ACK ! They just changed operating hours for June!

[Robo]

When the park opens to all at 8, is rope drop just as crazy as the 9:00 opening?

Nope.
So many guests just won't make it out of bed early enough to get there for that extra-early opening.

It's really a great opportunity for guests who DO make it on time.

 

[Tomh]

How did that work out for you?

Probably just about as good as you would expect lol. One of the positive things about the FP+ system is that you aren't absolutely poo out of luck in situations like that.

First off, I don't believe that everyone knew the park opening had changed to 8. It seemed that the crowds at the gate at 8:00 were substantially smaller than what we are used to seeing at 9. The crowds in the park when we got done eating at 9 weren't horrible yet, but they were building quickly at that point.

Certainly, by no means was it possible to walk on to any of the popular rides, they all had some wait, but it wasn't as bad as you would expect an hour after a 9 am opening.

However, since we had FP+ selections already made for the big stuff, it didn't really impact our touring that much. The only real difference was that we didn't ride BTMRR three or four times before the line built up enough for us to use our FP+. Instead, was used the FP+ right off the bat, and settled for one ride. Other than that, it was a normal day at MK.

 

[Monkida]

I will say that the new hours helped us - we were able to get some FP+ for early hours we weren't before. Specifically, Seven Dwarfs Mine ride was available at 8:20 for FP+ since I acted quickly enough - staying offsite it was nice to be on "common ground" as those staying onsite to nab it.

 

[jbish]

Our MK day is Thursday June 16th as well. My original plan was to go to MK on Tues 6/14 but when they added Early Morning Magic, I switched to the 16th - so I've had both days that you're planning for. Of course I had to change all of my FPs from the 14th to the 16th and lost my BOG PPO ADR. I had been unsuccessful in getting a new BOG ADR for the 16th - only grabbed three reservations out of the 5 that I need. Then I saw this news a couple of days ago and have since dropped our BOG ADRs.

Now I'm faced with trying to get the family out super early. I had contemplated just showing up later in the morning and allowing for a more relaxed start to the day. However, with current security measures, I would imagine bag check at 10 am is going to be a nightmare versus at 7:30 am.

My question for those that might have insight - we have FP+ for 7DMT but was originally hoping to use the BOG ADR as a way to try and get another ride on it first thing in the morning. Will the RD crowd (which I know will mostly be heading to Fantasyland) make the wait at 7D stack up quickly? Or because it's a smaller RD crowd, maybe it will be worth going 7D first? One of my boys is not as much of a thrill seeker so I feel like 7D will be a good "coaster" for him to get his feet wet so I'm hoping to give him two opportunities to ride it - once at RD once with FP. The alternate plan I'm contemplating is going to Tomorrowland where I think the crowds will be MUCH lighter and we can knock out that entire section early on.

 

[lovethattink]

If you can make it for rope drop, you will be so far ahead of the game. Since the time change just recently snuck in there, most will assume a 9am start. You'll have no problem getting on attractions with minimal waits. Keep your FP+ and just do standby that first hour. Or if there's something you want to ride twice, you can get that extra ride in before you FP+ for it.

 

[jkstewart1800]

Nope.
So many guests just won't make it out of bed early enough to get there for that extra-early opening.

It's really a great opportunity for guests who DO make it on time.

Thank you for this! I feel better!

 

[jkstewart1800]

UGH! MAKE EARLY FP ressies didn't even think of looking for SDMT! :-(

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Our MK day is Thursday June 16th as well. My original plan was to go to MK on Tues 6/14 but when they added Early Morning Magic, I switched to the 16th - so I've had both days that you're planning for. Of course I had to change all of my FPs from the 14th to the 16th and lost my BOG PPO ADR. I had been unsuccessful in getting a new BOG ADR for the 16th - only grabbed three reservations out of the 5 that I need. Then I saw this news a couple of days ago and have since dropped our BOG ADRs.

Now I'm faced with trying to get the family out super early. I had contemplated just showing up later in the morning and allowing for a more relaxed start to the day. However, with current security measures, I would imagine bag check at 10 am is going to be a nightmare versus at 7:30 am.

My question for those that might have insight - we have FP+ for 7DMT but was originally hoping to use the BOG ADR as a way to try and get another ride on it first thing in the morning. Will the RD crowd (which I know will mostly be heading to Fantasyland) make the wait at 7D stack up quickly? Or because it's a smaller RD crowd, maybe it will be worth going 7D first? One of my boys is not as much of a thrill seeker so I feel like 7D will be a good "coaster" for him to get his feet wet so I'm hoping to give him two opportunities to ride it - once at RD once with FP. The alternate plan I'm contemplating is going to Tomorrowland where I think the crowds will be MUCH lighter and we can knock out that entire section early on.

either plan would be good one but if you want the second ride on 7D I would go for that then head to Tomorrowland until your FP time