Really, how do you do early mornings???

[aliceindisneyland]

For both EMH and rope drop, we get in line 10-15 minutes before opening. We used to show up earlier, but we figured out that "walking on" that first few rides wasn't reality: we had already waited in line for an hour for our first rides by lining up too early outside the gates!

 

[gottalovepluto]

The earliest we arrive is 5 min before EMH opening. As with @aliceindisneyland what's the point of waiting so you don't have to wait? We bring a quick breakfast (like a bagel) and buy an ESPRESSO (every adult's favorite word on EMH mornings). There is now a Starbucks in Downtown Disney that looks like it opens at 5am. I haven't tried it yet but have seen good reports. We eat our main breakfast counter service in the parks (at Riverbelle Terrace when possible) after EMH & a couple more rides.

 

[momof4fans]

I have read that it is good to get to the park early. I think I have read that an hour early is good to get there by. And that you can get so much done in the first two hours of the day.

I have been thinking it through:
To get to DL or CA for an 8:00 opening, we would need to get there by 7:00 supposedly.
Which means we would need to start eating breakfast by 6:15.
Which means we would need to get the kids (ages 5 and 8) around 5:45 a.m, which really to us is 3:45 a.m. since we will be flying in from Texas the day before.

So the above sounds tiring to me and that is just the start of the day.

Then I call our hotel (Embassy Suites South) and breakfast doesn't start until 6:30 a.m.
And the first shuttle starts at 7:15 a.m.
Which would not put us at DL until 7:30 a.m.

How important is it to get to DL an hour before opening and how does anybody do it that early??? Especially if you are coming in from a time zone east of California?

Just thinking of the above makes me cringe considering the one magic morning we would have on our tickets. Yikes.

Advice please!

We live in Nevada (Pacific Time Zone) and the thought of doing that makes me tired too! Our last trip was August 2013. The parks opened at 8am. We did pretty good getting there between 7:30-7:45. It was fine. We weren't the very first in line but we were in the first group. We bought our tickets at NAS Fallon (Navy Base) and even though they were 5 day ph's they didn't have MM (we're civilians.) This year I'm probably going to buy our tickets from Way.com. They have MM but I honestly don't see us getting there at 6:30am for the 7:00am opening. I have four kids. Two teenage boys and two girls six and eight. We manage the 8am opening ok but I realistically don't see us getting there before 7:30am. I suppose if we could manage to drag ourselves out of bed at 5am we could get a lot done in that hour though.

 

[momof4fans]

I would just say do the best you can to get there as early as you reasonably can. Even if you come 30 min after opening it is still going to be a lower crowd level than it will be at say 11am or noon. No sense in making everyone bleary eyed and miserable. We live in California so it is easier for us (no jet lag). I get up every day of my life at 5am anyway to go to the gym before work, so I am a trained early girl. My kids, however are another story. About a week before our trip I start to move their wake up time a bit earlier and earlier until they are getting up at 6am (our summer Dland wake up time). That helps but also being at Dland is a super big motivator for them. They want to get to the park at opening b/c crowds are so much lower. They will also hustle it in the morning knowing that they can have a long break and a nap midday. As for breakfast, we buy it the night before (i.e., pastries/bagels/turkey sandwich and milk from Downtown Dis or Jolly Holiday or Fidler Fifer) and have it all in the hotel fridge ready to go when we wake up so no need for spending time of sit down breakfast. We eat in the room while dressing and applying sunscreen. Have a great trip.

I do breakfast similar to you. My husband is an early bird and my teenage boys will get up and get dressed pretty quickly so they have time to go to the continental breakfast. My little girls (6 & 8) on the other hand don't do well if they are rushed. Little divas, I know! I get up and turn on cartoons. That way they wake up on their own, or so they think haha. They get dressed and then eat cereal in the room while I do their hair. I just bring cereal, milk, paper bowls and plastic spoons with us. This helps start our day on a pleasant note. Of course, I don't get breakfast, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice for a smooth morning haha!

 

[coaches24]

I have read that it is good to get to the park early. I think I have read that an hour early is good to get there by. And that you can get so much done in the first two hours of the day.

I have been thinking it through:
To get to DL or CA for an 8:00 opening, we would need to get there by 7:00 supposedly.
Which means we would need to start eating breakfast by 6:15.
Which means we would need to get the kids (ages 5 and 8) around 5:45 a.m, which really to us is 3:45 a.m. since we will be flying in from Texas the day before.

So the above sounds tiring to me and that is just the start of the day.

Then I call our hotel (Embassy Suites South) and breakfast doesn't start until 6:30 a.m.
And the first shuttle starts at 7:15 a.m.
Which would not put us at DL until 7:30 a.m.

How important is it to get to DL an hour before opening and how does anybody do it that early??? Especially if you are coming in from a time zone east of California?

Just thinking of the above makes me cringe considering the one magic morning we would have on our tickets. Yikes.

Advice please!

Coming from the different time zones should help you actually as 7 am at DL is 9 am in Texas. So it should feel much later for you than it will for the locals.

