Strategy for 930 am breakfast reservations

[ram2016]

I made a handful of 9:30-9:45 am breakfast reservations for our upcoming April trip. We did PPO breakfasts everyday last trip, and I wore the family out with the early rising.

For Animal Kingdom and Epcot... If we arrive around 9-9:15....will we have a long wait getting into the park? If so, what is the policy of you show up 10 mins or so late to an ADR?

 

[nursejackie]

In my experience it depends what time the park opens on that day. Epcot almost always opens at 9am (except Thursday EMH at 8am) so you will be queuing through security and entrance gates with everyone if you arrive around 9am. The same goes for AK if it's a 9am opening but the queues will most likely be longer for people waiting to run to FOP at rope drop.

If it's EMH and you are staying on site we would arrive around 15 minutes before it ends so we can bypass the big queue of off site guests waiting, and there's unlikely to be a line of on-site guests at 45 minutes after EMH started so you can walk in. It means arriving a little before you wanted to but you can wander around a shop rather than stand in a big queue for longer.

Of course there isn't a separate line for security for on site guests and that holds everyone up on busy days.

 

[Pumbaa_]

You are going to spend prime touring time eating at opening. The family may hate this even more than ppo breakfasts

anyhoo....

you should be at the gate 30 minutes before opening. there is no rule on arriving late to an adr. There is a general consensus that there is a 15 minute grace period. However, I’ve never seen that as a formal policy.

 

[ram2016]

I would agree if we were the normal family lol. The kids aren’t interested in many of the popular rides at either park. We will have FP for the ones they do and even finding three attractions they wanted to ride were tricky.

Appreciate your response! Now to modify for earlier times

 

[ram2016]

In my experience it depends what time the park opens on that day. Epcot almost always opens at 9am (except Thursday EMH at 8am) so you will be queuing through security and entrance gates with everyone if you arrive around 9am. The same goes for AK if it's a 9am opening but the queues will most likely be longer for people waiting to run to FOP at rope drop.

If it's EMH and you are staying on site we would arrive around 15 minutes before it ends so we can bypass the big queue of off site guests waiting, and there's unlikely to be a line of on-site guests at 45 minutes after EMH started so you can walk in. It means arriving a little before you wanted to but you can wander around a shop rather than stand in a big queue for longer.

Of course there isn't a separate line for security for on site guests and that holds everyone up on busy days.

Great advice for my magic kingdom day...thanks!