Disneyland Eliminates Early Entry for Resort Hotel Guests Beginning January 5, 2026

[disneychrista]

I just wish those same hotels had safe connection routes for ECVs. We're stuck using Disneyland hotels so we can use our ecvs which we can't get around much without.

I did not feel unsafe crossing Harbor using an ECV.

 

[OlliePop27]

I can remember the parks not opening until 10am and closing at 8 or 9 in the "off season." But now there is barely any "off" times to go.

Yes I remember that too. I hope the 8 am opens stay.

 

[katmigordon]

• Exclusive character meetings in the lobby (I guess this would cost some $$)
• 60 min vs 120 min LLMP cooldown period

Character meets in lobby wouldn't cost more, if they require keys to meet the characters already doing meet and greets in hotel, though I would hope that all 3 resorts could visit all 3 resorts for meet and greets.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I'm DVC. I'm wondering if I booked each day as a separate reservation then have member services note my stays as "continuing". I'd get a LL on each day. Worst case, I'd have to check out and in each day. Not a huge deal, our stays are usually short and we pack light.

I was thinking the same thing. Even people just staying in the hotel can try it for a strategy. I'm just worried that they will take it away when everyone starts doing multiple check ins for the LL passes.

 

[Bruno33]

I went to Oahu as a teenager with my parents but didn't appreciate it, so I definitely want a new experience as an adult!

It is super tempting and that's a great idea to rent points. The resort looks very nice and of course Mickey always adds to the magic of any situation! In addition to price, I was also hesitant to be away from the main Waikiki area, but maybe that's a good thing. I wanted to be at one of the "real" oceanfront properties, probably Outrigger Reef. But I'm going to look into Aulani more...that's definitely oceanfront too!

Do some of both! Three nights at Aulani is perfect to take advantage of what it has to offer. Spend the rest of the time elsewhere. Win-win.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Character meets in lobby wouldn't cost more, if they require keys to meet the characters already doing meet and greets in hotel, though I would hope that all 3 resorts could visit all 3 resorts for meet and greets.

This used to be the norm pre 2020 and made me fall in love with staying on property

 

[katmigordon]

I just saw this. Thought it was a joke a first. And ONE LL per stay? that is a sucky replacement. Should at least me one per day.

Not going to lie that one ll per stay feels a little like a customer leaving waitstaff a dollar. It just kind of says "we didn't forget, just #$%^ you.".

 

[katmigordon]

this news will never affect me because I have never stayed onsite and DL and probably never will. The prices are insane when there are great hotels nearby for less than 1/2 the cost.
I can understand why it's an annoyance to those who frequent the hotels, and the single LL is just absurd.

When those hotels get more expensive due to more folks competing for them - that will affect you too.

 

[kikismom]

Well I know I'm just one person but I was waiting until today to book a weeklong stay at GC in January. It was a splurge for us to stay that long but we only have our MKs for this one year and that will be out last trip. We were going out with a bang and doing six days in the parks, staying on property. We use early entry every day when staying on property and it's a massive perk, we can get a ton done in those 30 minutes but are also early risers so it's not a big deal to get up and go.

I'll be booking off-site. We have DLH booked for October so that will be our final on property stay unless some sort of perks come back. The plus side is we'll get to do all sorts of extras and probably still save money.

 

[DizMe]

From what I read a few years back, and I'm not sure it's still applicable but I would guess that it is, Disneyland in particular is propping up the entire Disney corporation. It's not that Disneyland itself is struggling, but as a corporate entity, Disney is. I imagine they feel they may be able to cut costs at Disneyland while maintaining high revenues, but time will tell.

But this decision strikes me as a direct punch to those who already tend to pay the most. I don't really mind losing that particular perk but it's a slap to replace it with something relatively worthless IMO. It also feels like a poor business move to "kill the golden goose," but I guess we'll see if this actually gets much blowback.

