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You are here: Home / Blog / Touring Toy Story Land During Morning Extra Magic Hour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Touring Toy Story Land During Morning Extra Magic Hour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

July 14, 2018 ~ 11 minutes read42 Comments

Edit: Disney is apparently running buses as early as 5:30am, which means Disney buses are a viable way to make it to the Studios by 6:15am. I’ve changed the relevant text below to reflect that.

With Toy Story Land now two weeks old, we can begin to seek some clarity on what we can expect from crowd patterns and wait times at the new attractions moving forward. And what that means for the rest of the Park, at least until Galaxy’s Edge opens late next year. But even then, the Studios is hosting a 7am – 8am morning Extra Magic Hour every day through August 25th. And once those daily morning EMHs end, Annual Passholder previews take over from September 4th through September 29th on Tuesdays through Saturdays. Those previews are scheduled for 7am through 9am on those dates, which means at least a few hundred Passholders will have early access to the Land, which will most likely increase lines and wait times during the first hour of regular operation as some number of passholders hang out in order to take advantage of low morning wait times. So the following really just pertains to the next six-ish weeks, but you can rest assured that the website will be on-site to see how things are progressing for the rest of its natural life. We’re still rope dropping Flight of Passage over at Animal Kingdom, for example, the post for which you can find here.

It’s 5:45am on Friday July 13, 2018. This is earlier than you probably want to arrive considering there are only two other people here.

I did have the opportunity to enjoy a topiary-pruning tutorial, which I’m planning to put to good use.

Even with few people in attendance, the Studios was fully staffed with at least 20 bag checkers and all of the opening cast members already set up.

There’s nobody arriving, either.

Just after 6am, bag check opened and I was on my way to the tapstiles. The cast members in this red rover formation are ready to scan your MagicBand or check your ticket/room key to make sure you’re eligible for morning Extra Magic Hour.

Virtually every tapstile was uncovered and ready to go.

That helped spread out the hundred or so people that ended up arriving by 6:15am when we were let into the Park.

Disney buses should begin picking up resort guests via bus by 5:45am, which means the first guests of the day will arrive here between 6am and 6:10am. Guests staying at the BoardWalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan, and Dolphin have the opportunity to walk the 15 to 20 minutes from those resorts to the Studios. If you’re staying on-site, check the bus arrival times on the My Disney Experience app and try to time it so you’re only waiting a couple of minutes for the first bus of the day. If you miss the bus, consider using Uber/Lyft/Taxi to take your group to the Park. It’s worth the peace of mind and you’ll see how much I’m able to accomplish with my early arrival.

Hollwood Boulevard at 6:16am.

Those that have signed kids up for Jedi Training Academy over the last two weeks are welcome to chime in with their experiences, but signups haven’t been beginning until 7am. That may present a bit of a challenge for those that are planning on heading to Toy Story Land first before doubling all the way back to the sign up location to the right of 50’s Prime Time at some point in the morning. But everybody is in the same boat, so I would expect that it would be easy to sign kids up through at least 8am and probably for another hour after that.

We’re now stopped outside the Trolley Car Cafe Starbucks just before the turn onto Sunset Boulevard, which is where we’ve been stopped prior to rope drop for years.

Just about everybody present at 6:15am has passed me as I take my precious pictures. Here’s the scene to the rear at 6:18am. There’s all of eight more people heading in.

This is the “crowd” five minutes before we’re going to be released to Toy Story Land.

And the extent of the rope drop crowd at 6:30am.

Considering that we’re used to seeing this in front of the entrance…

And this as the backup prior to rope drop…

The lack of people was almost unbelievable. It seems like the sweet spot for arriving at bag check is right around 6:15am, which should put you here on Hollywood Boulevard around 6:20am.

Right at 6:30am, a brief, pre-recorded message played announcing that only Toy Story Land would be open from 6:30am to 7am. At 7am, the other eligible attractions would open. We were just about to be on our way.

