Pre-park breakfast Q?

[ChasingLeslie]

When you have pre-park opening reservations (between 8-8:30a), what time does your family wake up and get moving? What time do you need to be at a bus stop? I know this will vary by party and by resort-to-destination, but I'm just trying to decide how well this would work for us.

This will be my kids first trip to WDW. They are early risers at home, but I know the World will tire them out. I'm thinking one, maybe two, pre-park breakfasts (assuming I could get reservations...CP at MK and Akershus at Epcot).

 

[Alesia]

You'll need to be at the bus stop at least an hour before your ADR. What time you should wake up depends on how long it takes your family to get ready.

 

[Fizban]

To be on the safe side i would make sure that you are at the bus stop no later than 40 minutes before your reservation. How long it takes to accomplish that goal depends on the participants.

 

[Alesia]

To be on the safe side i would make sure that you are at the bus stop no later than 40 minutes before your reservation. How long it takes to accomplish that goal depends on the participants.

That's likely going to be too late. Buses only run about every 30 minutes at that time of the morning.

 

[escriven75]

We had Be Our Guest breakfast ressies in March and were staying at Pop Century. I wanted us IN LINE for the bus no less than an hour before our breakfast time. So we got up and ready and out of the room 1.5 hrs before the reservation time. That way I didn't have to rush them walking to the bus, or wandering thru the gift shop or refilling our mugs. From Pop to MK is pretty far I think and we made it with time to spare, we didn't have to rush thru the park to get to Fantasyland, we had time for a couple photos and to soak in the empty park at that time of the morning. We are NOT early risers, but I can't stand having to rush us everywhere so we did allow extra time and it was worth rolling out of bed a little early. I think our reservation was pretty early too....7:30am maybe (I can't recall). Anyway, we were in line waiting an hour and 10 mins prior to our reservation time and we made it without a mad scramble. I think when I asked at the lobby they said to leave an hour and a half for travel time. We didn't end up needing that much but I bet there are times that are busier and for certain trips it could take almost that long. Depending on where you have to go and from where, if you're early risers anyway and don't mind getting up I'd say an hour to an hour and half gives you some wiggle room if things run slowly or your kids want to wander a bit.
Plus weird stuff happens. When we had Akershus breakfast last year, we left an hour before our reservation. And we got into the park and walking towards Norway and got stopped. Apparently there was a swarm of bees up ahead of us and they were holding everyone back until it was taken care of. They held us for quite a while....probably almost 30 mins and even tho they'd alerted the dining staff that they weren't letting people pass we were still all anxious cuz now we were past our breakfast time. Can't really plan ahead for bee swarms....that weird stuff just happens!
If you get to your destination quite early you could always look at a gift shop there or take pictures or something. I'd rather have too much time than be rushing around and stressed out. That's not very "vacationy". Have a great time!!!

 

[Auntof2]

Would driving make things easier than waiting on a bus, potentially with tons of other people that could fill the first bus before you get on?

 

[wdwrich]

Would driving make things easier than waiting on a bus, potentially with tons of other people that could fill the first bus before you get on?

For EPCOT, DAK and DHS, the answer is yes. For MK, driving may or may not be faster depending on bus wait times vs. the trip between the TTC (MK parking) and the MK entrance via ferry or monorail.

 

[tabistar]

We tend to either drive or take a taxi for early ADRs. It gives us a little more time to sleep and get ready. The kids are early risers, but I am NOT a morning person!

 

[Disneyliscious]

I have asked about this twice on the restaurant boards with no luck in a response (as have a few others). I hope the OP doesn't mind me asking in this thread but my question is for off site stayers.

What time do we need to be in the parking lot of MK in order to make an 8:25am ADR? We are staying at Windsor Hills and I've read its about a 15 minute drive to MK. I'm thinking we should leave by 7:15am and arrive at the parking lot about 7:30am then walk/tram/ferry to the gates by 8:10am. Does this sound reasonable?