Extra, Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios: DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS!
It’s been a busy long weekend. It started with our 20-Hour Day at Walt Disney World, continued with more Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, plus Food & Wine at Epcot. Bright and early this a.m., we once again returned for Extra, Extra Magic Hours (ExEMH) at DHS, which we’ll cover in this ‘morning report’ that also offers something of a touring plan.
For those who haven’t been paying attention, I’ve been pretty hyped on Extra, Extra Magic Hours at Walt Disney World since they were announced in the spring. I thought these would offer a huge strategic advantage to anyone willing to get up early, and would put to bed a lot of the complaints about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening earlier than anticipated.
In retrospect, all I can think is how naive of me. ExEMH only added fuel to the fire, leading to more issues due to the ridiculously early morning hours, and lack of an evening counterpart. That’s understandable coming from many guests, especially families who have a difficult time getting out the door so early. However, you’ll absolutely want to take advantage of ExEMH if you can. The rest of what follows is a breathlessly long-winded post about why Extra, Extra Magic Hours are the greatest thing at Walt Disney World in a while…
After finishing our fist round of Extra, Extra Magic Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I’m even more sold on the excellence of this invention. This was one of our best-ever “days” at DHS, and it makes me want to scoop up some more DVC reservations. I’m doubling-down, and imploring you to take advantage of Extra, Extra Magic Hours.
Seriously, do not sleep on this. Extra, Extra Magic Hours instantly jumps to the top of our list for best ways to experience the parks, well ahead of evening Extra Magic Hours, or even the paid After Hours events. You’ll have large portions of the park almost entirely to yourself–all you have to do is drag yourself out of bed super early. We know that’s asking a lot on vacation, but the payoff here is totally worth the effort.
Even if this means taking a nap each and every day of your Walt Disney World vacation between 11 am and 6 pm (except Epcot day), you’ll still come out ahead. The reason so many people have complained about ExEMH is the reason they’re so great: no one wants to get up before 5 am on vacation.
Because no one wants to get up before 5 am on vacation, these mornings are going to be criminally under-attended, allowing you to experience “nighttime” at Walt Disney World, see the sunrise, and experience (essentially) an entire day in the parks, all in one condensed morning. AND ALL WITHOUT PAYING AN UPCHARGE COST.
This simply wouldn’t be possible with a late night event, as far more people are willing to stay until midnight or even 1 am than are willing to get up at 5 am. We more or less witnessed exactly that with the evening EMH for Pandora – World of Avatar, which were just as crowded as a regular day.
For those who don’t pay close attention to Walt Disney World news, ExEMH was announced at a time when most prognosticators (including Disney’s own) anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to be chaotic and crowded for months on end upon opening. That didn’t happen at Disneyland and has not happened at Walt Disney World. At this point, it could be December before crowds really spike.
Suffice to say, Extra, Extra Magic Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a great way to experience the park’s most popular attractions, including Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Toy Story Mania & Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror all as virtual walk-ons. (Don’t expect ExEMH to be extended for November and/or December.)
Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be offering Extra, Extra Magic Hour from 6 to 9 am every day from now through November 2. We decided to partake in the fun on day 2 of ExEMH, opting to skip the first day because we assumed there would be some pent-up demand for that, and it wouldn’t necessarily be representative of future ExEMH mornings.
One could argue that today is also not representative of actual crowds due to Hurricane Dorian cancellations. While there definitely have been some of those, today is still only the second day of this offering and is also a holiday. Accordingly, I think the ‘missing’ guests who cancelled are easily offset by the remaining pent-up demand and the slight spike due to Labor Day.
As excited as I was by the prospect of experiencing these attractions with minimal waits, the real reason we got up at the crack of dawn to head to Disney’s Hollywood Studios was for the sunrise photos. The necessity of doing a post offering some “strategy” was simply my excuse to convince Sarah to accompany me…and do most of the work.
We arrived at Disney’s Hollywood Studios extra early for Extra, Extra Magic Hours…getting inside the park just after 5:30 am.
Our thinking here was that the park might quietly open even before the published start time, but that didn’t happen, so we ended up just waiting a bit longer.
We always get questions about what time buses start running, and the answer is almost always earlier than necessary. If the park opens at 8 a.m., buses are on the prowl by 6 a.m.
I don’t know what time the buses start running during ExEMH, but if you wanted to be there at 5 am for some reason, you’d probably have no problem catching a bus. Same will likely go for the Skyliner once it starts operating later this month.
We waited on Hollywood Boulevard until exactly 6 am, at which point an announcement played and Stormtroopers slowly walked us back to the queue for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run.
