MK/Fantasyland “Early Morning Magic” (EMM) (Thread Now Closed, See New MK EMM FAQ Thread)

[GADisneyDad14]

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VERY informative post and a great resource for anyone considering booking EMM. This one sentence above made me smile because this past August we got stuck on Splash and arrived at the breakfast right around 10:15. We almost didn’t bother because we figured they would tell us to go pound sand, but the CMs were incredibly gracious, welcomed us in and didn’t make us feel rushed at all. Obviously, one should NOT count on this as a strategy. I’m quite aware that we just got lucky.

Totally agree on the breakfast part. I'm not sure what time Pinocchio Village Haus opens for lunch but I've never really seen any sort of rush to move you out or clear the buffet line. That could change on any given day I'm sure, but I've always been impressed how generous they are with the time past published hours.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I was so sad to see that this year on our week, the week after Thanksgiving, there were no dates for EMM. So sad! It was one of our favorite experiences and worth every penny for us! To be able to ride 7DMT 10 times and not be in the insane rope drop drama...priceless. We go every other year, so this is not our year...certainly hoping they bring it back for November and December on the quieter weeks...of course not Thanksgiving or Christmas week. Perplexed as to why they would not do it the 3 weeks after Thanksgiving as they are one if the best times to hit WDW as far as crowds.

Thanks for the info!

I was perplexed at the no Nov/Dec EMM dates at first as well, until I saw what they did with final park hours and it made more sense. There ended up being many 8AM openings throughout Nov/Dec, including some days that would have been EMM days last year. I'm no park hour expert but I think they ended up doing more 8AM openings given the new earlier park closing time on MVMCP dates (6pm instead of 7pm). Could be way off on this assessment, but seems to make sense in a year-over-year comparison.

 

[Babs1975]

Thanks for the info!

I was perplexed at the no Nov/Dec EMM dates at first as well, until I saw what they did with final park hours and it made more sense. There ended up being many 8AM openings throughout Nov/Dec, including some days that would have been EMM days last year. I'm no park hour expert but I think they ended up doing more 8AM openings given the new earlier park closing time on MVMCP dates (6pm instead of 7pm). Could be way off on this assessment, but seems to make sense in a year-over-year comparison.

Makes sense. The time before this last trip we ran into many more 8am openings, on the same week, but that did not happen during the last trip. I wasn't thinking about EMM possibly influencing that. I wish they would go back to the EMM between Thanksgiving and Christmas though. I'm holding out hope they will change it back for next year!

 

[EEva]

I just booked us for Sunday, 06/10! (I know so very early, but I loved it in Sept. and don't want to miss out! )

I wonder if week before did not have EMM due to it being a busy time for Gay Days? And there will be 8am openings?

Also, just wanted to mention, I was not able to make any PPO times for BOG. The earliest my whole trip was 9am. It wasn't even an option on the 10th where EMM would guarantee a 9am opening. If they do away with the BOG PPO option, I wonder what the impact on EMM would be? Or maybe something new is coming? Who knows!

 

[JackieT1182]

I just booked us for Sunday, 06/10! (I know so very early, but I loved it in Sept. and don't want to miss out! )

I wonder if week before did not have EMM due to it being a busy time for Gay Days? And there will be 8am openings?

Also, just wanted to mention, I was not able to make any PPO times for BOG. The earliest my whole trip was 9am. It wasn't even an option on the 10th where EMM would guarantee a 9am opening. If they do away with the BOG PPO option, I wonder what the impact on EMM would be? Or maybe something new is coming? Who knows!

I don't see any dates to book for June. Is it because you're within your 180 days? I'm able to book my dining reservations on Monday, and I'm really hoping to book EMM for June 17!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I don't see any dates to book for June. Is it because you're within your 180 days? I'm able to book my dining reservations on Monday, and I'm really hoping to book EMM for June 17!

Yeah, 6/10 is past 180 so the PP must be in their + window. Having one on 6/10 is an excellent sign there might be one 6/17!

 

[JackieT1182]

Yeah, 6/10 is past 180 so the PP must be in their + window. Having one on 6/10 is an excellent sign there might be one 6/17!

I really hope so! We did the Disney After Hours event in February, and it was so amazing. Since we won't be able to attend that event next year, I figured this would be the next best thing!

