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

[bethbuchall]

I wonder if folks from the hub typically make it over there first?

The way that they held us in Frontierland meant that we joined up with the ones walking from the hub with part of the hub group definitely having a bit of a lead on us. Both groups were led by CMs.

 

[Pdollar88]

Does Princess Fairytale Hall consistently open at 9 am (park open)? Would love to knock that one out and move on right at 9.

 

[unbanshee]

The rumor for the EMM at DHS has only come from that one source...is that right? Does anyone know if blogmickey tends to be accurate?

They got the festival of the lion king packages right recently, but I'm not sure beyond that

 

[IceQueen182]

Does Princess Fairytale Hall consistently open at 9 am (park open)? Would love to knock that one out and move on right at 9.

It does on EMM days- and that's what we've done post-EMM. We finish up at Peter Pan at 8:50ish, hop in line for Cinderella/Elena, then Rapunzel/Tiana, and get breakfast after that. We probably could have also done Small World or HM before breakfast. It's easy to be first in line at Princess Fairytale Hall versus Frontierland where you get held. We used FPs for Splash and BTMRR later in the morning.

 

[MemoryMakers]

I wonder if folks from the hub typically make it over there first?

Seems likely given that it's a shorter walk from the Hub then it is from Peter Pan. But, still easy to two of the rides over there (Splash, TM, and HM) with plenty of time to spare to get to breakfast.

 

[superpulse]

My wife and I are doing EMM in October on a day when we're going to have no FastPasses available (We have Animal Kingdom ones in the evening because that's the only time during our short trip we were able to get one for Flight of Passage). We're debating what to do right at 9AM to maximize the number of rides before it gets too crowded and busy -- but we also need to be back in Fantasyland to have breakfast before it closes at 10 (we're definitely not having breakfast while we have the rides to ourselves). In that scenario, what would you do? Would you head to Tomorrowland and do Space Mountain/Buzz Lightyear? Try to knock out Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain back to back? Or do something else entirely? Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions.

 

[ladync]

Does anyone know about transportation on EMM mornings ? We are going to be at the dolphin in Nov and when I spoke to the hotel they say to check with Disney. When I checked with Disney they said to check with the hotel.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Does anyone know about transportation on EMM mornings ? We are going to be at the dolphin in Nov and when I spoke to the hotel they say to check with Disney. When I checked with Disney they said to check with the hotel.

I can’t speak for Swan/Dolphin, but Disney MK buses start running around 6:30am every day of the year, and sometimes earlier when conditions warrant. I assume S/D is provided similar bus service, but no personal experience.

 

[NikiMouse]

I can’t speak for Swan/Dolphin, but Disney MK buses start running around 6:30am every day of the year, and sometimes earlier when conditions warrant. I assume S/D is provided similar bus service, but no personal experience.

Great question, ladync! I am wondering if I can rely on the monorail to get to MK from Poly in plenty of time (i.e. 7:15am arrival) or if I need a back-up plan.

 

[ninafeliz]

Great question, ladync! I am wondering if I can rely on the monorail to get to MK from Poly in plenty of time (i.e. 7:15am arrival) or if I need a back-up plan.

As long as the monorail doesn't have any issues that morning, you'll have no problem getting there. We've done this from the Poly a couple of times and always got on a monorail around 7:00 AM without a problem. We probably could have gone a bit later, as we ended up waiting around in front of the MK for 20-30 min, but I wanted to make sure we had no problems.

 

[Pluto0809]

I did EMM on Sunday, August 12th.

I was out at the bus stop at All Star Movies that morning at 6:30 but a bus didn't come till about 6:50. That was fine, I still made it to MK with plenty of time to spare. After going through bag check and getting my wrist band I had about 15 minutes to wait till 7:45 am.

They left us in right at 7:45 and I speed walked back to Fantasyland. I was a little thrown off because I didn't realize we had to walk around the castle and not through it. So I lost a bit there going the wrong direction.

