anyone done early breakfast at mk

[grannyed]

I have managed to book early beakfast at CP in MK and am very pleased. We are going at Easter so expect to contend with crowds most of the time - I'm hoping that when we enter for our 8.10am breakfast reservation we will have a few minutes to take pics etc and also for our grand daughters to be able to look right down main street at the castle without crowds.

they have never been to WDW before , neither have their mum and dad and this is on the first morning so it will be their very first glimpse of it all - has anyone done this and can they tell me what it was like, also what time should we arive for 08.10 reservation ?

only 18 days to go now

 

[AlanUK]

We usually get to the parks for opening and have done an early breakfast a number of times in the MK. We usually aim to get to the park 20-30 minutes before the gates open which would mean 7:30-7:40 in your case.

This is the best time of day in my opinion to get the picture of the family standing on Main Street with the castle as the backdrop. You will be competing with numerous Disney photographers if you want to get one of your own, but I would also go for one of theirs and have a look at it later - you don't have to buy it if you don;t like it and it ensures that the whole family are photographed together

 

[Miffy2003]

It is a wonderful thing to do this. I have some very special photos of my DDs in front of the castle with noone else in the picture

If you are driving from offsite I might allow even a little more time than Alan suggests. Counting back from 8.10, you want to give yourselves enough time to take a leisurely stroll up Main Street (soaking up the atmosphere!) and take some photos. You may have to queue to get in (depending on what time the park opens to "all" there may be a separate line for people with characater breakfast ressies, which is usually to the far right of the turnstiles). You have got to get across the lake either via boat or monorail, having parked your car and waited for a tram and then walked to the boat / monorail at the TTC

Plus it will be a very busy time and there may be lines to get into the car park.

It will be worth it though to see their faces

 

[sharon78]

We had an 8.05am ressie when we went to CP it was great,we also got some great photos,we didnt arrive at CP tho till 8am,we really didnt give our selves enough time,we drove from International Drive,We left our hotel at 6.45am
Well worth it tho

 

[mandymouse]

We had an 8.10am reservation at the Crystal Palace, it was a great time to have. We arrived around 7.45am, and we took loads of photos outside the castle and there was hardly anyone around as the park didn't open til 9am

 

[galaxy]

We have this time planned for the summer when the park opens at 9am.

We are going to use the resort monorail to get there (hopefully about 7:45)as I think I read the park one may not be operational before 8am but the resort one is. Hope this is right.

Janie

 

[jdybnsn]

We had an 8.10 ressie for CRT at MK on the first day of our holiday a few weeks ago.

We had been to MK twice before so knew where we were going - even so it did take longer than expected to get to the MK carpark, and then across to the MK gates from the carpark. Fortunately we allowed plenty of time so we were OK.

Be aware that if you are staying outside of Disney there are alot of roadworks going on around the I4 (the main highway that goes past the Disney area) and the way the US road signswork takes a bit of getting used to .....where are you staying out of interest ????
We found that switching the TV onto the local TV news station was very useful for traffic advice.

I wouldn't worry about it being your first day...infact I would see it as an advantage - you will be up very early as you will have yet to adjust to local time (Florida is 5 hours behind UK)

From our Condo (traffic was heavy due to the rush hour starting), we got to the MK carpark at 7.40 (everything is well organised so don't worry about that bit, but you will need money to park - unless you are staying on a Disney property , in which car you need a ticket for your windscreen).
We had a short 7-10 min walk to the monnorail station from our car (you don't need to show any tickets at this stage).
We got on the first monorail of the day.....which just seemed to take forever to get to the gates. The only other peple around were families like ours going for early ressies. We had a monorail carriage to ourselves - there were no queues/ crowds - it was very quiet.
There were not too many people at the actual park gates either, so it was easy to find a Cast Member to check our names from a list and let us in ..we must have gone through the gates at about 7.55am (we didn't have any wait). We wandered up the main Street with just a few other families, taking pictures and it was easy to get shots on your own, with the castle in the back ground, as the few groups who were there swiftly took their turn to allow others the opportunity.

We arrived for our ressie about 10mins early but they waved us straight through and we joined the queue to greet Cinderella (this was much longer on our exit).

