Magic Kingdom Arrival by Car - timing?

[Sydnerella]

How early before official park open our cars allowed to enter the Magic Kingdom parking lot?

Once parked, how far in advance of official park open does the monorail start running to Magic Kingdom?

We always take the bus or Uber to Contemporary for breakfast but have have friends who will be driving and want to provide them with the best timing information.

With parks opening 30 to 45 minutes early I want to know if cars are allowed in the lot and onto the monorail in time to get to MK close to or at the unofficial early rope drop times.

 

[Gehrig1B]

Driving will cause you to be behind walkers and other Disney transportation options by a few minutes. It was our experience that cars are allowed into the parking lots at the same time the tapstiles open, generally 45-60 minutes prior to official opening. Cannot comment on the TTC timing other than we walked from Contemporary and were in tapstile lines before ferries arrived.

Our experience at DHS last month (we walked from Swan/Dolphin) was cars were driving into the lots As we were going through the temp check tents.

 

[Sydnerella]

Thanks @Gehrig1B

I am wondering if anyone else has more info on when the monorail opens up.

Our friends have a 3 and 1 year old so are not headed to SDMT first - Jungle Cruise or Peter Pan are likely first stops - so thinking it may not be as concerning for them if they are among the first to arrive by car.

 

[TheMick424]

Bumping up. Would love to hear from anyone with recent experience to share.

 

[Eeyore1220]

I am curious about this with all of the parks. We are renting a car at Disney for the first time in June (not totally comfortable using lots of public transport yet). We are rope droppers for sure. If some in our party are willing to miss rope drop, is there a place close to the parks (any of them, but especially MK and HS) that a few of us who are going for more high-profile rides can get dropped off and then meet up with the rest of our party after they park? We are staying at Doubletree suites in Disney Springs, if that matters for any advice you all have!

 

[Gehrig1B]

For DHS and EPCOT you can be dropped at Swan and Dolphin and walk. For MK you can try to get an early reservation at the Wave and walk from Contemporary.

 

[Eeyore1220]

For DHS and EPCOT you can be dropped at Swan and Dolphin and walk. For MK you can try to get an early reservation at the Wave and walk from Contemporary.

Thank you! I think it will be most important for HS since my DH and DS want to do all of those rides and the rest of us are ok missing a good chunk of them.