Breakfast ADRs to get early access to the parks?

[albertamom]

Hi! We just got back last Friday and for the first time did a Tusker House breakfast in AK at 8:00 (for a 9:00 park opening day). It was fabulous! You are way back in the park so it sets you up nice for rides when the park opens. The breakfast and character interaction was truly awesome - and it was me, my DH and my 20 year old DD and her 22 year old friend. It was great walking through the park with literally no one else around, so nice and quiet. It was cool, temp wise, and the photo ops were really good. Food was very yummy - need to figure out how to make their juice blend! We got to see all the characters and were done by 8:40-ish or so. We then left and started to walk around and had some major pixie dust given as we were chosen to ride the first safari of the day - by ourselves! Truly magical.

This breakfast will be added to our "must-do" list for each visit. And we know the first safari ride was a once-in-a-lifetime magical experience but everything else was so worth it!

We had good luck last year with an early ADR at Akershus and riding standby for Test Track. Our ADR was at 8:10 and we were probably over to TT shortly after 9. I think standby was ~15 minutes at that point. Also, to get from Akershus to TT you can go across the bridge past the Odyssey Building (I think that's what it's called, where First Aid is) instead of going all the way back through the middle of the park, which cuts a few minutes off your walking time.

So great to hear! Thank you both!!!

 

[albertamom]

I just posted this in a different thread. Note that rope drop at Magic Kingdom has been closer to 8:45am instead of 9am. We had Crystal Palace 8:05am ADR last month. We were easily able to see all the characters and make multiple trips to the buffet. We dilly-dallied because we thought the park opened at 9am, when we got outside at 8:55am, we were surprised crowds were already flowing in. If we had requested the check earlier, we could have been out by 8:45am if we tried.

Extremely good information! Thank you SO much!

 

[albertamom]

We did pre-RD ADRs almost every morning on our last trip. It worked really well for us. However, if your breakfast takes longer than you anticipate or if the park opens early, it isn't guaranteed to get you a leg up on the crowds and may actually backfire if the crowds start coming in before you are done. That said, we had good luck with:

H&V @ HS - sent DH for TMM FP- (this was in 2013) while I signed the kids up for JTA

Is H&V close to TMM? Would that be our best bet for a first ride after breakfast?

 

[mom2cgj]

Is H&V close to TMM? Would that be our best bet for a first ride after breakfast?

I wouldn't say it's particularly close.



On this map, TSMM is #27 and H&V is #10. But, I think it's the only breakfast that has ADRs at DHS.

 

[2Gma]

This May we had an 8:15 BOG ADR, got into park at 7:51 and to restaurant at 8:05, was let in right away, done eating at 8:35 and out waiting for rope drop close to 7DMT at 8:38, rode twice before rope drop crowds arrived.

At DHS we had 8:25 Star Wars Breakfast ADR at Sci Fi (this is for limited time but Hollywood Vine has breakfast) and were let in at 7:51 even with 8:00 EMH (thought we'd have to wait to get in with the EMH crowd). It was a super neat experience walking down the main area with no crowds.

 

[albertamom]

I wouldn't say it's particularly close.

View attachment 99041

On this map, TSMM is #27 and H&V is #10. But, I think it's the only breakfast that has ADRs at DHS.

Thanks for the map! If you leave the restaurant before 9:00, would you be able to walk right to TMM, or do they hold you at ropes somewhere?

 

[Nida Zehram]

Is add swap allowed ? Like I cancel and some one else picks up kinda of a swap? I have a pre RD add for Crystal palace for October 2015 that I would like to swap for the same but on a different day

 

[mom2cgj]

Thanks for the map! If you leave the restaurant before 9:00, would you be able to walk right to TMM, or do they hold you at ropes somewhere?

When we did it, we weren't held anywhere. DH headed right for TMM and I took the kids to sign up for JTA. I think we left H&V right around 8:45. Things may have changed, but that was our experience!

Is add swap allowed ? Like I cancel and some one else picks up kinda of a swap? I have a pre RD add for Crystal palace for October 2015 that I would like to swap for the same but on a different day

You can't post trades, but you might be able to coordinate with someone that is canceling here - http://www.disboards.com/threads/new-guidelines-october-cancelled-adr-thread-read-1st-post.3402011/

 

[Nida Zehram]

Ok thanks !

 

[amylevan]

Keep in mind that there really isn't a set "rope drop" anymore. Once they start letting people in the gates, they are free to head towards attractions. That is often 15 minutes before scheduled "opening". So, you want to make sure you are done eating well in advance of the opening time.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

I know I asked this in the wrong thread, so I will try here. We plan to book Akershus for breakfast with the hopes of getting to Soarin before it gets wild. Anyone have experience with this strategy? I really want to ride it twice and I know we'll only get one FP for it. We're going 2nd week of December.

We love to ride Soarin' twice too. We also love Akershsus for breakfast. We've had both pre-park opening breakfast ADR's and late breakfast ADR's at Akershus. What's worked best for us is to ride Soarin' at rope drop (be there early to be near the front of the line), then ride Test Track (if it's crazy busy you could ride single rider). Then we walk to our 10:30 ADR at Akershus. It usually works well and then we are ready to eat, knowing that we've already done the two headliners of the park. Also, there is no pressure to eat fast and get to Soarin' - this way we can enjoy our meal and the princesses. Then we can use a FP+ for Soarin' later on. Hope this plan might help you.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We love to ride Soarin' twice too. We also love Akershsus for breakfast. We've had both pre-park opening breakfast ADR's and late breakfast ADR's at Akershus. What's worked best for us is to ride Soarin' at rope drop (be there early to be near the front of the line), then ride Test Track (if it's crazy busy you could ride single rider). Then we walk to our 10:30 ADR at Akershus. It usually works well and then we are ready to eat, knowing that we've already done the two headliners of the park. Also, there is no pressure to eat fast and get to Soarin' - this way we can enjoy our meal and the princesses. Then we can use a FP+ for Soarin' later on. Hope this plan might help you.

That helps me very much, thank you! We aren't very concerned with TT, so it's no big deal if we miss that one. I don't want to feel rushed at Akershus, so I'm glad to know they have such a late breakfast time.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

At DHS we had 8:25 Star Wars Breakfast ADR at Sci Fi (this is for limited time but Hollywood Vine has breakfast) and were let in at 7:51 even with 8:00 EMH (thought we'd have to wait to get in with the EMH crowd). It was a super neat experience walking down the main area with no crowds.

2Gma, I love to get a bit of info about your Star Wars Breakfast. We have one for 8:15 on our HS day. I was wondering how long it took and what characters did you see? My DH isn't sure it is going to be worth the cost and he is concerned we will be unable to be out by 9:00.

 

[Missyrose]

We had good luck last year with an early ADR at Akershus and riding standby for Test Track. Our ADR was at 8:10 and we were probably over to TT shortly after 9. I think standby was ~15 minutes at that point. Also, to get from Akershus to TT you can go across the bridge past the Odyssey Building (I think that's what it's called, where First Aid is) instead of going all the way back through the middle of the park, which cuts a few minutes off your walking time.

Yep, Akershus works much better geographically for getting to Test Track. Soarin is much further away.