We did EMM last year in January. We were so excited because of all of the great reviews. It took 20 minutes to even get past the bridge because although we had already checked in, we had to wait in line to get our wrist bands on. The line was back up 20 people because one elderly CM was in charge of the bands. She would not let guests put them on themselves and when some of the guests asked the two other CMs who had done check-in (and now standing around watching) to help with wristbands, they said they weren’t allowed and continued to stand there and watch. All the guests were furious because it was starting to eat up EMM time.
We all ran to Seven Dwarfs to find it closed. We rode Pooh twice, Peter Pan twice, then sent a family member runner to check on seven Dwarfs (still closed). And finally decided to just go eat breakfast, which wasn’t the original plan. We got to breakfast and started going through the buffet, and I noticed my daughter’s blueberries were covered in mold. I was so shocked that I took a picture of it. In many many trips to Disney, I have never experienced an event that was done this poorly.
After breakfast, we ran to a Seven Dwarfs again. Still closed. We rode the carousel and at this point, the kids were so upset because Seven Dwarfs is their favorite ride and the whole point for booking EMM. It opened up five minutes after park opening. We rode it twice although it took 15 min each time because of the FP line plus EMM people wanting to ride and also got the fastpass until noon, but our original touring plan had us out of fantasyland by 9:30.
I’ve never complained to Guest Services, but I did this time. I kindly explained our morning in detail. I even showed him the picture of the moldy fruit. Without even me asking, he refunded the entire cost of EMM. I wasn’t expecting an entire refund, but it definitely made the day so much better, and I appreciated their effort to make it right. That being said, we would never try EMM again. Too much money plus the kids’ high expectations for no guarantee in all three rides being open.