Question about Early Entry

[3darlingirls]

I have been reading all the great information found here. You all are wonderful !! and in reading all the posts and tips I have gotten some great PS for our trip in early May. THANKS! My question is about Early Entry...BTW, is this the same as surprise mornings and extra magic hour?? We are not staying on property, for the first time. And I am concerend about not being at the parks right at opening. We have PS at Cindys at 8:00, on a Wednesday. But I had heard that the parks will open early even without EE. I got this from The Unofficial Guide to WDW. Is that true? I have visions of relaxing at breakfast, all while the lines are building, building, building. I really don't want our young DDs to have to wait in long lines in Fantasyland, given we are willing to go early to beat the crowds. We will be driving, and how do we park/arrive so that we get into the park on time? Also, we have set up our itinerary such that we will go to Animal Kingdom on Monday, which is EE day. We don't have that privledge, and I am wondering how bad it will be to get there at the regular opening hour. Finally, and this is probably a bad thing to say/think.....can we beat the system, and make PS in AK for 8:00 so we can get in early, but then not keep them? Is that truly terrible? Will the PS for the rest of our week then be voided? I am very grateful for any help/suggestions!!

 

[CM Tinkerbell]

Originally posted by 3darlingirls
.can we beat the system, and make PS in AK for 8:00 so we can get in early, but then not keep them? Is that truly terrible? Will the PS for the rest of our week then be voided? I am very grateful for any help/suggestions!!

When you make a PS prior to the opening time at AK, they will put you in groups of a few families and you will wait at the gate. When your group is called, they will walk you directly to the restaurant. So it's really not possible to just enter the park. They are very careful about this.

 

[RescueRanger]

You may have opened a can of worms with your question. Alot of people on these boards do not take kindly with people even suggesting taking advantage of perks offered to WDW guests. Although I try not to be judgemental, I do see their point that benefits like EE are for people paying to stay on Disney property. When you stay on property, you are paying quite a bit more than someone in a comparable room that is off property, but people pay more because of the benefits to on-site guests. Is it fair for someone to take advantage of a perk that they really aren't entitled to?? You have to let your conscience be your guide, but if alot of people started doing what you are suggesting it will start getting crowded and the benefit will no longer be a benefit . And as Tinkerbell says, I don't think Disney would allow it to happen anyway. Is there a reason you decided to stay off property this trip? There are so many discounts available on Disney Resorts right now that you might be able to check into. JMHO

 

[Rileygirl]

Hey there

That information you got from the Unofficial guide is old, old, old. (is it an old one?) Apparently since sept 11, things have changed at disney and I understand from my tourguide buddy that when the park opens at nine, thats basically what time it opens... sometimes a few minutes earlier but you are only allowed to walk down mainstreet and the actual lands are roped off till the stroke of nine. This was certainly the case when we visited in march. We spent three days at mk, a sunday, a tues and a wed.
The Ps at cindy's at 800am should be perfect for you. Try to be out by 8:50 and you will be right by the ropes when they drop for fantasyland.
We stayed on site, so cant help you with the transportation issue.... but if you can manage it be there as early as possible, maybe 7:45...only I dont know if monerails are running then or not.......
My humble opinion.... do not do ak on early entry day if you are not a resort guest, and I would not risk the happiness of the day by trying to sorta sneak in....
Good Luck
rileygirl

 

[gepetto]

They do check resort ID's. Offsite guests are not allowed in. I'm sure you wouldn't want to stand around for an hour watching the onsite resort guests going into the parks. If EE is such an important thing to you, why don't you just pay the money and stay onsite rather than looking for ways to scam the system?

I remember a few years ago they sometimes opened the parks a few minutes early (maybe 15 ??) but I don't think they do that now except during the holidays.

 

[halfway there]

I wouldn't worry too much about long lines in Fantasyland on a Wed. morning as long as you are able to finish with breakfast by 9am when the park opens.
We were just there in March and went to MK on a Monday from an off-site hotel. We were able to park in one of the front parking lots (Sleepy, I think), walk to the TTC and arrive in Fantasyland before 9:30am.
The waits for most of these attractions were 15 min or less. We walked right on to Snow White got fast passes for Pooh, waited till later for Dumbo (altho' wait time was only 30 min which is what we waited at the end of the night), 15-20 min for both Small World and Peter Pan (altho' that line is deceptive and fast passes are available).
My advice is use your fast passes wisely and hit the other stuff in quick succession and then get out of there till later in the evening. Fantasyland was mobbed for the rest of the afternoon with wait times in the 45-60 min range.
As for AK, there are no real rides to worry about wait times there. Go early, parking is very close to the entrance.

