Everything Early Theme Park Entry (ETPE) - Please Read Post 1

[sheilafri]

I'd like to know if anyone has done Early Entry and was a guest at Swan or Dolphin. What did you show to validate eligibility? We are there Oct 23-31 and I hadn't planned on purchasing Magic Bands.

Early last year I showed my Swolphin Key Card at rides as it rarely worked correctly on the Magic Bands. I brought up my ressie on BonVoy to enter the park. CMs at rides were more worried about holding up the line. CMs at park for ETPE wanted to make sure I was legit.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Thanks! I typically try and get to parks an hour prior to the "opening" time because of this very reason. Id rather be early and just wait.

If you are arriving by car, they generally open the parking lots an hour early (so 7:30am for 8:30am Early Entry). If you arrive too early, they may send you away until they start allowing cars to line up. Once you park, you may still be held on foot in the parking lot until 7:45am or so.

If you are arriving by resort bus, it's best to get in the bus line about 1.5 hours before opening (so 7:00am for 8:30am Early Entry). Buses generally seemed to arrive at the All Stars resort about an hour before opening (so 7:30am for 8:30am Early Entry).

 

[Graycie25]

Hello! I am turning to you all again for another question my group has. We are leaving in a week and we're super pumped!
Our question is - what time should we arrive to each park before opening? We are staying on property, so we will be able to use ETPE for that 30 minutes, but we aren't sure what time we should actually arrive at each park to wait for ETPE to start. So if MK officially opens at 9am, we should be let in at 8:30am, but what's a reasonable time to leave our hotel (Saratoga Springs) and arrive at the turnstiles? We have somewhat young kids (8, 10, 10) and an - at times - grumpy/impatient DH

Thank you!

 

[WIll C]

You might check with the desk on when they start running the buses as that will give you and idea of what to expect. I think it's an hour before opening but I'm not sure (we don't rope drop much). MK they will let everyone into the hub and then check access as you head into the park further. Half hour is probably fine to give you as much of that 30 mins as possible.

 

[ucf_knight]

Hello! I am turning to you all again for another question my group has. We are leaving in a week and we're super pumped!
Our question is - what time should we arrive to each park before opening? We are staying on property, so we will be able to use ETPE for that 30 minutes, but we aren't sure what time we should actually arrive at each park to wait for ETPE to start. So if MK officially opens at 9am, we should be let in at 8:30am, but what's a reasonable time to leave our hotel (Saratoga Springs) and arrive at the turnstiles? We have somewhat young kids (8, 10, 10) and an - at times - grumpy/impatient DH

Thank you!

I would leave the hotel no later than 7:30-7:45 if you are wanting to rope drop.

 

[Graycie25]

You might check with the desk on when they start running the buses as that will give you and idea of what to expect. I think it's an hour before opening but I'm not sure (we don't rope drop much). MK they will let everyone into the hub and then check access as you head into the park further. Half hour is probably fine to give you as much of that 30 mins as possible.

Thank you, WIll C! When you say a half hour, do you mean a half hour before the ETPH start? For example, if the park officially opens at 9am, we can start riding rides at 8:30am, but should arrive at the entrance to the park at 8am?

I would leave the hotel no later than 7:30-7:45 if you are wanting to rope drop.

Thank you! Exactly the kind of info I am looking for.

Appreciate you both!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hello! I am turning to you all again for another question my group has. We are leaving in a week and we're super pumped!
Our question is - what time should we arrive to each park before opening? We are staying on property, so we will be able to use ETPE for that 30 minutes, but we aren't sure what time we should actually arrive at each park to wait for ETPE to start. So if MK officially opens at 9am, we should be let in at 8:30am, but what's a reasonable time to leave our hotel (Saratoga Springs) and arrive at the turnstiles? We have somewhat young kids (8, 10, 10) and an - at times - grumpy/impatient DH

Thank you!

Please see post 1 of this thread. It explains ETPE in great detail including arriving at transportation/parks.

 

[ericaseiler]

Hi! Heading to WDW this weekend-first time back in over 5 years! Staying at the Yacht Club and plan to be at the parks for EE. How early should we plan to be at the gates waiting for EE? We don't care if we aren't the first in the park but definitely want to take advantage of EE. Thank you!

 

[JodyK]

Depends what rides you are looking to do, since you don't care about being at the front I'll assume none of the headliners? If that is the case I think 15 mins before EE is enough but that's just me.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi! Heading to WDW this weekend-first time back in over 5 years! Staying at the Yacht Club and plan to be at the parks for EE. How early should we plan to be at the gates waiting for EE? We don't care if we aren't the first in the park but definitely want to take advantage of EE. Thank you!

EE is a popular attraction. I would recommend following the suggested times in post 1.

 

[ericaseiler]

EE is a popular attraction. I would recommend following the suggested times in post 1.

Oh sorry!! Thank you~

 

[scrappinginontario]

Oh sorry!! Thank you~

Not a problem at all! We've created a series of 'Everything.....' posts that are pinned at the top of this board to help people with questions that many have.

Reading those will hopefully help with preparing for your trip.

Have a great trip!

 

[BunsenH]

Last week, for early entry, they scanned one card per party and asked how many were in your party. Everyone did not need to be scanned.

