Early Entry/IG/Guardians

[M&E]

A reliable source (Disney Tourist Blog/Tom Brinker) has shared that those with early entry coming in through IG are allowed all the way to the front where the main entrances guests are held for Guardians. It's definitely a longer walk from IG, but if you're first in line at IG and a fast walker it seems like you could be pretty close to the front of the Guardians pack. Any recent experiences with this? We'll be at Epcot on Sunday, May 4th so this seems like a pretty viable option for riding Guardians with little wait. Thoughts?

 

[deedubb]

You are allowed entry at the same time as those at the front. You have to boogie and can get a pretty good spot, but you definitely won't be at the front as you are at a disadvantage entering at the IG.

 

[Dave006]

We'll be at Epcot on Sunday, May 4th so this seems like a pretty viable option for riding Guardians with little wait. Thoughts?

Just remember that you are still competing with the resort guests that entered via the front gate. You will all be held before the GotG area in a very large wide area, not just 2 lines of (Front / IG) guests. The CMs will keep wanting guests to fill in all available space in the new holding area.

Dave

 

[scrappinginontario]

This is the article sharing Tom’s experience of rope dropping Guardians from IG using the recently updated process.

Beating EPCOT’s Early Entry Crowd to Guardian’s og the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind from World Showcase

 

[M&E]

Rereading the article it seems like a pretty good option. Would love if anyone could share their experiences.

 

[M&E]

Just remember that you are still competing with the resort guests that entered via the front gate. You will all be held before the GotG area in a very large wide area, not just 2 lines of (Front / IG) guests. The CMs will keep wanting guests to fill in all available space in the new holding area.

Dave

The CMs will keep wanting guests to fill in all available space... Does that mean that if I'm not aggressive in holding my spot people are going to be cutting?

 

[scrappinginontario]

The CMs will keep wanting guests to fill in all available space... Does that mean that if I'm not aggressive in holding my spot people are going to be cutting?

Technically they will not be cutting. People notoriously like to join the back of a line but when CMs say to ‘fill in all available space’ it is completely acceptable to walk past other people if there is empty space on the sides. Guests are being held in a location where probably 20 people could stand side by side. If there is space beside the line that will likely form, fill it in.

 

[gottalovepluto]

The CMs will keep wanting guests to fill in all available space... Does that mean that if I'm not aggressive in holding my spot people are going to be cutting?

It’s also that the line is ever moving and people find more space and move up as anticipation grows and CMs keep saying “fill in the space”. Picking a perimeter spot appears to have put him at a disadvantage for this aspect with less space to jockey around.

But, I wouldn’t discount the impact of the runner situation he mentioned and Idk what the right answer is. A group trying to meet up with their runner is going to have more success pushing their way through the crowd because how do you even stop a group on the move? And even if you try to say no, someone around you is gonna let them through.

 

[deedubb]

Rereading the article it seems like a pretty good option. Would love if anyone could share their experiences.

We were there in March and had a similar experience to Tom. I kept detailed notes for someone so I copy/pasted them here. We rope dropped GotG 3 times and rode it 7 times during this trip. We took advantage of extended evening hours and did Remy, then GotG twice, except the ride had a problem the second time and they had to shut it down for the night, just as we boarded the ride. They gave us a LL for it which we used the following day.

#1:
Rope dropped GotG. Arrived at EPCOT 8:00 (for 8:30 opening for resort guests) and they let us in the park immediately, but we soon realized they also let in the guests entering from the front of the park. We arrived at GotG at 8:08 and the line up was a bit past Club Cool. The line started moving a few minutes before 8:30 and by the time we had to come to a full stop, we were already in the room just before the 1st preshow. That was 8:38. At that time, the posted wait for the ride on the app was 35 mins. We were in the 1st preshow at 8:51. When the 2nd preshow finished, we were first out of the room and walked right onto the ride with no wait (9:00). Song was September.

#2:
As an experiment, we tried to rope drop earlier today but there was little advantage over yesterday. Arrived at EPCOT at 7:30 and there was already a bit of a line. They allowed us to tap in at around 7:38 but we were then held in EPCOT just before UK. We had to scan our MB at that point to prove we were staying on-site. At 7:52, we started heading towards GotG. Arrived at 8:00 and the line was almost exactly the same as the previous day, but we figured out today that the line did not extend all the way to the ride, but actually only started just past Club Cool, so there actually weren’t a ton of people in front of us. At 8:26 they allowed us to start walking to the ride, escorted by cast members to ensure there was no running. We finally came to a dead stop at 8:36, in the room just before the 1st pre-show (maybe just a bit further ahead compared to yesterday). Entered pre-show at 8:43. After the 2nd pre-show, we walked right onto the ride as there was nobody in line waiting to get on it. Got onto the ride at 8:51. Song was Disco Inferno (all 3 have been different so far!)

