it wound up taking us 50 mins! and that is it until fireworks. (we did take a mid day break which we might not have if we didn't do EMM).

So in someways a negative that it almost felt paying for an extra event was necessary, but we did this instead of adding on more days and/or having park hoppers and I think for us the trade off was worth it and, especially if going duirng a extra busy time, we would do again.

Let me know of any questions/more details you want.

Is it nearly impossible to do all the offered rides or were you just not interested in Little Mermaid and Small world? What did the wait for the princesses look like?

 

[KateKJ]

Thank you so much @TheMaxRebo for the detailed account! We are doing EMM over Spring Break, so I feel like our experience will be similar to yours. I'm a bit surprised to hear that the line for Mine Train was 17 minutes, but that is very good to know. We may try to do the other rides we want first and save this for the second half of the hour. I notice you didn't attempt Under the Sea during EMM - did you feel like walking up there would eat up too much time? I'm really hoping we can get on PP, WtP, 7DMT, Tea Cups and Under the Sea, but that may be a bit ambitious. I also appreciate the info about rope drop - I was hoping for a little advantage as well, but good to know you can accomplish that ride by 9:30. Thanks again!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Is it nearly impossible to do all the offered rides or were you just not interested in Little Mermaid and Small world? What did the wait for the princesses look like?

Princess were listed at 20 mins but not sure what waits really were. I think if we only did mine train once and we were more efficient in that first 15 mins we could probably do all the rides, not sure about character meets too

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thank you so much @TheMaxRebo for the detailed account! We are doing EMM over Spring Break, so I feel like our experience will be similar to yours. I'm a bit surprised to hear that the line for Mine Train was 17 minutes, but that is very good to know. We may try to do the other rides we want first and save this for the second half of the hour. I notice you didn't attempt Under the Sea during EMM - did you feel like walking up there would eat up too much time? I'm really hoping we can get on PP, WtP, 7DMT, Tea Cups and Under the Sea, but that may be a bit ambitious. I also appreciate the info about rope drop - I was hoping for a little advantage as well, but good to know you can accomplish that ride by 9:30. Thanks again!

Frome reading this thread I did see how it seemed like a lot of people go right to Mine Train and soy plan was to do other stuff first - and I did see that earlier on the wait was listed at 30 mins, and then 25, and then down to 20 when we first rode - I never saw it listed as less than 15, so definitely think doing other stuff earlier makes sense

I think you could do your plan - we didn't do under the sea but did carousel and mine train a second time, plus sort of wasted the first 15 mins so I don't see why you couldn't get done what your want

 

[M SH]

Report from this morning March 1st, 2020:

Let me first preface this by mentioning that we are a family of 2 adults, 2 kids (8 and 6). We move pretty fast, and we are interested mostly in doing the 3 main rides in emm, 7DMT, PP, and WTP. Others are just waste of time/money for us, because it’s easy to refresh and get day of FP for those without much effort. I know it’s different for others here, but this is just from my perspective.
Last time we did this we managed 6x7dmt 2xPP 2xWTP
This time we were not so lucky, and didn’t feel we got our full money’s worth, but it was better than what it could have been.

Drove to MK (staying offsite) and arrived at toll plaza 6:55am. No one there, so free parking for the day. Parked close and walked to TTC. Was at security around 7:05. There was a short line but was moving pretty quickly. Seemed they just opened security. Resort monorail was running but just missed one as we were going up the ramp. Next one came in 5mins. We were at MK, scanned in and near left entrance at 7:25 am.

There was a pretty sizable crowd. So popularity has not died down of this event. An interesting thing was the crowd was reaching the turnstiles, and so they started directing EMM people to the right side of the bridge. We opted to go there as that would put as closer to the front.

7:45 am on the dot, we were let in. We were close to the front so we thought it would be OK to get to 7dmt first thing. But it was down due to technical difficulties. CMs mentioned we could use our wrist band in FP lane till 10am, which was unusual since reports were usually till noon before. We quickly turned to WTP and rode that with no wait. Then walked over to PP. the line was spilling out of the FP lane. We got in and it was a solid 15 min wait.When done it was still the same so opted not to go again. WTP had a similar line now. Seems 7DMT being down caused those 2 to have very long waits. I stopped by the CMs to ask about a status. 8:20 now, and they said still down. I asked why we can’t use the FP line till noon since there is still breakfast that ends at 10, and one CM just said we are not even obligated to do that, and there are other stuff to do. It’s true, but I didn’t like the way he said it, but we just moved on to try and make something out of this. Did under the sea with no wait and when we came out we heard 7DMT was up and we rushed there. As I was expecting, everyone did too and the line was spilling way out of the FP line. We stood there anyway, about 20 min wait first time, 2nd time was similar and while we were going out, rope drop crowd was in. We moved on to tomorrow land, did the speedway then kids were just ready for food at this point as where we. So went to breakfast.