All told, the walk took 18-20 minutes (depending upon when you stop the clock) and it was excruciatingly slow, and unpleasant. At this point, Sarah did the attraction and I ran off to take photos.
This was a tag-team approach throughout, as we each did some attractions individually and some together, meeting up after every ride so we didn’t cross-over one another time-wise.
Anyway, here’s what Sarah and/or I managed to get done during Extra, Extra Magic Hours between 6 and 9 am…
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (6:20-6:44 am)
- Slinky Dog Dash (x3) (6:50-7:08 am)
- Toy Story Mania (7:10-7:19 am)
- Slinky Dog Dash (7:23-7:40 am)
- Wandered Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (x2) (8:01-8:20 am)
- Tower of Terror (forgot to count–it was a walk-on)
- Left park at 8:50 am
A couple of important notes here. First, we cannot understate how unpleasant that slow march was back to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
It’s in a large blob of humanity, and even if everyone around you has showered and is wearing deodorant (a huge if), it’s already hot and humid at 6 am in Florida this time of year, so…there’s that.
This is unpleasant to the point that rather than heading to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge with almost everyone else, we’d do Toy Story Land first next time.
Barely anyone was heading that direction, and judging by the 5 minute wait time for Slinky Dog Dash well after 7 am, we’re guessing you could ride that coaster literally a half-dozen times with no wait.
Plus, the posted wait time for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run actually goes down over the course of ExEMH. It peaked at 70 minutes around 6:30 am. That 30 minute posted wait above is the ride’s status as of around 8:30 am.
So long as you’re in line before 9 am, you should experience a relatively low wait for this attraction. The posted times are definitely inflated across the board, but even an actual wait of 30 minutes isn’t too bad considering all you can get done by doing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge “last” during ExEMH.
Speaking of the 9 am crowd, that’s it to the left, waiting behind the turnstiles.
It’s tough to tell from the photo, but there are a ton of people waiting in line here. If you’re staying off-site, I’d probably recommend saving DHS for later in the day. These people are going to be behind 3 hours worth of on-site crowds–that’s still not a ton (wait times were still pretty manageable when we left), but it’s way worse than a normal rope drop day. Go at night instead.
Even towards the end of the morning Extra, Extra Magic Hours, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster were all at or near walk-on status. Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run and Slinky Dog Dash are the only rides that had a long posted wait times.
As for the full strategy, you could probably do Slinky Dog Dash 8+ times or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster over a dozen times if you cut Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge from the beginning of this itinerary and instead moved it to the end of the night. One, that’s an objectively better time to be on Batuu. Two, we’re already noticing highly disproportionate crowds in Galaxy’s Edge first thing in the morning.
Going forward, it’s entirely possible that Extra, Extra Magic Hour will get progressively more popular as we enter October and Walt Disney World gets busier. Moreover, word is going to get out about how great ExEMH is thanks to glowing posts like this one, and more guests will get up to partake.
Consequently, you can bump up wait times by about 25% across the board if you’re visiting in mid-September or later. It’s unlikely to get much busier than that, simply because arriving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 6 am is a non-starter for so many families on vacation.
Among attractions, don’t expect priorities to shift much. “Everyone” will start their morning in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge before moving on to Toy Story Land before moving on to Sunset Boulevard. So long as you arrive right at 6 am and ‘surf the wave’ of the crowd, this will remain the best approach.
That is, unless you don’t want to be part of the ‘Star Wars: GalaxSea of Humanity’ at the start of ExEMH, and would prefer cutting ahead and doing Slinky Dog Dash, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, or Tower or Terror repeatedly as walk-ons.
By arriving at the start of Extra, Extra Magic Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can easily experience Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run, all three Toy Story Land attractions, Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Star Tours before 9 a.m. You could probably experience Slinky Dog Dash multiple times, in fact.
Right now, this is especially huge given that it’s impossible to simultaneously hold FastPass+ for the headliner attractions on that list. If you’re a repeat Walt Disney World visitor who isn’t interested in Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ shows, you could be done with this park, walk to Epcot’s International Gateway entrance, and be there right around rope drop.
Ultimately, this post underscores how clutch getting up early can be in accomplishing the must-dos at Disney’s Hollywood Studios now and for the next couple of months. We cannot overstate the value of Extra, Extra Magic Hours at DHS–you can literally do more in these 3 hours than in all of the remaining hours of the day the park is open (excluding shows). If that’s not enough to sell you on Extra, Extra Magic Hours…what about sunrise on Batuu?!