 

[EEva]

Yeah, 6/10 is past 180 so the PP must be in their + window. Having one on 6/10 is an excellent sign there might be one 6/17!

That's correct, June 10 is in my 180+10 window. It was a pleasant surprise since I've been stalking June for a while now.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

That's correct, June 10 is in my 180+10 window. It was a pleasant surprise since I've been stalking June for a while now.

Cool, thanks for letting me know! I'll add it to the dates. So nice that these EMM dates are showing up at 180+ lately, which I'm sure helps many folks with their planning. Have fun!

 

[JackieT1182]

So excited! My ADR window just opened for our June trip, so I was able to book this for June 10 and June 17. I couldn't decide between the two days, so I just booked both!

Also, just FYI so that you can add it to the list, EMM is also scheduled for Tuesday June 12.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So excited! My ADR window just opened for our June trip, so I was able to book this for June 10 and June 17. I couldn't decide between the two days, so I just booked both!

Also, just FYI so that you can add it to the list, EMM is also scheduled for Tuesday June 12.

Great, thank you! I feel so blind without the + window!!!! I will update post #2 later today.

 

[nicolispicoli]

Seems like most of this group has done EMM before, so I have a question for our EMM arrival. We are staying off site (a rented house in Kissimmee) about 9 miles away. If you were doing that, what would be your plan of attack to arrive in time to make the 7:45 entry? We do have free parking, though I don't even know the logistics of parking at MK and how long it takes to get parked and to the actual gates. From checking out the maps, there seem to be a few options close by, so I'm curious to what vets would do in my situation.

Also, I'm wondering what everyone's usual plan is after you stop to eat breakfast and the gates are open. Do you finish Fantasyland and move to a close by land? I'm trying to book our FP's in a way that makes sense and flows. I figured we would hit a few more things in fantasyland after everyone else gets let in and get in what we can before stopping to eat breakfast around 9:30 or so. After breakfast, I thought we would finish whatever we wanted to do in Fantasyland and then go towards Haunted Mansion and basically spend our day going counter clockwise in the park ending at Tomorrowland. I know that seems super specific, but none of us have ever been and we only have 1 day in MK to do what we can.

Any advice or insight would be amazing, thank you!

 

[gobosox00]

We did our last ride around 8:40 and headed over to barnstormer. we were able to just stay on and ride multiple times, then hit up under the sea then breakfast around 9:30ish. I think your plan of HM after sounds good!

 

[mmtwinmama]

Can anyone provide feedback on this potential plan? I know some frown upon eating breakfast prior to 9, but I think with what we want to accomplish it might work best. We will definitely arrive by 7:30 to start at 7:45.
Ride 7d a few times. Peter Pan 1x if that. Eat at 8:30.
Head to Space at opening.
Buzz X 2
Thunder
Splash
Pirates
HM
Would this work without having too long of waits for Thunder and Splash? We would totally skip Pirates and HM if those waits were long by then.
My goal is to take a long break at Poly and then have our FP's booked after 5pm elsewhere.

 

[Cabius]

Can anyone provide feedback on this potential plan? I know some frown upon eating breakfast prior to 9, but I think with what we want to accomplish it might work best. We will definitely arrive by 7:30 to start at 7:45.
Ride 7d a few times. Peter Pan 1x if that. Eat at 8:30.
Head to Space at opening.
Buzz X 2
Thunder
Splash
Pirates
HM
Would this work without having too long of waits for Thunder and Splash? We would totally skip Pirates and HM if those waits were long by then.
My goal is to take a long break at Poly and then have our FP's booked after 5pm elsewhere.

What date are you going? Whether that will be feasible or not will depend wildly on how busy the park is on that particular day.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I've really wanted to do this event - we just missed it the year it first started, then wasn't offered our week last year. Now this year, it's offered our spring break week, but only on the Sunday (4/15), and we're doing our first split with Universal, so we won't be on the WDW end until 4/16. The dates weren't out when we booked everything - I've been contemplating swapping things around but that may be too much and I prefer to "end" at Disney, but it does sound like such a great event, especially how it opens things up in the rest of the park with FPs and such...Argh! I don't really have a question, just lamenting, lol...

