EARLY ENTRANCE? Good or bad???

[kgal16]

i have read different things about going to the parks an hour earlier than regular opening times

i read this one travel book that said u should definitely take advantage, but other people on this board said that the crowds are larger in these parks on EE nights...

any thoughts???

i booked PS at le cellier at epcot on wed. which is EE that day...
should i change the PS? i wanna go to the restaurant on the same day as i make PS for the restaurant, just to save travelling time...


any help is appreciated thanks!

 

[LibertyBelle]

In my opinion you should take advantage of the Early morning however that should not be the park you plan to spend your day in. Generally the Early morning park is a great opportunity to get on the rides that have long lines during the day however because all the resort guests have gone there in the morning it tends to be the busiest park for the Day. Because people tend to stay there and then when it opens to day guests it just gets busy. I always tell my friends/family to go for the early morning and then hop over to another park for the day.

 

[Eeyore1954]

JMO...

Epcot -- EE is less than worthless for this park. Almost nothing open. Sleep in or do a character breakfast.

Disney Studios -- Somewhat worthwhile depending on what you like to ride. If you aren't into thrill rides, you can always shop.

AK -- Worthwhile if you get in line very early and head off fast for the safari ride.

MK -- Definitely worthwhile -- just to get on some rides that fill up fast and have long waits.

 

[LibertyBelle]

Originally posted by Eeyore1954
JMO...

Epcot -- EE is less than worthless for this park. Almost nothing open. Sleep in or do a character breakfast.

.

I would agree unless you are interested in Test Track and Mission Space without a line.... They are both open.

 

[disneysteve]

I think it also depends on when you are going. We only go off-season when crowds are minimal and we rarely wait more than 10 minutes for anything. For the most popular rides, we get FastPass so we don't wait for those either. I don't think EE offers much advantage then.

During peak times, EE might make more sense, though I can't speak from experience.

Steve

 

[Joyciemc]

I've been wondering whether EE was worth it, too. We didn't do any parks on EE day on our last trip, but with Fast Pass, we found that we never had to wait for a ride (why does anyone get into a 45 min long line when there's Fast Pass?) even on a crowded MK day.
This time, park hours will probably be shorter for us (Jan versus May), so I am thinking of using EE just for more time in the parks. I'm assuming that during non-peak times, EE isn't too important one way or the other.

 

[vicb]

Our plan is to make park opening at non-EE parks. We are not early morning people and found the extra hour in bed helped our kids (and us) a lot in getting through the evenings. We did EE one trip and were zonked by 7pm each night. Last trip was during the days of CC and no EE... worked great for us. We will be going the week after Pres. day and don't anticipate big crowds so will take our chances skipping EE.

 

[JamesD]

To me the Extra Magic Hour is only worth it if you truly take advantage of it. You have to arrive at the turnstiles before the 8 am opening and be ready to hit as many open attractions as possible. Then as others have suggested, move on to another park later in the morning when things pick up. It does you no good to show up for early entry at 8:30 am and proceed to sit down and eat breakfast, and expect to get a head start on the day. It would be more prudent to go to a non-early opening park at the regular opening time. At most of the parks, the thrill rides are what are open early, so if they do not interest you, then just avoid early entry.
Good luck and have a great trip no matter what you decide!