Today (4/30) early morning magic report

[Imagineer5]

I made a post on Tuesday asking for input on the EMM event at MK and decided to go for it today!

It was just me and my 4 year old dd and our original plan included breakfast at Crystal palace. We cancelled that and booked this instead. Getting to the MK that early was a hurdle but the actual party was great!

Checking in I snuck a peek at the clipboard and the list was VERY short. Maybe 25 "groups" total. I'm guessing a total of 40-50 people were there. We actually stopped for photo pass pics after we were let into the park and then headed to 7dmt.

4 rides on that, needed a break so went on pooh. Then Peter Pan twice, then 7dmt 4 more times and pooh again. So we did 8 times on 7dmt, 2 Peter Pan and 2 pooh. By this point it was about 8:35 and while I originally hadn't intended to use the party time for eating, we headed in for breakfast hungry and tired of riding lol!

Breakfast while there were few options was actually fabulous! The veggie frittata was delicious as was everything else we had. They had replaced the Belgian waffles with French toast which was disappointing at first but still good. We headed back out at 9:01.

By 11 we had been on: barnstormer, dumbo, under the sea, met Ariel, tea cups, tomorrowland speedway, buzz, TTA and had a pseudo lunch of ice cream from the parlor.

Pretty awesome morning!

Was it worth it? watching my daughter run in an empty fantasyland and get to ride 7dmt over and over again - 100% yes. I was hesitant to do this even after the positive reviews from Tuesday but asked her opinion and we decided to go for it. I would totally do it again and it would be neat if they did these parties in each land with more rides open!

 

[coozieman]

AWESOME!! Thanks for the review and so glad you enjoyed your morning with your princess!

 

[DisneyDad2015]

Great review!

Funny to think about how many people scoffed at this event and even criticized Disney for it. I've read nothing but great reviews regarding it.

 

[counselormom]

Thanks for the report! I'm taking my 11 yr old daughter in June so I'm so glad to hear it's worth it.
Good work getting a peek at the clipboard .
You said getting there that early was the hardest part. Were you coming by bus from a resort? I'm a little worried about that part .

 

[mousefan73]

too bad that...

1. we are not early risers
2. 4 people = alot of money
3. did I say like to sleep in....we usually hit the parks late afternoon to close..

when i think about it.. a buffett is about 42 dollars for an adults.. so for about 25 more you get a good hour of repeat rides.... I would totally suggest this for a family that is only doing wdw for a short, once in a lifetime trip. if you only have one day MK;, you get your arsch out of bed,, do full power fantasyland land,, get it over,, then maybe one other land. use FP, go take resort break and then evening.. ithink you can get alot down this way than regular in 2 or 3 days.

IF riding is your priority.. MK is for not all the "let's get as many rides in " type of place.

 

[Imagineer5]

Thanks for the report! I'm taking my 11 yr old daughter in June so I'm so glad to hear it's worth it.
Good work getting a peek at the clipboard .
You said getting there that early was the hardest part. Were you coming by bus from a resort? I'm a little worried about that part .

Coming from shades of green. Walked to the Polynesian - monorail was supposed to be working at 7 but was still in testing. They said buses would be coming but they didn't. So the front desk ordered a taxi for us! It was nerve wracking honesty. I love staying at bay lake tower for the accessibility to the MK (walking) and wished we had been staying there.

 

[mousefan73]

When does the parking lot open and ferry start?

 

[Micca]

Great report imagineer5, thanks for taking the time to post. The price is still pretty steep for a large family, although you'd pay something near half that for a breakfast buffet on property. I'm sure it take some of the stress out of touring the rest of the park during the day as you've put a pretty big dent in some of the longest wait times.

 

[Robo]

1. When does the parking lot open
2. and ferry start?

1. You can get in to park virtually 24 hours. (The gates will be staffed at maybe, 6:30-7:00AM.)
2. I'd not pick the ferry as an "early arrival" choice. They have a "soft schedule" of starting 30 min. before the MK opens that day.

 

[Interrobang]

I really want to do this in June, and they offer it on one of the days we are in MK in the morning. But because Disney is so last minute with everything, we have CRT ADRs that morning. So I am trying to move the ADR to our other MK morning but so far no luck.

Really hoping I can make this work.

 

[Skywise]

2. I'd not pick the ferry as an "early arrival" choice. They have a "soft schedule" of starting 30 min. before the MK opens that day.

If you were staying on-site at the GF or Poly would recommend monorail or boat launch to do this?

