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

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We were there this morning too & agree it was totally worth the splurge to be in fantasyland without the crazy crowds. Just to be able to walk around & see everything without people in the way was awesome!
I was pretty disappointed to be let in so late...when you’re paying almost $1 a minute to be there, every minute counts!
 
Here is our EMM report from today, Sunday February 4.

We had a group of 3 and had been unable to secure tickets for months. However, as yesterday was the 1 day cancellation deadline, we were able to get 3 tickets through the website!! We checked in around 7:20am and were the first ones waiting to enter the park on the far left side.

First, a small negative, and then all the rest is positive. People with the EMM bracelets are lumped in with the Prior to Park Opening (PPO) breakfast crowds. As a result, when there is a delay for one group, it affects the EMM bracelet holders. Rather than being let in at 7:45am, no one entered the park until 7:56am. I know that 11 minutes may seem like whining to some, but you are paying a lot of money for 75 minutes of crowd free riding, and if they open 11 minutes late, they just took around 15% of your time away.

Besides that one negative, the experience was a splurge and very worth it. We have a special needs kid who loves Pooh. So, we were able to ride Peter Pan x2, 7DMT x2, and Pooh about 7 or 8 times before rope drop. At Pooh and Peter Pan, there were times when the CMs allowed you to bypass the queue to ride again, if no one was coming up in the line. We then positioned ourselves to go to Tomorrow land at 9:00 to hit Space Mountain.

Around 9:30am, we needed some energy and went to breakfast at Pinocchio Haus. Good buffet with plenty of breakfast meats and selection of pastries and fruit. It did not feel crowded at all in the restaurant.

I agree with assessments on here that the EMM felt like a group of 200 people. The CMs strictly enforced the wrist band rule and would not allow anyone who had finished breakfast early to enter Fantasyland before 8:55am. There was a long line of people from Beauty and the Beast ready to go on 7DMT and they were allowed in the standby line around 8:55am.

At $70 per person, it was a considerable investment, and not one we will or can do often. But, it made our Pooh lovers day! :)

I am curious if other EMM participants have experienced delays entering the park

Thanks for taking the time to post your experience! It is very helpful!
That 11 minute delay would have really ticked me off, though! You're right, that's 15% of the your time and that's not okay.
 
My husband and I were there yesterday as well. The delay was a bit frustrating but only a bit and overall we really enjoyed the event. We rode 7DMT 7 times (eventually they let us just loop around the exit door back into the line), Pooh once and Peter Pan twice and then went to breakfast around 9:15ish. I actually enjoyed the breakfast more than the Garden Grill one we had the day before. It was a good balance between sweet and savory items. My husband who doesn't eat pork was quite happy to have a chicken sausage alternative. It would have been nice if they'd had POG juice but I guess you can't have everything. ;)
 
Just thought I'd share that my 180+10 window opened up today, and I can see the following EMM dates on the calendar:
  • Tue Aug 7 (previously shared, I think)
  • Sun Aug 12
  • Tue Aug 14
So the typical pattern these days... :)
 


We were also there on Sunday 2/4 with the delayed entrance.

Two things my son cannot stop talking about: watching the beautiful sunrise at Magic Kingdom and the thrill of skipping thru Fantasyland and be the first guest to ride Peter Pan!

We road Peter Pan 8X, Pooh 2X and 7D 2X.

We enjoyed the breakfast. Sat by the Small World window and received an amazing birthday cheer with birthday cake for all guests celebrating. Lots of fun!

We finished breakfast and was held near Peter Pan until 8:55. Then we headed straight to Haunted Mansion. Again, my son was first in line. Later that day we noticed the wait time up to 50 mins!

After haunted mansion we road small world then headed back into breakfast for some drinks.

We absolutely enjoyed the morning and have booked it again for 8/7!

Thank you to everyone here for their tips and reviews. It helped greatly.

One last thing, we caught the 6:30 am bus from Pop to MK. We arrived in MK at 6:58. MK is FAR from Pop. I never realized before. It's such a short bus ride from Pop to HS or Epcot. The 6:30 bus waited about 5 mins to depart. Just something to keep in mind if you want to get to MK early.
 
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We were also there on Sunday 2/4 with the delayed entrance.

Two things my son cannot stop talking about: watching the beautiful sunrise at Magic Kingdom and the thrill of skipping thru Fantasyland and be the first guest to ride Peter Pan!

We road Peter Pan 8X, Pooh 2X and 7D 2X.

We enjoyed the breakfast. Sat by the Small World window and received an amazing birthday cheer with birthday cake for all guests celebrating. Lots of fun!

We finished breakfast and was held near Peter Pan until 8:55. Then we headed straight to Haunted Mansion. Again, my son was first in line. Later that day we noticed the wait time up to 50 mins!

After haunted mansion we road small world then headed back into breakfast for some drinks.

We absolutely enjoyed the morning and have booked it again for 8/7!

Thank you to everyone here for their tips and reviews. It helped greatly.