We’re marched up the rest of Hollywood Boulevard.

Then through the archway towards what may or may not still be called Animation Courtyard before making a quick left towards Toy Story Land.

I’m purposefully slow to better mimic what things will be like if you’re pushing a stroller or haven’t quite perfected the art of the elbow toss.

These days, I think you’ll have better luck heading through the wide arch, but it probably doesn’t matter with this few people around.

It looks like there might be 150 people ahead of me and virtually nobody behind. We’ll continue past Walt Disney Presents and then take a right before arriving at what used to be Pixar Place and the old entrance to Toy Story Mania.

At this point, we’re passed off to another set of Toy Story Land cast members that will take us the rest of the way.

You’ll follow one of the two cast members holding signs. Those heading to Slinky Dog Dash are to stay to the right, while folks headed to Alien Swirling Saucers stay to the left.

This was one of the most orderly rope drops that I’ve ever participated in, thanks largely to the lack of people reducing the amount of pressure anybody felt.

About 90% of the crowd is headed to Slinky Dog.

If you really don’t want to deal with the rush to Slinky Dog, you can safely hang back from this crowd and still experience a short wait for the ride, even if you’re the last person to arrive from the initial group.

I don’t know about you, but I did not expect to live long enough to see a Studios rope drop where “literally” nobody is headed to Toy Story Mania first thing. But here we are.

Woody and Jessie are the second highest priority at rope drop, which may seem surprising. But their wait during the day is easily 45+ minutes in the unrelenting sun. I’ll head over here after two rides on Slinky Dog and before two rides on Swirling Saucers.

There goes Slinky.

If you’re set on skipping Slinky Dog, you might stop at the characters first.

There is no rush whatsoever to Swirling Saucers or Toy Story Mania.

Here we are lining up for Slinky Dog Dash. If you missed last week’s post on getting acquainted with Toy Story Land’s layout, you might check it out here.

I arrived at the entrance to Slinky Dog Dash at 6:38am to a 10-minute posted wait.

It should be pretty easy sailing.

The line ahead might look prohibitively long, but we’re skipping all of the switchbacks that will be in play from regular Park open onward.

Not to mention all of this.

It took all of three minutes to get past where the standby/FastPass+ merge will be later in the day.

The fact that there is no FastPass+ during morning Extra Magic Hour is a big benefit as it means 100% of the ride’s capacity goes to standby.

That means Slinky moves through about 1,000 standby riders during the morning Extra Magic Hour, plus another 350 or so from 6:40am to 7:40am since we got an early start.

Come 8am, 500 or fewer standby riders will have the opportunity to board per hour because so much capacity goes to FP+.

And once Disney figures out the exact ratio of FastPass+ to standby, that number will likely drop to around 300 standby riders per hour.

For now, we ride:












Other than the short wait, one other bonus about riding early in the morning is the opportunity to watch the sunrise, which adds some color to the sky.

I arrived at 6:38am and was back out front at 6:48am for a total experience time of just ten minutes.

I got right back in line.

The posted wait was still ten minutes.

But the line was longer with just about everyone that had ridden before me getting back in line, in addition to more people arriving from the main entrance.

Some of the switchbacks are now open.

As more and more people stream in.

Here at 6:56am, the actual wait would probably be about 20 minutes if you were to get in line now.

What a wonderful world that would be.

I was ready to board a second time at 7:02am, which brings my actual wait up to a lucky 13 minutes on Friday the 13th.

Here we go again:












Here at 7:05am, the standby queue has almost filled, which means the actual wait will be around 25-30 minutes for guests that are just getting in line.

It’s posted at 45.

As is tradition, I’ll be overdoing the sunbursts. You might get out your sunglasses now.

The end of the queue is actually outside the entrance and down across the bridge.

That early arrival is key. Consider spending the extra ten bucks that it costs to get over here via Uber/Lyft or the $15-$20 that it costs via Taxi.