 

[capegirl]

Coming from shades of green. Walked to the Polynesian - monorail was supposed to be working at 7 but was still in testing. They said buses would be coming but they didn't. So the front desk ordered a taxi for us! It was nerve wracking honesty. I love staying at bay lake tower for the accessibility to the MK (walking) and wished we had been staying there.

Good to know!! We are staying at SOG in July, and if EMM is extended into the summer we plan on taking advantage. Thank goodness you were able to get a taxi! I'm not sure the Poly boat launch would be up and running that early. Loved those photos of the deserted Main St. and FL....it was totally worth the money!

 

[Disneyliscious]

Sounds like a pretty neat thing to do though I don't think I'd ever fork out the money for it. Also, while your daughter looks like she is having a blast, there is something sad about those photos to me. It just looks odd to see DW so incredibly empty. Made me realize that maybe part of the charm is seeing all the kids and smiling peoples faces who go there everyday. Honestly, I think I'd rather be in a crowd then see it so empty like that.

 

[dkrauss]

Sounds like a pretty neat thing to do though I don't think I'd ever fork out the money for it. Also, while your daughter looks like she is having a blast, there is something sad about those photos to me. It just looks odd to see DW so incredibly empty. Made me realize that maybe part of the charm is seeing all the kids and smiling peoples faces who go there everyday. Honestly, I think I'd rather be in a crowd then see it so empty like that.

It's nice that this worked for the OP...............but I agree with Disneyliscious, to me much of the joy of the Magic Kingdom isn't in the emptiness. Now for some that emptiness is a plus..........but not for me. I'm fine with the way the park looks for EMH as they have\currently are run. I also don't need to do 7DMT more than twice in a day.......but that's me. Curious that there's only 25 groups signed up. What did that amount to? Disney won't extend this if they can't make money at it..........doesn't appear (based on the OP's statement) that many are taking advantage..........could be that Disney isn't promoting it. Maybe its the cost $69/per plus a regular admission is a bunch for just a couple of rides. The argument for the late night event seems better given almost all rides are available.

Hey I'm glad the OP had fun and her daughter loved it. If you want to ride 7DMT multiple times..........it may be worth it to you...........It's not something I'd pay extra for............

Doug

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Your daughter is adorable and looks so happy! I'm glad you had such a great time! The breakfast looks awesome as well!

 

[bcrook]

too bad that...

1. we are not early risers
2. 4 people = alot of money
3. did I say like to sleep in....we usually hit the parks late afternoon to close..

when i think about it.. a buffett is about 42 dollars for an adults.. so for about 25 more you get a good hour of repeat rides.... I would totally suggest this for a family that is only doing wdw for a short, once in a lifetime trip. if you only have one day MK;, you get your arsch out of bed,, do full power fantasyland land,, get it over,, then maybe one other land. use FP, go take resort break and then evening.. ithink you can get alot down this way than regular in 2 or 3 days.

IF riding is your priority.. MK is for not all the "let's get as many rides in " type of place.

To be fair, not many noncharacter meals are more than $25.00.

The Wave - $14.99 child, $21.99 adult And at Bomo about $24.99 peak. Even 'Ohana with characters is only in the low $30.00's.

 

[bcrook]

Sounds like a pretty neat thing to do though I don't think I'd ever fork out the money for it. Also, while your daughter looks like she is having a blast, there is something sad about those photos to me. It just looks odd to see DW so incredibly empty. Made me realize that maybe part of the charm is seeing all the kids and smiling peoples faces who go there everyday. Honestly, I think I'd rather be in a crowd then see it so empty like that.

There is something about this that feels like early FP+ trials.

In October 2013, I was able to use Legacy FP as much as I wanted and got to be among a small number of people who was able to also use 3 FP+ advanced ride reservations. It was really, really nice. Of course that will never be experienced again. It turned really ugly shortly there after.

This report is not what the final product will look like.

But I'm happy the OP got to experience something truly unique like I did in Oct 2013.

 

[revdon64]

Great review!

Funny to think about how many people scoffed at this event and even criticized Disney for it. I've read nothing but great reviews regarding it.

Relax hoss, plenty of time for Disney to muck it up. If they're still doing it in six months and there are still only 50 or 60 people going, I'll be more than happy to eat my words. But for now I'm counting on this going the same way the "exclusive" parties have gone - over sold and under quality.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Your daughter looks like she was having a blast! Thanks for taking the time to write this review. Makes me think about trying it ....

 

[DisneyDad2015]

Relax hoss, plenty of time for Disney to muck it up. If they're still doing it in six months and there are still only 50 or 60 people going, I'll be more than happy to eat my words. But for now I'm counting on this going the same way the "exclusive" parties have gone - over sold and under quality.

Seems you're hoping for it to fail. Question is, why?