CBR Stay, 30 min early entry, rope drop HS and Epcot using Skyliner? (Advice)

[amazingjoe]

I'm staying this upcoming week at Caribbean beach resort and ideally would like to take the Skyliner to the two parks. I want to take advantage of the 30 min early entry for hotel guests in combination with Genie+ for HS and without Genie+ for Epcot.

At Hollywood studio looking to begin with Rise of Resistance at entry and praying to snag a time via Genie+ at 7AM for Slinky Dog.

For Epicot looking to rope-drop ratatouille and then hit Frozen (no Genie+)

Given I have an early entry do you think its reasonable to get from CBR via Skyliner to be in the lines 15 mins before the early entry is scheduled. (Early entry is 30 mins before standard park opening so I want to be in line 45 mins before the standard park opening time).

I don't need to be the very first in line as the rope drops but want to make sure I am can take advantage of the early entry I get for being a resort guest.

All advice is appriciated.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would recommend reading the first post here: Everything Early Theme Park Entry

 

[amazingjoe]

I would recommend reading the first post here: Everything Early Theme Park Entry

That is an excellent post, thank you for taking the time to put that together. So if Epcot opens at 8 and early park entry is at 7:30 you are saying that the suggestion is to get into line at the Skyliner at approximately 6:30AM. Is that correct?

And then in the case of DHS if the standard entry was 8:30, the early entry 8:00 that we should be in line at 7AM. Does that sound right? And does the Skyliner usually open 1 hour before the posted standard entry or the early entry since the majority of guests using the skyliner will likely be resort guests?

Thank you again for the post you referenced and wrote up, it's super informative.

 

[Ghost Host 998]

That is an excellent post, thank you for taking the time to put that together. So if Epcot opens at 8 and early park entry is at 7:30 you are saying that the suggestion is to get into line at the Skyliner at approximately 6:30AM. Is that correct?

And then in the case of DHS if the standard entry was 8:30, the early entry 8:00 that we should be in line at 7AM. Does that sound right? And does the Skyliner usually open 1 hour before the posted standard entry or the early entry since the majority of guests using the skyliner will likely be resort guests?

Thank you again for the post you referenced and wrote up, it's super informative.

The recommendation to be near the front is that you should line up for transportation 90 minutes before ETPE, not official park opening. So, in your examples: Epcot = 6AM and DHS = 6:30AM.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yes, as shared by @Ghost Host 998, it is recommended you arrive at transportation 90 mins before ETPE. As only resort guests are eligible for ETPE, transportation is extremely busy in the early morning.

E.g. ETPE started at 9:30 for EP during our stay. We arrived at Pop's Skyliner at 8:05. By the time we rode to Epcot, got in line for Remy and rode the attraction, it was already 10:05 and ETPE was over due to the line already in place when we arrived at Remy. I didn't quite follow my own advice and saw how critical even 5 mins would have been.

 

[bnhonest]

We were there last week and RD'd HS and Epcot from CB.

For HS, ETPE started at 8:00 (park hours were 8:30 AM-9:00 PM). We got to the sky liner station at 6:45 and were the first ones there. By 7:00, there were probably about 30 people behind us to get on the Sky-Liner. Sky-Liner opened right at 7:00. We got to HS by 7:05, but there were probably 100 or so people already in line. By 7:30, all the space between the ticket booths and the tapstalls was full. We headed straight to ToT because its running at half capacity and sells out of Genie+ by 11:00. We were first ones on, but it had a 75 minute wait by 8:30. We paid for RoTR and got that reservation for 11:00. We Genie+'d, with our first selection being Slinky, which we got for 12:00.

For Epcot, we drove. We wanted to RD Test Track, Genie+ for Remy, and ILL for Guardians. We werent going to be able to RD Test Track if we came through gateway. It all worked out.

As a previous poster said, every 5 minutes can make a huge difference. If your rope drop strategy is to arrive at the park 15 minutes before ETPE begins, you might as well sleep in and show up at 11:00.

Touring Plans has a youtube channel where they do several really good videos on Genie+ and lightening lane. Our strategy was to RD the rides that sell out of Genie+ the quickest (Test Track, ToT, and 7 Dwarves), then Genie+ the next ones in order. I would check out the Touring Plans videos and plan accordingly based on your preferences.

 

[southcarolinagirl]

What time did you get to parking toll booth at Epcot and when did they let you park and get into the park?

 

[bnhonest]

What time did you get to parking toll booth at Epcot and when did they let you park and get into the park?

We were 4th in line at 7:00 AM for the Early Entry opening at 8:00. They actually let us in the park at 7:30 and held us by Creations in order to RD Test Track at 8:00.