DHS/Toy Story Land "Early Morning Magic" (EMM) FAQ & Discussion

[ddog171]

For those who have gotten a Mears taxi, did anyone need a car seat? If so, how was the car seat?

 

[AAhawk]

Here is our brief review of the Monday Oct 22 EMM.

We were staying at Poly. Have a 6 and 4 yr old so needed car seats-Minnie van or bus were our transportation options. Woke up around 545 AM and checked bus times on app, first bus to HS was listed at 559 AM so I was feeling pretty good we would be able to catch one around 630 if needed, but planned on booking Minnie van right at 630 if no buses were showing. Everyone started waking up and getting ready and about 605 AM, a bus time listed for 629 AM showed up on the app so we were planning on catching that. Time kept moving up a little but we were ready by 615 AM and bus came at exactly 623 AM. We were the only ones on the bus and went straight to HS. Were off bus by 637 AM and checked in quickly and got our wristbands. To our surprise, they opened tapstiles at 647 AM and we went to ABC.

Since we were in early we ordered a couple of entrees and and had a decent amount of time to eat but planned on heading to get lined up to TSL at about 720 AM. We left ABC at about 715-720 and again to our surprise they were already letting people into TSL. Went straight to Slinky with about a 3-4 minute wait and were off by 730 AM.

Here is the rest of time breakdowns:

TSMM-730-745 AM (walkon)
*** x 2- 745-755 (both times walkon)
SDD X 5 - 800 AM-830 AM (waits only 5 minutes at most, shorter toward the end)
At 830 AM we grabbed a coffee and took a couple of pictures for a few minutes. Originally planned on doing TSMM one more time but girls wanted to SDD again, so rode that From about 840-845 AM. Could have done another before crowds but decided to call it quits.

At that point our original plan was to do Star Tours but youngest was hungry so her and mom went back to ABC. The 6 yr old and I went to TOT and and walked on to that. We were back to ABC by 930 and enjoyed a nice rest/breakfast til 1000 AM.

Overall, it was a great experience. We had a SDD fastpass for later in the week but it was down most of the day so didn't ride again, so thankfully we had booked this. As we walked out of the EMM and saw the rope drop line, we knew we made a great decision. Food overall was really pretty good and the lack of stress for rope drop can't be beat.

The overall number of people could maybe be slighty lower but as you see above, we did SDD x7, *** x 2, and TSMM x1. Could have done TSMM again at rope drop with no wait or another ride on ***/SDD probably as well.

 

[M SH]

Here is our brief review of the Monday Oct 22 EMM.

We were staying at Poly. Have a 6 and 4 yr old so needed car seats-Minnie van or bus were our transportation options. Woke up around 545 AM and checked bus times on app, first bus to HS was listed at 559 AM so I was feeling pretty good we would be able to catch one around 630 if needed, but planned on booking Minnie van right at 630 if no buses were showing. Everyone started waking up and getting ready and about 605 AM, a bus time listed for 629 AM showed up on the app so we were planning on catching that. Time kept moving up a little but we were ready by 615 AM and bus came at exactly 623 AM. We were the only ones on the bus and went straight to HS. Were off bus by 637 AM and checked in quickly and got our wristbands. To our surprise, they opened tapstiles at 647 AM and we went to ABC.

Since we were in early we ordered a couple of entrees and and had a decent amount of time to eat but planned on heading to get lined up to TSL at about 720 AM. We left ABC at about 715-720 and again to our surprise they were already letting people into TSL. Went straight to Slinky with about a 3-4 minute wait and were off by 730 AM.

Here is the rest of time breakdowns:

TSMM-730-745 AM (walkon)
*** x 2- 745-755 (both times walkon)
SDD X 5 - 800 AM-830 AM (waits only 5 minutes at most, shorter toward the end)
At 830 AM we grabbed a coffee and took a couple of pictures for a few minutes. Originally planned on doing TSMM one more time but girls wanted to SDD again, so rode that From about 840-845 AM. Could have done another before crowds but decided to call it quits.

At that point our original plan was to do Star Tours but youngest was hungry so her and mom went back to ABC. The 6 yr old and I went to TOT and and walked on to that. We were back to ABC by 930 and enjoyed a nice rest/breakfast til 1000 AM.

Overall, it was a great experience. We had a SDD fastpass for later in the week but it was down most of the day so didn't ride again, so thankfully we had booked this. As we walked out of the EMM and saw the rope drop line, we knew we made a great decision. Food overall was really pretty good and the lack of stress for rope drop can't be beat.

