“Are you out of your mind?” That’s what you might hear if you tell someone you’re thinking about making a reservation for Disney’s most recent “plussed” admission option, Early Morning Magic at the Magic Kingdom. Paying $70 on top of the price of admission? For one extra hour? For three rides? And one breakfast? Are you crazy as a loon? Actually, you might just be smart as a fox.
One question: are you considering a character dinner? If so, one of the aspects you’re paying for is tranquility – no fuss, no waiting in line (to greet characters), and some great photo ops. And if you’re planning a character dinner, you’ve already budgeted a substantial chunk of change. Would it be so crazy to redirect that line item to Early Morning Magic? Some people are finding that this is a very good choice.
Of course, there are no characters at Early Morning Magic. So you’d have to be sure to meet the princess or mouse of your choice later in the day. But $70 will save you a boatload of time, a mile of lines, a raft of frustration. They might have called the event Early Morning Tranquility.
You arrive at 7:30 a.m. to be ready when the early breakfast crowd is allowed in to the Magic Kingdom about 7:45 a.m. You’ll be given a wristband and a sticker which identify you as Early Morning Magic guests. You won’t be entirely alone on Main Street USA for photos, but you also won’t be pushed along by the massive surge of humanity one experiences at rope drop. The early breakfast group is a small crowd, quickly dispersing to Crystal Palace, Cindy’s, or Be Our Guest. By the time you walk through the quiet castle and enter an empty Fantasyland, you’ll feel that you’re the only people in the park.
The Early Morning Magic breakfast is served inside Pinocchio’s Village Haus. Go ahead and ask a cast member if you can go in right away for coffee, then come back later to eat breakfast. You’ll hear something like this, “Come on in for coffee now. Go on a few rides and come back for a bite of breakfast. Go on a few more rides, and come back for more breakfast.” In short, you can consider Pinocchio’s your private club until 10:00 AM. Come and go as many times as you like. The cast members there are extraordinarily welcoming and clearly want you to feel pampered. If you thought there were going to be Mickey waffles, but don’t see them – just ask. They’ll offer to go get you some. The buffet is substantial but not extensive. Everything they do have is first class. The breakfast potatoes didn’t come from a freezer, like the potato nuggets you get at resort food courts; these are big wedges, chopped fresh that morning. The berries are huge and ripe. The eggs are fluffy, the bacon crunchy. The thick French toast is made with brioche bread. A vegetable frittata updates with seasonal ingredients. The chocolate in the breakfast pastries is the good stuff. There are individual bottles of juices and water that you can take on the go. You’re treated as though you’re an honored resident of Main Street USA. (If you’re celebrating a special occasion, be sure to mention it!)
The parental units could take a coffee to go (you can also request hot chocolate or a Coke), because you may want to get comfortable on a bench outside of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – the kids might be riding it eight or more times in a row. The rope between exit and entrance has been removed, so you can loop right around from the platform and back again to the platform in seconds. Eight times in 30 minutes is perfectly doable. You gleefully choose your mine car – ride once in the first car, once in the back, and a bunch more times in whatever seat you like. Sometimes, you’ll be the only person on the whole mine train. Okay, so what price tag would you put on that experience? With about a 90 minute standby, it would take you twelve hours to ride the Mine Train eight times during the day.
There’s more. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan’s Flight are also open – with no wait. At all. Not only can you score these prime rides with no wait, but this opens up your FP+ for other rides later. How about a Triple Mountain Whammy – Space, Splash, and Big Thunder?
Early Morning Magic would obviously never be held on a Extra Magic Hour day, so you’ll have Fantasyland to yourself until a few minutes before 9:00 a.m. Breakfasters from Be Our Guest will form a line for the Mine Train and be led into the standby queue to wait until about 9:00. Early Morning Magicians will continue to zip onto the Mine Train via the Fast Pass entrance.
The smartest strategy would probably be to use the half hour between 9:00 and 9:30 AM to enjoy other Fantasyland attractions with very little wait, as the crowds slowly build. At 9:30 AM, it’s time for more breakfast. Pinocchio’s will still be waiting, and the food will still be hot and fresh. Throughout Early Morning Magic, there will never be a problem finding an open table – you can sit in any one of the themed rooms. (The Blue Fairy alcove is closest to the restrooms.) While the serving line will be dismantled shortly after 10:00 AM, the cast members give you ample warning – and you can continue to sit and finish your meal at your leisure. (The lunch crowd won’t arrive until 11:00 AM.)
Does a tranquil, jostle-free park arrival, uncluttered photo ops, a private club in Fantasyland, a delicious breakfast, eight rides on the Mine Train, Peter Pan, Pooh, and (with FP+) the Triple Mountain Whammy not sound tempting? It may not be for everyone, but some guests are faithful members of the Early Morning Magic Club!
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