early entry question

[disneybeachbum]

I have never been to DL and I am headed there next week. Can anyone explain early entry to me? I am planning on purchasing an annual pass (we plan on returning). Thank you.

 

[crazymomof 4]

Early entry is when you get to go into the park an hour before it officially opens to ride the rides in Fantasyland. I would do this before I upgrade to an AP because that way you won't lose your EE.

 

[CalGal]

I have never been to DL and I am headed there next week. Can anyone explain early entry to me? I am planning on purchasing an annual pass (we plan on returning). Thank you.

Congratulations on your first trip to DL!
One EE is included with parkhopper plus passports (3 days or more) purchased through Walt Disney Travel Company. Currrently, guests of the 3 Disney properties also have EE rights on those days that EE is offered, typically Mon, Tue, Thu, and Sat. If you have EE rights through your parkhopper or by showing your Disney resort identification card, you may enter Disneyland 1 hour prior to scheduled opening. Usually, most Fantasyland rides will operate during this hour, as well as Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Crowds are relatively lights, so its possible to do several rides before the park officially opens.

As the previous poster noted, if you are not staying at a Disney hotel and you have a park hopper passport, you need to use your park hopper plus to gain early entry. Then you can convert the park hopper plus to an AP after you use your EE. APs do not have early entry rights unless you are staying at a Disney property. Parkhoppers purchased at the gate also do not have EE rights.

Hope that helps. Regardless of whether you have EE or not, GO EARLY. Disneyland is so wonderful in the morning when crowds are light and the summer weather is so pleasant.

 

[disneybeachbum]

Thank you calgal, great answer! I left out one thing in my question, I am staying at the Grand Californian. So if I understand correctly I may use EE each day that it is available? Thank you.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Hi Disneybeachbum -- yes, if you're staying at the GC you can use EE every day that it is offered.

 

[needalatte]

I have never been to DL and I am headed there next week. Can anyone explain early entry to me? I am planning on purchasing an annual pass (we plan on returning). Thank you.

Have you pre-purchased parkhopper passes? Here's a suggestion--you can purchase your parkhopper through AAA and get all the extras that go along with it, (enhanced fastpass, Mickey's Toontown Magical Morning, free pin and lanyard, etc.) and then upgrade to APs while you are at DL. However, you will lose your AAA perks once you do that, so upgrade on your last day and you can use the enhanced FP for as long as possible, which is the one thing that, for me, makes it worthwhile.

Our experience with buying APs last year (don't know if anything has changed this year)--Disney will credit the amount you paid for your AAA (or other) parkhopper to your AP as long as you upgrade before the PHs expire. Also, I don't know if you are planning on getting deluxe or premium APs--it mostly depends if you can work around blackout days or not. We ended up buying one premium AP for me (for the free parking and shopping discounts) and deluxe APs for the rest of the family because they were cheaper and we traveled during the off-season so we didn't have to worry about blackout days too much.

CalGal, Mary Jo--I didn't realize you could do EE everyday that it's offered if you're staying on-site. We've only had one EE day when we've stayed off-site, and last time we stayed on-site there was no EE at all. We're at PPH in November--I'm excited that we can do it more than once this trip!

 

[disneybeachbum]

Thank you for the suggestion Betsy. Can you just buy the parkhoppers from AAA or do you have to book a package with room and tickets?

 

[needalatte]

Thank you for the suggestion Betsy. Can you just buy the parkhoppers from AAA or do you have to book a package with room and tickets?

Hmmm...good point. I think you have to book the whole package, but I'm not sure. Maybe you can roll your existing room ressie over to them and get the package? It doesn't hurt to call and ask, though. Whichever way you go, have fun!!

 

[CalGal]

Yup, the only way to get the AAA enhanced FP and/or other perks is when you purchase a package. You might get free parking if you purchase just the parkhopper through AAA. Since you are staying at the GCH, that isn't likely to be much benefit. Upgrading to an AP from a Parkhopper is very simple, but probably won't benefit you if you didn't get the PHs as part of a package.

Watch the various discounts. You get some discounts with an AP (you can pick up a list of discounts at the bank when you get the AP), you get some with your AAA (Goofy's Kitchen for example), and you get some with the Disney Visa if you have one.