We attended Monday October 29th - me, DH, DS5 and DS8. We had a 7:30 reservation, and I never did change it to 7:00 (which ended up making no difference after all of the angst from the week they added the 7:00 time slot!). We walked from the BC, we checked out bags with RAC at 6:00 AM with no wait and slowly walked over since we were actually earlier than I had expected. It was completely dark and we saw essentially no one until we were within site of the entrance. The walkway has tons of construction and is noticeably longer than without the construction, but still sooooo much better to walk than any other method from the BC/YC/BW/S/D and really not that far considering.
We got to the DHS bag check (no line) and entrance at 6:30, there were maybe 40-ish people lined up at 2 tap styles already. We had them scan our bands and got wristbands, and stood in line. We traded off bathroom stops, and at 6:45 exactly (I just made it, I hadn't expected to get in quite yet...) they let us tap in and walked us to part way down Hollywood Boulevard, to just in front of Starbucks. We waited there just a couple of minutes, and they led us to ABC Commissary at 6:51 AM (I'm not sure if you could have just peeled off and waited in front of the Chinese Theater right then or not). We were toward the front entering to eat, but didn't want to get entrees then so we hopped to the left side and got a plate of fruit/pastries/cereal. Lots of people ate then, and they seemed to get food fairly quickly. I have a photo of us eating with our buffet food already at 6:59. 2 of us went to the BR, and we headed out to in front of the theater at about 7:10. There was a fairly small crowd gathered there, and as soon as we reached the line they led everyone to TSL. We were walking by the TSL sign at 7:15, and were toward the front of the group (maybe first 30-ish people? There was no line at this point, so there was some mild jostling but not too bad. They did lead us down the wheelchair ramp, but didn't keep you from using the steps if you were on that side of the group).
Since we were toward the front we went ahead and rode SDD, time entering the line was 7:18. We waited maybe 2-3 cars before we were on, I thought it was pretty good for a family coaster and IMO definitely better than SDMT! We got off and immediately went to AS2 (time 7:26) and got on the next ride cycle, and stayed on for a second ride (I took a picture while on the ride at 7:34). I thought it was cute and I liked the music, but the ride was more underwhelming than I had expected. it needed to go a little faster LOL. After the second ride we got off and lined up immediately for Woody and Jessie. The line was already to the end of the fence, just about to where it makes a turn and doubles up. I hadn't realized how much they fool around with guests and between guests! I'm probably in the minority, I just wanted to say hi, get a photo, and move on to the next ride haha! They take a long time with each group (which I guess most people like), we got photos timed at 7:55 AM, so we were in line between 15-20 min but it felt longer b/c I knew we could be riding! The CM told a group not too many behind us it was a 30 min wait!
After W&J we went to TSM at 7:55 by their clock (they had us using the FP line) without any wait, but the ride stopped for a few minutes a few times, I was worried we might get stuck and that would be the end of EMM for us. It wasn't that bad, but it did take an extra few minutes. We exited through the entire line and took a couple of obligatory photos at the popsicle stick wall at 8:10 AM. So 15 min for one ride. We went right back and rode it again, this time we had maybe a 3-5 min wait (the line was to the top of the stairs). we were loaded and starting at 8:17 AM, had our scores at 8:23, and were back by the popsicle wall at 8:27. We then went back to SDD and rode 3x in a row before the RD crowd came. We rode twice in the back and once in the front, it seemed as if each ride would have a decent wait but then the line would take off and we fit 3 in. We started our last ride at 8:54 AM and there was no sign of the RD people yet! They surely were coming, but weren't visible from the front of the line yet. I think we got in one extra ride by luck, it seemed like the crowd was a bit late.
When we got off SDD for the third time in a row (4th time total) the RD crowd was there in full force and the line extended almost to the TSL sign, and said 45 min. At this point we got a PP photo in front of AS2 at 8:59 AM, took a bathroom break, then rode AS2 with no wait at all at 9:06 AM followed by TSM with a posted 20 min wait at 9:20 that was exactly 20 min. We passed the popsicle/checkerboard wall at 9:50, walked out of TSL to ABC Commissary, and ordered breakfast with no one in line before us. They told us they were closing the ordering line soon, so to order as much as we wanted because it was going to be thrown away anyway! We got GF mexican bowl (very good), a regular mexican bowl (very good), and adult and child chicken and cronuts (good, nothing special but not bad), and a child eggs/tots (nothing special, but fulfills a need for picky eaters). We also got more buffet food. They had closed one of the buffets on our side, and closed the second one completely by around 10:20 (I didn't time stamp that, but it was a little earlier than I had expected) - I never saw the other side at all, I assume it had 2 buffets also). They never rushed us out ,though, just actively cleaned up around us and readied the place for lunch.
After breakfast we went to RNRC and used our FPs that I had made for 9:50-10:50 at 10:36, using rider switch. Next was ST with a 10:50-11:50 FP (the standby line was pretty long), followed by a few photos around and headed to TOT for a 12:05 FP. My DS8 and I got in line, and found out one side was down. So we waited in line 40 min b/c he didn't want to bail, we played the Disney Play app the whole time and it really did make time go fast. I just felt bad for my DH and DS5 (who is tall enough but won't ride!), who were just sitting and waiting. After that we shopped a little and left the park around 1:30 to head to Epcot to finish Kidcot stops before the Tragical Express picked up at the BC at 4:50.
So to summarize for those who don't want to wade through the commentary:
Let in at 6:45
Let in to ABC Commissary at 6:50
Let into TSL at 7:13 to get there by 7:15
SDD 7:18
AS2 x 2 without getting off 7:26
Woody and Jessie ~7:35-7:55
TSM 7:55
TSM ~8:11
SDD x 3 ~8:29-8:54
Rope Drop crowd hit while we were on a SDD ride that started at 8:54
PP photo 8:59
AS2 9:06 walk on
TSM 9:20 20 min wait
ABC Commissary breakfast 9:55.
I thought it was great, and would do it again in a heartbeat! I might skip W&J unless my kids really wanted to see them, but since we had woody/Jessie/Buzz shirts I wanted a photo. We could have saved maybe 10 min if we had been there right when they came out (well 20 min if we had managed to be first in line, but that would have required great luck or wasting time in line anyway waiting for them to come out) but we were on AS2 x 2 when they came out, they weren't out when we passed their spot to get on AS2. I decided to go ahead and skip Buzz (ideally I wanted a photo with him also) since I wanted to ride more and am not sure how we would have fit him in and still rode a lot. We totaled SDD x 4, AS2 x 2 plus 1 after RD, TSM x 2 plus 1 after RD, and Woody and Jessie. We didn't get any photos from SDD. We rode once on another day with a FP and got a photo of other people that time
!
I just realized next time we do this will be Jan 2, so if they are all still in their Holiday attire I'll want photos again! So my plan of skipping characters might go out the window, I'll have to see! I almost hope they will be out of Christmas costumes, so we can not worry about them and ride more.
Sorry to be so longwinded, my college scientific writing courses on how to be succinct clearly didn't sink in