Some dumb questions ;)

[todzwife]

Ok...

#1: How early do we need to arrive at the gates on a regular day. DL opens at 8 AM all 3 mornings we are going to be there.
#2: How early do we need to arrive on EE day? (Tuesday)
#3: Is there a gate that is the best to be at if we want to hit Nemo first thing Monday AM?

#4 If we get priority seating for BB on Monday, how early do we need to arrive to get a waterfront table? We are thinking about getting the earliest reservation possible.
#5: Does anyone do anything special for birthdays? It's going to be my sisters birthday on the Monday we are there.

Ok...that's all the dumb questions I have for now. I'll be back with more later.

 

[avalon451]

1. There are no dumb questions... only the questions you don't ask.

2. It depends on what you're planning to see. If you want to do the Nemo Stampede, I would plan to get to security at 7:10 a.m., if you're doing it oon a non-MM day. That should put you at or near the front of the security line. You should have your bag out, open, and on the table well before they open up security; usually it's like a half hour before gate opening. Then HURRY for the turnstiles and see if you can be first in line at one. You will be very near the front. You will need to walk "with a purpose" (I admit, we jogged) to stay near the front of the pack and get on the first or second sub. Otherwise you'll be waiting for an hour.

If you get there later than you intended, Unofficial Guide says to line up in front of gate 13. This is because the line for gate 14 is partially blocked by a tree, so it feeds from the line at 13 as well, and thusly that line moves faster.
A few people on this forum have confirmed that.

If you're not doing the Nemo stampede, I wouldn't worry about it so much; get to security by 7:25 or 7:30. You won't be first in line, but you'll walk on to nearly everything for the first hour or so.

If there's rope drop, get toward the side that you'll be touring first. Left side for Indy, PotC, etc., right side for Space, Buzz etc. If you get there sort of late, and the crowds are packed halfway down Main Street for rope drop, there's a little known fact: the stores are open for shopping. Go in the ones on the right side. They are all connected at the back of the store. Saunter casually through the back of the stores till you reach the last one, step out the door, and you are almost at the top of Main Street, ahead of most of the crowds. Sneaky, I know. I haven't tried it, but Unofficial Guide swears by this technique.

On a MM day, opening is at 7 a.m. for MM. If you're doing Fantasyland, I'd say 6:30-6:45 a.m. is fine. That's what we did, and we walked right onto Peter Pan (PP first, always first! ). Again, the lines at the turnstiles will probably be long, but it's not such a rush to see FL rides.

BB: I think lunch seating starts at 11:30 a.m.? I have heard that a good plan is to get the 11:30 PS, show up at 11:15, and ask the hostess for waterside seating. Others have said that for dinner, you should show up 15 minutes early for your PS, request waterside, and then be prepared to wait for 20 or so minutes, and you can usually get it.

Hope that helps!

 

[todzwife]

Thank you so much