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Your Thoughts
Have you done morning Extra, Extra Magic Hour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios yet? Which attractions did you do? Are you planning to take advantage of this wonderful offering? Will you go for sunrise serenity in DHS or doing a ton of rides? Do you agree or disagree with our morning ExEMH advice or attraction order? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Are the Toy Story characters meeting in TSL during ExEMHs? My 3 yo would love to have a pic with any of them!
Does the queue for the WDW Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run go backstage like it does at Disneyland? I still can’t believe they have guests going backstage and still don’t understand why they didn’t design a longer queue out front or inside the building.
Does anyone know how sign-ups for Jedi Training Academy fit into these early mornings? Can we sign up during EEMH or does the line form sometime around public park open? We have three boys that are excited for the experience, so we don’t want to miss sign-ups if the line forms and we are in the park riding rides.
We were told by a Cast Member in the area at DHS that signups begin at 7:45, and apparently haven’t been filling up nearly as quickly in the last week.
Take that with a grain of salt, as we didn’t confirm it firsthand.
Awesome! Thanks so much for the info!
The line for Jedi training starts at 8am
Late evenings are my favorite part of a WDW vacation. Even if it’s just kicking around Disney Springs or my Resort Pool.
I refuse to give them up so I can get up at a ridiculous hour to run around an empty park.
But then again, I’m that guy who every morning laughs at rope-drop people from my room’s balcony or pool jacuzzi.
“Look at those commandos skittering off to the Parks”.
Of course it’s people like me that make you early risers happy. Less competition.
And I appreciate you all, quiet mornings at the the pool are bliss.
To each his own, have fun.
I’ll be very content joining you around 11 or 12.
Agreed. My wife and I hit Hollywood Studios this past Labor Day weekend Sunday, arrived somewhere between 2-3, and we hit Star Tours twice (once with a fastpass and once again right away walk-on to stay out of a brief rain), did Tower of Terror stand-by, Rock ‘n Roller single rider, wandered Star Wars Land for an hour or two, eventually waited 70 minutes for Smuggler’s Run, and then spent the next 2-3 hours with a combination of just wandering Hollywood Studios, eating, and ultimately A.S.S. and then Slinky Dog (granted, with a fastpass, but with a posted wait of 30 minutes and appeared to be less than that). Perhaps crowds were affected by Dorian, but I will take that day (and even less, but such is the benefit of being passholders I suppose) over arriving at a park at 5:30am every single time.
can you enter galaxys edge from toy story land or is it really a SWGE exit only?
Exit only…even during ExEMH, which is kind of silly given that there were no crowds whatsoever. I think it’s probably because they want to be able to only count guests entering via Grand Avenue (in case the virtual queue were to, for some weird reason, be needed again).
thanks tom. i guess my daughter (4) and i are going to find out if our jedi mind skills work on CMs.
Later in the afternoon this past Sunday, people were able to go back and forth from Toy Story Land, but I understand the one-way restriction is in place earlier in the morning.
I have a question. Without any spoilers, is the Smugglers Run more jerky (moves and shifts harder) than Star Tours? Are they similar in physical motion? Any input about the how this affected you (whiplash inducing or surprisingly smooth or in between like Star Tours) would be helpful. I also have a second question, very similar to my first. Is the Slinky Dog roller coaster smooth as the Mine Train in MK or more jerky like Goofy’s Barnstormer? TIA. 🙂
I haven’t tried the new ride yet (but I’m getting up early to try it without my husband. If it’s too jerky, I will not be getting him up early the next day. If it’s like Star Tours, I may get him up….if it’s closer to Mission Space, it will be a no go for him).
I digress….Slinky Dog Dash is so smooth though! The theming is really cute! If you don’t like jerking, do not go on Alien Swirling Saucers! Fun ride, but it will whip you around!
Thanks for the info about slinky dog. I have some back issues and can do smoother and low impact rides like the Mine Train and even Star Tours, but I could never go on Big Thunder Railroad or Space Mountain, Mission Space, the Barnstormer, Tower of Terror, Rock N Rollercoaster, and that coaster in AK in the Dinoland section, Expedition Everest or Dinosaur. It’s a big deal when I CAN ride something! Thank goodness for rides like the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the C and those like them, so I do get to enjoy attractions. Thankfully, I enjoy the parades, fireworks, shows, food, dining and shopping so that I don’t too often feel as though I can’t do anything. (Although my digestive issues can make the eating a bit iffy, but I always make a point to get a Dole Whip, no matter what! 🙂 Part of the joy of being at the park is seeing my family enjoying themselves, seeing others around me so happy, especially the kids, old and young, in their Mickey ears, taking photos of all the beautiful scenery and meeting the characters. Maybe that’s a bit cheesy, but I get a kick out of the antics of the Mad Hatter, being silly with Goofy and still feeling like I’m 5 again and actually getting to meet Mickey. ( I wish Mickey still interacted vocally at Town Square – that was so cool! I have a video of him asking my daughter if any hitchhiking ghosts had followed her – too much fun. 🙂
Will experiences like Savi’s And Droid depot be open during EEMH?