The line to meet Woody and Jessie was only about four groups deep at 7:10am, so I jumped in line.

An 11mm portrait.

That took all of two minutes as the line has grown to about eight groups, which should mean a wait of about as many minutes.

Alien Swirling Saucers is up next.

At 7:15am, the posted wait is still just five minutes.

And given a queue that’s almost completely empty, that should be about right.

Too many sunbursts.

We have the opportunity to enjoy watching Slinky glide along his track.

Five minutes after getting in line, I was among the next group to board.

And we’re off.

I was back out front at 7:25am for a total experience time of just ten minutes.

With not a whole lot of people headed in this direction, I got in line again.

With a posted wait that’s risen to ten minutes.

And a queue that’s grown by a handful of people.

I was back on-board at 7:39am, which means I waited 14 minutes.

I was back out front at 7:42am after the 85-second ride.

To this crowd and what is still a 10-minute posted wait.

Here’s how things are looking at 7:42am.

Woody’s Lunch Box serves breakfast during the morning EMH, though it seems sort of silly to spend that time when waits are so short everywhere other than Slinky Dog.

At 7:44am, the posted wait is 35 minutes, which is probably about accurate.

One more look back towards Swirling Saucers.

And towards Toy Story Mania.

There’s probably about 15 groups waiting to meet Woody and Jessie.

Toy Story Mania is posting a 15-minute wait at 7:47am. This is about 20 minutes before those that aren’t eligible for Extra Magic Hours will arrive in the Land.

My wait actually began outside.

But with no FastPass+ users arriving for at least 15 minutes and few switchbacks in use, it should be quick.

Six minutes later, I was in the last room before picking up my 3D glasses. And at 8:03am, I was on-board, which means my actual wait came in at 16 minutes. That’s the longest of the morning so far, which makes some sense since it’s our last ride during the morning Extra Magic Hour.

Here’s the scene outside Saucers at 8:17am.

It’s still a 15-minute posted wait, which might end up being closer to 20 minutes. I was happy to see both sides operating from the start of the morning EMH, which helped move through people relatively quickly.

Slinky Dog’s line is now backed up well past the entrance with a 75-minute posted wait.

Here’s the back of it.

The line for Woody and Jessie has grown to about 20 groups, which probably now means a wait of at least 30 minutes given the characters’ propensity to take breaks in what is already a warm day.

Toy Story Mania’s posted wait is up to 35 minutes at 8:20am.

Those ineligible for the morning Extra Magic Hour are going to arrive in Toy Story Land a little before 8:10am.

That means just about everybody is already here since we’re approaching 8:30am. I see one straggler.

Overall, the morning went much better than I was expecting with so few guests able or willing to arrive before 6:30am.

I accomplished:

  1. Slinky Dog Dash: 6:38am – 6:48am
  2. Slinky Dog Dash: 6:49am – 7:06am
  3. Woody and Jessie Meet and Greet: 7:09am  – 7:12am
  4. Alien Swirling Saucers: 7:15am – 7:25am
  5. Alien Swirling Saucers: 7:26am – 7:42am
  6. Toy Story Mania: 7:46am – 8:15am

I don’t think that there’s anything I would do differently, perhaps with the exception of skipping a second ride on Swirling Saucers to wait a little bit less on Toy Story Mania.

In Part 2, we’ll head over to Sunset Boulevard to see how long we’ll wait in standby at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror before heading over to Star Tours to do the same. Spoiler: It won’t be very long.

Last modified: July 14, 2018 Filed Under: Blog

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    July 14, 2018 at 11:29 am

    We rocked EMH on 7/12, and hopped a bus from Pop at 5:42am with only one other person. We checked the app to see that there was a 5:29 bus that we just missed. Is it possible they have busses running and no one believes it? There were MAYBE 75 people that were walked in with us at 6:30. It was GREAT!

