I wouldn't get there more than a half hour early. Seems like a waste when you'll have express for everything else. When I stayed onsite (beginning of October), I would get there five minutes before. It took about 15 minutes to get through the gate because of all of the people already there, but it didn't result in huge waits. It's not like there's going to be a wait to get into the area before they even open up the park to the public.