I really think you might be underestimating the Dorian effect on lowering crowds during EeMH right now. I think a lot of the folks who would be taking advantage of EEMH this week either cancelled or rescheduled their trips. For the most part, it’s the out of towners who book rooms (mostly), so this is the pool that will disproportionately drop out because of Dorian. We got back from our trip Saturday night and saw some pretty obvious Dorian effect on Saturday. Wednesday at Magic kingdom was moderately crowded, but was pleasantly lacking in crowds on Saturday afternoon. I mark up that difference as entirely due to Dorian. As for EeMH, we still have two main variables that could be suppressing crowds; one is Dorian and the other being ungodly early hours. My gut tells me that Dorian is having the bigger impact, but we won’t be able to tease out the truth until Dorian has passed well by and things return to “normal” at WDW.
I guess my main point is a warning for folks: Two weeks from now, the crowd levels during EeMH might be considerably higher than described in this post. Or they might not. Just don’t get blind sided if it is the former.
I hope you’re not right, but you definitely could be. Either way, we’ll be doing a few more of these once Dorian passes, so we should be able to offer an updated report on crowds in the near-ish future.
We rebooked due to dorian and will be there starting the 15th. I am anxious to see how the crowds will be, especially for the ExEMH. we plan on doing those for MK, AK, and HS if possible.
I was waiting for a post like this from you! We are going near the end of October. I decided against FP at HS since we can do the EEMH. I wasn’t sure if going to TSL first wouldn’t be wisest since everyone would go to GE and create a backlog first thing in the morning. I didn’t know if the other thrill attractions would be available also (ToT, Star Tours, etc.) …now I know! Thanks again!
Will Shades of Green guests qualify for the extra, extra magic hours?
Yep, same as regular EMH.
Is this available for FL residents with Annual Passes or only to guests staying on property?
Only if you stay on property.
I will go early AM at DHS to enjoy the sunrise serenity plus go on some rides so I dont have to waste my FP allocation on the slim pickings at DHS and instead use FP for MK, Epcot, or AK attractions later in the day.
That was my plan!
What are the chances they will extend beyond November 2 would be great to take advantage of this
I was wondering the same thing. We don’t arrive until 11/8
I would not expect it to me extended unless the number of people taking advantage of it increases quite a bit, which would also make it less valuable anyway.
But even increase of 3 times would be better than a regular 9 am open. So either way I’m hoping it does
Tom, we couldn’t agree more. We did this today and walked in everything and only waited 30 minutes for smugglers and walked into Olga’s with no reservation. Out by 9:00 and back to the room.
Why time did you ride smugglers run?
Thanks.
Oga’s Cantina was open during ExEMH? Did they serve alcoholic drinks during that time?
This will work so well for UK visitors fighting jet lag at the beginning of their trips!
Hi!! Thats Awesome I can’t wait to go later this month. I’m just curious was this on one of the days that Hurricane Dorian was threatening? This could have also impacted the crowds. Thanks!!
Just read this post to my husband and kids. We are so excited and have been pumping ourselves up for such early mornings in the parks. We have reservations for Sept 15-24th. This is the first time that we’ve scheduled rest days during our trip. I think we’ll need a couple if we are planning to be there at 6 am- close. Last year, on the last day of our trip I fell asleep on small world, splash mountain and carousel of progress.
Thanks Tom this post is timely. I’m visiting mid October and I wont be able to get out the door by 5 (yound kids), but I can probably get out the door by 6:15 and there by 6:45. Im thinking head straight to Slinky and Mania, Star Tours and shows for the morning. How have Galaxy’s Edge crowds been in late morning ir are they better in the evening? Thanks for any advice.
Great report! Granddaughter and I are going in October and had already decided to be there for the 6am opening but this really has us excited now! Neither of us has much interest in Star Wars…other than a quick walk through. So heading straight to Toy Story had been our plan and you just reinforced it!
I’m at the Magic Kingdom and ExEMH are exceptional here too. What about Peter Pan stand by queue posting a 10 minutes wait at 9:00?
To be on the first train for 7DMT it’s enough to be at the entrance at 6:50 when maybe a hundred people is walked to the entrance.
I did every ride in the park by 10:00.