re: 805 ADR Crystal Palace...should I take it?

[aheaviside]

I just got an 8:05 am Crystal Palace ADR after weeks of trying. We are now staying off site (about 20-25 mins away) and have 2 young kids 2 and 4 who have never been to Disney. I really wanted to get into the park early as my kids will probably start falling apart and need naps by 100 so I thought breakfast would get us in early and get us to Fantasyland ahead of the crowds to do Dumbo, Pan and Pooh within first hour.

But I'm worried about what time we will have to leave house for an 805 am. If we got to parking lot at MK at 730 am, could we make 805 ADR?

Is it worth it to get into MK pre rope drop with very young kids vs getting up at the crack of dawn?

Any thoughts or personal experiences greatly appreciated. We will already have our park tickets and bringing our own stroller so won't need to stop for either of those before ADR.

 

[crabbygal902]

I would grab that 8:05 and hold on for dear life!!

Are your kids early risers? If so, this would probably be a good fit for you.

The positives:
getting to see a nearly empty Magic Kingdom
personal attention from the characters when they are 'fresh' for a new day
fresh, hot food on the buffet
fresh, happy kids that are not over-tired or over-stimulated
getting an early start on your park day when the crowds are lower then taking kids for a nap when the crowds and heat pick up

The negatives:
having to get up early.
really, that's all I've got.

We always stay on property, so I don't know about the time it takes to get from the parking lot to the MK. Maybe Robo will chime in; he'll know.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

1) What are you doing the day before? If you are planning to be home at a normal hour, no fireworks, and no late dinner then go for it.
2) What time they normally wake up at home? Is this really early for them at home and if it's late in your trip it's probably not a good idea.
3) Another thing to consider is what happens if they haven't seen all the characters before r?. (Sometimes they are slow.) Are your kids going to be ok with skipping the last characters or are you going to be ok with missing RD?

Our kids are that age and we've done prerd and it has worked for us. Although we have also planned them and had to miss it completely. While it's nice to be in the park early sometimes the effort isn't worth the extra work. You can sleep 40 minutes longer and still make RD with kids eating in the stroller. So which is works for your family? I REFUSE to wake my kids early at disney... even for characaters.... it sets them up for a meltdown earlier.

Arriving at MK lot at 7:30 should be fine... they don't let you into MK until 8 regardless of your ADR time. That is the prerd rd.

 

[aheaviside]

My kids normally wake early 630-730 am so I doubt I'll be waking them up. Thinking they will around be awake.

Day 1- a half day at Animal Kingdom from 9-1 pm on Thursday. Pool time at home and normal bedtime.
Day 2 is 805 ADR at crystal palace, then MK till kids fall apart and home for naps.

 

[princess aleya]

I think that you should hurry and make the adr for 8:05, they don't last long.

 

[donnaf516]

Grab it before someone else does!

 

[aheaviside]

Great. Thanks. I got the ADR so we will just have to pack the car the night before and be ready for an early morning. I'd much prefer an early morning so going to try out the breakfast and hopefully be out of crystal palace at rope drop as we don't need to see every character there.

 

[Moon Child]

I would keep it
We did the 8:05 breakfast before and it was incredible!
We have pics of Main St and only us and another family walking down it

 

[teacher31]

Great. Thanks. I got the ADR so we will just have to pack the car the night before and be ready for an early morning. I'd much prefer an early morning so going to try out the breakfast and hopefully be out of crystal palace at rope drop as we don't need to see every character there.

We are a family of 5, with three kids. We went there for an 8:05 our first year and have gone every year at that time. It is wonderful. We have a fantastic meal and then go out before the running of the tourists. They have a second rope at where they want to hold the people inside the park and we are typically first there. We are usually out of the restaurant by 8:50. It is a great time to have breakfast and enjoy the crowdless pictures!

 

[mybgirl]

Hi

We love CP early ARD,

Have two this June

get a good night sleep ,

try to be at MK by 7:30, to 7:40 let you in park at 8;00 AM
in the past , we have done CP 8:05 am ARD , 7 times works great for us ,
we do stay at a Disney Resort ,

you will just get up a little ealier will be fine

Mary


take care God Bless

 

[shawnh199]

Being at MK at 7:30 should be OK, but you do have to go through the security check lines first before heading over to the character breakfast lines (all the way to the right hand side of the gates). We had a 815 ADR on our last trip (805 on this May's trip!!) and they opened the character breakfast gates around 745/750am to let us in the park. We had to stop and buy autograph books, got to CP and checked in.

Check in as soon as you get there. Even with our 815adr, we were the 5th family seated at 805am. Take your pictures after you check in because you won't be seated until atleast 805am.

Definitely take care of your check early on in the meal or your chances of making rope drop diminish. We were done with our meal and had seen all the characters by 845am, but since we had to take care of our check, we didn't get out until around 905am. We still only had a 10 minute wait on Dumbo so it wasn't too bad, but take care of that check early on!

If 805am is still available, grab it! If not, grab what ever is earliest and make sure you check in right away. You never know if you will get seated earlier.