Early entry - yes or no?

[lou7401]

I'm working on my itinerary for my upcoming trip. Should we take advantage of the Early entry program or not? Do we need to? We are going 10/30 - 11/3. Or is it better to avoid those parks that are open early or should we go, then hop to another park later in the day? How much will it matter?

What do you all think?

 

[lovewdwdvc]

We usually go early but leave as soon as that park gets crowded

 

[HollyJoy]

I'm going to try to take advantage of the early entry days. Why not?

 

[All Aboard]

If you have no problems getting up early and don't consider it detrimental to the enjoyment of your vacation then:

MK - Yes (especially if you have yournger kids. It's awfully nice to be able to experience all of Fantasyland before lines form.)
Studios - Probably (gives you an opportunity for multiple trips through the Tower or RnR)
Epcot - Possibly (can experience M:S & TT before crowds)
AK - Probably not. (just arrive early on a non EE day and go to the Safari first.)

If getting up early IS a big deal, then perhaps limit it to MK. And, yes, do plan on hopping around 11am or noon, especially at MK if you are doing the Sunday morning EE. That's Halloween Day and there's a sold out MNSSHP that night, it will likely be a fairly heavy afternoon at the park.

 

[Harambe]

We ALWAYS use the Extra Magic Hour, because we also go when it's slow. For the time your going, I'd say definately use it. We go to the EMH park and stay for about an hour and a half. You wouldn't believe how much we get done in that time. Then we head out to another park for the majority of the day.

OUr next trip is planned for August, a much busier time. Not sure if I'll use EMH or not.

 

[GOOFYFREEK]

Lou,

Since you are going, in what is considered the off time. You have a couple of things to consider.

Have you been there before??

If you haven't been there before then I might recommend using them. This is a great time to get into the Parks and do some of the more major attactions. Before the park really starts to get busy.

If you have then I wouldn't worry about it. Cause once again this is the off season. They shouldn't be to busy. And the lines wont be that long. And you wont have to maximize your day cause you know what you wanna see and what you wanna skip.

Are you traveling with kids?

Early entree is a great time to get pictures taken with the characters. There are usually 3 sets at MK

One just inside the gates before the train station, another is town square just behind the train station and then another in front of the castle.

Here is how we use them.BTW we dont have kids

MK
Straight to Space mountain then Astro Orbiter then Buzz, then Grand Prix. By then the park is about to open we make are way towards the ropes by Small World. When the Park opens over to Thunder and get a FP and then to Splash Mtn. By the time your done your FP should be about to come and if its slow you might not need one.

If you have kids I would recommend all the rides that are open in Fantasy Land.

Epcot
Straight to TT then MTS trust me this is the order you wanna do it in. Then over to Universe of Energy to recoup.

DS
ToT first then RR then go eat breakfast at ABC commisary

AK
We only ride the Safari (dont really care to much for this park) BUT MAKE SURE YOU EAT BREAKFAST AT RAINFORREST CAFE

see my post on "save my restaurant"

We go several times a year sometimes we use the early entry but majority of the times we dont. Just depends on how busy the parks are and how long where there.

Hope this helps

Doug

 

[lou7401]

Thanks everyone! We are travelling with our kids ages 11,10 &6. Fortunately they aren't especially interested in the kiddie rides in Fantasy Land. We've all been to MK and Epcot before but not DS and AK.

If we DO use Early Entry is it worth the trouble to hop to another park - move the car, etc. or since it's low season should we just stay at the EE park? or because it is EE will it be crowded even though it is low season?

Sorry I'm being so anal!

Louise

 

[GOOFYFREEK]

I am assuming your staying at the Grand Floridian. So you well not need to touch your vehicle again after you pull into your hotel. Use Disney Transportation.

We tend to do the ee then head for another park if it starts to get busy.

Your asking for a deffinate answer and we cant give you that cause your decision will all be based on how crowded it is. Today packed tomorrow not. Seems any more there is no rhyme or reason since the hurricanse changed alot of schedules.

Ill be there this week. So when im back ill be able to tell you what the crowds are like.

Doug

 

[lou7401]

Thanks Doug! That's true - you never know how crowded it is actually going to get, and of course it's all a bit subjective too. The kids and I actually have some tolerance for crowds, hubby thinks its crowded if he can't walk on a ride! So I'm mainly planning all this so he won't be freaking out. LOL.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

We just do EE at MK. It's just too much to get up that early every day. WE make sure not to do a park that is EE . When we do EE at MK, we always find that it does get very crowded later in the morning, even off season. We, most of the time take a break back at the hotel around lunch time and then head to a different park after that. We have found that EE parks are not really too crowded late in the day as most people that were there at 8:00 have left by evening.


Jordans' mom

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We never do EE days, going, instead, to another park. It's not worth it to get up early, for me. As it is, I have to get up between 6:30-7:00am, to get ready to be at the parks by 8:45!

 

[lou7401]

Do you still think it's a good idea to be there when it opens (non-EE) or do you just show up whenever? My hubby would love to just show up around 10 or 11 but then again he's the same guy who hates crowds.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We usually arrive around 15 minutes before opening time. There are some mornings where we might get there right when the park opens or maybe 5 minutes later, but never later than that. It seems like the majority of people arrive between 10 & 11...by then we're almost done the biggies.

 

[disneywithdrawal]

I know the bus starts running an hour early on the ee days, but is it just one early bus or is it continuous? I guess what I'm getting at is I don't need to be there waiting for the ropes to drop. If I get there 5 or 10 minutes after 8 I'll be happy. If we leave our room at POR and head to the bus for MK around 7:30 a.m. will that work or will that be too late to really take advantage of ee?

 

[GOOFYFREEK]

I would figured 20 min waiting on the bus and 20 min getting there and going through security.

Doug

 

[Kristina]

Wow, I never thought to eat breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe, and the menu looks really yummy! Thanks for the tip GOOFYFREEK, we just may do this but we will probably try to get a few rides in first. Wonder if they take PS's....

Yum...Tonga Toast! Oh and to stay on topic we will be doing emh just about every single day we hit the parks, which is actually every day we are in Orlando! Well that's the plan anyway! But then we are first timers!