    We just did Slinky, walked around a bit, and had a PhotoPass with Woody, then headed to Sunset. Did RnRx5 and ToTx3 until about 8:20, then went back for standby TSM (walkon), photo op with a soldier (too cute) and a really tasty breakfast at the lunchbox. By 9:00, we were doing meet and greets in the Launch Bay with no wait, then Star Tours FP, a Taphouse break at 10, and caught the First Order on our way out at 11. Hands down the easiest rope drop I’ve ever done, if you don’t count getting up so early!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      July 14, 2018 at 9:55 pm

      Sounds like a fantastic morning. Can’t wait to try this out next week; thank you for posting so we know what is reasonable to expect.

      Reply
  2. Adam says

    July 14, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    Do you know what time they will let in non-EMH’ers?

    Reply
    • josh says

      July 14, 2018 at 4:36 pm

      It should be right at 8am.

      Reply
  3. Samantha says

    July 14, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    On 7/12 we were at the bus stop at All-Stars Music at 5:50am and a Mears bus to Hollywood Studios picked us up around 5:55. We arrived at Hollywood Studios around 6:10 and were at the rope by 6:20. Did Slinky Dog Dash with rider swap, Alien Swirling Saucers and Toy Story Mania.

    Reply
  4. Doos says

    July 14, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    Hey Josh,

    Super dumb question here but how come they let people in to get on rides before the actual 7am EMH start time? Does disney often let guests in before quoted rope-drop time?

    Reply
    • josh says

      July 14, 2018 at 4:38 pm

      They are trying to reduce waits and move more guests through the ride. Pandora has been opening a half hour early before the official open time just about every day since it opened last year.

      Reply
      • Amy T says

        July 16, 2018 at 2:40 pm

        Quick Question about Pandora…..If AK has a 8-9 AM EMH does this mean they will let everyone in at 7:30 to head to Pandora? Also, do all of the other EMH eligible rides not open until 8:00 AM? Trying to figure out how early we should arrive if we’re not going to do Avatar at RD and just head straight to KS. We have a later FP+ for FOP . Thanks!

        Reply
        • Steve says

          July 19, 2018 at 1:17 pm

          We have arrived at AK front gate at 7am (with an 8am official opening) both last summer and over Spring Break. Both times they let everyone into the park around 7:30am and we were in line for Avatar FOP by 7:40am. We were off around 8am. We also had FP+ for FOP later in the day, but it is definitely worth riding twice IMO! After riding both Avatar rides, we hit the Safari and Everest rides with almost no waits until 9am.

          Reply
  5. Brian says

    July 14, 2018 at 3:55 pm

    I’ll be heading to Disney next week, and I’m intrigued by this 6:30am start. The EMH for Hollywood studios all show 7-8am…is the 6:30am start for toy story land some unadvertised perk I should be able to take advantage of on July 18-20? Thanks!

    Reply
    • josh says

      July 14, 2018 at 4:39 pm

      Yes, unless they decide there are too few people to make the early opening worthwhile.

      Reply
      • Brian says

        July 14, 2018 at 4:49 pm

        Thanks! So, basically the only way to do it is to show up before 6:30am and hope for the best, or is there a way to check the day before to know for sure?

        Reply
        • josh says

          July 14, 2018 at 5:11 pm

          I don’t think you’ll be able to find anybody that can tell you with any certainty exactly what time a park will open on a specific date. Being there before 6:30am is smart whether they open at 6:30am or it ends up being a little later.

          Reply
  6. Vicki says

    July 14, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    Thanks Josh! Starting to try and learn some new things before our Christmas week trip! (Insert eye roll I must be crazy gif here).

    Reply
  7. JoAnn says

    July 14, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    Thank you. When the family asks me why we need to be at the bus stop by 5:30 am, I will calmly tell them, ” because Josh said so “. Cool sunrise photos of DHS. We can’t wait to ride Slinky Dog.

