Early entry - Which rides ?

[richfei]

Hi,

Sorry for these newbie questions

1) But which lands and which rides are open for early entry ?
From what I gather it's everything in Fantasyland, but I'm not really sure

2) Also I guess it allows you entry one hour prior to normal opening hours, so for next week, would you suggest getting there, say 90 minutes prior to opening i.e 7:30am ?

3) Does DCA also have an early entry and do the regular parkhopper tickets only allow one early entry in total and not one per park ?

Thanks

 

[iceskatejen]

I'm an AP holder, therefore I don't get EE privledges, but from what I gather, it's all of Fantasyland, plus Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain (though I suggest sticking to FL as none of those rides have FP and Buzz & Space do).

No, DCA doesn't have EE. The park opens at 10, but the gates generally open at 9:30 and Soarin' is open at that time.

 

[Albertan mom]

With our package, we got one morning of early entry. We went straight to Toon Town. It was great!! There was only about 10 other people there with us for a full hour.

My kids got to ride on the Gadget Coaster with the characters!
My daughter still talks about how Minnie elbowed her in the head when she put her arms up on the ride!!

We got tons of great pictures.

The kids got to go into Goofys bounce house all by themselves.

Then Goofy and Pluto took my sons hat and were 'fighting' over it and putting it on themselves, then my son(pulling it way down over his eyes!) and fooling around with them.

We got to take our time walking through Minnies house and all that.

It was so nice not to be rushed and crowded, and to get that one on one character interaction!

There was no line ups for anything.

Go for it!

 

[richfei]

Hi,

So is it all rides in the park that are open right now for EE or is it all in Fantasyland and Toontown ?

I couldn't find any info on this on the disneyland.com website, so if there is some kind of official list of rides open for EE, can someone point me to a link

The reason I'm asking, is that I recently bought Ridemax and it doesn't consider EE. So during EE, I was thinking of riding those which my son will enjoy, I can't get a fastpass for and are usually 'busy' and leave Ridemax to calculate the rest and probably stagger some rides over several days, but I'd let to get a better idea of EE first

Thanks

 

[HydroGuy]

Hi,

So is it all rides in the park that are open right now for EE or is it all in Fantasyland and Toontown ?

I couldn't find any info on this on the disneyland.com website, so if there is some kind of official list of rides open for EE, can someone point me to a link

The reason I'm asking, is that I recently bought Ridemax and it doesn't consider EE. So during EE, I was thinking of riding those which my son will enjoy, I can't get a fastpass for and are usually 'busy' and leave Ridemax to calculate the rest and probably stagger some rides over several days, but I'd let to get a better idea of EE first

Thanks

DL does not publish EE rides because they can change at any time. Here is what is usually open:

FantasyLand

Peter Pan
Dumbo
Mad Tea Party
Alice in Wonderland
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Pinnochio
Matterhorn
King Arthur Carrousel

Tomorrowland

Space Mtn
Buzz Lightyear
Astro Orbiter

I would recommend getting to the gate at least 30 minutes before EE starts, which is 90 minutes before normal park opening. I would recommend skipping Space Mtn and Buzz during EE because you can get FP for these and do them later. Assuming you want to do all the FL rides available during EE, I would recommend you do them in this order:

1. Peter Pan
2. Dumbo
3. Alice in Wonderland
4. Matterhorn
5. Mad Tea Party
6. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
7. King Arthur Carrousel
8. Snow White's Scary Adventures
9. Pinnochio

Personally, if I was limited on time I would skip Snow White, Pinnochio and the Carrousel.

Toontown is not open during EE. In general, TT opens one hour after normal park openng. On EE days TT has a special feature called TT Morning Madness that opens at park opening. People need special passes for TTMM which they can get if they buy a package thru DL travel. I have heard TTMM is not very worthwhile.

During our August trip we had one EE day and used RideMax. On that day we did seven FL rides during EE, and could have done all nine but we left a little before 8AM to get a FP for Space Mtn which had just opened.

If you want to pick up some RideMax and FastPass tips, checks out my lengthy topics from August below.

RideMax Critique Plus Conventional and Unconventional Usage on August 1-4 Trip
--- See http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=885134

Getting the Most Out of FastPass During High Season
--- See http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=885132

 

[noryglory]

^Hydroguy, I just wanted to tell you that your posts are all incredibly informative. Those of you who haven't read them, DO IT! I've been reading them and appreciate the information so much!! For whatever reason, your posts feel like "the authority" and are to be completely trusted.

After reading them all, I feel like I was on vacation with you...