#3:
Rope dropped for one last ride. Basically the same experience as before. We were on the ride just before 9:00 but I was a little worried when there was a delay boarding, then the entire coaster left with nobody on it. We boarded the next one but there was a delay just before the backwards launch. Midway through the ride, we came to a complete stop. There was no music for the remainder of the ride (September) and most of the rest of the ride was at half the speed. The ride seems to be having issues lately.

 

[M&E]

We were there in March and had a similar experience to Tom. I kept detailed notes for someone so I copy/pasted them here. We rope dropped GotG 3 times and rode it 7 times during this trip. We took advantage of extended evening hours and did Remy, then GotG twice, except the ride had a problem the second time and they had to shut it down for the night, just as we boarded the ride. They gave us a LL for it which we used the following day.

#1:
Rope dropped GotG. Arrived at EPCOT 8:00 (for 8:30 opening for resort guests) and they let us in the park immediately, but we soon realized they also let in the guests entering from the front of the park. We arrived at GotG at 8:08 and the line up was a bit past Club Cool. The line started moving a few minutes before 8:30 and by the time we had to come to a full stop, we were already in the room just before the 1st preshow. That was 8:38. At that time, the posted wait for the ride on the app was 35 mins. We were in the 1st preshow at 8:51. When the 2nd preshow finished, we were first out of the room and walked right onto the ride with no wait (9:00). Song was September.

#2:
As an experiment, we tried to rope drop earlier today but there was little advantage over yesterday. Arrived at EPCOT at 7:30 and there was already a bit of a line. They allowed us to tap in at around 7:38 but we were then held in EPCOT just before UK. We had to scan our MB at that point to prove we were staying on-site. At 7:52, we started heading towards GotG. Arrived at 8:00 and the line was almost exactly the same as the previous day, but we figured out today that the line did not extend all the way to the ride, but actually only started just past Club Cool, so there actually weren’t a ton of people in front of us. At 8:26 they allowed us to start walking to the ride, escorted by cast members to ensure there was no running. We finally came to a dead stop at 8:36, in the room just before the 1st pre-show (maybe just a bit further ahead compared to yesterday). Entered pre-show at 8:43. After the 2nd pre-show, we walked right onto the ride as there was nobody in line waiting to get on it. Got onto the ride at 8:51. Song was Disco Inferno (all 3 have been different so far!)

#3:
Rope dropped for one last ride. Basically the same experience as before. We were on the ride just before 9:00 but I was a little worried when there was a delay boarding, then the entire coaster left with nobody on it. We boarded the next one but there was a delay just before the backwards launch. Midway through the ride, we came to a complete stop. There was no music for the remainder of the ride (September) and most of the rest of the ride was at half the speed. The ride seems to be having issues lately.

Thank you very much for these 3 reports! It sounds like if my friend and I are at IG by 7:30, and walk quickly to Guardians we should have a pretty good shot at a short wait. I think it's possible we can even do a touch better only because I'm hoping the beginning of May is slightly slower time than March which is typical spring break. But of course there are no guarantees with that. Thanks again.

Where did you head each day after Guardians? I'm guessing by the time you were off Guardians the lines would be too long for a repeat ride or Frozen/Remy. Thinking heading to Soarin' immediately after would be a good option.

 

[kylenne]

I read that article when he first posted it and tbqh I still don’t see the point of doing this from the IG unless Guardians is the only one of the big 3 you care about riding. You’re paying a very high opportunity cost imo that ultimately disadvantages you for rides #2 and 3, particularly Frozen (Remy at least has SR). And having to haul tail clear across the park first thing in the morning at that. I walk extremely fast and I still wouldn’t do this.

We are going to stick to rope dropping Remy and Frozen during the Crescent Lake portion of our stay and will only bother trying to rope drop Guardians when we’re at the Poly coming by monorail. From the IG we’ll just buy SPs and leave our re-ride for EEH.

Thinking heading to Soarin' immediately after would be a good option.

Soarin is a pretty good shout that time of morning actually.

 

[deedubb]

Thank you very much for these 3 reports! It sounds like if my friend and I are at IG by 7:30, and walk quickly to Guardians we should have a pretty good shot at a short wait. I think it's possible we can even do a touch better only because I'm hoping the beginning of May is slightly slower time than March which is typical spring break. But of course there are no guarantees with that. Thanks again.

