If you were looking for a way to knock out some of the most popular attractions in Fantasyland with little to no waits, Disney Early Morning Magic – Fantasyland might have been for you.
This special-ticketed event took place on select days through the year in 2019 and 2020, and although the price may have seemed steep, there were definitely times when it may have been worth it.
Here’s what you needed to know.
Update: No longer offered
The Early Morning Magic event in Fantasyland was offered in 2019 and 2020 prior to the parks shutting down. It has not been brought back at this point and we do not expect it to make a return.
In 2020 and prior, Disney offered Extra Magic Hours that were offered at a different park each day. However, in 2021 Disney retired Extra Magic Hours and launched Early Theme Park Entry for onsite resort guests. This allows guests staying onsite to enter any of the parks 30 minutes early each day. Because of this, there is no opportunity to offer Early Morning Magic.
If you’re interested in entering the parks early, read our Guide to Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World.
Quick review
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All the details
Disney Early Morning Magic – Fantasyland was an opportunity for guests to get a head start on their day at Magic Kingdom.
During the 75 minutes the event took place, guests attending got unlimited rides on 7 of the most popular attractions at Magic Kingdom:
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Princess Fairytale Hall
- “it’s a small world”
- Mad Tea Party
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
- Peter Pan’s Flight
In addition to the rides, guests were also treated to a breakfast buffet at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café.
There weren’t any characters at this breakfast, but you did have your choice of several tasty treats.
More on that below.
Note: The previous version of this event included only 3 attractions (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train) with breakfast at Pinocchio Village Haus.
Cost
Because this was a special-ticketed event, there was an additional cost to attend.
Tickets were $89 for adults and $79 for kids (plus tax).
And, unlike other special-ticketed events (like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, for example), it required you to have a regular theme park ticket in addition to the Early Morning Magic ticket.
Dates and Time
The event took place from 7:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on select dates throughout the year.
Event dates were typically opened up 1-3 months in advance, so if your travel dates were further away than that you’d probably have to wait until closer to see what was available.
Here was the schedule.
Note: due to worldwide events, some previously scheduled dates were effected and are indicated below:
2020 Early Morning Magic – Fantasyland
- January: 6, 8, 14, 16, 19, 21, 28, 30
- February: 2, 6, 11*, 13*, 18*, 20*, 25*, 27*
- March: 1*, 3*, 10, 15,
22, 26, 29 - April:
2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 21, 26, 28 - May:
3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28, 31 - June:
4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 23, 28, 30 - July:
7, 11, 12, 14, 19, 21
2019 Early Morning Magic – Fantasyland
- January: 1, 6, 8, 15, 22, 29
- February: 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 26
- March: 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 31
- April: 2, 9, 14, 21, 28
- May: 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, 28
- June: 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30
- July: 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30
- August: 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25, 27
- November: 13, 20
- December: 3, 5, 9, 11, 17
*Special Cinderella enhancements to Early Morning Magic for these dates. See below for more information
How to book it
If you were interested in booking you’d have had a couple of options to do that:
- Book online
- Book by calling (407) 827-7350
What to expect at Disney Early Morning Magic – Fantasyland
How to get there
Because you were paying extra money to attend this event, we recommended you plan ahead on how you would get there so you didn’t miss any of it.
Buses were running early; however, they did not run as frequently as they did later in the morning. That meant it was very important that you were at the bus stop with plenty of time to spare.
It is an awful feeling to be rushing around only to watch the bus you needed pull away when you’re too late to catch it.
Because of that, we suggested thinking about using a Minnie Van to help expedite the ride to Magic Kingdom.
If you did plan on using a Minnie Van, keep in mind that there were a limited number of them available.
We recommended planning to request one around 6:45 a.m.
If you waited to request one after that, you likely would have found that none were immediately available.
Minnie Vans were the best option because they drop off at the same bus stops used by the buses, but their pricing structure and availability make them impractical for lots of guests.
