Crystal palace pre-park opening.

[amberjean15]

We managed to get CP reservations for 8:20am (opening in 9am that day) but now I'm second guessing if a reservation that early is a waste of a option to cool down. We are going the end of August with 5 kids, are the pictures that early worth missing park opening?

 

[Rosebud123]

It's not worth it to me. Can you go at 10:30? That way you can take your time and take a break from the heat!

Let me rephrase that, since I have a CP 8:15 ADR! LOL. I plan on getting to MK at 7:45 and going right to CP as soon as I'm let through the gates. Hoping we get seated a little after 8 so we're finished by 8:40.

 

[maryandtyson]

We love CP before park opening, but I always try to catch the opening show another day. Is that your question?

You can cool down in he ride queues, in the shops, back at your resort. You will probably need a break in the middle of the day. I don't think of character dining as a cool down opportunity, I guess.

You could try to a late breakfast or early lunch instead.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We have an 8:00am ADR on a 9:00am open day in August. This is our favourite ADR and a tradition for our family. We will pay (DDP/use credits) for meal when we sit down (so we can leave as soon as we are ready) but will not rush out (youngest DD always wants to see all of the characters). However, we are at Disney for 15 days and will have lots of time at Magic Kingdom. If I was only at MK one or two times, I would not waste precious ride time eating breakfast- if this is the case, I would move my breakfast time to 10:30 as stated by PP. Plus, it would be a great air conditioned break for you and your family.
Have a good trip!

 

[eyehartdisney]

Even with that early of an ADR, you wont have anempty park for pics. And at that late, you wont be done by the time it opens, and that means you lose prime ride time.

 

[leebee]

I would dedicate the time to rides and do a later ADR at CP. How long will you stay in the park? We tend to arrive around 10am so are always ready for lunch (and the air conditioning) around 1:30. Nice long sit-down with food, iced tea, and a/c and we are ready to roll again... even in August!

 

[mare1203]

If your goal is rides, I agree with trying to switch it to 10:30 or so. A pre-park ADR is a great way to get an early, full breakfast, but the odds of getting out before rope drop are fairly slim unless you scarf down your food and/or don't take pictures with the characters. That's a huge waste of $$ in my opinion.

That being said, maximum riding is no longer our goal, so we enjoy getting in a bit early, taking our time at breakfast (CP is one of my favorite breakfasts) and then enjoying the park. Sometimes we also do it on our last morning when we've got an afternoon flight for a little last-minute shopping time on Main Street when we're done.

 

[Lucius Best]

We managed to get CP reservations for 8:20am (opening in 9am that day) but now I'm second guessing if a reservation that early is a waste of a option to cool down. We are going the end of August with 5 kids, are the pictures that early worth missing park opening?

FYI, when we were there last month, on 9am MK days, rope drop was actually closer to 8:45am.

 

[shm_helene]

We managed to get CP reservations for 8:20am (opening in 9am that day) but now I'm second guessing if a reservation that early is a waste of a option to cool down. We are going the end of August with 5 kids, are the pictures that early worth missing park opening?

We were there August two years ago. We had maybe an 830 time, not quite sure. Got there maybe around 8. It was so cool, it was far from empty but there were very few people with us and walking down Main Street with like 5 other families was totally awesome.

We are. to doing it this trip because we have more to get do e, my daughter wasn't unto meet n greets last time, so I wanted to make sure we were maximizing park time (though we were out in45 mins). Also, no ddp so not really doing much table service.

The opening show is also cool though, and I look forward to catching it this year! It will be great either way

 

[goofy4tink]

I almost always book a late morning ADR...especially during the warm months! That way, we can sleep a bit later, get to the park early, do some stuff right off the bat. Then, around 10:30, we grab a bite to eat. Then we don't have to worry about lunch...it's almost like brunch. Have a bagel in the room, 'brunch' at 10:30, a snack around 2 and then dinner around 6ish. I always think of sit down meals as cool off periods!!! That's pretty much the only way I get thru the hot summer days in WDW.

 

[NavyDad]

We have done a pre-RD at MK every trip with a couple of them being at CP.

For us they have been great and we have gotten some great pictures on Main Street with almost no one in the background.

Our last trip we also had an 8:20 ADR at CP. We asked for our check right away with our drink order. The thing about CP is you really don't have to wait for anything unless you are getting an omelet. Now, we have seen the characters many times so it is not a big deal if we miss one of them. We were not rushed at all and had no problem walking out the door right around 8:15 and were a few steps ahead of the RD crowd coming up Main Street. We crossed the HUB and were the first in line for Space Mountain (rode 2-3 times) and then headed across the park to hit BTMRR and Splash (rode twice each) all before 10:30.

 

[Turk February]

We always try to get a pre-opening ADR just for the photos. I'm sure the value of that varies from family to family but we think it's cool to take photos in a near empty park on Main St. and in front of the castle.