Early Morning Magic tip

[tarak]

This is what we did, also, after seeing somebody here post it as a tip. It was so easy to stop in and pick up a little bite we could walk out with and just keep going. No reason for anyone to have to eat anything else before entering the park. Then 9:40 became the perfect breakfast time.

I did this last May and thought it was the best upcharge for the money. We also didn't eat until about 9:45 or so. The food was still very fresh and we were encouraged to take as much as we wanted with us. I'm hoping they extend it to November and I can book it for our next trip. My daughter was a bit unsure about SDMT, but we rode Peter Pan 9 times. Maybe that sounds awful to some but I loved being able to get off and right back on. My daughter is really looking forward to trying the mine train in a few months.

 

[LucyBC80]

Just want to note that this was not the case when I went in May. The wristband only allowed access during EMM time.

It's been a few months since I've been there though, this may be a new practice.

This didn't happen when we did EMM in June. I've only heard of people getting the wristbands when a ride (usually SDMT) has been down during EMM.


We didn't actually go eat breakfast until 9:40, but we did stop by and pick up some pastries to go earlier in the morning so we could have a snack to tide us over.

I've done EMM three times (latest was in May) and this was never the case. Doing it again in a couple weeks, so I will ask if anything has changed.

I've never done it EMM myself as my last time at Disney was 2015. My info comes from this video, which was shot this past January and I was pretty excited to hear about it.

 

[KrazeeK120]

deleted

 

[anomamatt]

I've never done it EMM myself as my last time at Disney was 2015. My info comes from this video, which was shot this past January and I was pretty excited to hear about it.

Okay... She explains why it happened in her case... 7DMT was down during EMM. There have been a few reports of this happening. If a ride is down during EMM (and only if), they accept the EMM bands at the FP kiosks (until noon) for that ride. Otherwise, with only 3 rides (and sometimes bonus carousel), people would be pretty upset if 1 of them was down during EMM.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Okay... She explains why it happened in her case... 7DMT was down during EMM. There have been a few reports of this happening. If a ride is down during EMM (and only if), they accept the EMM bands at the FP kiosks (until noon) for that ride. Otherwise, with only 3 rides (and sometimes bonus carousel), people would be pretty upset if 1 of them was down during EMM.

 

[Kardiacc]

Be sure to double check how you are going to get to the park that morning, and have a backup plan. We went last year during October while staying at Kidani. We talked to the front desk about when the buses would start running, and were there about 15 minutes before that time. We then waited and waited while empty bus after empty bus left for AK, Epcot and HS. Finally the bus shows up and we get there over 40 minutes late to the event. We still rode Peter pan twice, pooh once and 7DMT (my daughters favorite) about 6 times before heading off to the village haus for for breakfast. Disney took care of us after the snafu.
Planning to do it again in October but this time we are staying at the Poly so transportation should be a bit less stress.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Be sure to double check how you are going to get to the park that morning, and have a backup plan. We went last year during October while staying at Kidani. We talked to the front desk about when the buses would start running, and were there about 15 minutes before that time. We then waited and waited while empty bus after empty bus left for AK, Epcot and HS. Finally the bus shows up and we get there over 40 minutes late to the event. We still rode Peter pan twice, pooh once and 7DMT (my daughters favorite) about 6 times before heading off to the village haus for for breakfast. Disney took care of us after the snafu.
Planning to do it again in October but this time we are staying at the Poly so transportation should be a bit less stress.

Unfortunately, sometimes there are transportation snafus. We took a bus to EMM in May (from WL) and got there in plenty of time.

I once stayed at CBR and got to the bus stop at 5:40 for a 6 am MK opening. I knew I probably wouldn't make RD. Imagine my shock when I got to the bus stop and saw a huge crowd there. Some people had been there since 5 am and no bus had come. We immediately turned around and got in the car and just drove ourselves. I wasn't going to wait around to see what happened! We passed one of the other CBR bus stops on the way out and there was a big crowd there too. So yeah, sometimes buses aren't dispatched correctly for whatever reason.

 

[mamamelody2]

I'm still unconvinced about EMM as our DC are 12-14 so a little past the incessant need to ride the rides in fantasyland repeatedly, lol. I'm glad it worked for you though and a very helpful review

Hey, I'm 45 and I'm totally looking forward to incessantly riding rides during EMM!!

 

[tobikaye]

Be sure to double check how you are going to get to the park that morning, and have a backup plan. We went last year during October while staying at Kidani. We talked to the front desk about when the buses would start running, and were there about 15 minutes before that time.

Out of curiosity, what time did the front desk tell you to be out there? The first buses start rolling around 6:30 am for a 9 am (or EMH 8am) opening, but they are not as frequent until about 1 hour before the park opens. If you have transportation questions while onsite, try asking a transportation CM that is out by the bus stop at a resort at the parks bus depots.

I may have to consider the EMM for my trip early next year, but I think I will stick with my BOG PPO. The BOG PPO breakfast worked best last year as I was able to ride 7DMT 3 or 4 times in a row. We probably could have gotten about 2-3 more times, but we decided to get in line for Pooh instead. Maybe this year, we will get in line for PP instead of Pooh.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

This didn't happen when we did EMM in June. I've only heard of people getting the wristbands when a ride (usually SDMT) has been down during EMM.

Yes. We've done EMM 3 times total. Once, PP was down, so we were told wristbands were good for the 3 rides until noon. Didn't happen the other two times.