 

[joseph821]

From what I read a few years back, and I'm not sure it's still applicable but I would guess that it is, Disneyland in particular is propping up the entire Disney corporation. It's not that Disneyland itself is struggling, but as a corporate entity, Disney is. I imagine they feel they may be able to cut costs at Disneyland while maintaining high revenues, but time will tell.

But this decision strikes me as a direct punch to those who already tend to pay the most. I don't really mind losing that particular perk but it's a slap to replace it with something relatively worthless IMO. It also feels like a poor business move to "kill the golden goose," but I guess we'll see if this actually gets much blowback.

The theme parks are propping up Disney. The theme parks contributed over 50% of the profits in the last quarterly report for Disney that covered April through June 2025. Theme park attendance was flat, domestic resorts hotel occupancy rates were up and increased guest spending. WDW provides the largest share of the theme park profits...international park like Paris and royalities from the Japan parks contribute. Disney is bleeding money at ABC and all its cable stations...movie profits are flat compared to last year......Theme parks prop up Disney.

 

[DontSpamMe]

In 2019 we purchased flex pass with max pass for $699. We booked 5 nights at the DL hotel in 2019 for $199 a night. Got upgraded to a premium room in the frontier tower facing the pool. Thats when Disney really hooked us in. Ever since I feel like i have been extorted by a greedy company thirsty for the mighty dollar over anything else. What was roughly $1700 in 2019 will run you close to $6000 today. We're out after our next trip. It will be bittersweet for sure, but I'm also excited to stop dropping the $1000s i have been every year since COVID. No more FOMO here. At least I got to experience it.

 

[katmigordon]

Which would force park closures to earlier like they are at WDW. No one wants to see Disneyland closing at 9 or 10pm so they can "extend" the evening hours for hotel guests.

Hotel guests might...

 

[katmigordon]

lol

why are people trying to Give Disney bad ideas....do no close the park early for hotel guests

Wait, I thought this was about closing it early to non hotel guests?

 

[irlandaise]

I'm reposting my question from this morning (many pages ago in this fast-moving thread!) because I'm still curious about it. You can't just lop off 30 minutes from the schedule of a full-time employee, especially a union member. So how is removing half an hour from the current EE rides going to make a difference in operating costs?

My original posting:

Like everyone else here, I understand that this change must be to save Disney money on staffing costs. But I'm having trouble figuring out how.

Say, for example, that a bunch of CMs have to show up at 5:30 a.m. in order to open certain rides at 7:30. If they have eight-hour shifts with one-hour lunch breaks (I may be optimistic about that, but that shouldn't affect my question), they'll be off work for the day at 2:30 p.m.

When EE goes away, they can come in at 6:00 and leave at 3:00. So DL/DCA may have more people than they need from 2:30 to 3:00, but the company can't say, "Go home at 2:30 and we'll only pay you for 7.5 hours," can they?

Even if the EE people are all part-timers, isn't there a minimum workday of four hours or something like that, so won't they still work the same number of hours, just shifted by 1/2 hour?

I've been self-employed nearly my whole life, so if I'm way off base on how assigned shifts work, please excuse me! But how exactly does Disney save money from cutting out that extra half hour?

 

[disneychrista]

Hotel guests might...

Possibly

 

[Pluto468]

Like it would have been better to have simply eliminated it completely than to announce something so lame?

I was thinking they should have waited a week or so to announce the LL "perk."

 

[RickNJane]

I'm reposting my question from this morning (many pages ago in this fast-moving thread!) because I'm still curious about it. You can't just lop off 30 minutes from the schedule of a full-time employee, especially a union member. So how is removing half an hour from the current EE rides going to make a difference in operating costs?

My original posting:

Great Question. Would love to see their cost-benefit analysis.

 

[bakofarmgirl]

not sure if it matters or would help, but is there a number that people can call? like enough calls could reverse this decision

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yes security at DLR is so evasive and over the top. WDW was a breeze even when I got flagged for my eyeglass case.

Walking into the EPCOT International Gateway when you are used to DL security makes you feel like you are getting away with something…. and yes… THE EYEGLASS CASE!