everytime is see this breakfast I get upset because of how it used to be before at PVH. But anyway, can’t live in the past. I was hoping to go get 1 ride at 7DMT, but ran a little late in breakfast, and restroom breaks. So we got back at 10:05 hoping the cm might let us through, but nope. There were a bunch of people for EMM trying, but the CM just asked what time do you have, telling us to move on. I knew there was no point arguing here so just decided to move on with our day and FPs.

fortunately it was a beautiful day today. We FPed our way through MK, and at 5pm while waiting for a FP I decided to try my luck at a GET umbrella to see if I can score a 7DMT FP. I told them what happened this morning and the CM did mention that he will give us a FP just this 1 time. So we managed at least to get three 7DMT which is OK given the circumstances.

overall I do feel this event is still worth it, however if the main attraction you are interested in is down, you have to be prepared for a disappointment there, unless you think that everything offered in this event is worthwhile for you. One thing I did not enjoy was the attitude of a few CMs, but I could understand that they might have been triggered by everyone asking / complaining about the same thing. Oh well..

 

[elle21]

Report from this morning March 1st, 2020:

Let me first preface this by mentioning that we are a family of 2 adults, 2 kids (8 and 6). We move pretty fast, and we are interested mostly in doing the 3 main rides in emm, 7DMT, PP, and WTP. Others are just waste of time/money for us, because it’s easy to refresh and get day of FP for those without much effort. I know it’s different for others here, but this is just from my perspective.
Last time we did this we managed 6x7dmt 2xPP 2xWTP
This time we were not so lucky, and didn’t feel we got our full money’s worth, but it was better than what it could have been.

Drove to MK (staying offsite) and arrived at toll plaza 6:55am. No one there, so free parking for the day. Parked close and walked to TTC. Was at security around 7:05. There was a short line but was moving pretty quickly. Seemed they just opened security. Resort monorail was running but just missed one as we were going up the ramp. Next one came in 5mins. We were at MK, scanned in and near left entrance at 7:25 am.

There was a pretty sizable crowd. So popularity has not died down of this event. An interesting thing was the crowd was reaching the turnstiles, and so they started directing EMM people to the right side of the bridge. We opted to go there as that would put as closer to the front.

7:45 am on the dot, we were let in. We were close to the front so we thought it would be OK to get to 7dmt first thing. But it was down due to technical difficulties. CMs mentioned we could use our wrist band in FP lane till 10am, which was unusual since reports were usually till noon before. We quickly turned to WTP and rode that with no wait. Then walked over to PP. the line was spilling out of the FP lane. We got in and it was a solid 15 min wait.When done it was still the same so opted not to go again. WTP had a similar line now. Seems 7DMT being down caused those 2 to have very long waits. I stopped by the CMs to ask about a status. 8:20 now, and they said still down. I asked why we can’t use the FP line till noon since there is still breakfast that ends at 10, and one CM just said we are not even obligated to do that, and there are other stuff to do. It’s true, but I didn’t like the way he said it, but we just moved on to try and make something out of this. Did under the sea with no wait and when we came out we heard 7DMT was up and we rushed there. As I was expecting, everyone did too and the line was spilling way out of the FP line. We stood there anyway, about 20 min wait first time, 2nd time was similar and while we were going out, rope drop crowd was in. We moved on to tomorrow land, did the speedway then kids were just ready for food at this point as where we. So went to breakfast.

everytime is see this breakfast I get upset because of how it used to be before at PVH. But anyway, can’t live in the past. I was hoping to go get 1 ride at 7DMT, but ran a little late in breakfast, and restroom breaks. So we got back at 10:05 hoping the cm might let us through, but nope. There were a bunch of people for EMM trying, but the CM just asked what time do you have, telling us to move on. I knew there was no point arguing here so just decided to move on with our day and FPs.

fortunately it was a beautiful day today. We FPed our way through MK, and at 5pm while waiting for a FP I decided to try my luck at a GET umbrella to see if I can score a 7DMT FP. I told them what happened this morning and the CM did mention that he will give us a FP just this 1 time. So we managed at least to get three 7DMT which is OK given the circumstances.

overall I do feel this event is still worth it, however if the main attraction you are interested in is down, you have to be prepared for a disappointment there, unless you think that everything offered in this event is worthwhile for you. One thing I did not enjoy was the attitude of a few CMs, but I could understand that they might have been triggered by everyone asking / complaining about the same thing. Oh well..