I headed straight to Peter Pan and got in line at 7:52 am so it took me 7 minutes to walk quickly back to FL.

After Peter Pan, I went to Winnie the Pooh and rode it. Then I finally went to 7DMT. I rode 4 times in a row with about a five minute wait each time. The first time I rode, they made me walk all the way out to the front and come back in. But after my second ride, the opened up a rope between the exit and entrance right outside the cave and everyone was just using that to ride again.

I had planned to ride more than 4 times but I have some motion sickness issues and was starting to feel nauseous so I called it quits after ride #4. Surprisingly, eating helps with my nausea so I decided to hit up breakfast at 8:30. I took pictures of all of the offerings as I filled my plate.















The only thing I didn't photograph was the drink station which had coffee, water, orange juice and I think maybe apple juice.

And here's my plate.



I ate super fast and was done around 8:45 so I took one more spin around Neverland before waiting at the rope to head to BTMR. The CM let us go as soon as the fireworks went off at the castle and we all took off towards Fronterland. The group coming from the HUB beat most people and then we ran into this.



They held us there for a minute and then I continued on to BTMR. It took a while to get into the line thanks to a bottleneck effect.



It looks much worse than it was. I was on and off the ride by 9:15 am. I then headed to HM which was down so I went back up FL and got in line for IASW. And yes there was a small line for the ride at that time which told me how crowded the park would be that day.

After IASW it was 9:50 am so I ducked back into Pinocchio's and grabbed a glass of water and another croissant. They were starting to clear down one of the food stations but the other two still had plenty of food at that time.

After that I left FL and headed to Tomorrowland to use my first FP of the day.

Overall I had a fun time at EMM but I'm not sure I would do it again unless I was solo like this time. It was kind of stressful trying to run around and get as much in as possible so I felt I got my money's worth. I can't imagine doing with a large group and trying to keep everyone together and moving. Also, I wasn't thrilled with losing 7 minutes walking from the front of the park to FL. I wish they would at least let you in as far as the bridge to Liberty Square so you could get to FL at the actual start of the event.

 

[Katie Dawn]

I did EMM on Sunday, August 12th.

I was out at the bus stop at All Star Movies that morning at 6:30 but a bus didn't come till about 6:50. That was fine, I still made it to MK with plenty of time to spare. After going through bag check and getting my wrist band I had about 15 minutes to wait till 7:45 am.

They left us in right at 7:45 and I speed walked back to Fantasyland. I was a little thrown off because I didn't realize we had to walk around the castle and not through it. So I lost a bit there going the wrong direction.

I headed straight to Peter Pan and got in line at 7:52 am so it took me 7 minutes to walk quickly back to FL.

After Peter Pan, I went to Winnie the Pooh and rode it. Then I finally went to 7DMT. I rode 4 times in a row with about a five minute wait each time. The first time I rode, they made me walk all the way out to the front and come back in. But after my second ride, the opened up a rope between the exit and entrance right outside the cave and everyone was just using that to ride again.

I had planned to ride more than 4 times but I have some motion sickness issues and was starting to feel nauseous so I called it quits after ride #4. Surprisingly, eating helps with my nausea so I decided to hit up breakfast at 8:30. I took pictures of all of the offerings as I filled my plate.















The only thing I didn't photograph was the drink station which had coffee, water, orange juice and I think maybe apple juice.

And here's my plate.



I ate super fast and was done around 8:45 so I took one more spin around Neverland before waiting at the rope to head to BTMR. The CM let us go as soon as the fireworks went off at the castle and we all took off towards Fronterland. The group coming from the HUB beat most people and then we ran into this.



They held us there for a minute and then I continued on to BTMR. It took a while to get into the line thanks to a bottleneck effect.



It looks much worse than it was. I was on and off the ride by 9:15 am. I then headed to HM which was down so I went back up FL and got in line for IASW. And yes there was a small line for the ride at that time which told me how crowded the park would be that day.

