Opening switched from 9:00 to 8:00

[mrsgthatsme]

When I originally made our touring plans and FP reservations, MK was scheduled to open at 9:00. I just noticed that it is now opening at 8:00. That will be the last day of our trip, and I am wondering if we might all be struggling a bit more to get up early by that point! Do you think that if we don't arrive right at 8:00 we will still be able to get on the rides we had planned on hitting at the original 9:00 Rope Drop? Say if we aren't there until between 8:30 and 9:00 as originally planned?

 

[Ensusieasm]

When I originally made our touring plans and FP reservations, MK was scheduled to open at 9:00. I just noticed that it is now opening at 8:00. That will be the last day of our trip, and I am wondering if we might all be struggling a bit more to get up early by that point! Do you think that if we don't arrive right at 8:00 we will still be able to get on the rides we had planned on hitting at the original 9:00 Rope Drop? Say if we aren't there until between 8:30 and 9:00 as originally planned?

Arrive at the gate by 7:30. You can sleep when you get home. It will get more crowded after that first golden hour.

 

[Babs1975]

Depends on the day you are going, but losing that first hour would be tough. You probably would be able to still get on the rides you want during the day, but you will be waiting longer for some of them. And if you are planning on 7DMT, you will be waiting a lot longer.

 

[Melwhit16]

Ugh I hate when Disney does that!! We are always exhausted that last day too. Do you have young kids with you? I would plan to get there early then leave around 12 or 1 and rest and go back later.

 

[Jillpie]

That is exactly what happened to us a few weeks ago. I have always had OCD about getting to a park at opening. However, now that you can book fp's later in the morning, that rush wasn't there anymore. It was actually refreshing, to know we're getting on the headliners, even if we're not there right at the opening. So, my opinion, is if you have secured your fp's for the headliner rides already, you don't have to be there at 8:00. Not anymore.

 

[dkrauss]

Unfortunately this happens more often then you might think. It's happened for our trip next week. What makes it difficult is our plan is to be at the MK for the Welcome show. With a 9am park opening and you're coming from AKV you're on the bus @ 7:45-8am. With an 8am opening that becomes 6:45-7am................huge difference especially when you're bringing younglings

If the OP is looking to get on 7DMT or PPF at opening.............you really need to be there at RD. Now you won't have an 11am wait...........but the difference could be 20 to 30 additional minutes........depending on the day/weather.

Best of luck!

Doug

 

[g-dad66]

Yes, I think that at 8:30 you will still be able to do the rides that you planned to do at a 9:00 park opening. Possibly a tad longer waits, but then you have an extra 30 minutes for it, right? Should be fine, in my opinion.

 

[SarahInMN]

This happened to us yesterday at MK - emh was supposed to be 8am, opening at 9 am - then emh moved to 7 am, etc.

It was painful getting up and going but totally worth it - great pictures as the sun came up, had coffee/breakfast at Starbucks, did a ton of rides, and exited around 10am when the hordes were arriving.

Definitely worth it.

 

[mrsgthatsme]

Thanks for the opinions. In response to those who asked if we were planning on 7DMT, no, we have a FP for that earlier in the week. And yes, we will have kids with us (6 and 9).Friday will be our second day at MK, so I don't think we will be planning to go on any of those crazy busy rides during that hour... possibly just Jungle Cruise or Pirates of the Caribbean if the wait for those is too long our first day in the MK. On a related note, how far in advance of opening do we need to be on the bus at POR?

 

[dkrauss]

On a related note, how far in advance of opening do we need to be on the bus at POR?

The answer to this question depends on what bus stop you'll be at? Riverside is a big resort with multiple bus stops. You'll need to flesh that out when you get there, but expect it to be busy early in the morning. There's always Uber!

Doug

 

[_auroraborealis_]

They did this to us on our last day at MK. Now, it ended up not being a very busy week but we didn't get to MK until 9:30 on a 7AM EMH and 8AM open.

We did Tink in 5 minutes, 15 minutes for Splash, and pulled 10 FP+ through the day.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Thanks for the opinions. In response to those who asked if we were planning on 7DMT, no, we have a FP for that earlier in the week. And yes, we will have kids with us (6 and 9).Friday will be our second day at MK, so I don't think we will be planning to go on any of those crazy busy rides during that hour... possibly just Jungle Cruise or Pirates of the Caribbean if the wait for those is too long our first day in the MK. On a related note, how far in advance of opening do we need to be on the bus at POR?

Be out at the stop by 6:45 if you are planning to be near the front of the rope drop crowd.

 

[Corbinator]

Our opening time got changed to 8 on our first day and we got up earlier and it was soooo worth it. Even if it was a later day of that week I would have gotten up again. Also, keep in mind everyone, some parks open early anyway. HS opened at about 8:30 instead of 9 this Tuesday. We were the third family to scan our bands in the line we were in. Thank God we got there at 8! We were held back from getting to RnR right away and escorted at about 8:50 but at least we were at the front.

 

[Jrits]

This happened to us yesterday at MK - emh was supposed to be 8am, opening at 9 am - then emh moved to 7 am, etc.

It was painful getting up and going but totally worth it - great pictures as the sun came up, had coffee/breakfast at Starbucks, did a ton of rides, and exited around 10am when the hordes were arriving.

Definitely worth it.

Was this a last minute change in hours? How did they alert resort guests?

 

[Amanda Hall]

Thanks for the opinions. In response to those who asked if we were planning on 7DMT, no, we have a FP for that earlier in the week. And yes, we will have kids with us (6 and 9).Friday will be our second day at MK, so I don't think we will be planning to go on any of those crazy busy rides during that hour... possibly just Jungle Cruise or Pirates of the Caribbean if the wait for those is too long our first day in the MK. On a related note, how far in advance of opening do we need to be on the bus at POR?

With a 9:00 opening we were at the main bus stop (near check in) around 8:00. The bus came shortly after and we were close to the front for RD .

 

[KStash]

The same thing is happening to us next week. We have a late night the night before (late showing of HDDR) and it's toward the end of our trip, so we made our fast passes for the afternoon and evening. Plus, it's EMH in the evening from 11pm-1am, so I figure the park will probably slow down after Wishes at 9 pm. I'm prepared for waits though during the day. Which is fine, I'd rather wait 30-40 minutes for a ride, then be so exhausted with exhausted kids that no one is having any fun.

 

[SarahInMN]

Was this a last minute change in hours? How did they alert resort guests?

I found out by looking at the MDE app a few days prior. For all I know it had been changed weeks before that.