Experience doing Early Entry for Peter Pan?

TeamSy

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
I can't picture us leaving Contemporary to walk over to the park before 7:45. We will have a double stroller, so would need to drop that off... is Peter Pan still a viable option for us at this point for EE or should we just plan on LL it? The kids don't do well waiting so we didn't want to arrive too early to just stand there and wait either.

Our priorities are PP and Meet Mickey, which seem like 2 of the worst lines ever, go figure. How would you do this? Should we LL one? Plan on LL both and do something else at 8:30?

This is the day after a halloween party day so it's likely going to be a pretty busy park day.
 
As long as you arrive in the park within the EE half hour, you should be fine with PP.
I have found that Mickey in Epcot has much shorter queues than MK and friendlier CMs. Is that an option?
 
Is PP a viable option? Sure. You're saying your kids don't do well waiting, but what does that mean? You're not telling us how long they can wait. There will still be a line for PP, but it will be much shorter than during regular park hours. We rode PP during EE this past May and I think we waited in line about 15 minutes
 
Is this a party or non-party day? Month?

Starting your walk at 7:45 with an 8am park open means you're getting there probably as all of the off-site guests are too. The 8am opens so far this party season (only been two) have had very low early waits and you'd probably still be getting on PP with a short wait, even if you miss early hours. But, that's going to be less true October-December when crowds overall are just higher.

If it's a 9am open, so non-party day, you'll be fine starting your walk at 7:45 and heading to PP. But, know that crowds are going to be high in MK this day, since it's a day that non-hopping guests can get a full park day.
 


is Peter Pan still a viable option for us at this point for EE or should we just plan on LL it?
We always go to Peter Pan when we do early entry and there are a lot of people doing the same thing. Most of the crowd heads to the mine ride, but a sizable number head to PP. If you can't get to MK for early opening then I would LL the ride.
 
As long as you arrive in the park within the EE half hour, you should be fine with PP.
I have found that Mickey in Epcot has much shorter queues than MK and friendlier CMs. Is that an option?
Unfortunately just doing MK. I kind of wish we were going to Epcot tho bc it seems like they have all the classic character meet and greets!
 
We always go to Peter Pan when we do early entry and there are a lot of people doing the same thing. Most of the crowd heads to the mine ride, but a sizable number head to PP. If you can't get to MK for early opening then I would LL the ride.
How long is your wait typically when you do this? It says EE begins at 8:30 and we were going to head over from contemporary around 7:45. It seems stressful and rushed tho so thinking of maybe just LL and just picking some other lesser known rides to walk on. It’s just on the other side of things, choosing LL for both Peter Pan and meet Mickey seem like we won’t really get many LL in same day. I know the day we will be going is going to be crowded too since it’s day after a party.
 


Fork out for Genie +, then you can book a Mickey meeting with Genie+.

What time does MK open the day you are going? You will get better responses then. Only Fantasy and Tomorrowland are open for early entry. If you get there when the 1/2 hr is almost over probably better to just to other sections which open with the park
 
It really depends on whether 7DMT is running or not. If it is, the much of the crowd will be heading there. If it isn't a large portion of the crowd then head to PP instead. At least that was our experience on 2 days. One where 7DMT was open and one it wasn't.
 
in the past, we used FP for the really long wait rides (PP and Mickey in your case) and knocked out loads of other rides during EE. It feels like you are getting less for your money with G+ by doing that, but it’s so much easier than keeping track of lots of G+ return times later in the day. With littles, I recommend starting at Pooh and then knocking out any Fantasyland rides (other than 7D and PP) that interest your kids. It’s a fun way to start the day.
 
How late will you be staying in the park? We recently hit Peter Pan right after the fireworks. The posted wait was 40 minutes but there were only about 10 guests in line. The actual wait was less than a minute.
 
Since you’re already staying at the Contemporary, can you plan a meal at Chef Mickey’s to do some m&g’s…. See Mickey there? It’s an added expense, but you have to eat anyway and can meet multiple characters there.
 