After IASW it was 9:50 am so I ducked back into Pinocchio's and grabbed a glass of water and another croissant. They were starting to clear down one of the food stations but the other two still had plenty of food at that time.

After that I left FL and headed to Tomorrowland to use my first FP of the day.

Overall I had a fun time at EMM but I'm not sure I would do it again unless I was solo like this time. It was kind of stressful trying to run around and get as much in as possible so I felt I got my money's worth. I can't imagine doing with a large group and trying to keep everyone together and moving. Also, I wasn't thrilled with losing 7 minutes walking from the front of the park to FL. I wish they would at least let you in as far as the bridge to Liberty Square so you could get to FL at the actual start of the event.

Wow! What a great report! Thank you for the buffet pics!

We haven't done it yet (will in October) but I agree with you 100% about the 7:45 thing. I wish they would let us in BEFORE 7:45 & hold us somewhere closer to Fantasyland. EMM happens over such a short timeframe and losing that walking time (which for some will definitely be longer than 7 minutes) is disappointing.

 

[Katie Dawn]

@Pluto0809 Is that the route you have to take to get to FL? Left at the Hub, over the Bridge to Liberty Square, then a right onto that path that's right up next to the castle. Or are people being let in on both sides?

 

[Pluto0809]

@Pluto0809 Is that the route you have to take to get to FL? Left at the Hub, over the Bridge to Liberty Square, then a right onto that path that's right up next to the castle. Or are people being let in on both sides?

The left side through Liberty Square was the only route the day I was there.

 

[Katie Dawn]

The left side through Liberty Square was the only route the day I was there.

Thanks! After I posted that question I realized PPF is on the left anyway (we don't go often enough to have it memorized) which is where we'll go first so that works out!

 

[M SH]

Nice report.
I did EMM that same day. I agree that we should be in FL at 7:45 am.
But it was fun. My 5 & 6 year old enjoyed it to the max so I had no problem with little ones in tow. Of course being solo or just with the wife would maximize things more, but I think it’s still worth it.

 

[Woody412]

My wife and I are doing EMM in October on a day when we're going to have no FastPasses available (We have Animal Kingdom ones in the evening because that's the only time during our short trip we were able to get one for Flight of Passage). We're debating what to do right at 9AM to maximize the number of rides before it gets too crowded and busy -- but we also need to be back in Fantasyland to have breakfast before it closes at 10 (we're definitely not having breakfast while we have the rides to ourselves). In that scenario, what would you do? Would you head to Tomorrowland and do Space Mountain/Buzz Lightyear? Try to knock out Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain back to back? Or do something else entirely? Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions.

My advice usually isn’t worth much but I think you’d have better luck trying Splash Mt and BTM. Space Mt and Buzz are further away from Pinocchio’s and the lines are generally a little longer at RD. Frontierland should be mostly empty but you may have to hustle because of the distance.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Great question, ladync! I am wondering if I can rely on the monorail to get to MK from Poly in plenty of time (i.e. 7:15am arrival) or if I need a back-up plan.

I have been at a monorail resort during our times doing EMM and have mostly always used the monorail with no issues. The monorail 'generally' starts running at 7am these days, BUT that can change week to week so always a good idea to pick up a Times Guide when there that has the hours. A good website to link is here too: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/p/weekly-walt-disney-world-times-guides.html

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thank you to everyone for the recent reviews. @Pluto0809, great pics! Thanks for sharing. Post #3 - EMM Reviews has been updated.

Looking forward, it appears we're still in a "waiting game" for future EMM dates past November. 180 days from today is 2/13/19, still no signs of EMM on the schedule at the moment.

Thank you again to everyone who contributes on the thread!

 

[SaintsManiac]

The only thing that bugs me is that they don't let EMM people in before 7:45. I wish they would change that.