 

[nurseberta]

I have read through post 1, and a few pages back and forward from the beginning and end.
Wondering if anyone has recent experience with skyliner from Pop Century to Epcot or HS. Specifically timing of arrival and ride through with ROTR and REMY from International Gateway. I know Rise can be down upon opening and I know 90 min prior to scheduled park opening should get me to the front of the pack but I have also heard experiences of these two rides specifically starting earlier that posted times. Does the skyliner ever open earlier than scheduled? thanks in advance.

 

[rxbeth]

I have read through post 1, and a few pages back and forward from the beginning and end.
Wondering if anyone has recent experience with skyliner from Pop Century to Epcot or HS. Specifically timing of arrival and ride through with ROTR and REMY from International Gateway. I know Rise can be down upon opening and I know 90 min prior to scheduled park opening should get me to the front of the pack but I have also heard experiences of these two rides specifically starting earlier that posted times. Does the skyliner ever open earlier than scheduled? thanks in advance.

I can't help with ROTR but HS was definitely letting people ride prior to the 8am ETPE time.

We were at HS last Tuesday and we left our room at 705 for the skyliner. We were literally the farthest away you could be (back corner of building 8). We were through security waiting to scan in at 739. At 755 we were casually taking pics using front of the Millennium falcon with no one in the background. By 815 we had ridden alien swirling saucers twice and walked back toll Star tours before 830.

On Thursday we were back at HS. Left our room at 0649 because we were looking to get on slinky. We were inside HS waiting on the ETPE scan at 0729. We got into the slinky queue at 0740 and then were done slinky and walking to saucers 0805

Wednesday we did epcot. ETPE was set for 0830. For some reason I thought it was 0800. Likely because it was wedged between my 0800 HS days. Lol. Left room at 0652 and was waiting at IG to get through security at 0730. I can't remember what time they let us start walking in but they definitely started the ride early and we were walking off at 0830. We were never right at the front of crowds but towards the front.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Just returned from several weeks at WDW. Stayed at OKW.

I want to once again report that being at the bus stop 90 minutes before your park entry time worked well to be at the "tip of the spear" regarding rope drop.

Don't forget to look at the app for bus times......... as well as those bus stop display screens for expected bus arrival times

 

[nurseberta]

We were at HS last Tuesday and we left our room at 705 for the skyliner. We were literally the farthest away you could be (back corner of building 8). We were through security waiting to scan in at 739. At 755 we were casually taking pics using front of the Millennium falcon with no one in the background. By 815 we had ridden alien swirling saucers twice and walked back toll Star tours before 830.

On Thursday we were back at HS. Left our room at 0649 because we were looking to get on slinky. We were inside HS waiting on the ETPE scan at 0729. We got into the slinky queue at 0740 and then were done slinky and walking to saucers 0805

Wednesday we did epcot. ETPE was set for 0830. For some reason I thought it was 0800. Likely because it was wedged between my 0800 HS days. Lol. Left room at 0652 and was waiting at IG to get through security at 0730. I can't remember what time they let us start walking in but they definitely started the ride early and we were walking off at 0830. We were never right at the front of crowds but towards the front.

Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for! so helpful!!!

 

[dis_hrnichs]

Hello! I am turning to you all again for another question my group has. We are leaving in a week and we're super pumped!
Our question is - what time should we arrive to each park before opening? We are staying on property, so we will be able to use ETPE for that 30 minutes, but we aren't sure what time we should actually arrive at each park to wait for ETPE to start. So if MK officially opens at 9am, we should be let in at 8:30am, but what's a reasonable time to leave our hotel (Saratoga Springs) and arrive at the turnstiles? We have somewhat young kids (8, 10, 10) and an - at times - grumpy/impatient DH

Thank you!

We went in August last year with our 8 and 10 year olds. We woke them up early and made sure we were in line before the skyliner started running for both Epcot and HS. I believe the park opened for early entry at 8am (regular open at 8:30).. and we were on skyliner around 7 both days. This put us near the front of the lines at the parks and we were able to really take advantage of the 30 minute head start. I would say you want to leave at least an hour before... as soon as transportation starts but I could be crazy. Our kids were happy to get on more stuff this way so they really didn't mind waiting in line too much at the park entry points.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We went in August last year with our 8 and 10 year olds. We woke them up early and made sure we were in line before the skyliner started running for both Epcot and HS. I believe the park opened for early entry at 8am (regular open at 8:30).. and we were on skyliner around 7 both days. This put us near the front of the lines at the parks and we were able to really take advantage of the 30 minute head start. I would say you want to leave at least an hour before... as soon as transportation starts but I could be crazy. Our kids were happy to get on more stuff this way so they really didn't mind waiting in line too much at the park entry points.

The rule of thumb is to arrive at transportation 90 mins before ETPE begins. 60 mins is often not enough time as long lines will have been formed by then,

 

[dis_hrnichs]

The rule of thumb is to arrive at transportation 90 mins before ETPE begins. 60 mins is often not enough time as long lines will have been formed by then,

Definitely for buses... I was just saying what our experience was with transportation on the skyliner on our recent trip... 60 minutes before ETPE worked out for us with plenty of time but other hotels and park combinations would need more time.

The rule of thumb is to arrive at transportation 90 mins before ETPE begins. 60 mins is often not enough time as long lines will have been formed by then,

I have definitely heard that, especially with bus transportation. I was just trying to share our experience with a skyliner resort and skyliner - in which case the 60 minutes before (which was also when the skyliner opened for the day) was enough time for us to be near the front of the line at park entry. To your point, we did start our walk to get in line 15 minutes before the skyliner would start running to not be at the end of the line.