This past year, they started a new program called Early Morning Magic in the Magic Kingdom. It is offered on some Tuesdays and Sundays in the Magic Kingdom.
Here's the official link.
Basically, you get access to Magic Kingdom at 7:45 when the park opens at 9. You get to ride Winnie the Pooh, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and Peter Pan. There is also a breakfast that in Pinocchio Village Haus that is open until 10. It costs $69 for adults and $59 for children 3 and up pre-tax. You also have to already have a ticket to the Magic Kingdom. You also have to pay at the time you make the reservation.
We decided to try this out on our December trip to Disney. I love the Magic Kingdom, but I really dislike crowds. I am on a constant hunt of strategies to avoid crowds at all costs. The boys had never been on a proper roller coaster, and since they are 38 inches tall (at age 2!), they are big enough to do 7DMT. I had a feeling that they would enjoy it, but not understand that they can only ride it once. And since I really wanted to give it a try, it seemed like the perfect combination! They are also early risers, so getting to the parks early is no big deal.
We were staying at Port Orleans Riverside, and we got to the bus stop with plenty of time. Lots of people worry that there won't be bus service that early, but it's always running to get you where you need to go. Just give yourself plenty of time! We hopped on a bus and landed at the Magic Kingdom. After security, you go to the far left and there are cast members checking you in. They will scan your Magic Band and the reservation for EMM will show up. Then they will give you an EMM arm band.
We waited at the entrance until Main Street was cleared. I noticed that most of the people waiting in the line were going to pre-park opening dining reservations. There were very few people with our arm bands on. I took that as a great sign for us!
George suggested we stop for a totally empty castle picture. I said, "No thanks! It's Seven Dwarves Mine Train time!" I knew that those minutes cost a lot and were really special, so I forced him to run straight to the back of the park. In hindsight, we totally had time for a quick picture....
We hopped on the mine train. The boys were great during it. As soon as we got off, Candler said, "mine not doing that again."
Yes you are kid! This was a pricey little add on! Just kidding, but i do think you need to try something more than one time before you really know if you like it! We went over and rode Pooh and Peter Pan. They love both of those attractions, and the wait times are usually pretty long. Then they came around and said they wanted to ride 7DMT again. Then they rode it 5 times in a row. The really cool part is that you don't even have to walk through the queue again. You can literally get off of the ride and then get right back on again. After the 5th time in a row, we BEGGED them to ride something else. So we rode Peter Pan and Pooh one more time. Then they wanted to go back to those dwarves, so we did a few more times. We finally decided that it was enough. We rode it 8 or 9 times. We lost count! It was such a cool experience.
By then, people started coming into the park. It was really fun to be wrapping up a big morning as other people are coming in. I will say that they held the people with pre-park dining reservations until exactly 9, so we got every minute of our time. We also squeezed into the Fastpass line of Peter Pan a couple of times after 9 exactly.
We eventually made our way to breakfast. It was a really nice buffet set up for people with EMM tickets. We ate a much bigger breakfast than we had expected! They had a good variety of eggs, frittatas, sausage, and breakfast breads and pastries. There was plenty of coffee, tea, water, and juice.
Then, just by good fortune, we were chosen for "family of the day." All of these extras were not a part of the EMM, but they were amazing! A cast member brought us a "No Strings Attached" fastpass for 7DMT so we could ride it again when there was a line. We did it that night when we returned in our PJs for the Christmas Party! Candler's face in this picture is priceless.
Then, they brought us MORE treats, and the boys "wrote" their wishes in the Blue Fairy's book.
Before we left, the cast members loaded us up with bottled waters for the day. Then, they walked us over to the Fastpass line so we could meet Elena and Cinderella! We were SO spoiled!
When we let at about 11 or so, we were fighting crowds to get OUT of the park! It was a totally magical morning.
So my conclusions on this are far more positive than I was expecting them to be. We had an amazing morning. Granted, you only have access to three attractions, but we love all three of them. It feels pretty amazing to just hop on them with no worries about Fastpass or lines. I was afraid that 7:45-9 would feel too rushed, but it was actually great. When you don't have any down time between rides, that is a whole lot of riding! We didn't get to breakfast until more like 9:45, but we weren't rushed to get out by 10. The extra magic at the end didn't hurt either! We have annual passes though, so we don't really have to think about the additional cost on top of a park ticket. I wouldn't say that this experience is for everyone, but we really loved it. I haven't booked it again, but I have my eye on a March date and I probably will!
If you need any help with your vacation planning, drop me a line at kacietravelplanner@gmail.com :-)
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