    Reply
    • Rich says

      July 15, 2018 at 12:05 pm

      I don’t think buses run that early.

      Reply
    • Pete says

      July 16, 2018 at 6:00 am

      LOL, My lot do a running count of what I say more
      “Josh” or “Fastpass”

      Reply
    • amanda says

      July 27, 2018 at 12:37 am

      Our last visit to WDW my husband asked “Should I be jealous of this Josh guy? It seems like you put a lot of stock in what he says!” Then later that week he thanked me for a smooth trip…to which I replied “You need to thank Josh!”

      Reply
  8. Mary says

    July 15, 2018 at 7:26 am

    Here on 7/15/18 – wait times seem to have built quickly. We rode slinky twice (off by 7:10am). We waited in line for aliens for 10 minutes before they said it was broken and we had to be walked out of the queue.

    Reply
  9. Stephanie says

    July 15, 2018 at 7:51 am

    Thank you! I need to show my family this for our trip next month. They will be thanking me.

    Reply
  10. Galnar says

    July 15, 2018 at 9:53 am

    Getting up at 430 to avoid crowds sounds like a terrible vacation.

    Reply
    • Mark says

      July 15, 2018 at 1:07 pm

      That is why we plan to back to the hotel at 10am till 3pm then food. Avoid crowds and heat.

      Reply
  11. Rich says

    July 15, 2018 at 11:52 am

    Are Uber’s typically availbe that early in the morning in that area or should I schedule it? I don’t use Uber often

    Reply
  12. Laurie says

    July 15, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    Thanks for the info that passholders will have early morning previews in Sept! That is going to completely change our plans – and my fastpass window opens tomorrow morning at 7!

    We will be at Disney from late the evening of Sept the 14th through the early morning of the 15th. Based on what you’re posting I’m thinking we should visit Hollywood Studios on Sunday when there are EMH as opposed to avoiding that day.

    So my plan will be :
    Saturday – AK with EMH
    Sunday – HS with EMH
    Monday – Epcot
    Tuesday – MK

    We’ve always avoided EMH parks, do you think these new hours and previews changes the plan of avoiding the EMH park that you’ve recommended in the past?

    Reply
    • Laurie says

      July 15, 2018 at 3:47 pm

      Correction – early morning of the 19th is when we are leaving.

      Reply
    • John says

      July 23, 2018 at 8:24 pm

      AP days are only by Reservation from the link WDW sent in the emails to passholders

      Reply
  13. Laurie says

    July 15, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    Correction – early morning of the 19th is when we are leaving.

    Reply
  14. Ida says

    July 15, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    Can we hope to expect the same at Christmas?

    Reply
  15. Katie says

    July 15, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    Thank you so much for this Josh!! We’re going in late August and I’ve been waiting for your rope drop post for Hollywood Studios. This is giving me a lot of hope because we did not get fast passes for Slinky Dog. We’re early risers, so this is awesome!!!

    Reply
  16. Michele Keller says

    July 16, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Well now I’m more confused avoid EMH or go?! LOL Oh well I already decided to head to MK on the HS EMH day and hit HS later at the end of our September trip.

    Reply
  17. Dorliss Chambers says

    July 16, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    A friend got the 5:30 AM bus from SSR, arrived at Studios at 5:55 and was the only person there. He did Slinky/Aliens/Tower of Terror before 7am.

    Reply
  18. Natalie says

    July 17, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    Thanks Josh, this is so helpful! So, is there not a Buzz M&G now?

    Reply
  19. Heather says

    July 17, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    OUTSTANDING! That is definitely the way to start a HS day.

    A long afternoon pool/nap break and returning for evening festivities would complete the perfection.