If you weren’t interested in using a Minnie Van, you should have been sure to be at your resort bus stop early (buses to Magic Kingdom started around 6:30-7 a.m. daily) and get to Magic Kingdom that way.
Checking in
You were asked to check in out front of Magic Kingdom by 7:30 a.m.
There you were given a brightly-colored wristband which let the Cast Members know you were cleared to go into Fantasyland early.
When they let guests into the park, you had time to pause for some photos in front of the castle if you wanted, but you couldn’t expect the park to be totally empty since anybody with a early dining reservation or ticket to Early Morning Magic were all let in together.
Typically you would find PhotoPass photographers lined up along Main Street, too.
Frequently the first photographer was the most busy, but if you kept walking you would find the lines a bit shorter on the ones further down.
Guests attending Early Morning Magic were asked to enter Fantasyland via the bridge to the right of Cinderella Castle.
Guests with dining reservations were directed to other lines near the castle.
Rides
The attractions that were open during Early Morning Magic are some of the most popular in Fantasyland.
Because admission to the event is limited, guests attending found it very easy to ride their favorites over and over again.
This was true even for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which historically tends to have some of the longest wait times in the entire park.
See that area on the left in the photo below?
That is the exit to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. On the right is where you enter the final part of the queue.
When the line to get on was short, the Cast Members opened that section up so you could easily get right back on after riding.
The other open attractions had equally short – if not shorter – lines.
Sometimes you may have gotten lucky and found Prince Charming Regal Carrousel open, too, but that wasn’t one of the publicized attractions. If it was open, think of it as a lovely bonus ride!
Look at the crowds!
Just kidding. Fantasyland was basically empty during the event.
You could see the crowds on the other side of Cinderella Castle waiting to get in, though:
All those guests were let in promptly at 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast
Breakfast was served at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, which is located next to the teacups of Mad Tea Party.
Because breakfast continued after the park opened, we recommended you eat around 9:30 and choose an attraction or 2 to visit from 9-9:30.
You would find several Cast Members outside directing you where to go.
When it did come time to eat, you would find plenty to fill you up.
For the main entrée, guests received scrambled eggs, pancakes, fried potatoes, bacon, and sausage and you could have seconds (or thirds) if you wanted.
You would also have the option of coffee, tea, water, juice (apple or orange), or soda.
Nearby there was a toppings bar that had some additional offerings.
The selection varied slightly but you could expect to find:
- fruit
- yogurt
- pastries
- oatmeal and toppings
- cheese
- syrup
- condiments such as ketchup & hot sauce
Basic touring plan for Early Morning Magic – Fantasyland
In order to maximize your morning, your best bet was to plan out your time so that you rode as many attractions as many times as possible before the crowds hit.
With that in mind, we recommended:
- 7:45 – 9:00 – Ride the rides that are part of Early Morning Magic as many times as you’d like, especially the ones that will have the longest lines later in the day
- 9:00 – 9:30 – Head over to a nearby attraction and do that before the lines build. Any of the attractions in Tomorrowland are perfect for that, but you may want to focus on something where lines build quickly, such as Space Mountain. Depending on what you choose, you may have time for a couple before it is time to eat.
- 9:30 – go to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe for breakfast
After breakfast, you could continue on with one of our Magic Kingdom touring plans, but you would be able to skip over any of the attractions you’ve already done.
Cinderella Royal Treatment during Early Morning Magic
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Cinderella, some royal enhancements took place for the 8 events from February 11th to March 3rd, 2020.
Special Cinderella themed food and drink was available as part of the breakfast at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café from 8 am to 10 am.
In addition, special characters from Cinderella could be found around Fantasyland. These characters included Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming, Drizella and Anastasia, Suzy, and Perla, Cinderella continued meeting in Princess Fairytale Hall.
FAQ’s
Was this the same thing as Extra Magic Hours?
Disney did make things confusing when they gave 2 morning events very similar sounding names.
