Extended Evening Hours vs LLMP/SP vs Early Entry

[sam_gordon]

Going with extended family in June. No park hoppers. Looks like EPCOT & MK will be the two Evening Hour parks (frustrated they don't do every park through the week, but that's another discussion).

If we plan to take advantage of the late nights, how important is it for to also have LLMP/SP and/or be at a park for rope drop? Specifically for "Big Name" attractions?

I'm a planner, but having a hard time wrapping my head around planning this trip. Although we're travelling with extended family, it will probably be just DW & myself exploring the parks together. She's not adventurous, so she won't do Tron and probably not Space Mountain.

I'm also cheap, so not crazy about spending money on LLMP, but worried we/I won't be able to get on some rides if I don't.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Clarifying due to your description, which resort are you staying at? Only deluxe resorts are eligible for EEH and your self description of ‘cheap’ do not normally go together.

 

[Dave006]

Looks like EPCOT & MK will be the two Evening Hour parks (frustrated they don't do every park through the week, but that's another discussion).

The Extra Evening Hours are now only available for Deluxe Resorts and are 2 hours after the normal park closing hours. It has always been MK, and then later they added Epcot. They have only used AK or HS when MK or Epcot had special Parties.

If we plan to take advantage of the late nights, how important is it for to also have LLMP/SP and/or be at a park for rope drop? Specifically for "Big Name" attractions?

LLMP can still be very helpful for MK and HS during the day even if you RD. Onsite Guests also get a 30 minute head-start on Rope Drop which is really beneficial for the most popular attractions. Based on your comments, I don't see any value in you purchasing LLSP for Tron, GotG, SDMP, RotR, or even SDMT.

Dave

 

[sam_gordon]

Clarifying due to your description, which resort are you staying at? Only deluxe resorts are eligible for EEH and your self description of ‘cheap’ do not normally go together.

We are staying Deluxe. Good question and I understand it.

 

[sam_gordon]

Also, while *I* might get up for early entry, getting DW to will be almost impossible. I just have a feeling we won't get a lot "done" this trip.

 

[Dave006]

Also, while *I* might get up for early entry, getting DW to will be almost impossible. I just have a feeling we won't get a lot "done" this trip.

Well you are on vacation. Maybe you can get her to compromise and hit the parks by even 9:15 AM and you can still get things done before the crowds tend to peak around 10 AM.

Dave

 

[kilik64]

We do both, early and evening hours. Take a break in the afternoon, you can get all the big rides pretty easy using both. Just plan what you want to hit and then come up with a plan on how you want to do it.

 

[Average Joes]

Take into account that it can be difficult to RD the next morning after the late MK evening. It can be a good time for a pool/DS day or a less demanding park like AK.

 

[tx911]

Going with extended family in June. No park hoppers. Looks like EPCOT & MK will be the two Evening Hour parks (frustrated they don't do every park through the week, but that's another discussion).

If we plan to take advantage of the late nights, how important is it for to also have LLMP/SP and/or be at a park for rope drop? Specifically for "Big Name" attractions?

I'm a planner, but having a hard time wrapping my head around planning this trip. Although we're travelling with extended family, it will probably be just DW & myself exploring the parks together. She's not adventurous, so she won't do Tron and probably not Space Mountain.

I'm also cheap, so not crazy about spending money on LLMP, but worried we/I won't be able to get on some rides if I don't.

I think you could have a great trip doing both rope drop and extended evening with a resort break in between. But if you have uncertainty about whether you would be able to get up early for rope drop, I would bite the bullet and buy the lightning lanes to guarantee you have a good trip.

 

[kylenne]

Take into account that it can be difficult to RD the next morning after the late MK evening. It can be a good time for a pool/DS day or a less demanding park like AK.

