7:30am Magic Kingdom EE

[Dulcee]

Hours were just updated for part of our trip this June and Magic Kingdom will now be opening at 7:30am our first day.

Originally when I had played with touring plans for an 8:30 opening we had Peter Pan first and it estimated a wait time of a few minutes, assuming we actually make EE.

But in redoing our plans for a 7:30 opening it pushes the wait for Peter Pan to 40 minutes? Wouldn’t a 7:30 opening cut down opening crowds even more?

I know we don’t want to battle 7DMT at EE but is Peter Pan a poor second choice?

 

[Mardigras2025]

I don’t think touring plans is all that helpful for early entry, it’s hard to estimate your wait times because there are so many factors that go into it, including how far up you are in the crowd. I think 7:30am should definitely be better (although I guess indicative of an expected busier day overall). So if you were planning to go to Peter Pan first at 8:30, you should still do that at 7:30. You can adjust your touring plans after you get the first couple of rides done and it starts to be more helpful once the crowds have settled in.

People say that mine train is not worth it, but you could consider it for a 7:30am early entry if your heart is set on riding it, if you don’t want to pay for the individual lightning lane, and if you don’t want to try to ride it at the end of the night or during fireworks. Especially if you might be towards the front.

 

[kylenne]

But in redoing our plans for a 7:30 opening it pushes the wait for Peter Pan to 40 minutes? Wouldn’t a 7:30 opening cut down opening crowds even more?

7:30 EE at MK makes a huge difference in crowd levels and what you can get done. Tom Bricker over on DTB has posted about this a lot and I can confirm that. Far fewer people are willing to be there for an 7:30 EE, and fewer still willing to get there early enough to be at the front of the pack. If you can manage that, neither Fantasyland attraction will be a bad use of EE time and Pan won’t be a 40 min wait by any stretch. I still prefer Tomorrowland starts, but Fantasyland is much less obnoxious from the front of a 7:30 EE vs 8:30. The effect is less pronounced the further and further back you are, but I would not expect 40 unless you were straggling in at 7:30. Most people are still going to be pouring into the Mine Train queue at that hour, even if it would be more advantageous to start elsewhere. That’s the general rule for headliners tbh.

But…FWIW, I am a known TP hater. I know people swear by them, but I subscribe for the Lines app and the room request feature and that’s it. I have never had any use for the actual touring plans. They have always been inferior to my own itineraries determined by my knowledge of crowd flow patterns (learned from trusted bloggers and my own on the ground experience and that of others shared here) and this is a perfect example of why it is so useless to me.

 

[scrappinginontario]

My experience has been as @kylenne has said and the earlier opening time makes a huge difference in crowds. I would plan for ETPE, head to PP and plan what you want to do next as you’ll get a lot done early in the morning.

 

[Shughart]

So glad you posted about updated park hours, they affect our trip as well, so was able to update what's on my spreadsheet!

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

We just got back from a trip and had one morning of EE at 7:30 and one at 8:30. HUGE difference in crowds! Would choose 7:30 any day. We got so much more done that morning.

 

[Dulcee]

Excellent. That was my thought but it’s been three years since we stayed on property so I wanted to be sure my gut was right.

But…FWIW, I am a known TP hater. I know people swear by them, but I subscribe for the Lines app and the room request feature and that’s it. I have never had any use for the actual touring plans. They have always been inferior to my own itineraries determined by my knowledge of crowd flow patterns (learned from trusted bloggers and my own on the ground experience and that of others shared here) and this is a perfect example of why it is so useless to me.

I like their ability to build custom touring plans, we know the parks well enough in most cases to know what to do and it feeds my crazy planner side but like you I generally find their blanket suggestions don’t make much sense. We rarely use the optimize button as their algorithm still seems to do some counterintuitive things (like suggest small world for a first ride at a 7:30am opening!)

 

[EPCOT Terran]

I know we don’t want to battle 7DMT at EE but is Peter Pan a poor second choice?

People say that mine train is not worth it, but you could consider it for a 7:30am early entry if your heart is set on riding it, if you don’t want to pay for the individual lightning lane, and if you don’t want to try to ride it at the end of the night or during fireworks. Especially if you might be towards the front.

I and my son did the 7:30 early entry May 3. We were in line at the turnstiles at 6:52 and the line was maybe 30 people deep across the turnstiles. We made it to the Fantasy land rope very quickly and were maybe 15 people back from the rope (of course, there were a lot of people across the entire rope). Once the rope dropped at 7:30, we walked purposefully but at a decent non-running pace to the entry for SDMT and walked on to the ride. We then exited and went over to PP and had maybe a 10 minute wait there. After that, we went over to Space Mountain and again had about a 10-minute wait.

Now, May 3 still had schools in session and June doesn't but I still think the early entry at 7:30 cut down on crowds tremendously. It also helped that my son's an adult and there were only two of us. Also, I have a picture of the Fantasyland crowd at 7:26 and it was very large behind me. So, I'd also say that 7:30 helps, but only if you're willing to get to the front between 6:45 and 7:00 (6:45 being better). So, you kind of need to factor the pre-rope drop waiting time in. But I'd rather wait in the morning with anticipation of getting a couple of rides with much shorter wait times than wait later in the day once it starts to get warmer.

If you can't make it to the turnstiles early, then I'd probably prioritize Peter Pan over SDMT, as the line for SDMT filled very quickly.

 

[MickeyMice]

agree with the last post. PP is usually a walk on or close to it at early rope drop. we've been at the front of rope drop for 7DMT and then made it to PP easily. plus then you're in good shape for second rope drop into haunted mansion.

 

[princessjilly]

Found this post while searching for info about 7.30 vs 8.30 as the hours have just changed for my first day.

It’s great for us because we’ll have jet lag and will no doubt wake naturally about 4am

My initial plan was to see how far forward in the crowd we are and if too busy skip 7DMT and go to PP, then buy an ILL for mine train. But now I’m hopeful if we get to the front I might have more chance of doing 7DMT