But Early Morning Magic and Extra Magic Hours were 2 totally different things, with the main differences being that one involved almost the entire park and was free to onsite guests (Extra Magic Hours), while the other (Early Morning Magic) cost money and was open to anybody.
Read more in the FAQ: What is the difference between Early Morning Magic and Extra Magic Hours?
I made a reservation at Be Our Guest so I could get onto Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and now Early Morning Magic is scheduled. Was my plan ruined?
Not at all!
At worst, you may have had to wait a couple more minutes than you might have had there not been an Early Morning Magic scheduled that day, but it wouldn’t have been noticeable.
You would just be held back a little longer, but because you were already in a line while you waited to get into the real line, your early morning breakfast reservation still put you at an advantage to get onto Seven Dwarfs quickly.
Another thing to consider: when Early Morning Magic was scheduled, that means the Magic Kingdom opening time would not be moved to an earlier time that overlapped with your breakfast reservation, so your pre-park opening breakfast would stay before the official park opening.
Would the crowds be heavier on Early Morning Magic days?
Having an Early Morning Magic scheduled meant a couple of things for people who weren’t attending.
First, it meant Disney wouldn’t change the park opening time to an earlier time which comes in handy if you had a pre-park opening breakfast reservation. It’s frustrating to get that early reservation time and then have Disney change the park hours to overlap with your breakfast, but it wasn’t an issue on days when Early Morning Magic was schedule.
Secondly, it meant that while there will be people in Fantasyland before the park opens, there weren’t very many tickets sold, and most of those people were likely to be finished riding and headed to breakfast by the time you arrived.
It was still a good idea to arrive early to put yourself at the front of the regular park guest crowds (arriving 45 minutes before scheduled park opening), but the increase in crowds in Fantasyland were negligible.
Was it worth it?
As always, the answer to this is subjective.
But when you take into account the amount of times you could go on the rides, plus the fact that it included breakfast, it was a good deal for many, especially for those interested in riding Seven Dwarfs Mine Train multiple times.
Hearing the kids scream “we get to go AGAIN?” is the best.
We definitely think that if you had a shorter trip or if your time at Magic Kingdom was limited, this was a good option to get some extra rides on some of the more popular Fantasyland attractions.
Another option
If you could only pick one extra event and you had the option of doing Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom during your trip dates, you should have considered doing that event instead.
It is more expensive, but most of the rides in the park are open during it so you could possibly see and ride most of the main Magic Kingdom attractions in one evening if you wanted.
************
Looking for the Hollywood Studios version? Disney used to offer Early Morning Magic – Toy Story Land, however, that hasn’t been scheduled since the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Have you given Early Morning Magic – Fantasyland a try? Let us know how it went in the comments.
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Janet Basso
Wednesday 24th of August 2022
We won't be staying at a Disney Resort so how would we get to Magic Kingdom during Early Morning Magic-Fantasyland? Is the Monorail or Ferry running that early and will we be able to park in the parking lot?
Shannon Albert
Wednesday 24th of August 2022
This event is from the before times and is no longer offered. Would be great if it came back someday.
Craig Paternoster
Wednesday 16th of September 2020
I see that early morning magic hours was not available in October and September of 2019 will these months be available in the future ,(2022)do you think? and why have these months not available in the past.
Josh
Monday 16th of September 2019
When do you expect for the 2020 dates to be released? Before or after November? We are going in March 2020 and are hoping this is available.
Heather
Monday 30th of September 2019
They haven't even released dates for the remainder of 2019. It's frustrating.
Lindsay Z
Friday 21st of September 2018
Wondering about transportation from a MK area resort (Poly) where there isn't a bus to MK (right?). Is the monorail running early enough to get to Early Morning Magic?
Shannon Albert
Saturday 22nd of September 2018
Yes, the resort monorail will be open.
Jess Harbison
Friday 21st of September 2018
Just curious...for Peter Pan do you get to go through the house or do you use the Fp line? I think going through the house is the best part of the attraction and would not want to miss it!
J. Marshall
Friday 21st of September 2018
You are sent through the FP line.