This. We intentionally take it easy the day after MK EEH. On our last trip that involved buying LLMP at Epcot and not attempting front of pack EE. It made for a much more relaxing day. Had our park time not been limited that trip, we’d have made it a resort day. (We only had time for one of those, it was a 5 nt pre cruise trip)

I will say having done it a lot now that EEH at MK is imo the best way to knock out big rides there if you’re already staying deluxe. On that mentioned trip, back in September, we were at the GF and flew in on Wednesday morning. We took it easy, had dinner at Enchanted Rose then watched HEA from the room and walked over to MK afterwards for EEH. We got literally every headliner done outside Tiana (not available during EEH), and most of the B tier too. Nothing was more than a 10 min actual wait, including Mine Train and Tron. It was a very late night though—we got back to the Grand at almost 2am, and that was with taking the boat which dropped us off right at our building. If we weren’t staying at a monorail resort it would have taken longer. So definitely factor that in. But the only thing we needed to do at MK when we went back was Tiana and the rest of the shows.

Epcot is another story; I find EEH not nearly as good there bc of the nature of the park. Only 3 headliners right now, which are all very spread out, and everything else is a walk on during the day. Granted I have not been since Guardians dropped the VQ, that was the only thing I would use Epcot EEH for. I’m curious to see how it shakes out on next month’s trip.

Re: EE, to really maximize it if you want to do headliners you need to be front of pack and that’s going to necessitate getting up early. Esp if you are using Disney transportation. No way around that. It’s much, much easier if you’re trying to rope drop a park you can walk to though, which is why we nearly always split with a Crescent Lake resort. But if you’ve got folks who aren’t willing to get up early enough, don’t even waste your time. Buy LLMP and SP for the headliners, sleep in, aim to arrive near the start of EE and target secondary attractions, and accept that you’ll need to play the refresh game. But I still would prebook your first LL on MP for park open so you can start tapping in ASAP and booking rides.

And I would still purchase LL for Guardians regardless if that’s important to you, even if you are willing to maximize EE. Where you’re staying at matters a lot for Epcot EE—if you’re at a Crescent Lake deluxe you’re at a huge disadvantage trying to rope drop Guardians. Bus/monorail/driving you’re better but still have to get up early enough to be front of pack if you don’t want to waste your whole EE in that line. We begin our May trip at BWI and plan on rope dropping Remy and Frozen and buying SP for Guardians. But when we rope drop from Poly our last full day, we’re still buying it and doing Soarin instead.

 

[Minniedap]

We will be staying at the Contemporary the end of June. Kylenne said they had a 10-minute wait for Mine Train and Tron. Can anyone comment on the Evening Hours wait for Guardians?

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I am also cheap and my mom is not a morning person and also won’t ride some of the coasters. I will RD and she will meet me when she is up!

 

[jeankeri]

I do not think anyone gong to WDW and staying deluxe meets the definition of 'cheap' . I do fall in the category of people who believe the ticket that gets you into the park should get you access to all the rides in the park. I have always rope dropped and made good use of fastpasses, etc. The new LL? Really hard to make the case for needing it for B tier rides. Headliners? We did buy a single LL for GotG last September- managed to snag a VQ then wanted to ride again later in the week. Every other park/ride I had managed to do with rope drop and EE/MNSSHP. Disney will always charge as much as people are willing to pay for an experience. The paywalling of experiences above park admission is taking a page out of the Universal playbook. I choose not to participate. That being said- if you no not have a willing partner in crime to rope drop? I feel you need to invest $$ in LL or you will likely miss out on rides. And you will miss out on LL if you do not make that purchase in advance. Write up a list of your 'must-dos' and plan from there. Have fun!

 

[Minsc]

Also, while *I* might get up for early entry, getting DW to will be almost impossible. I just have a feeling we won't get a lot "done" this trip.

I would offer that you might get up an go anyway. Find any kids or family members who want to get up early with you and rope drop. You won't regret it. The extra 30 minutes is nice, but the first hour of most park days is when you can be really productive from an attractions standpoint. Those family members who choose not to tour your way might even appreciate they didn't have to. It would be easy to sync back up with the rest of the family whenever they do want to be at the park.

We've totally done this on many visits. Set a meeting time and place: "We will meet you all in front of Carousel of Progress tomorrow at 10am."

 

[sam_gordon]

I do not think anyone gong to WDW and staying deluxe meets the definition of 'cheap'

I never said I was paying for the rooms.