As for what we do. DD was 2, 3, 4, and 5 our 4 trips thus far. She needs to eat breakfast obviously so I made sure to have some healthy fruits and cereals that she likes handy. Stick some in a zip lock bag and she can eat on the run (she was in a stroller the first 3 trips so it was easy for her to eat while I pushed her around). That way I didn't have to wake her up until just a little while before we had to leave the hotel. I woke her up with just enough time to get her ready. I would be up earlier of course to get myself ready. I would usually grab myself a bite to eat in DTD or wait to get something small in the park just to tide me over till I was ready to stop for lunch and get a full meal in me.

We arrive at the gates about 45-60 min before park opening (if we had a MM we arrived 30-45 min before that time). Our goal was to be one of the first through so we could get to FL first and avoid lines through out.

Throughout the day I always had some of DDs favorite snacks on hand so when she was hungry it wouldn't be a big crisis getting her fed. She was quite content with her snacks between rides for much of the day.

 

[disneyfirsttimer18]

When we were there, EMH was at 9am, which for us was actually 10. We are MST. Having the time change work in your favor is the best.

We got to the gates within 10 minutes of opening and got in pretty quick. I don't have the patience to stand around just waiting for an hour. Won't do it for a ride, won't do it to get in.

 

[elaine amj]

For both EMH and rope drop, we get in line 10-15 minutes before opening. We used to show up earlier, but we figured out that "walking on" that first few rides wasn't reality: we had already waited in line for an hour for our first rides by lining up too early outside the gates!

Very true. But somehow for our family it "feels" better. Plus we get to squeeze more into our day

I do try to throw a few "sleep in" days to the mix though - especially when we are at WDW for 10-12 days. DH loves the more relaxed pace and realistically, we still walk in around 9ish.

Not sure if we will do any sleep in days at DLR. We are there for a week, so it is possible. I waiting until June to subscribe to Ridemax and I will see what their plans come up with.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

As others have said, you don't need to be at the gates until about 15-20 minutes before opening at the earliest, unless you happen to be going on the 60th anniversary day or something.

I naturally wake up pretty early, and am used to it for work anyway, so it hasn't been an issue for me. However, not all in my family have felt the same. The keys are taking showers before you go to bed instead of in the mornings, and also not wasting your time with a sit down breakfast. This doesn't mean you can't take advantage of continental breakfast - we often do. We go pick up some of the bagels, pastries, toast, fruit, and whatever else is portable and eat it as we are walking to the parks. By the time we get to the gates we are nice and energized. When at a hotel without free breakfast we bring our own, usually energy bars and other snacks, and eat that on the way there or while waiting in a line.

And honestly, we are all usually so excited to get into the park that getting people out of bed and ready to go is not an issue!

 

[Gisele]

Not very well. Lol.

 

[gcatt]

We are a morning and evening park family, and do find arriving early for EMH is worth the effort to help us be able to do more in the parks in less time. it takes a little prep work from us as parents, but it is fairly easy on the kids.

Kids do showers and hair washing after afternoon pool time, so can basically hop out of bed in the morning. All they need to do is brush teeth, wash faces, put on clothing and stumble out the door.

We pack simple breakfasts (yogurt, fruit, hard boiled eggs, granola bars, etc.) and just have a quick breakfast picnic in line at the front gate. We also use the line time to apply sunscreen. I suppose technically we are "waiting so we don't have to wait," but it's productive time. Instead of 20 minutes at the hotel doing breakfast and sunscreen plus 20 minutes in line, we combine them into one.

For our kids it's important to be sure to have protein with the breakfast picnic, plus a bar or something for a midmorning snack.

Typical summer morning :

• DH and I get up and are ready to go by 6:10.
• Start waking up kids at 6:00, out of bed by 6:10. (Note: results may vary)

• Guide kids through teeth, face, and quick change.

• Walk out of hotel 6:20 / 6:25, in gate line by 6:40, depending on security line.

• Eat, sunscreen, and relax in front gate line.

• With the early arrival we can get on a lot of rides by 11, then stop for early lunch sometime after that.

Our kids were 3 and 5 when we started this. We now have teens of 14 and 16. They love DLR, and support our "scheduled" approach enthusiastically in principle, but will need occasional prodding to get out the door in the morning. At some point the excitement of being at DLR always kicks in.

 

[Diszona]

I wouldn't stress over it. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to do what works for YOUR family. We get up as early as we can handle each day, and go from there. If I start out the day stressed out just trying to get to the park, it will impact my enjoyment of the day.

This. I know two things about my family: 1) We are miserable in the mornings and 2) We are going to stay until close no matter what. For us it is better to get to the parks a little later and stay to the end, rather than get up early, get to the parks, inevitably never go back to rest in the afternoon and then be exhausted for the rest of the day. I have found that we can always get a lot of rides in close to the park closing when a lot of families who don't have crazy night owl kids like mine have headed home or to their hotels. Plus, we love the parks at night when everything is lit up so that tends to be the most fun time for us anyway. Even during the busier times in the afternoons we have developed strategies around which rides/attractions are the busiest, which fast passes don't run out as early, etc. While this would be a terrible plan for some it is perfect for us. It really depends on what you think would work the best for you family and then planning accordingly.