One last thing, we caught the 6:30 am bus from Pop to MK. We arrived in MK at 7:58. MK is FAR from Pop. I never realized before. It's such a short bus ride from Pop to HS or Epcot. The 6:30 bus waited about 5 mins to depart. Just something to keep in mind if you want to get to MK early.

Sounds like an amazing morning! Thanks for sharing.

Did you actually arrive at 7:58? Or did you mean 6:58?
 
Adding my thoughts from EMM 2/05. We definitely felt the delay, it seemed more disorganized than I expected and waiting in the hot sun with 2 young kids and crammed in like sardines was not the best start. There was the mad dash and I don't know if it was excessive due to the delay, but I was a little worried about my 3 year old getting trampled.

It was amazing to walk on 7DMT, but my 3yo was too scared to go again, so DD and I went twice, but then she was ready to move on. Since my kids aren't really into going on rides tons of times in a row, only having the 3 open felt more limiting than I expected. The breakfast was great, we are some around 8:40, then left to meet princesses and came back closer to 10. Selection was good both times, staff were fabulous, not too crowded.

So, glad we tried it, but wasn't right for my family of young kids who didn't understand why they couldn't do other things and I can't say I felt like it was a good value. I would be much more likely to try DAH as adults only and see it as extra bonus time.
 
Well you all convinced me to give this a try. We'll be attending July 8th and I won't be doing the HEA Dessert party as I was originally planning. What swayed me the idea that we'll be "in front" of the crowd when the park actually opens and I'll be trying to sneak in a few other big ticket attractions on the backside of this.
 
We did EMM yesterday. When we got to the bus stop at 7am at wilderness lodge every park had busses running except magic kingdom even though all but one park opened at nine. No one bus drivers or concierge could explain why so We took a lyft but then the Monorail was only open for resorts so the monorail took forever. Finally got on our first ride right at 8am but it was pretty stressful to get there. We did have a great time though!
 
We did EMM yesterday. When we got to the bus stop at 7am at wilderness lodge every park had busses running except magic kingdom even though all but one park opened at nine. No one bus drivers or concierge could explain why so We took a lyft but then the Monorail was only open for resorts so the monorail took forever. Finally got on our first ride right at 8am but it was pretty stressful to get there. We did have a great time though!

Thanks for the report (and sorry you had transportation trouble).

If you ever find yourself in similar circumstances, set your Uber destination to CR, not the TTC. That way you can quickly walk to MK from CR vs having to rely on the monorail or ferry at the TTC.

Hope you’re having an otherwise enjoyable trip! :-)
 
We did EMM yesterday. When we got to the bus stop at 7am at wilderness lodge every park had busses running except magic kingdom even though all but one park opened at nine. No one bus drivers or concierge could explain why so We took a lyft but then the Monorail was only open for resorts so the monorail took forever. Finally got on our first ride right at 8am but it was pretty stressful to get there. We did have a great time though!

The MK buses are limited because they offer a boat directly to MK. Why didn’t you take the boat? I believe the boats start running at 7am.

They also offer a boat to CR from there you could have walked.
 
I'm hoping to see the August trend continue of every Tuesday/Sunday for my late August trip. ADR date for me is coming up in less than 2 weeks and definitely looking to add this to my plans.
 
The MK buses are limited because they offer a boat directly to MK. Why didn’t you take the boat? I believe the boats start running at 7am.

They also offer a boat to CR from there you could have walked.

The boats from WL to MK don’t start running until 1/2 hour before park opening. You can, however, take a boat to the Contemporary earlier than that and walk to MK.

We did EMM last year and did catch a bus from WL to MK at about 7 AM. I would have been a little stressed if no bus ever came. I’m not sure if it would be faster to Uber/Lyft or to go take the boat to the Contemporary, honestly.
 
The boats from WL to MK don’t start running until 1/2 hour before park opening. You can, however, take a boat to the Contemporary earlier than that and walk to MK.

We did EMM last year and did catch a bus from WL to MK at about 7 AM. I would have been a little stressed if no bus ever came. I’m not sure if it would be faster to Uber/Lyft or to go take the boat to the Contemporary, honestly.

I remember catching a boat at 7am for a 7:30 am Chef Mickey reservation but we’re going back 8 years.

I agree I don’t think a boat is faster than the bus, I just think there’s more options with the boats.
 
I remember catching a boat at 7am for a 7:30 am Chef Mickey reservation but we’re going back 8 years.

I agree I don’t think a boat is faster than the bus, I just think there’s more options with the boats.

You were able to do that because the boat to the Contemporary runs that early.

Unfortunately, that’s the only boat option until 1/2 Hour before park open. Folks who want to take the boat to EMM have to go to the Contemporary first.
 
@goofygal531 - As someone who has shown up at the WL boat dock at 7:10AM looking for a MK boat to get to EMM, only to be laughed at by the boat capitan - I can attest to the MK resort launch not running that early. :-)

Fortunately, as you noted, the boat to CR was running that early so we just walked from CR to MK. Well, we maybe speed walked at that point since I hadn’t factored in that extra time. :goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes
 
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