 

[tarak]

Be sure to double check how you are going to get to the park that morning, and have a backup plan. We went last year during October while staying at Kidani. We talked to the front desk about when the buses would start running, and were there about 15 minutes before that time. We then waited and waited while empty bus after empty bus left for AK, Epcot and HS. Finally the bus shows up and we get there over 40 minutes late to the event. We still rode Peter pan twice, pooh once and 7DMT (my daughters favorite) about 6 times before heading off to the village haus for for breakfast. Disney took care of us after the snafu.
Planning to do it again in October but this time we are staying at the Poly so transportation should be a bit less stress.

We were staying at the Poly and the monorail was down for maintenance. It turns out they had a bus running but no one had a clue at the front desk. This was right after it started, so that might explain why they didn't know about it. But I'd still double check at the resort.

 

[kmc8826]

D8 and I are doing EMM tomorrow. We are staying at CBR. We have a car. What would you all do to get there in time? We plan to leave no later than 6:30 but realistically might be closer to 6:45 since tonight will be another late night too. CBR bus or drive and deal with TTC? I had an initial thought of wait like 10 minutes for a MK bus and if it didn't come drive?!?

 

[disneyvoice]

Yes! My DH and I thought EMM was amazing! We both thought it would be a great option for a family with very young children (assuming they can handle the extra $$) since you can get all of the biggie Fantasyland attractions out of the way (multiple times), and then you can head to the other attractions that tend to be popular which would allow you to easily head back to the resort for a rest and then do the rest of MK in the evening.

 

[pal6860]

We also loved EMM. We did it for our second time last Tuesday Aug 8. A couple of notes:

1. We took the bus from Kidani. The bus arrived at 06:44 (the electronic board said it would arrive at 06:40). We arrived in line (after bag check) at 07:11, which is when they stared letting us through the tap stiles.
2. They didn't let anyone onto main street until 7:45 exactly.
3. We did the three rides so many times over. WONDERFUL!!!! My kids did 7DMT 10 times. My head (and stomach) only allowed five
4. EMM that day also offered the Teacups and IASW for the same hours. Didn't know they opened those occasionally for EMM. We definitely took advantage of that.
5. At rope drop, we did BTMRR and Splash, ran back, and made breakfast at 09:57. And to our pleasant surprise, the buffet was still fully stocked and absolutely delicious. They didn't start taking down the food until 10:15.

Love EMM, and definitely plan on making this part of our routine Disney travel!

 

[BobbyDukes]

Its super fun seeing the parks in the early AM (even for a little while) without so much craziness and crowds

 

[bravenyc]

Thanks so much for the tips. I never would have considered spending the $ on this (unless we were staying offsite and could not FP at 60 days), but now I this is on my list if still available next June.

 

[mamamelody2]

We also loved EMM. We did it for our second time last Tuesday Aug 8. A couple of notes:

1. We took the bus from Kidani. The bus arrived at 06:44 (the electronic board said it would arrive at 06:40). We arrived in line (after bag check) at 07:11, which is when they stared letting us through the tap stiles.
2. They didn't let anyone onto main street until 7:45 exactly.
3. We did the three rides so many times over. WONDERFUL!!!! My kids did 7DMT 10 times. My head (and stomach) only allowed five
4. EMM that day also offered the Teacups and IASW for the same hours. Didn't know they opened those occasionally for EMM. We definitely took advantage of that.
5. At rope drop, we did BTMRR and Splash, ran back, and made breakfast at 09:57. And to our pleasant surprise, the buffet was still fully stocked and absolutely delicious. They didn't start taking down the food until 10:15.

Love EMM, and definitely plan on making this part of our routine Disney travel!

Thanks for sharing the info about the buffet. Good to know they keep it stocked right up to the end!

 

[mamamelody2]

Its super fun seeing the parks in the early AM (even for a little while) without so much craziness and crowds

That is a big part of why I want to do it!

 

[DanielNYC]

We also loved EMM. We did it for our second time last Tuesday Aug 8. A couple of notes:

1. We took the bus from Kidani. The bus arrived at 06:44 (the electronic board said it would arrive at 06:40). We arrived in line (after bag check) at 07:11, which is when they stared letting us through the tap stiles.
2. They didn't let anyone onto main street until 7:45 exactly.
3. We did the three rides so many times over. WONDERFUL!!!! My kids did 7DMT 10 times. My head (and stomach) only allowed five
4. EMM that day also offered the Teacups and IASW for the same hours. Didn't know they opened those occasionally for EMM. We definitely took advantage of that.
5. At rope drop, we did BTMRR and Splash, ran back, and made breakfast at 09:57. And to our pleasant surprise, the buffet was still fully stocked and absolutely delicious. They didn't start taking down the food until 10:15.

Love EMM, and definitely plan on making this part of our routine Disney travel!

Thanks for this post! I hadn't seen anyone mention that IASW had been open during EMM so that's great to hear that it may be a possibility. Also, you're the first person that I've seen who chose to dip down to Frontierland to hit BTMRR and Splash and then hurry back for the breakfast (which is what I want to do). May I ask which path you took to get to Frontierland? Did you go through the castle and head west, or did you walk through Liberty Square along the water?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thanks for this post! I hadn't seen anyone mention that IASW had been open during EMM so that's great to hear that it may be a possibility. Also, you're the first person that I've seen who chose to dip down to Frontierland to hit BTMRR and Splash and then hurry back for the breakfast (which is what I want to do). May I ask which path you took to get to Frontierland? Did you go through the castle and head west, or did you walk through Liberty Square along the water?

YMMV, but I've done two EMMs.... at one 7DMT was down when it started so they had IASW and Tea Cups running. The next EMM all three advertised rides were operating normally, IASW and Tea Cups were not open.

We are in the camp of those that go straight to BTMR at rope drop, then back-track to HM, then breakfast. I go via the Tangled restroom/HM path over to BTMR.... DON'T go through the castle/back to the hub.

Have fun!