    Reply
  20. Michael says

    July 17, 2018 at 9:27 pm

    With EMH every morning it might make sense to visit HS on a day when there’s EMH somewhere else as well to draw off sone of the early morning visitors.
    We visited on Wednesday of last week, 7/11 and had an awesome time! Here is what we accomplished thanks to Josh’s advice …

    First boat from Beach Club at 6:30 AM
    Arrive at park at 6:45
    Slinky 6:54-7:08 (25 min posted wait), off 7:11
    TSM: 7:14- 7:20 (5 min posted), off 7:30
    TOT: 7:43-7:44, off 7:52 (13 posted)
    TOT : 7:54- 7:59, off 8:05
    RNRC: 8:09-8:16, off 8:19
    RNRC FP: 8:23- 8:32, off 8:36
    Restroom break
    Line to meet Chewie , Kylo & BB8 8:55-9:27
    VOTLM: 9:30-9:47
    TOT FP: 9:53- 10:00, wait in boiler room, on car 10:09, Off 10:13
    ASS FP: 10:25-10:30, off 10:36
    Exit 11:00 for lunch, swim and nap
    Returned to HS at 7:58
    Rode TOT with FP: 8:01-8:05, on ride at 8:14, off 8:21
    Ate dinner, then rode ToT 3 more times SB, between 9:00-9:35 with very short to no wait.
    Next was Star Tours with FP 9:50-9:52, off 10:00
    and finally, we closed the night with Slinky SB 10:08-10:28, off 10:31 (50 posted wait)

    Reply
  21. Mary says

    July 18, 2018 at 8:54 am

    Here again today on 7/18/18 and it’s a much better start. We arrived to bag check right around 6:00am and they let us in within a couple minutes. Held at tapstile until around 6:20 and then held at sunset until morning announcement at 6:30am.

    One of my sons and I went straight to slinky and my husband took the other to aliens. We were off slinky at 6:44. Unfortunately, aliens was down to start so we all rode toy story and it was walk on.

    Then we headed over to Jedi training sign ups and got there around 7:05am. All shows were still open and we picked the first one. In the meantime we went back to toy story land. Aliens was up and running so we rode that twice 11 min wait and 14 min wait) . Then toy story again (5 min) and we were finished with those by 8:10am. Then we headed to Jedi training for our show.

    After Jedi training ends 2 of us have a FP for slinky and 2 for toy story. My one son finds slinky too intense. He rode it at rope drop on Sunday and said he didn’t want to ride it again. My other son loves it, they are twins, so not an age thing. Just personal preference.

    After that we plan to see frozen and then head back to our resort as we did the other headliners the other day we were here.

    Reply
    • Natalie says

      July 18, 2018 at 4:07 pm

      Thanks for sharing your experience. How long was the Jedi Training sign-up when you arrived at 7:05?

      Reply
      • Natalie says

        July 18, 2018 at 4:08 pm

        *ETA: by how long, I meant the line 🙂 I am trying to estimate around when we will be back over to Toy Story Mania.

        Reply
      • Nicole Hester says

        July 27, 2018 at 12:34 pm

        I was just there this past week and they offered spots all day. I guess it’s not a big deal as it used to be. I walked by at 2:30 and they had a sign out that they still had more spots avaible
        .

        Reply
  22. Marcia says

    July 24, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    Going in October (can’t wait!) How do you think RD on a non EMH day would compare? would want to do SDD but skip Aliens.

    Reply
  23. Melinda says

    August 11, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    Thanks, Josh. Hoping you’ll do a non-EMH morning soon to see how that works. I’m thinking much like AK. Arrive 7:45 for a 9:00 park opening?

    Reply
  24. Julie Souter says

    October 5, 2018 at 10:14 am

    Thank you for this, it was all so helpful! Especially the specific times you were able to ride each! Can I ask you what kind of camera you use? Specifically the slinky ride shots. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  25. Ginger says

    October 9, 2019 at 8:08 pm

    Any idea if they’ll offer EMM for TS land in March 2020. Right now there is nothing on the calendar after October. 🙁

    Reply

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