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Page 1 is updated with the latest June dates that we know of:

Sunday, June 10, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Sunday, June 17, 2018

Appreciate those that can see into their +10 window and let me know if they see EMM dates. Thank you!!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Seems like most of this group has done EMM before, so I have a question for our EMM arrival. We are staying off site (a rented house in Kissimmee) about 9 miles away. If you were doing that, what would be your plan of attack to arrive in time to make the 7:45 entry? We do have free parking, though I don't even know the logistics of parking at MK and how long it takes to get parked and to the actual gates. From checking out the maps, there seem to be a few options close by, so I'm curious to what vets would do in my situation.

I'm a bit hesitant to answer your first part because I don't have first hand experience (we've always been on site at a MK resort every time we've done EMM). Unfortunately when coming via car, the MK parking lot logistics add a bit of an unknown element to the timing. You need to park, then walk or tram to the TTC (I'm assuming that early you're close enough to walk easily?), go through security, then take the Ferry or Express Monorail to MK. I 'think' I'd be aiming to be AT the TTC around 7 at the latest (note, not pulling in the parking lot, I mean out of your car and AT the TTC ready to pick a mode of transportation to the MK). Hopefully someone who comes via car commonly can be a bit more confident in a proper strategy!

Also, I'm wondering what everyone's usual plan is after you stop to eat breakfast and the gates are open. Do you finish Fantasyland and move to a close by land? I'm trying to book our FP's in a way that makes sense and flows. I figured we would hit a few more things in fantasyland after everyone else gets let in and get in what we can before stopping to eat breakfast around 9:30 or so. After breakfast, I thought we would finish whatever we wanted to do in Fantasyland and then go towards Haunted Mansion and basically spend our day going counter clockwise in the park ending at Tomorrowland. I know that seems super specific, but none of us have ever been and we only have 1 day in MK to do what we can.

Any advice or insight would be amazing, thank you!

We target to be eating more like 9:50 so we can cover a some rides between 9-9:50. A few times we've run off to BTMR, then back to HM, then eat. I think once we did BTMR, SM, HM, then ate - but SM takes up a bunch of time so that's a bit risky. I'd recommend utilizing that time to hit some high demand rides first thing, that way you won't have to use a FP on them later.

When done with breakfast, we'll usually go to a certain area... maybe finish FL as you suggest, hit Tomorrowland since it's not far, etc Different schools of thought on this, but I prefer to book my FPs early and to the point where I'm actually USING my first FP towards the end of the hour and can then use my second at the beginning of that hour shortly therafter. I like to get the three done quickly so I can then search for others on the spot. Some people like to save FPs for later in the day when crowds are more intense.

Hope all of that makes sense - if any of it doesn't don't hesitate to ask!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Can anyone provide feedback on this potential plan? I know some frown upon eating breakfast prior to 9, but I think with what we want to accomplish it might work best. We will definitely arrive by 7:30 to start at 7:45.
Ride 7d a few times. Peter Pan 1x if that. Eat at 8:30.
Head to Space at opening.
Buzz X 2
Thunder
Splash
Pirates
HM
Would this work without having too long of waits for Thunder and Splash? We would totally skip Pirates and HM if those waits were long by then.
My goal is to take a long break at Poly and then have our FP's booked after 5pm elsewhere.

With some hustle and a little luck, seems pretty doable to get all of that done pretty quickly.

Except I question "x2" on Buzz!

I might even skip Buzz and head straight across the park to BTMR. Do Buzz later before you leave for your rest, or later that night.

I actually don't think eating pre-9AM is that bad an idea. I think some can hit a "saturation point" with the three rides where you're like "ok, this is great, but do I really want to ride AGAIN?" Nothing wrong with grabbing a bite and then hitting rope drop hard at 9AM! I love the 9-11 time frame and think those minutes are GOLD in the park!

Just a quick clarification, you are let in the front gates at 7:45ish. So you'll (unfortunately) eat 10ish minutes of EMM time just walking back to Fantasyland. You may know that, just want to be sure.

Have fun!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I've really wanted to do this event - we just missed it the year it first started, then wasn't offered our week last year. Now this year, it's offered our spring break week, but only on the Sunday (4/15), and we're doing our first split with Universal, so we won't be on the WDW end until 4/16. The dates weren't out when we booked everything - I've been contemplating swapping things around but that may be too much and I prefer to "end" at Disney, but it does sound like such a great event, especially how it opens things up in the rest of the park with FPs and such...Argh! I don't really have a question, just lamenting, lol...

Seems the dark side is causing your current predicament!