Disney Adding Early Morning Magic Hours At Hollywood Studios. Is It Worth The Money?
Disney seems to be hard at work this year finding ways to make certain attractions more accessible. In some cases, the changes come at no additional cost to park-goers, such as these strategies for getting extra FastPass opportunities.
In other cases, Disney is finding more ways to make money while giving you and your kids access to “the Magic”. They started a new program at Magic Kingdom recently that allows folks the ability to ride the most popular ride in the park, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
I understand these extra charges are unpopular with some folks, especially given the cost just to get into Disney parks. But, I like having these options available. My son’s favorite ride right now is Seven Dwarfs, so he wouldn’t understand if I told him we couldn’t ride it. And, I can’t imagine any kid is happy waiting in line for over 90 minutes.
Disney has expanded the Early Morning Magic program to include Hollywood Studios. Quoting from the release:
Beginning August 1, a select number of guests can experience Disney Early Morning Magic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Beginning at 7:45 a.m., guests can enter the park and experience Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, Toy Story Mania!, Pixar Place character greetings (with Woody and Buzz), and Mickey and Minnie on Commissary Lane and Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight. Guests can also partake in an all-you-care-to-enjoy breakfast at ABC Commissary from 8-10 a.m.
The price is $69 for adults and $59 for children, and that’s on top of park tickets. Whereas I saw the value in the Magic Kingdom version of this, I’m not a buyer here. Since they added another track to Toy Story Mania (my favorite ride) the wait times have come way down. And, I’ve stood in the regular lines for the Pixar Place meet and greet. They’re not that bad.
With the park opening up at 9am, you’ve essentially got an hour of all-you-can-ride/experience for a small list of things. In theory, you might be able to get in as many as 7 or 8 turns on one ride if you didn’t go anywhere else before 9am. Then, you could head over to get your free breakfast after the park opened and lines started to get longer, though you’ll still have a headstart right at 9am before the lines get long since the park entrance is a decent distance away from the main attractions. I guess if you’re a big Star Tours fan it could be worth it, but I doubt it. Breakfast isn’t free at many of the Disney hotels (though places like the Swan and Dolphin have free breakfast for kids), so you can absorb at least some of the cost on what you might otherwise spend for breakfast.
At any rate, I like options, but don’t think I’ll be partaking anytime soon.
There are some additional details to be aware of:
- Separate Disney’s Hollywood Studios admission is required.
- Official check-in will take place near the far-left turnstiles of the Main Entrance to Disney’s Hollywood Studios beginning at 7:45 AM.
- Guests who have purchased both regular Disney’s Hollywood Studios admission and Early Morning Magic event entry will receive a wristband for identification upon check-in.
- During this special event, the only attractions available will be Star Tours – The Adventures Continue and Toy Story Mania! along with opportunities to meet Woody & Buzz at Pixar Place, Mickey and Minnie on Commissary Lane, and Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight.
- Guests must be 40 inches or taller to experience Star Tours—The Adventures Continue.
- From 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, breakfast will be served at ABC Commissary.
- At approximately 9:00 AM, the theme park will open to Guests with regular theme park admission tickets and event-only attraction access will end.
- The number of Guests admitted to these events is limited. In addition, all reservations are non-refundable, non-transferrable and are only valid for admission during the special event date and hours.
- All attractions, entertainment and experiences are subject to change without notice.
Are you going to try to buy Early Morning Magic Hours on your next Disney visit?
The post Disney Adding Early Morning Magic Hours At Hollywood Studios. Is It Worth The Money? was published first on Pizza in Motion
HW studios is a waste until they open the new Star Wars rides. RockNRoller Coaster and the Hotel are cool but that’s all there really is now.
And the FastPass + trick is to get a second set of bands for your group. The trick mentioned in various forums still works and I personally used two sets of bands on my trip last month for my daughter and myself.
MG, didn’t realize that trick still worked. I think to make it a value folks would want to take advantage of, you’d need to include Rock and Roll or the Hotel.
I think this would be more appealing if Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster were open. I think everyone is going to run to Toy Story right at 7:45am and could see it getting a bit backed up. I think at that price point it won’t do very well.
I agree though that I do like options. We are going over Labor Day Weekend and doing the Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour. It is basically a tour that gets you fast-pass access to the main attractions in 3 of the parks w/ one of Disney’s VIP tour guides. It’s not cheap ($299pp – 15% discount for annual pass) but for a short weekend like that, we’re okay paying a premium to save time. I think Disney is smart to offer these premium services.
Shaun, definitely agree you need to add a few rides to make this appealing. I can’t imagine Disney is selling tons of these. First, I doubt there’s a huge market. Second, I just can’t imagine they want to deal with more than a few hundred people for one of these things. I could be wrong, but I’m hoping some first-hand reports pop up to help verify.
This is way too soon for Studios. I could see it being a hit if it rolled out after all the new areas open. But right now…the park can be done in a half a day as it is….no need to pay extra to get it all in. Very strange logic on their part.
racetodisneyKayla, I don’t think it costs Disney much to offer this. Essentially, bringing in some employees early and testing to see if people take you up on it. Can always kill it if demand is low.