Everything Early Theme Park Entry (ETPE) - Please Read Post 1

[wisblue]

this would be ideal! early entry 7DMT, and a few fantasy land rides, then be on HM as one of the 1st to be there! can anyone confirm this works

A few fantasyland rides in addition to 7DMT might be a little ambitious if you want to be one of the first to HM.

Even if you’re right at the front of the line to go to 7DMT, and they let the crowd descend on the ride right at 8:30 (which has been the case the last two times we have tried it) it takes 5-10 minutes to get to the ride and all the way through the winding queue to the boarding area. Then it will take 5 more minutes to board and complete the ride and get off. You have to figure that by then it will be close to 8:45.

To be one of the first to HM you have to be at one of the ropes letting people toward Liberty Square by 9AM. That maybe leaves time for one of the rides close to 7DMT, like the teacups or Pooh, but that would be about it.

Our usual approach to EE at MK is to choose either 7DMT or Space Mountain. If we go to SM first we will go to Buzz and then head to the rope near the Rapunzel restroom area (perhaps with a stop there).

If we do 7DMT first that’s usually all we do in that first half hour before heading to the other side of the park and as many HM, BTMRR, Splash, POC, and JC that we can do with reasonable waits.

If we want to do some of the Fantasyland rides, we can do them some evening with Genie+ when the return times are usually not far into the future.

Early Entry is a valuable tool that can be used well in conjunction with LL and ILL. But the number of people willing to get to the parks early has increased dramatically in the last 10 years or so.

 

[nurseberta]

Hi all! With ETPE back to 30 mins, really curious to hear how this has been working for others in MK specifically. My plan as of now is to book an ILL for 7DMT so we can skip that madness in the morning. Thoughts on good alternatives to head to first with low waits? I am leaning towards Space, but we're not huge fans of the ride since it's so rough lol

you could likely so most of tomorrowland before park open

 

[wisblue]

So if we want to not be at the back of the crowd, but don't really want to be in the very head of the pack either, what is a good time to arrive? An hour before ETPE starts? More, less?

I think getting there an hour before Early Entry is a good target, especially if you aren’t trying to be right at the front of the crush to a park’s most popular attraction.

Because we hate those crushes, using G+ and IALL to do those attractions is well worth it for us.

After some experience with Genie+, IALL, and EE, I have adopted a general approach for EE at MK and DHS when the parks have an official open time of 9AM.

I get to the resort bus stop a little before 7 so I can be there to book my first G+ attraction and purchase an IALL if we are getting one that day. Then I’m there to get the next bus that comes (which usually seems to be shortly after 7).

That has consistently gotten us to the parks just a little before 7:30.

For DAK, because we have purchased IALL for FOP and there aren’t that many ride attractions, we don’t see much reason to arrive much before the EE opening time.

We haven’t done an EE for Epcot under the new system.

 

[wisblue]

For those who have stayed with the 30m early entry window before posted park opening, do they open any earlier or right at the 30m mark? We usually arrive 1 hour before traditional park opening, I'm wondering if we should still arrive an hour before early entry. I get that will put us at the front of the crowds, but curious about some experiences so far...

In our two trips since the 30 minute early entry went into effect (one in November and another for the Marathon Weekend) we have only been allowed to go to an attraction before the stated EE time once. That was at DHS where we were waiting for TOT to open and were let in about 8:20.

 

[bambialways4ever]

I think getting there an hour before Early Entry is a good target, especially if you aren’t trying to be right at the front of the crush to a park’s most popular attraction.

Because we hate those crushes, using G+ and IALL to do those attractions is well worth it for us.

After some experience with Genie+, IALL, and EE, I have adopted a general approach for EE at MK and DHS when the parks have an official open time of 9AM.

I get to the resort bus stop a little before 7 so I can be there to book my first G+ attraction and purchase an IALL if we are getting one that day. Then I’m there to get the next bus that comes (which usually seems to be shortly after 7).

That has consistently gotten us to the parks just a little before 7:30.