If you don't want to be rushed at all (like in a crowd walking fast), I'd just do G+ for Peter, and do what HeiHei recommended up thread; hit all the other rides open for EE in Fantasyland that your kids are interested in. I've done both (with Fastpass in the past), and having younger children along just adds an unkown in the plan; if they, and you, don't mind a rush I think you could make PP ok without G+, but if there is a meltdown possible, I'd just grab a G+. I have also opened PP and had the ride not work, and I waited so long for a delayed ride that I lost all other advantage of being in Fantasyland Early. With a G+, you'd be covered.
 
Honestly, leaving Contemporary at 7:45, you’re going to miss Early Entry all together. It takes at least 7 -10 minutes to walk at a normal pace. Then you have security & entry lanes. Security will probably be quick. But if you get people in front of you who have problems with the entry touch points, that will delay you even more. You will be going in with everyone else by that point. Then you’re trying to get down Main Street with a crowd. And a good amount of them will be headed to PP also. If you can leave the hotel by 7:30, you’ll have a much better chance of a short wait. Maybe give the family the option, get up 15 minutes earlier or wait 30 minutes longer in line.
 
Honestly, leaving Contemporary at 7:45, you’re going to miss Early Entry all together. It takes at least 7 -10 minutes to walk at a normal pace. Then you have security & entry lanes. Security will probably be quick. But if you get people in front of you who have problems with the entry touch points, that will delay you even more. You will be going in with everyone else by that point. Then you’re trying to get down Main Street with a crowd. And a good amount of them will be headed to PP also. If you can leave the hotel by 7:30, you’ll have a much better chance of a short wait. Maybe give the family the option, get up 15 minutes earlier or wait 30 minutes longer in line.

Wait it takes 45 minutes to get from Contemporary to fantasyland?! We figured if we left by 7:45 we would still be able to make EE @ 8:30. Is it that crowded?! Maybe we will avoid it altogether then lol.
 
Wait it takes 45 minutes to get from Contemporary to fantasyland?! We figured if we left by 7:45 we would still be able to make EE @ 8:30. Is it that crowded?! Maybe we will avoid it altogether then lol.

I thought you were going on a day when the park opened at 8, so early entry was starting at 7:30. Sorry, my mistake. If the park opens at 9 & early entry is at 8:30, you’ll be fine.
 
I thought you were going on a day when the park opened at 8, so early entry was starting at 7:30. Sorry, my mistake. If the park opens at 9 & early entry is at 8:30, you’ll be fine.
Okay phew I was like whoa no way will we do that then haha.
 
If you don't want to be rushed at all (like in a crowd walking fast), I'd just do G+ for Peter, and do what HeiHei recommended up thread; hit all the other rides open for EE in Fantasyland that your kids are interested in. I've done both (with Fastpass in the past), and having younger children along just adds an unkown in the plan; if they, and you, don't mind a rush I think you could make PP ok without G+, but if there is a meltdown possible, I'd just grab a G+. I have also opened PP and had the ride not work, and I waited so long for a delayed ride that I lost all other advantage of being in Fantasyland Early. With a G+, you'd be covered.

Thanks! I think this is a good plan and what we are going to do. It will be too stressful trying to rush anywhere with them and not worth it (for us haha). I think we will LL PP and Meet Mickey for later in the day, do the other fantasyland rides without the rush during EE and then just fill the time with snacks/lunch, and maybe some other character meets if we can, or double back on some other rides if the wait times aren't bad!
 
We rode Mine Train, Pooh and THEN Peter Pan last week during early entry and still only had a 10 min wait for Peter Pan. The fastpass line really slows things down at PP so as long as you arrive before the end of early entry (when people can start redeeming LL, you won’t have a long wait. The new queue is cute to spend a little time in anyway. My 5 year old liked it just as much as the ride itself.
 

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