Early Entry or Avoid Early Entry?

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

Last April we did EE at the parks and found it worked well. It was tough getting up really early, but my DD and I showered the night before, so it was only DH who needed the shower in the a.m. We ate out in room breakfast. A quick monorail ride got us to MK by 8:15 or so. We hit SM first, then the stuff in Fantasyland that we wanted to do. By then it was around 9 and the rest of the park opened so we did the other two mountains, one standby and one FP. It really helps to get through Philharmagic, Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan early...later on the lines are unbelievable...it would be really tough on little ones to wait that long.

If I'm paying all this money for Disney, I'll forgo sleep until the plane ride home

EE at MGM gets TOT and RNRC out of the way with minimal waiting time. One with FP, one standby.

EE at AK got us a minimal standby wait at KS. Later on in the day, people were standing in that long line in the sweltering heat...not for me. After KS, the rest of the park was open and we walked back to Dinoland and did Dinosaur back to back with only 10 minute standby wait.

EE not an issue at Epcot, as we would use the singles line at TT if we didn't have a FP.

It is probably a good idea to plan which rides and attraction are "must do's" and "nice if we have time" for your family. We used the UG touring plans, but skipped stuff we weren't gung ho about. The maps of each park in the Passporter were very handy and easier to read than the huge fold out ones at the parks. I had checked off all the rides open at EE, so I could find my way around the parks easily ( it had been a few years since our last trip )

Hope you have a great time whichever method you choose!

 

[WaltD4Me]

I think it really depends on who you are going with and when you are going. When I go off season I do not use EMH's. I like to sleep in a LITTLE and leaving for the parks at 7am or 7:30am is just too early! I like to do things at night and it's hard if you know you gotta get up at 6:30am!

We are going in December at a supposed slower time (don't know about this year though!) and we are not using any EMH's, no one wants to worry about getting up and out that early so we are going to all the parks on their non-EMH days.

Some people LOVE the extra hour, but for me, it's a vacation and I just don't wanna get up that early!

If I was going during a peak or busy time though I'd probably force myself, especially for MK.

Lisa

 

[lark]

Originally posted by sorchamac
So, if I'm staying at WL and I want to get to MK for the rope drop on a EE day, what time should I plan on leaving my room?

Thanks-

Sorcha

Depends on how you are getting there and whether you need park passes. But in general, my answer would be that you should leave about one hour and fifty minutes before the official park opening time given to the public. So if official opening time for the public is 9:00 (and thus EE time is 8:00), I would leave my room at 7:10 at the latest. That *should* be ok. If you absolutely cannot tolerate being there after the gates open (which may be before 8:00, depending on the time of year) and don't mind waiting around at the turnstiles if you are early, leave up to two hours and ten minutes before official park opening time. (E.g., 6:50 in my example.)

As far as the benefits of EE, I echo what everyone else has said. It comes down to a pretty simple question: do you want to spend the whole day in one park or are you ok with park hopping? If the former, EE parks are the worst of the parks to be by late morning early afternoon. So avoid them and do another park. If the latter, EE parks are the best of the parks to be in the early morning, so get in, get out, and get to another park.

 

[sorchamac]

Originally posted by lark
Depends on how you are getting there and whether you need park passes. But in general, my answer would be that you should leave about one hour and fifty minutes before the official park opening time given to the public. So if official opening time for the public is 9:00 (and thus EE time is 8:00), I would leave my room at 7:10 at the latest. That *should* be ok

Are you serious? Two hours to go down an elevator, into the boat, across the lake, and walk up Main Street? Well, that's not gonna happen! LOL I'll guess I'll just have to deal with crowds!

Sorcha

 

[danandjackie]

as there only us two going i have to agree with : do EE park get your A list rides done then move on to another park. HOWEVER as we are there during christmas to New Year, am I correct in assuming that EE is 7.00am?

 

[lark]

Originally posted by sorchamac
Are you serious? Two hours to go down an elevator, into the boat, across the lake, and walk up Main Street? Well, that's not gonna happen! LOL I'll guess I'll just have to deal with crowds!

Sorcha

I don't think you understood my post.

I was giving you times with reference to official park opening.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Originally posted by sorchamac
Are you serious? Two hours to go down an elevator, into the boat, across the lake, and walk up Main Street? Well, that's not gonna happen! LOL I'll guess I'll just have to deal with crowds!

Sorcha

The poster was talking about how long before the official opening time on an EE day (an hour after the EE time). IE, they were saying to leave your room 50 minutes before the EE opening time.

That does still seem like a long time to go from WL to the MK, though. We just missed a boat when we were going to MK, but I don't think we waited longer than 10 minutes for the next boat and then it didn't take too long to get to MK (via Fort Wilderness if I'm remembering correctly)--maybe 10 minutes? I would think that if you were at the boat dock 1/2 hour before the EE time you'd be fine, 40 minutes for sure in case there is a line at security. Of course going to the other parks would take longer.

T&B

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We don't use EE, instead we go to another park/parks, for the day. This works best for us, as I hate getting up any earlier than I have to while I'm on vacation and 7am is early enough!