The overall number of people could maybe be slighty lower but as you see above, we did SDD x7, *** x 2, and TSMM x1. Could have done TSMM again at rope drop with no wait or another ride on ***/SDD probably as well.

thanks for sharing.
This looks much better than earlier reports of bigger EMM crowds and not being able to get even close as much as you were able to do.

 

[SaintsManiac]

thanks for sharing.
This looks much better than earlier reports of bigger EMM crowds and not being able to get even close as much as you were able to do.

Agree

It seems like Columbus Day week was chaos all around. Nice to see it's what it should be lately.

 

[neverenoughtime]

Here is our brief review of the Monday Oct 22 EMM.

We were staying at Poly. Have a 6 and 4 yr old so needed car seats-Minnie van or bus were our transportation options. Woke up around 545 AM and checked bus times on app, first bus to HS was listed at 559 AM so I was feeling pretty good we would be able to catch one around 630 if needed, but planned on booking Minnie van right at 630 if no buses were showing. Everyone started waking up and getting ready and about 605 AM, a bus time listed for 629 AM showed up on the app so we were planning on catching that. Time kept moving up a little but we were ready by 615 AM and bus came at exactly 623 AM. We were the only ones on the bus and went straight to HS. Were off bus by 637 AM and checked in quickly and got our wristbands. To our surprise, they opened tapstiles at 647 AM and we went to ABC.

Since we were in early we ordered a couple of entrees and and had a decent amount of time to eat but planned on heading to get lined up to TSL at about 720 AM. We left ABC at about 715-720 and again to our surprise they were already letting people into TSL. Went straight to Slinky with about a 3-4 minute wait and were off by 730 AM.

Here is the rest of time breakdowns:

TSMM-730-745 AM (walkon)
*** x 2- 745-755 (both times walkon)
SDD X 5 - 800 AM-830 AM (waits only 5 minutes at most, shorter toward the end)
At 830 AM we grabbed a coffee and took a couple of pictures for a few minutes. Originally planned on doing TSMM one more time but girls wanted to SDD again, so rode that From about 840-845 AM. Could have done another before crowds but decided to call it quits.

At that point our original plan was to do Star Tours but youngest was hungry so her and mom went back to ABC. The 6 yr old and I went to TOT and and walked on to that. We were back to ABC by 930 and enjoyed a nice rest/breakfast til 1000 AM.

Overall, it was a great experience. We had a SDD fastpass for later in the week but it was down most of the day so didn't ride again, so thankfully we had booked this. As we walked out of the EMM and saw the rope drop line, we knew we made a great decision. Food overall was really pretty good and the lack of stress for rope drop can't be beat.

The overall number of people could maybe be slighty lower but as you see above, we did SDD x7, *** x 2, and TSMM x1. Could have done TSMM again at rope drop with no wait or another ride on ***/SDD probably as well.

Thank you, it seems you all had a great time. Where can you check bus schedules for the resorts?

 

[FCDub]

Thank you, it seems you all had a great time. Where can you check bus schedules for the resorts?

It shows up in the app while you're there. You can't see it in advance.

 

[SuJo]

So my family and I did EMM on 10/8 and we are big TSM fans but the queue for this ride took a very long time and we didn't get on as much as we had when we did EMM a few years ago. For EMM on TSM they only had the 3rd track running. This is the new track that they just added on. Since it was only 1 track loading and unloading took a lot longer than if you had been on tracks 1/2. When we did EMM a few years ago, when they only had tracks 1 and 2, we were able to ride this ride 7 times in a row. We were just walking right on and riding. This time we had to wait in a long queue to get on the ride and it took time away from riding the other rides. So my question to this group (and others who have done EMM this year at HS) do they only open track 3 for EMM or was that just a fluke on our day (they did say they were having issues with track 1 and 2)? Because if they only open track 3 during EMM then for us it is not worth the cost at TSM is our favorite ride during the time and the wait is just too long for the cost. We did ride SD a few times but we were really trying to get in as much TSM as we could.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Here is our brief review of the Monday Oct 22 EMM.