 

[rccruiser]

by the way, you can still stay in a Hilton, Shariton or Doubletree and get early entry morning to WDW theeme parks. Just stay at a Downtown Disney Hotel. All the downtown Disney properties lease their land from Disney and are officially a Walt Disneyworld Property.

My wife and I and our 2 children are staying at Hilton by using our HHonor Points from Hilton for 5 days completly FREE! We booked a golf package for a reduced point stay of 100,000. points and we get all the perks of being in the park. We are also renting a car for convienience of getting around since I hear the bus service from the are is not the best. (from what I hear).

We were trying to book Annual Passholder rates but they did not come out with them after April 9th for some reason and I refuse to pay FULL PRICE just to stay on Disney Property. Free is much better for the same perks.

 

[tar heel]

rccruiser - the Hilton is the only Downtown Disney resort that gets early entry. My family of 5 would have to get two rooms there, and we can stay on-site for less $.

 

[3darlingirls]

Thanks to everyone for your good advice. (Message received on trying to "scam the system", and I am forever banishing even the (evil) *thought* re AK!) In the spirit of this being a discussion board, it is enlightening and good to understand how people think and feel about that, which is fair. As for the two questions posed to me...I got the info about EE from the 2002 version (it is buried between pages 407-410 if anyone is looking at how they say it works). As for staying off-site this time, it is because our family has grown to the point that even a suite won't work for us. We need to either get two connecting rooms, or a condo/home away from home. Getting either of those on property, when we booked, was prohibitively expensive for us. Instead, we were able to find a highly rated condo in Kissimmee for under $500 for the week. Of course now we have to rent the car, too. Plus we will not have the benefits of being on-site. But we needed a car to go to Sea World and Kennedy anyways, so we decided to try it. I am just not confident of the parking situation, and am really nervous that we will have trouble parking and getting into the MK in time for our PS at 8:00. Anyways, thanks to everyone for your advice.

 

[deirdrefitch]

My family has stayed off-site with PS at Cindy's Castles for 8:00.
We had no problems with parking. We arrived at the park at 7:15, board the monoral at TTC. Give CM at front gate your ressie and you will be through the gates in no time. Check in early at Cindy's, we were actually seated before 8:00. After breakfast, find the hub entrance leading to the first ride you want to enjoy. The rope normally drops at exactly 9:00 A.M.
We used fastpass, and never had any problems with extremely long lines. Try not to worry, and enjoy your breakfast!

 

[rccruiser]

In the defence of the Hilton WDW in downtown Disney the perks outweigh alot. Granted I would love to stay at the CR or the GF or PR but I would NOT pay $250.-$400. dollars a night for a hotel room that we only sleep in.

Hilton Downtown Disney Benifits including Early Entry Admission

* Free with Hilton HHonor Points collected from Am Express and stays.
* Only Downtown Disney property that has Early Entry privilages (I stand corrected)
*Free Disney bus service to the parks (but limited to transfers to TTC for water parks etc.)
* Character breakfast with Disney Characters on Sunday morning breakfasts.
* Downtown Disney is right across the street within walking distance Paradise Pier and also Circus D'sole
* 4 Star Hotel
* Room Service available
* Golf Coarse
* Closest to the Crossroads shopping mall area for groceries etc.
with early entry privilages

Even if we had to pay the $150. dollars per night per room it is very convienent to Downtown Disney entertainment.

 

[lentesta]

Hi 3DarlinGirls,

I work for the Unofficial Guide. I believe the scenario you're likely to see is close to the "Low season" opening described on page 80 of the 2002 edition. You probably won't be admitted into the park early, though. More than likely you won't be allowed through the turnstile until opening.

For what it's worth, the Magic Kingdom touring plans in the 2003 edition are much improved over 2002.

Drop me a line if you have further questions: testa@ncat.edu.

Sincerley,

Len

 

[Rileygirl]

With the way disney is constantly changing hours, entertainment and proceedures, it is very hard for a book to have current and true information. For example, I think they have changed the hours and entertainment over the two weeks of easter at least four times, the latest just a couple of days ago regarding AK hours .... As for your trip in early may (lucky you!!!) I would keep checking those may hours for changes. Just before you go to leave I suggest you go to stephen soares site
http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/index.htm
he lists the current etertainment and park schedule. As far as opening proccedures, I dont think they are going to change, but who knows? Just keep watching the disboard, and maybe ask just before you leave what the openings were like...
Have fun
rileygirl

 

[MEM]

I would suggest you try AK the morning AFTER the early entry day. We always stay on site, but during the last trip we decided to try out the theory that the park that was EE the day before, will be much less crowded the day AFTER. We did EE for MK one day and it was mobbed at the gates. We were still able to walk on many rides but the initial crowds were daunting. The next day we did MK again at its regular time and the crowds were easily one fourth of the day before. We did the same with AK and the theory proved to be true for us. We walked on KS both mornings.