For DAK, because we have purchased IALL for FOP and there aren’t that many ride attractions, we don’t see much reason to arrive much before the EE opening time.

We haven’t done an EE for Epcot under the new system.

Thanks! We aren't going to be using ILL because we'll have the DAS pass, but we plan to use Genie+ at MK and HS, maaaaybe Epcot. But not AK because we only have 3 rides we want to ride and none of them are FOP. Luckily we'll be at Bay Lake Tower this time, so getting to MK early will be a breeze!

 

[CindysMice]

Thanks! We aren't going to be using ILL because we'll have the DAS pass, but we plan to use Genie+ at MK and HS, maaaaybe Epcot. But not AK because we only have 3 rides we want to ride and none of them are FOP. Luckily we'll be at Bay Lake Tower this time, so getting to MK early will be a breeze!

Do you mind me asking why you’re getting Genie+ if you have DAS pass? I’m trying to learn about DAS. I think my cousin’s family could benefit from it for his family trips.

 

[bambialways4ever]

Do you mind me asking why you’re getting Genie+ if you have DAS pass? I’m trying to learn about DAS. I think my cousin’s family could benefit from it for his family trips.

Sure! So, for us, with the medical conditions we use DAS for, our touring style is to accomplish as much as we can in the mornings, then take the afternoons off. We usually return in the evenings. So for us, being able to stack DAS and Genie+ return times allows to get as much as possible accomplished before we have to take a break. Genie+ stacking also allows me to book times stacked for later in the day, since DAS only allows you to hold one return time at a time. So, for MK where there are SO many rides to ride, and HS where most of the rides are headliners with consistently long waits, it allows to line up as many times as possible to maximize our time in the parks. But at Epcot where even yesterday in the middle of the afternoon when there was a 6 hour line for popcorn and all 3 headliners were over 75 minutes, every other ride was less than 15, and two of those headliners aren't even on Genie+. We also only ride 3 rides at AK, so we are able to accomplish everything we want. Also, due to the medical conditions we have DAS for, anything bast 30-40 minutes in a queue isn't an option for us, especially with indoor masking (we have ZERO problem with this, it just creates a unique challenge for the particular medical conditions), so we really need to use DAS to enjoy our trip properly. Full disclaimer: this will be our first time using it WDW. We have used it at Disneyland CA forever and have done a lot of research and watched videos to prepare for WDW.

 

[EpcotNerd]

ETPE guests are held in Fantasyland, near the entrance to HM is my understanding.

Bummer, I guess that means no Frontierland advantage. Thanks for responding!

 

[bambialways4ever]

We will be using the DAS pass, so we're not sure which is better to rope drop and which is better to get a return time for. We would love to ride TSMM twice back to back at rope drop, but we're not sure how quickly that line fills. (We're hoping to get SDD as one of our advance times or for Genie+ that morning).

 

[stinkpickle]

I would guess that TSMM takes longer to build a wait time.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We will be using the DAS pass, so we're not sure which is better to rope drop and which is better to get a return time for. We would love to ride TSMM twice back to back at rope drop, but we're not sure how quickly that line fills. (We're hoping to get SDD as one of our advance times or for Genie+ that morning).

Hopefully this is helpful. You can change the dates at the time to see a trend.

Thrill Data - Toy Story Mania

 

[bambialways4ever]

Hopefully this is helpful. You can change the dates at the time to see a trend.

Thrill Data - Toy Story Mania

Oh wow! This is so cool! Thanks!

 

[lfcfan]

you could likely so most of tomorrowland before park open

I am planning to avoid the 7DMT crush as well, and will purchase ILL for that. Is there a "crush" for SM too? I am willing to go to SM first (a family favorite) by walking quickly, etc., but not if it is as bad as 7DMT. My choices are SM or a more low key first 30 minutes, doing Buzz Lightyear, etc. I am happy with either. This will be mid-May, medium crowds.

We can walk over from GF.

What can I expect from trying to get to SM first thing? What time should I get to the gate? Thank you!