We were staying at Poly. Have a 6 and 4 yr old so needed car seats-Minnie van or bus were our transportation options. Woke up around 545 AM and checked bus times on app, first bus to HS was listed at 559 AM so I was feeling pretty good we would be able to catch one around 630 if needed, but planned on booking Minnie van right at 630 if no buses were showing. Everyone started waking up and getting ready and about 605 AM, a bus time listed for 629 AM showed up on the app so we were planning on catching that. Time kept moving up a little but we were ready by 615 AM and bus came at exactly 623 AM. We were the only ones on the bus and went straight to HS. Were off bus by 637 AM and checked in quickly and got our wristbands. To our surprise, they opened tapstiles at 647 AM and we went to ABC.

Since we were in early we ordered a couple of entrees and and had a decent amount of time to eat but planned on heading to get lined up to TSL at about 720 AM. We left ABC at about 715-720 and again to our surprise they were already letting people into TSL. Went straight to Slinky with about a 3-4 minute wait and were off by 730 AM.

Here is the rest of time breakdowns:

TSMM-730-745 AM (walkon)
*** x 2- 745-755 (both times walkon)
SDD X 5 - 800 AM-830 AM (waits only 5 minutes at most, shorter toward the end)
At 830 AM we grabbed a coffee and took a couple of pictures for a few minutes. Originally planned on doing TSMM one more time but girls wanted to SDD again, so rode that From about 840-845 AM. Could have done another before crowds but decided to call it quits.

At that point our original plan was to do Star Tours but youngest was hungry so her and mom went back to ABC. The 6 yr old and I went to TOT and and walked on to that. We were back to ABC by 930 and enjoyed a nice rest/breakfast til 1000 AM.

Overall, it was a great experience. We had a SDD fastpass for later in the week but it was down most of the day so didn't ride again, so thankfully we had booked this. As we walked out of the EMM and saw the rope drop line, we knew we made a great decision. Food overall was really pretty good and the lack of stress for rope drop can't be beat.

The overall number of people could maybe be slighty lower but as you see above, we did SDD x7, *** x 2, and TSMM x1. Could have done TSMM again at rope drop with no wait or another ride on ***/SDD probably as well.

We did this EMM on 10/22 and also stayed at the Poly! We may have seen you around!

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

So my family and I did EMM on 10/8 and we are big TSM fans but the queue for this ride took a very long time and we didn't get on as much as we had when we did EMM a few years ago. For EMM on TSM they only had the 3rd track running. This is the new track that they just added on. Since it was only 1 track loading and unloading took a lot longer than if you had been on tracks 1/2. When we did EMM a few years ago, when they only had tracks 1 and 2, we were able to ride this ride 7 times in a row. We were just walking right on and riding. This time we had to wait in a long queue to get on the ride and it took time away from riding the other rides. So my question to this group (and others who have done EMM this year at HS) do they only open track 3 for EMM or was that just a fluke on our day (they did say they were having issues with track 1 and 2)? Because if they only open track 3 during EMM then for us it is not worth the cost at TSM is our favorite ride during the time and the wait is just too long for the cost. We did ride SD a few times but we were really trying to get in as much TSM as we could.

Also interested to hear what others have to say about this. We too, did the EMM a few years back and literally stayed on TSM until we wanted to get off. If the current setup has only one track running and you have to walk and wait in the longer queue, then that would be a deal breaker for us.

 

[Mosey03]

We are doing this event on 11/7 and based on all the reports here, decided to book a Mears taxi rather than relying on the unpredictability of the bus. I just booked a regular taxi with metered fare, but saw there was also the option of a flat rate luxury sedan. Is there an obvious choice here? The estimated fare for the regular taxi was $14.60, the flat rate luxury sedan was I think $17.10 with a discount code. I don't know which one I should be choosing.

 

[Mrjoshua]

From what I've read, it seems like the characters have been coming out later. Maybe 7:45ish... Can anyone confirm whether this is true?

 

[MKTokyo]

We are doing this event on 11/7 and based on all the reports here, decided to book a Mears taxi rather than relying on the unpredictability of the bus. I just booked a regular taxi with metered fare, but saw there was also the option of a flat rate luxury sedan. Is there an obvious choice here? The estimated fare for the regular taxi was $14.60, the flat rate luxury sedan was I think $17.10 with a discount code. I don't know which one I should be choosing.

I don't think it matters for such a short trip.

 

[KrazeeK120]

From what I've read, it seems like the characters have been coming out later. Maybe 7:45ish... Can anyone confirm whether this is true?

They were out earlier than that last week when I was there. 7:30 I think. And if you want to meet Woody & Jessie, do it early. The line built quickly and was long all day. We saw them early and waited about 10 minutes.