Where did you head each day after Guardians? I'm guessing by the time you were off Guardians the lines would be too long for a repeat ride or Frozen/Remy. Thinking heading to Soarin' immediately after would be a good option.

You will be good if you're at IG by 7:30. We did a very brisk walk/jog from IG to GotG, but if you run into a CM on the way, they will tell you to walk. You won't be able to hop back into the line since the non-resort guests will be rope dropping by the time you're off the ride. One day, we had quite the battle going against traffic when we got off the ride.

1st RD day, we did Soarin' next (posted wait 15 mins, actual 6 mins to pre-show), then Living with the Land (walk-on).

2nd RD day we did Spaceship Earth next, then Nemo (both walk-on). We had a reservation for Cake Bake Shop so we left the park after Nemo.

3rd RD day was our departure day so we only did Guardians.

 

[elvispursley]

I can understand the brisk walking but if you know you’re not supposed to jog/run, why do it?

 

[dizzy.cali]

A reliable source (Disney Tourist Blog/Tom Brinker) has shared that those with early entry coming in through IG are allowed all the way to the front where the main entrances guests are held for Guardians. It's definitely a longer walk from IG, but if you're first in line at IG and a fast walker it seems like you could be pretty close to the front of the Guardians pack. Any recent experiences with this? We'll be at Epcot on Sunday, May 4th so this seems like a pretty viable option for riding Guardians with little wait. Thoughts?

We did that in March. We were at the front of the line at IG and were close to the front of the crowd Connections breezeway with a fast walk. Under the breezeway we stayed to the right. Most people were lining up in the middle.
Ended up in the first group.

 

[elvispursley]

Curious what the best approach would be to GotG for RS from the front of Epcot with an ECV in the party—is staying to the left or right better? I know we always try to get to the left when we enter the preshows just because everyone pushes past like the scooter isn’t even there.

 

[M&E]

We did that in March. We were at the front of the line at IG and were close to the front of the crowd Connections breezeway with a fast walk. Under the breezeway we stayed to the right. Most people were lining up in the middle.
Ended up in the first group.

okay! So why was staying to the right advantageous? Just trying to have the best game plan lined up.
thanks.

 

[M&E]

I read that article when he first posted it and tbqh I still don’t see the point of doing this from the IG unless Guardians is the only one of the big 3 you care about riding. You’re paying a very high opportunity cost imo that ultimately disadvantages you for rides #2 and 3, particularly Frozen (Remy at least has SR). And having to haul tail clear across the park first thing in the morning at that. I walk extremely fast and I still wouldn’t do this.

We are going to stick to rope dropping Remy and Frozen during the Crescent Lake portion of our stay and will only bother trying to rope drop Guardians when we’re at the Poly coming by monorail. From the IG we’ll just buy SPs and leave our re-ride for EEH.



Soarin is a pretty good shout that time of morning actually.

I see your point. I was thinking we would buy the LLMP and book Frozen plus two other rides that I realize probably don't need a LL for. We are fine with Remy single rider line. So your preference would be to buy an individual LL for Guardians and rope drop Frozen? Or is it possible to rope drop Remy and also Frozen before heading to the front of the park?

 

[kylenne]

I see your point. I was thinking we would buy the LLMP and book Frozen plus two other rides that I realize probably don't need a LL for. We are fine with Remy single rider line. So your preference would be to buy an individual LL for Guardians and rope drop Frozen? Or is it possible to rope drop Remy and also Frozen before heading to the front of the park?

It is very possible to rope drop Remy and Frozen before moving to the front as long as you are front of pack for Remy, I used to do it all the time. Granted this was back in the G+ era and Guardians was still on VQ but more than once I even knocked out all three of Remy Frozen and Test Track during EE. Like I said I walk very fast though, and those times I was in the literal first load for Remy.

This is why I never actually bothered with G+ when staying on Crescent Lake other than the ILL for Guardians though. With only 3 headliners that see elevated waits it's easy to knock them out. But even with Test Track still down for re-imagining, I still imagine the meta for Early Entry is hitting Frozen second regardless of which ride you do first. And doing it during EE is very advantageous even if you can't be in the first loads because with no LLs active the line moves much faster.

 

[Disnsyncey]

Technically they will not be cutting. People notoriously like to join the back of a line but when CMs say to ‘fill in all available space’ it is completely acceptable to walk past other people if there is empty space on the sides. Guests are being held in a location where probably 20 people could stand side by side. If there is space beside the line that will likely form, fill it in.

I like to call it "legal skipping" just because of those folk who like to stand in a particular line of their own imagination