Early arrival

[RoseRoni2]

I am planning my second trip to the world in Aug. My first trip was a dud because I did not plan or get up early to ride any rides without a two hour wait. I am not going to make that mistake again. I know I will need to arrive early for MK and AK, but do I need to arrive early for MGM and EBcot?

 

[Bob P]

If you want to ride headliners like Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, Tower of Terror Rock & Roller Coaster without a long wait you will need to get there early!

Bob

 

[airtime]

Get to all parks early, with a plan, and execute the plan. You CAN ride almost all the major rides in a park in the first two hours it is open with good FP strategy and willingness to backtrack a little bit. Then you can let everyone else stand in the two-hour lines while you enjoy the less busy attractions!

The Unofficial Guide to WDW can help you with this kind of planning, and I've done it many times. So can http://www.tourguidemike.com/, although I've never used them myself.

Virtually every successful touring plan for a WDW park requires early arrival.

 

[ntengwall]

Join Tour Guide Mike and he will tell you *everything* you need to know and when to be where on which days! LOL

 

[ssdeverell]

I am a firm believer in being at ALL the parks when they open. It really does help the amount of things you get to do. I also really liked the afternoon breaks in Sept (we did not do them in March). If you have a hard time getting up early, it really helps to come back and rest for even a couple of hours. I will add that we do EPCOT:WS on a day by itself, so that is our sleeping in day.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Another vote for YES......get to all the theme parks at or before opening. It's amazing how much you can get done before the big crowds arrive later in the morning. Last June we watched Mickey's Phiharmagic at the MK with about six other people.
As others have said, for Test Track and Soarin' you really need to get to Epcot early. In the past we have always grabbed FP for Test Track and then got on stand-by. By the time we got off it was time to ride again. Last year my DS (now 15) suggested we try the single riders line on TT. We did this two times in a row and sat together anyway! We just flew through the line using this strategy. For whatever reason, on our next morning visit to Epcot they did not use the TT single rider line until later on. If this is an option for you see if it is opened. Saves a ton of time.

 

[lorli]

We don't always get to the parks when the park opens, often within a half to an hour of opening. We were there the last ten days of August last year and was able to do all the things we wanted to do in a timely manner. Sometimes we had to use fast past, come back later, and others we were able to ride without waiting. We have been doing this for the past two years and plan to do it again this year. Good luck with what ever route you choose.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Early is the only way to get it all in! I must have read it a million times - lots of people on vacation will sleep in and show up to the parks around noon! I can sleep in on Saturday's and Sunday's - and on other types of vacations - but at WDW, go early and do it all!