 

[kangamama]

I'm another who wouldn't stress about it. I've only ever made it to Rope Drop ONCE in all the trips I've taken to DL, and it was a miserable experience for my family. I'll never waste time and energy with EMHs, etc, again. While I'm a morning person, my family is not made up of morning people, and it was a disaster. We only ever have 2 or 3 day parkhoppers, and we don't always make it to closing time, but we always get everything done that we want to get done. You know your family best, and it sounds like you are concerned about adding the stress of lining up an hour early.

 

[pindecisive]

This will be my first experience with MM. That being said I've stayed walk distance and tram/car distance and never found the lines really difficult. Though the trams in '11 were awful after they bought that new parking lot.

Beyond trying out the MM I agree that I don't see the point of doing early mornings but this year will deviate from my usual June/ January times so we'll see.

 

[bumbershoot]

While I'm a morning person, my family is not made up of morning people, and it was a disaster.

I'm not a morning person except when at Disneyland. There I'm up and ready. DH is a morning person because of work. At Disneyland, he's a sleeper!

And we finally worked it out that if I am up and want to go, I am NOT being passive-aggressive by saying "I'm going to go, you guys meet me when you're ready to". That that is an honest, true, statement, and I want everyone to be happy. If that means I get up and go, and my guys meet me an hour or three later, that makes everyone happy!

Of course, it did get me out of kid-getting-ready-duty, bwa ha ha, but then DH was more rested. He's a grown man and could handle getting a kid ready.


I highly recommend splitting up, if you have different styles, if that works for your family.

 

[pindecisive]

I highly recommend splitting up, if you have different styles, if that works for your family.

I completely agree. The best lesson I learned when traveling with someone(s) with opposite needs is to do your own thing. If they wait they get frustrated, if you feel rushed you get frustrated. It's nice to do things together, but you don't need to spend the whole vacation as a team - you can go off and do your own thing and still have a great vacation

 

[TechGuy]

IMHO, getting there early is nice but you will go thru security and then into the Esplanade to wait for the ticket gates to open, thru the turnstiles and then inside for the wait for the rope drop. You have some leeway in all of this so you don't need to overly stress but if you have a larger party, you can split up. use your phone to find each other and have defined places to meet if separated.

Also, remember, some of the lines end up splitting right before the gates and service two gate and move faster than some of the others.

 

[agamble]

IMHO, getting there early is nice but you will go thru security and then into the Esplanade to wait for the ticket gates to open, thru the turnstiles and then inside for the wait for the rope drop. You have some leeway in all of this so you don't need to overly stress but if you have a larger party, you can split up. use your phone to find each other and have defined places to meet if separated.

Also, remember, some of the lines end up splitting right before the gates and service two gate and move faster than some of the others.

Yes and in the middle is a big tree that makes people think there is no line there, but there is...and it's usually shorter.

 

[McNs]

We stayed on site last trip and had a few 7am EMH starts. The alarm would be set for around 6, I would get up and start getting ready (all 5 minutes for me...) and then try and get everyone else going. It is tough, especially on holiday, but then when you get in to the empty parks and it is a beautiful morning, it is totally worth it!

 

[Peezle]

You've heard varying opinions and read varying experiences. The best advice, as many have already stated, is to do what you think is best for you and your family. If you are not morning people, killing yourselves to get there for MM could potentially ruin the rest of your first day which would not be worth it. From my own personal experience, the number of rides you can knock out during the MM hour and the first hour after park opening made it totally worth it for us to make the effort to take advantage of early entry. It really enhanced our experience. If you decide to do MM, 15-30 min early is fine. The folks who go an hour (or more) early want to be at the front of the line to get in.

One other suggestion. Check with Embassy Suites and see if you can make a reservation to be on that first morning shuttle. Some hotels have sign-up lists for shuttle rides, especially if they know they are busy at certain times. You would not be a happy camper if you went to the effort to get everyone up and ready for that first shuttle only to find out that it was full of people trying to get to DL early and had to wait for the 2nd or 3rd run.

I'm from the Lone Star state too. Several people have clarified that the time change is actually in your favor going to CA from TX. We had a hard time going to bed "on time" that first night because we weren't tired. So the time change will help with your first morning there!

 

[bumbershoot]

We had a hard time going to bed "on time" that first night because we weren't tired.

But going east to west, that doesn't make sense, either. When it's 9 for your bodies, it's 7 in CA. When it's midnight for you it's only 10pm in CA.

Having a hard time going to bed is for a west coast person going to Florida. Your body thinks it's 6 but it's 9 there, and if you want any chance of getting up semi-early in the morning you have to convince yourself to go to bed!

So you guys were probably just excited to be there.



If that Embassy Suites is down near the Buca di Beppo, know that you CAN actually walk it. We stayed at one of the resorts right there and walked it every morning. Terrific walk in the morning, actually.