PPO at MK - Still an advantage or not anymore?

[LisaDKG]

We have a Plaza breakfast at 7:55am on a 9am park opening day but there is also an EMM. Am I right that they now allow all regular guests to line up along Main Street prior to 9am? I only snagged this because we've never been and we would be wanting an advantage for riding SDMT. We are fast eaters and will be out well before 8:30 if all goes right within the restaurant but am I right that this would probably put us behind the crowds allowed in and lining up on Main Street? I definitely do not have my heart set on eating at the Plaza if it would set us back!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

It would work but you can get in the queue for sure. However, when we had PPO reservations for BOG, SDMT was down and by the time it got back up the fp line was longer than standby. Only an advantage if the rides are working.

ETA: It's a gamble you take. We ended up riding later in the evening, when the crowds died down some. However, it is an advantage to get to stroll through a nearly empty park.
Also ETA, you may ask this on the restaurant board. I have no idea now that they let the crowds in to the hub early.

 

[LisaDKG]

Thanks! We have been lucky enough to have done PPO BOG before with great success but when you finish breakfast there, you are right by SDMT, even if they hold you back from riding until 9am opening. If I'm right, I think that upon exiting The Plaza after your breakfast you would just be joining a throng of people who've been lining up and ready for action whilst you were eating your Mickey waffles?

 

[KenHutch]

We used to do a PPO at Cinderella's. I have several hundred beautiful pictures of an empty Main Street. No more. The advantage is about gone. We still do one at Crystal Palace but that is to get breakfast out of the way not to save time.

 

[NikkiDP]

We try to schedule breakfast when there is EMM. You are still in the park with other people, but not nearly as many as the regular day guests. We have been really happy with our PPO breakfasts doing it this way. We have also been able to line up for the rides that are open during EMM so we are the first ones on when the rope droppers come through.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just to be clear, breakfast at the Plaza and CP provides no rope drop advantage.

For a 9am opening, all guests are let in by 8am and can walk Main Street up to the Hub prior to the official 9am opening. Folks will shop, get pics, stop by Starbucks, etc - and many will start lining up at the Hub spoke specific to their destination (7DMT being the most popular). The welcome show is on the castle stage at 8:55am, after which the park opens.

If you have a PPO ADR at Plaza or CP, you will not be ahead of any of this - you will be joining everyone else in the Hub.

If you have a PPO ADR at BoG or CRT, you will be ahead of the rope drop crowd and (assuming you eat and get out in time) do have a bit of an advantage in getting to some rides (mainly Fantasyland) first.

OP - I think your plan sounds perfectly legit to me, unless you are trying to be the absolute first person at the Hub spoke waiting to head to 7DMT. That crowd will have built already by when you leave Plaza. But, if you have other destinations in mind, you’re good. The Hub is generally not a crushing mad house at this time and the other spokes are manageable. I personally find this 8am-9am time on Main Street/the Hub to be one of the more pleasant experiences you’ll have all day. Generally speaking.

 

[Master Fastpasser]

There is ZERO advantage to a PPO at The Plaza.
Everyone is let into the park up to the castle at about 7:45am.
Only a BOG PPO gives an advantage at all.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

On EMM day- they line you up off to the side of SDMT and will not let you ride until the paid ticketed event ends at 9AM. People pay $$ for the private event and they hold those without tickets in a line not letting them ride (people for EMM wear wristbands that are checked getting on rides) - but people say being in that line offers a slight advantage to RD.