Wow. You have a really good attitude. This seems awful to me. I’m totally re thinking this after the last two reports. We went three years ago when it was new and loved it. Only three rides at that time, but no waits or lines. There shouldn’t be a 15-20 min wait for anything at this event. They are selling too many tickets. And then the attitude from the CM’s after the main attraction for the event is down?! I would email guest services.

 

[kupair]

I was thinking the same thing! We are planning on going in a couple weeks over spring break, but I wasn't expecting 20 minute waits! Yikes!

 

[Jacq7414]

Man I talked my husband into booking this because of all of the great reviews. I was really hoping to get in a bunch of rides on 7DMT

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Man I talked my husband into booking this because of all of the great reviews. I was really hoping to get in a bunch of rides on 7DMT

you can definitely get in a few rides, but does feel like they are selling more tickets to the event now with the expanded # of attractions vs the older version when only 3 rides were open. I didn't attend then but know someone who did a few times and she was talking about how she could just stay on Mine Train at times and was getting 6 or 8 rides in along with other rides. I think those days are over

We could have done 3 or 4 if we didn't want to do other things as well

 

[Jacq7414]

you can definitely get in a few rides, but does feel like they are selling more tickets to the event now with the expanded # of attractions vs the older version when only 3 rides were open. I didn't attend then but know someone who did a few times and she was talking about how she could just stay on Mine Train at times and was getting 6 or 8 rides in along with other rides. I think those days are over

We could have done 3 or 4 if we didn't want to do other things as well

That’s not terrible then.

 

[manish500]

We want to do one ride at 9am before we eat breakfast. We have 2 young daughters and definitely want to hit up Enchanted tales with Belle at some point. Is this a good choice right at the end of EMM? Seems like lines get long during the day and FP is hard to get. Does EMM put you in good position to beat the rope drop crowd to this? Someone above mentioned they need at least 20 people to start this, but assuming that wouldn’t take too long, right? The other option would be speedway.

Thanks

 

[Jacq7414]

We want to do one ride at 9am before we eat breakfast. We have 2 young daughters and definitely want to hit up Enchanted tales with Belle at some point. Is this a good choice right at the end of EMM? Seems like lines get long during the day and FP is hard to get. Does EMM put you in good position to beat the rope drop crowd to this? Someone above mentioned they need at least 20 people to start this, but assuming that wouldn’t take too long, right? The other option would be speedway.

Thanks

Personally I don’t think enchanted tales with belle is a good use of time at 9. I was able to get a FP for it at day 60+1 (my MK day) so it shouldn’t be that difficult to get. When are going to MK? I’d try for the FP for it first. It just seems like a big time suck at 9 am

 

[uandmfan]

We want to do one ride at 9am before we eat breakfast. We have 2 young daughters and definitely want to hit up Enchanted tales with Belle at some point. Is this a good choice right at the end of EMM? Seems like lines get long during the day and FP is hard to get. Does EMM put you in good position to beat the rope drop crowd to this? Someone above mentioned they need at least 20 people to start this, but assuming that wouldn’t take too long, right? The other option would be speedway.

Thanks

I've never had issues getting Belle as a FP and have gotten it both at 30 and 60 days out. Although it's been awhile and things change. Speedway has the most annoying line ever. After reading this thread, if we do EMM, we will likely RD speedway, head to Buzz and then do breakfast.

 

[AngiTN]

Mine train down this morning 3/3
Last day of the special characters
I did get photos with them all with a bit of work

 

[ram2016]

Would RD for Speedway followed by Dumbo and breakfast around 930 be a good plan? Would dumbo have a long wait after getting off speedway?

 

[ram2016]

Mine train down this morning 3/3
Last day of the special characters
I did get photos with them all with a bit of work

Anything offered due to it being down, like return FP later in the day? I’ve been stalking wait times all morning and saw that it has been down all morning

 

[AmishGuy91]

Anything offered due to it being down, like return FP later in the day? I’ve been stalking wait times all morning and saw that it has been down all morning

These reports of 7DMT being down during EMM recently are really discouraging. It's by far the main reason to purchase these tickets.

 

[AngiTN]

Anything offered due to it being down, like return FP later in the day? I’ve been stalking wait times all morning and saw that it has been down all morning

We haven’t stopped to ask as of yet. That’s something I’d rather spend time dealing with after the event is over. But I will

 

[AngiTN]

Stopped to check. We will get 2 hours unlimited time to ride when the ride opens. So right now they say till 11. But it’s not up yet. So the time extended till it opens