 

[richfei]

Thanks to all who responded, especially hydroguy
I think that posting should be stickied

Btw, hydroguy, I was thinking of making a brunch reservation at Goofys kitchen and essentially pay the breakfast price for lunch at 11 ish.

Does any particular day or time make any difference ?

 

[laura&fam]

I was starting to think it was me about not finding any info about EE. I'm so glad someone posted this thread

I have a question about how to get to EE. Our hotel is a bit of a hike, particularly with two small kids, and I have been told that the shuttle doesn't start until one hour before the park opens (i.e. when we want to be at the park). I also heard that the parking structure doesn't open early either. Is walking to the park the only option for EE?

EE has been around for a while, it seems odd there is so little info on it.

 

[HydroGuy]

Thanks to all who responded, especially hydroguy
I think that posting should be stickied

Btw, hydroguy, I was thinking of making a brunch reservation at Goofys kitchen and essentially pay the breakfast price for lunch at 11 ish.

Does any particular day or time make any difference ?

Well, people are calling me an authority here, but I know very little about the restaraunts or the DLR hotels. My "authority" is really in the area of rides.

Anyone else have advice about Goofy's kitchen?

 

[HydroGuy]

I was starting to think it was me about not finding any info about EE. I'm so glad someone posted this thread

I have a question about how to get to EE. Our hotel is a bit of a hike, particularly with two small kids, and I have been told that the shuttle doesn't start until one hour before the park opens (i.e. when we want to be at the park). I also heard that the parking structure doesn't open early either. Is walking to the park the only option for EE?

EE has been around for a while, it seems odd there is so little info on it.

I am not too sure about this one. Walking seems like the only good option to me, because that is what I always do. Would it be possible to get a cab?

 

[TexasCourt]

Who is eligible for early entry? We will be staying just one night at Paradise Pier....does this qualify us for one day of EE?? Thanks!

 

[HydroGuy]

Who is eligible for early entry? We will be staying just one night at Paradise Pier....does this qualify us for one day of EE?? Thanks!

DLR has been "testing" the idea of letting in DLR hotel guests for EE since July 18. They do not advertise it, or guarantee it. You may have to ask more that one person at the hotel to find out about it. But in short, the answer is "yes". If your one day is on Mon/Tue/Thurs/Sat you should be able to use the PP receipt to get EE.

BTW, we are of one mind with the USC Trojans.

 

[noryglory]

I was under the impression you had to buy a three-day or higher park hopper ticket to get EE. But when I looked through my Disney travel brochure I saw nothing of the sort...I guess I got ourselves a longer vacation to take advantage of benefits we would have had with a shorter stay. HA HA HA! Talk about a great mistake!

Fight on! You've got one crazed USC family here in Oregon...we about had a collective heart attack on Saturday. BEST GAME EVER! DH is Trojan grad class of 93. (As for me, I'm a Bruin, but my football allegiance is with the cardinal and gold!) DS dressed like Bengal QB Carson Palmer for Halloween last year and is planning on doing the same this year...

We'll be missing the USC-Stanford game on Nov. 5...in transit to Disneyland!! Aaaaaaaaagh! But no better destination in giving up our beloved Trojan game to get to, eh?

 

[HydroGuy]

I was under the impression you had to buy a three-day or higher park hopper ticket to get EE. But when I looked through my Disney travel brochure I saw nothing of the sort...I guess I got ourselves a longer vacation to take advantage of benefits we would have had with a shorter stay. HA HA HA! Talk about a great mistake!

The only official way to get EE is with a 3 day or more parkhopper. And with that, you get one EE day only. When staying at a DLR hotel, you can get EE on each day EE is open (Mon/Tue/Thurs/Sat). But this is unofficial and unannounced. Thus DLR can cancel it on a moments notice with no regrets. Anyone who "plans" for EE in this way is setting themselves up for disappointment. There were rumors that DLR was going to discontinue this in September, but apparently they are still doing it.

Fight on! You've got one crazed USC family here in Oregon...we about had a collective heart attack on Saturday. BEST GAME EVER!

I was on a business trip in Dallas, and half of the folks in the meeting excused themselves to watch this game. Like everyone else, I really thought USC's winning streak was over in South Bend. What an incredible game.

 

[TexasCourt]

I graduated from USC is 2004 (I am now at Texas A&M for my master's).....man, what a game that was last Saturday!!! I think I had about 4 heart attacks, I really didn't know if we were gonna pull through! But winners always find a way to win!!! I think that was our toughest hurdle! Now, we just have to get by UCLA and Cal. I cannot WAIT to go to the Rose Bowl this year, and I hope we run Texas into the ground. All of Texas friends have been talking trash, and I am ready to bring them down!!! FIGHT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!