Our breakfast, including our photo with Cindy took just under an hour, and we were certainly not rushing. Then comes the big advantage...after our ressie we walked straight onto about 6 major rides (that normally have 40min queues) in the next hour and a half, and only at 10.30 ish did we need to start using our fastpasses ...so we got tons done before the crowds really started arriving (plus a fastpass in the bag for later).

I can't recommend an early ressie highly enough !!!!

In summary .....if you have never been to the MK park before :
1) Allow twice the time from your hotel to the MK carpark than you think you need
2) Allow AT LEAST half an hour to park your car , get onto the mono rail, enter the park, and get through the park to your dining area and preferably get to your dining area 10mins before your ressie is called.

We also did an early ressie at Epcot PSB in Norway - they had a specially marked queue at the gate (near the middle) for early ressies and they were letting us in for a 9.15am ressie at 8.45am. (it is a good 10mins walk to the PSB from the gate).

Hope this helps !

 

[jns]

We have done this as well ,some great photos
lovely way to start your holiday
rember to aloud time to get from the car park if you are driving and if it is quite ask to get in the front of the mono rail, lovely way to arrive at the MK
and don't forget the aurograph books as the shops will not be open yet
( learn the hard way )

 

[grannyed]

thankyou everybody for this we are really looking forward to this...the children don't know...we are staying at Windsor Palms...which we are told is just 15 mins away from Disney.......so if we set off around 6.45 - 7.00 should be okay...what do you think......

 

[Miffy2003]

I would aim for 6.45 to be on the safe side, but I am a self confessed freak when it comes to being on time for things

 

[jdybnsn]

Windsor Palms is not too far from where we stayed..

...if its your first trip to MK then do start off 06.45 am rather than 7.00am - you may find navigating a little tricky first time round, as junctions are signed almost on the junctions unlike our roads whereby you get plenty of warning...I'd allow that little bit extra to factor in the wrong turn here and there........there is nothing worse than rushing and working up a sweat on your way to what should be areally enjoyable experience.

Also we found this road was pretty congested first thing with hotel, restaurant & Disney workers on their way to work.

Also recommend you use the famous Sherbeth Road short cut into the Disney area...as you progress down the 192 toward Disney take the middle lane, look out for the Bonanza Crazy Golf on your left (with a gold mine theme - you can't miss it it has a waterfall) get into the left lane ready for your exit but becareful you don't get taken off left, BEFORE the main junction ahead. Shortly after the golf, you will see on your right a shop with an ENORMOUS wizzard on the front. You need to turn next left at the up coming junction so get across into the far left feeder lane at the junction (MacDonalds and a gift shop will be on the left carriageway). You will see a green sign above the junction saying 'Sherbeth Road'. Wait for the left turn signal then turn left ...keeping to the right h.s. as you go down it, as the road has a left turn/fork shortly after that (and you do not want to go up there as it doubles back to the 192 - this is a useful short cut to avoid the town on your way back).

This road looks (and is) a bit of a back road taking you past a couple of Disney offices/casting areas on your right. After just over a mile, the road has a very wiggly set of bends and you will then come to traffic lights..... turn right here and remember you do not have to wait for the lights to turn green if there is nothing coming from your left (there is not usually alot of traffic coming from your left, as it leads to the Disney Wilderness Lodge hotel). Keep you eyes peeled for the Disney direction signs to the MK as you go ....if neceessary SLOW down as signs and junctions come up together quite quickly.

Everything is well siged but you do need to concerntrate - Americans do not seem to need the amount of advanced warnings that we Brits. do and don't be confused by signs on the verge that tell you how many miles it is to an area/place as these often refer to the places coming up at the next junction NOT the road you are on !

As you come back from the Parks head for Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge ....be very careful to take the quick turn right BEFORE the bridge that follows Blizzard Beach (on your left)- it is not well marked. Then turning onto the carriage way keep in the left lane (or you may end up in the Animal Kingdom Park !) until you hit the Sherbeth road lights (and turn left).

It sounds complicated but once you have it mastered it is great .

The worse that can happen if you miss your turn off is you will probably hit the I4 (head west for Tampa) and have to rejoin the 192 (West) from that.

Hope this is helpful - feel free to added to the details anyone ......