 

[mster425]

Just as an FYI- I just called the dining line to ask if they could modify our reservation for less people in case two of our party decide not to go. They said it would be absolutely no problem. Now that our day is fully booked I don't want to chance cancelling it and rebooking as two separate parties.

 

[kniquy]

Just booked MEARs for our transportation. I get easily stressed when we are off schedule (bad disney OCD trait) so instead of waiting for that morning to arrive (for us 11/28) and waiting and watching the bus schedule we just scheduled a luxury SUV - it was all the same price for a car, suv or van. For us to go from Jambo to HS it was $21.60 -- It was $24 but it put in a discount code for me. As long as MEARS is a responsible service I think it will be worth it to know we will get to HS and not feel rushed or stressed. I am guessing this will get us to HS for 6:45 with time to enter, go to ABC for a quick coffee and danish. The plan is for rides until 8:45 then off to ToT.

If you are heading to other rides after the event is over at 8:45 then are you pretty much free to venture off to other sections of the park? It does sound like RD crowd is let in around 8:50.

 

[disneyworldsk]

Just booked MEARs for our transportation. I get easily stressed when we are off schedule (bad disney OCD trait) so instead of waiting for that morning to arrive (for us 11/28) and waiting and watching the bus schedule we just scheduled a luxury SUV - it was all the same price for a car, suv or van. For us to go from Jambo to HS it was $21.60 -- It was $24 but it put in a discount code for me. As long as MEARS is a responsible service I think it will be worth it to know we will get to HS and not feel rushed or stressed. I am guessing this will get us to HS for 6:45 with time to enter, go to ABC for a quick coffee and danish. The plan is for rides until 8:45 then off to ToT.

If you are heading to other rides after the event is over at 8:45 then are you pretty much free to venture off to other sections of the park? It does sound like RD crowd is let in around 8:50.

I wasn't really offered a mears taxi on the website. I was offered same price for sedan, suv etc. Booked 6:30 from pop. 11/5. $14 something . If someone could tell me about tip I would appreciate it. Do you tip them? I wasn't offered to do it predone online. How much? Thanks

 

[CinderellaDream]

Here is a quick summary of our EMM event on 10/29. I originally booked a 7:30 reservation on opening day but later modified it to 7:00 when I was concerned they would differentiate between reservation times. Thankfully, there seemed to be no difference between the two times.

We arrived by personal car. There was no one in the parking fee booth at the entrance but there was an attendant directing us where to park once we got closer to the actual parking spaces. We were bagless so no need to go through bag check. One cast member asked for our party's name and then directed us to another cast member who gave us our wristbands.

We were walking toward the Chinese theater at 7:00 on the dot. We walked over to ABC and got pastries and coffee and were back in front of the theater by 7:15 to see that no one was waiting there because everyone had already been allowed into TSL. We arrived at the SDD queue at 7:20 just as the first ride was leaving the station. We waited about 8 minutes before loading for our first ride. We rode AS2, then went back for another ride on SDD before heading to TSMM. TSMM stopped for about 5 minutes and I started to panic thinking we were wasting our precious EMM time being stuck on a ride! Thankfully, it started back up and we were able to ride SDD 6 more times before the RD crowd arrived. We snuck in one more TSMM ride before leaving TSL and were back at ABC before 9:30 to eat breakfast. My original intent was to hit up RNRC and TOT before breakfast but our kids were starving so we switched plans. We ordered and waited about 5 minutes before receiving our main entrees. My husband and I both liked the shrimp and grits but did not care for the mexican egg bowl as much. Our kids enjoyed the chicken and donuts along with the cereal and pastries on the buffet. I did notice that ABC staff started consolidating the different buffet lines before 9:50.

After breakfast we rode Star Tours and as we were leaving the park and passed by the Jedi training area, I noticed a sign that said spots were still available.

Overall, we really enjoyed this event and would definitely book it again for a future trip.

 

[kniquy]

After breakfast we rode Star Tours

did you end up making it over to RnR and ToT? Just curious as we were planning on heading there a 9:00 - ride those at "RD", back for breakfast and then hit star tours. Just curious if you hit those rides a little later if the waits were crazy long. A hungry kid trumps everything!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

If you are heading to other rides after the event is over at 8:45 then are you pretty much free to venture off to other sections of the park?

Yep, the park is pretty much open at that point.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So... I like the somewhat consistent reports from the last few dates of them opening the land earlier than some of the early dates (pre-7:20am). Every minute helps with this thing and I hope that trend continues.