Our wonderful experience with EMH over Thanksgiving Weekend

[SFMommy]

We had the most wonderful experiences every morning with our EMH at DL (Thanksgiving and Sunday) and at DCA on Black Friday.

Thanksgiving morning:

• at gates at 6:45 (6th family in line at a gate)
• I walked very briskly to Anna & Elsa return pass distribution while DH & DD8 rode Startours
• I got A&E return passes for 7:50-8:10 a.m.
• I waited for DH & DD8 to finish riding Startours and then we all walked onto the Nemo Subs at about 7:25.
• We got in line for Toad at 7:40 (10 minute wait already!)
• Met Anna & Elsa at about 8:00 (no wait with our passes)
• Went and got fastpasses for BTMM (return time 9:05-10:05)
• Walked right on to Pirates
• Waited 15 minutes to ride Jingle Cruise
• Got fastpasses for Haunted Mansion with a return time of 10:15-11:15
• Waited 5 minutes to ride Pooh
• Rode BTMM
• Sat on a bench near BTMM and ate Mickey Pretzels for a 15 minute rest
• Rode Haunted Mansion
• Got on the train at New Orleans Square (no wait, got next train in about 3 minutes) all the way to Tomorrowland
• Got Autopia fastpasses (return time 11:15-12:15)
• Waited 20 minutes to ride Buzz
• Walked around Innoventions
• Rode Autopia
• At 12 noon we took the Monorail to DTD and had lunch at Tortilla Joe's

The only issue we had was that places for food were way too crowded. The wait at River Belle Terrace at 9:30 was at least 30 minutes. And at lunch time everything was even worse. By 11:00 it felt very crowded. It was a nice escape to DTD for lunch and back to our room for a swim and rest.


Black Friday:

• at gates at 6:40 (3rd family in line)
• walked to RSR and were done riding by 7:20
• rode TSMM (5 minute wait)
• DH & DD8 rode Carousel while I went to get RSR fastpasses...they were distributing them BEFORE official park opening...I had them in my hand by 7:55 with return time of 9:05-10:05
• walked onto Luigi
• ate breakfast at Flo's
• walked onto Ariel
• waited 15 minutes to ride Soarin'
• rode RSR again with our fastpasses
• met Sofia the First and Jake in front of Animation Academy building
• saw the 10:30 Disney Junior show
• waited 20 minutes to ride Monsters (starting to get really crowded now...around 11:00)
• ate lunch at Lucky Fortune Cookie
• saw the 12:40 Aladdin show
• saw Turtle Talk with Crush
• went back to the PPH for a rest/swim
• went back into DCA at 7:30 p.m.
• got fastpasses for Goofy's Sky School (return time 8:00-9:00 p.m.)
• watched It's Tough to be a Bug
• rode Goofy's

Saturday:

• at gates at 6:40 (3rd family in line)
• walked to Peter Pan and were done riding by 7:15
• rode Alice, Small World, Tea Cups, Pinocchio and Snow White by 8:00
• at park opening, rode Storybook Canal boats with a 10 minute wait
• had breakfast at Jolly Holiday Bakery
• at 8:45 lined up at Pixie Hollow (4th family in line)
• finished Pixie Hollow by 9:15
• walked onto Buzz
• got fastpasses for Startours (return time 10:10-11:10)
• went to see Princess...waited about 15 minutes to see Jasmine, Snow White and Ariel in the Royal Hall while DH waited to go into the Royal Theater
• joined DH in the Royal Theater for the 10:15 show (it was Beauty & Beast instead of Tangled)
• waited at end of the show to meet Belle
• rode Startours
• went to the Tiki Room and shared a Dole Whip while waiting for the show to start
• climbed Tarzan's Treehouse
• lunch at Hungry Bear
• took the raft to Pirate's Lair Island
• went back to the PPH for a rest/swim
• went back into DL at 7:00 p.m.
• got a churro
• did the Castle Walkthrough
• watched the Castle lighting and snow falling at 7:30

I was so happy that we accomplished so much each morning! Especially Anna & Elsa and RSR. Staying on-site was really worth it for us!

 

[lk2500]

Sounds like a blast, I am jealous!

 

[McNs]

EMH is awesome, totally makes staying on site worth it. We enjoy it better at DCA where it is hotel guests only, one EMH we had at DL (9:am park opening, 8:00 EMH) the line for PP was 50 minutes at 8:30!!! During EMH!!!!

 

[TheDoleWhipper]

Glad your EMHs went alright! I am surprised that you were able to be nearly first in line after arriving only 15-20 minutes before early entry starts! For some reason, I thought it had to be 45 minutes to have a similar position in line. LOL... I guess it depends on the time the parks open. When DL opens at 10 am, people more likely to get up by 9:00 for EE and the lines for entry go all the way back into DCAs entry gates. 7:00 am EMHs, like yours, are more efficient, I guess, even though they usually happen on more crowded days.

 

[TheChapman6]

Sounds like you had fun. I've always loved how much we can do when we there early

 

[SFMommy]

Glad your EMHs went alright! I am surprised that you were able to be nearly first in line after arriving only 15-20 minutes before early entry starts! For some reason, I thought it had to be 45 minutes to have a similar position in line. LOL... I guess it depends on the time the parks open. When DL opens at 10 am, people more likely to get up by 9:00 for EE and the lines for entry go all the way back into DCAs entry gates. 7:00 am EMHs, like yours, are more efficient, I guess, even though they usually happen on more crowded days.

Yes, we have always had more success with very early MM or EMH days. There are a lot more people willing to get up for a 9:00 a.m. EMH but not quite as many for 7:00 a.m. That is pretty darn early...especially for a vacation and a holiday weekend!