On days when it is predicted to be really really crowded - what are the first hours like?

So we are going to visit during a very busy period of time. As we had no other possible dates, we are totally fine with crowds and lines, but what are the first hours after rope drop/EMH like? Is it already very crowded? Can you use the first hours to ride maybe 4-5 headliners with not so long waits?

I do not mind to stand in line for 80 - 120 minutes, but not 4 times in one day...


So I guess the best bet is to be there 30 minutes before EMH/rope drop starts, right?

Any rides we definitely should do first in each park? Adults only, so we would not mind to skip rides like Peter Pan or Dumbo and do them when we have some time left.

What is the situation at RSR like? Can you get a fast pass during EMH after riding standby?

I still feel a little overwhelmed, but thank you to Hydroguy and figment_jii and all other posters for helpful answers in other threads


Is Goofys Kitchen suitable for adults? We also made reservations for Blue Bayou Fantasmic and Cathay Circle WoC, but should we cancel Goofys Kitchen because it is not suitable for adults only?

That's a great question and I'd love to hear responded. With RSR EMH or not I hear you go there first. They say with EMH you can usually hit RSR, you story then either RSR again or at least a fast pass for later. I am going last weekend of April and staying at PP hotel. Not sure if it will be crowded or not but I'll certainly take advantage of DCA's EMH

In my experience, those first few hours of the morning (EMH plus early hours after rope drop) are the best it is ever going to be all day in terms of crowds. This is double true during times of overall peak attendance. During peak attendance weeks, the park operating hours are extended so EMH/rope drop are earlier and that means more people can't get themselves out of bed to make it. (In summer when we go EMH is 7am and that is great for us early risers.) So during EMH only certain rides are open: 1) in Dland most of Fantasyland, Space, Star Tours usually); 2) in DCA Carsland, most of Paradise Pier, sometimes Soarin. So you choose among those. Ride the rides that will not have any fast pass or will have very limited access to FP later. In DCA, we head down to TSMM first because we know we can get RSR FP after EMH ends and the park opens (they don't distribute any FP's during EMH). We love TSMM and it has no FP and gets really long lines later. This summer I will also make sure to ride Soarin during EMH b/c it has been down for long refurb and demand could be high for the FP's once they start distributing. RSR you can pretty reliably get FP once the park opens, and I like to get a night-time ride so I typically wait now and pull a FP for that (watching the times to make sure I get in the time range I want.) For Dland, if you don't care about Fantasyland then do SPace for sure. Space does have FP but they run out (or you could get a late night ride time if you wait too long to pull one.) Again Star Tours has a FP but you can do during EMH then you've done it and can use the later more crowded hour of the parks for other things.
Goofy's Kitchen is absolutely suitable for adults if you have the right attitude and are into meeting the characters. It is not a quite or elegant dining experience, but it is lots of fun. There will be plenty of kids there and you may hear a melt down or two so if that will bug you then probably find another place. But if you are feeling fun and silly and want to have your picture taken with characters then go for it. It's a blast. For a more romantic or grown up experience eating at DLH you could do Steakhouse 55 or make a dinner out of the ample food offerings at Trader Sam's (one of my favorite places at the resort.)

On the busiest of days, those first few hours are the most important. I've been on days that are so crowded all you can do is shuffle along the walkway, but those first few hours were still pretty uncrowded.
If you click on the link in my sig, you can see my little mini review of our couples trip to Goofy's Kitchen. We were two adults and had a good time. We did this on non park day because we didn't want to take up park time. We got the earliest reservation.

If you do want to do Fantasyland, try to do it first thing on a non EMH day if you don't have access. If you do, go to Fantasyland first because that's the shortest you will ever see the lines.

In my experience, no matter how packed the parks are suppose to be that day, as long as you are there early you can get a decent amount done. I usually get POTC BTMR INDY and HM done before the real crowds show up.

Liberator said:

So we are going to visit during a very busy period of time. As we had no other possible dates, we are totally fine with crowds and lines, but what are the first hours after rope drop/EMH like? Is it already very crowded? Can you use the first hours to ride maybe 4-5 headliners with not so long waits?

I do not mind to stand in line for 80 - 120 minutes, but not 4 times in one day...


So I guess the best bet is to be there 30 minutes before EMH/rope drop starts, right?

Any rides we definitely should do first in each park? Adults only, so we would not mind to skip rides like Peter Pan or Dumbo and do them when we have some time left.

What is the situation at RSR like? Can you get a fast pass during EMH after riding standby?

I still feel a little overwhelmed, but thank you to Hydroguy and figment_jii and all other posters for helpful answers in other threads


Is Goofys Kitchen suitable for adults? We also made reservations for Blue Bayou Fantasmic and Cathay Circle WoC, but should we cancel Goofys Kitchen because it is not suitable for adults only?

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If the park is opening at 8am you usually have until 10am-1030am before you really start to feel the crowds. With an 8am start you can finish quite a bit.
If the park opens at 9am you will have less time, at 10am even less.

I would not worry about the headliners all that much since most of them have Fastpass already. Grab a Fastpass for those atractions then do the attractions that don't have Fastpass.
For example. Grab the Indy FP then do the Jungle Cruise.

Adults Only I would still start in Fantasyland. Do Mr. Toad, Casey JR, and then the Matterhorn (Single Rider). Everything else in Fantasyland can be seen later, but with longer lines.

EMH at DCA the focus should be RSR and Toy Story Midway Mania. FP for RSR is not available until the park opens. My DCA strategy would be... Get to EMH early at DCA. ride RSR, ride TSMM, then as the park opens ride Screamin then ride around Paradise Pier until you get to Mermaid. Grab a FP for RSR, ride Soarin and Grizzly.

I would say Goofys Kitchen is more for the kids. Check out Trader Sams and Steakhouse 55.

Liberator said:

What is the situation at RSR like? Can you get a fast pass during EMH after riding standby?

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They do not start distributing FPs until the park opens to everyone, so no FPs during EMH. You're staying at Paradise Pier, right? So you should have access to EMH, which will help because you'll have an hour jump on the non-onsite guests. During your EMH at DCA, I would probably focus on TSMM and RSR and/or getting an RSR FP when the park opens.

In terms of DL, I agree that you can get a lot of done in the first few hours even during peak(ish) periods. The crowds really don't start arriving until mid-morning, so if you get there for EMH/MM, you should be able to get a fair amount done. My one caveat is about Peter Pan and EMH/MM. Unless you're at the front of the EMH/MM lines, you'll likely spend more than half of EMH waiting in line for Peter Pan once you get into the park. The next time I have EMH/MM, I would probably opt to do the other things in FL or TL and save Peter Pan for later. The line will still be long (and possibly longer), but I would have gotten more done during EMH/MM.

Thanks for all the tips in this thread - very helpful!

The first two hours after opening, the crowds are the lowest for the day time. Depending on when the park closes and if it's a weekday or weekend, the night time hours just before closing can be super low. The last hour especially The night time is my favorite time

Thanks everyone for your information and advises

very helpful

The early hours are bliss, 7-9/10 am ~ most take the stance of "I'm on vacation! I'm sleeping in." When park hours are 8am-12am we start early, take a midday break, for a nap ~ then back to the parks for the as long as we can last, gotta do the same the next day!