Hello. I have a question about how to navigate the security on the Harbor Blvd entrance. My family and I have a trip planned Nov 20-22. I know things may change but I wanted to get an idea of how things worked. What happens during the security check? Is it just checking bags? Is there a health and safety check like temperatures taken?
Would you advise for example being at the security check at 8am if the park opens at 9am?
Thanks in advance for any help or insights given. Much appreciated.
They're only checking bags and you also go through a metal detector. If you don't have bags and you're a small party, you can typically squeeze past the bag check lines and go straight for metal detector. For that, you have to empty everything in your pocket and set on a table. It doesn't hit on belts and things like that, so it goes pretty smoothly if pockets are empty.
As for time, 1 hour should be good. We had an 8 am opening and got to the line at 645. Which was nice, since we also had 7am boarding group drop to worry about. The sidewalk does get pretty full between 90 and 60 minutes before park opening. The security booths opened at 715 every day (should be 815 for your day). Once through security, you head over to the tapstile entrances. They held everyone there until 730 (should be 830 for you). Once inside the park, main street shops are open, but most people are lining up for rope drop, which happens right at park opening time.
If you are wanting to be at the front of the pack for rope drop for any of the rides, I suggest getting to the line around 745, after security, find shortest tapstile line, then head straight to rope drop area for the land you want to go to. This is most advantageous in DCA if you're wanting to rope drop cars, because nearly the entire crowd is headed there. You wait a about the same amount of time pre park opening as you would if you just show up at official park opening, but at least you're not burning park hours for what will typically be your longest wait of the day. I have a trip report where I believe I have rope drop selfies from the 3 days I went to show how big the crowds got behind us just before rope drop. I was at or near the rope all 3 days.