 

[lfcfan]

Is Main Street Bakery open for ETPE? Is mobile order being used there?

 

[nurseberta]

I am planning to avoid the 7DMT crush as well, and will purchase ILL for that. Is there a "crush" for SM too? I am willing to go to SM first (a family favorite) by walking quickly, etc., but not if it is as bad as 7DMT. My choices are SM or a more low key first 30 minutes, doing Buzz Lightyear, etc. I am happy with either. This will be mid-May, medium crowds.

We can walk over from GF.

What can I expect from trying to get to SM first thing? What time should I get to the gate? Thank you!

I have not been yet post-pandemic, but I've been doing A LOT of reading, trip reviews and blogs, and such. as we leave on Thursday for a 5 day trip!~ so I feel relatively confident telling that Space Mountain and all of Tomorrowland will likely be waaay less crowded than fantasyland. the crush is usually for 7DMT and Peter pan. My plan is to purchase LL and hit Tomorrowland to start! we prob won't even get there for early entry because we are doing MK closes at 11 the day before.

 

[EpcotNerd]

It used to be that to rope drop Frontierland we'd stand outside of the Adventureland entrance until the opening show was over, then move to the area near Frontierland where the rope would be and then slowly walked to BTMM or SM.

If this is still the way to do it, do the guests that are there for early theme park entry have an advantage to get to Frontierland first because they're already inside the park? Where are they held until park opening, or do they come back to the hub? I'm assuming Frontierland is a popular place to rope drop for off-site guests because the FL and TL are already open and probably have lines.

(I asked a similar question int he ETPE thread but didn't get much of a response)

 

[scrappinginontario]

It used to be that to rope drop Frontierland we'd stand outside of the Adventureland entrance until the opening show was over, then move to the area near Frontierland where the rope would be and then slowly walked to BTMM or SM.

If this is still the way to do it, do the guests that are there for early theme park entry have an advantage to get to Frontierland first because they're already inside the park? Where are they held until park opening, or do they come back to the hub? I'm assuming Frontierland is a popular place to rope drop for off-site guests because the FL and TL are already open and probably have lines.

(I asked a similar question int he ETPE thread but didn't get much of a response)

Guests attending ETPE will be held in Fantasyland near HM until official park opening.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Here Now- things have changed since my visit in December......and my Epcot arrival location is different than in the past.

Question- How are they handling letting people from the main entrance and the I.G both walk over to Remy for rope drop during the extra 30 minutes in the morning?

I am entering via the main entrance. I will walk all the way to France if I can mix pretty evenly with the IG folks.

If the IG people fill up the ride and then the main entrance people wind up filling in behind them, I will not make that walk for a poor result. (No, I am not going to pay for ILL)

I have ridden Remy before so a morning ride would be nice, but not mandatory for this trip.

Thanks!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Here Now- things have changed since my visit in December......and my Epcot arrival location is different than in the past.

Question- How are they handling letting people from the main entrance and the I.G both walk over to Remy for rope drop during the extra 30 minutes in the morning?

I am entering via the main entrance. I will walk all the way to France if I can mix pretty evenly with the IG folks.

If the IG people fill up the ride and then the main entrance people wind up filling in behind them, I will not make that walk for a poor result. (No, I am not going to pay for ILL)

I have ridden Remy before so a morning ride would be nice, but not mandatory for this trip.

Thanks!

My understanding is that both entrances open at the same time so for this one attraction IG guests are at a definite advantage for arriving first.

Guests at other resorts who want to enter via IG could take a bus to DHS then Skyliner, walk or Friendship boat to Epcot. Not ideal but an option.

 

[EpcotNerd]

Guests attending ETPE will be held in Fantasyland near HM until official park opening.

Thanks. I was actually hoping to get info from those that did not participate in ETPE, what it's like to rope drop Frontierland at 9am. I'd love to sleep in one morning and enter with those that are not staying on property, I'm wondering if the experience is tougher now that ETPE is every day. Can you please move my post back to the main board to get more info from that perspective? I doubt those people are looking at this thread.