UOG'S take on early entry has me confused

[Lucy6]

My family and I(me, dh, ds8, dd5) are taking our first trip to Disney and I am trying to plan out our itinerary. We are staying on site, and I thought we would take advantage of the early entry hours. I have been reading the unofficial guide and it seems to have a lot of useful info in it. I am confused about whether to go to the different parks on their ee days, or take the UOG's advice, and skip those parks on ee days as they get too crowded. What do you all think? I would love your input!!

 

[CamColt]

My kids are 7 &4 and we are all early people. For the rides/attractions we want, we find EE works great for us at MK & AK. We usually do MGM & Epcot on their non EE days.

AK works well because we only do 1/2 day there. Having that extra hour give us just enough extra time to do everything we want, and still be able to take a pool break and get to another park in the evening.

We like EE at MK so we can knock out Fantasyland usually with no lines, all before breakfast at the Bakeshop(one of our must dos). Also we have started doing the Speedway during EE now because we have found that line is one of the longest at WDW(and it doesnt offer FP). We like to do that with not much of a line when we can. With that said, we usually stay at MK until 12:00 or 1:00, take a break and hop to another park in the afternoon.

 

[NMAmy]

We usually do EE at all parks because we're early morning people and well, we're up anyway! I make a PS for lunch somewhere in the EE park and we stay until after lunch and then go back to the hotel for a little rest and go to a different park in the evening.

That way you can take advantage of the short lines early and then leave when it starts to get busy. I really like to take a lot of photographs at EE. The pictures from our last trip make it look like we were the only ones in the park!

 

[dcmbshafe]

I think the reason UOG may be confusing to you is because the ultimate answer is dependent upon a couple of factors. The primary factor is when you think you might get your family rolling in the morning.

If you think you'll be able to get everyone moving early and be at the parks when they open for EE, then you will likely be able to get a lot of things done before the park begins to get really busy.

On the other hand, if it takes a little while to get going, perhaps if you like a leisurely breakfast (or if you just like to sleep in while on vacation), then it might be advisable to avoid the EE parks because over the course of the entire day, the EE parks will be busier than the other parks.

The optimal strategy with EE (my opinion) is to get to the park before it opens, experience as many attractions as possible until the park begins to get really crowded, then hop to a different park.

 

[QuickGold]

I'd avoid parks that have EE on the day but if you want to go to a park that has EE on one day, I'd go to EE and then leave by 10 or 11am as by that time the park will start to get crowded and then I'd go to another park.

 

[oogieboogie]

Our family always does EE, especially at MK where there are more rides open during EE than other parks. EE is great for knocking off Fantasyland (especially Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh rides) off your to-do list with minimal waits.

If your family is ready to wake up early, then go for EE, stay in the park until 11am, then head out to lunch/another park. If you want to sleep in, then don't go to the park that has EE.

Our plans haven't changed to this point:
wake up early, grab quick bite to eat, eat it in the bus on the way to MK, get in EE, go to Tomorrowland to Buzz and make our way to Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, and then Toontown. By the time we've done all the rides, we're ready for lunch around 11 or 11:30am, and then Adventureland later on or another day.

The only EE we don't do is AK. Just no reason to at this point.

 

[DisneyMom5]

We went off-season (early Feb.) and for the most part crowds were light enough that EE wasn't necessary. That said, AK EE was awesome! We were on the Safari first thing, and the animals were all right there. I overheard others say later in the day that there were no animals on the safari. So that is an advantage.
Also, we arrived late at MK (around 10:30?) on an EE and it was the most crowded we had seen all week. [I never want to be there on a peak day! Yikes.]
So, go early/leave early, weigh out the season, and avoid EE if the park is going to be extra crowded.

 

[lark]

Just to distill what others are saying down to a simple premise, it is this: the EE park is a great option until the late morning, after which it is a bad option and the non-EE parks become advantageous.

So to recap, if you don't like to park hop or don't get up early -- go to the non-EE park and enjoy your day. If you like to park hop and get up early, the most efficient touring would be to do the EE park, do the EE rides, at official park opening time do the secondary rides, and when it hits late morning and you lose the edge that EE gave you, go to another park.

 

[Lucy6]

We are going from 2/24 through 3/4/05, so I believe this should not be a high crowd season(at least that's the idea). Thanks for all the input so far. At home, I can't get my kids to sleep past 6am, so I am assuming EE may be possible for us. Park hopping sounds like a good way to go.