What time to be at resort bus stop for 8 am/9 am park openings?

[peg2001]

We will be at the All Stars and want to get to the parks and through bag check before park opening. MK will be opening at 8 am and the other parks at 9 am during the days of our visit.

We are hoping to avoid the stampedes to the most popular rides at each park as we'll have fastpasses for Mine Train at MK, FOP at AK, and Frozen/Test Track at EP. We are hoping this will make park opening a little less stressful. We are planning to head to Na'vi first thing at AK, Soarin' first thing at EP, and Big Thunder/Space Mountain on our MK days.

What time would you arrive at the resort bus stop? Is 7 am for an 8 am opening and 8 am for a 9 am opening early enough to have a smooth morning?

 

[kaytieeldr]

6:30 and 7:30-7:45

 

[peg2001]

6:30 and 7:30-7:45

Ah. Ok. A little earlier than I was thinking. Thanks!

 

[nighttowll]

If MK opens at 8:00, that means they start letting people in at 7:00.

If you want to be at the front of the crowd, you need to be there before that, say 6:30.

Then you need to calculate the time to travel from your resort to MK, Touring Plans puts that at 20 minutes. So now you are at 6:10. Then you have to factor in the time you wait for the bus to arrive anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes on average. Let’s say 15. Now it’s 5:55. Lastly, subtract the walk time from your hotel room to the bus stop, anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, we will estimate 5 minutes. This estimate would put you leaving your hotel room at 5:50 to arrive around 6:30.

Obviously, you don’t have to leave that early if you don’t want to. Just subtract about 45 minutes to an hour from the time you’d like to arrive, to determine around when you need to leave. I like to tell everyone in my room the longer estimate, in your case an hour, that way we actually end up getting out the door by the shorter estimate, 45 minutes early in your case.

Arrival Time - Bus Time - Wait for Bus - Walk to Bus = When to Leave
6:30 - 20 minutes - 15 minutes - 5 minutes = 5:50 (average scenario)
6:30 - 30 minutes - 30 minutes - 15 minutes = 5:15 (worst case scenario, not necessary to plan so early in the morning, would plan for if I was making a dinner reservation or something)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

If MK opens at 8:00, that means they start letting people in at 7:00.

Forgive the correction, but this is not accurate - the 1 hour early on Main Street only applies to 9AM openings, not 8AM (or earlier) openings. For 8AM regular park openings, they start letting people in 7:45ish.

The "Let the Magic Begin" welcome show will be at the Castle Stage at 7:55AM, after which they "drop the ropes" to the rest of the park.

 

[Shanti]

This is less of an issue on extra magic hour mornings (when you're staying onsite), because fewer people can get in at EMH rope drop than at regular rope drop, and it's an hour earlier, so fewer people are up & ready to tour. Plus ride lines move faster, as there is no FP during EMH. I strongly recommend attending EMH mornings whenever you can during your trip. You can get a lot done.

 

[nighttowll]

Thanks for the correction. I thought it was 1 hour early for MK no matter when the park opened. So yes, then arriving between 6:30 to 7:00 for 7:45 opening would put you at the front of the crowd.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

If MK opens at 8:00, that means they start letting people in at 7:00.

If you want to be at the front of the crowd, you need to be there before that, say 6:30... This estimate would put you leaving your hotel room at 5:50 to arrive around 6:30.

The only time I'd advise being at a bus stop at 6 AM is for a 7 AM (EMH) opening at MK (possibly buses arrive earlier than that. The earliest one we've been on was about 6:05 from Pop Century). I would not get to the bus stop at 6 for an 8:00 opening. I'm not even sure buses are running that early if the park isn't opening at 7:00 for AM EMH. If MK opens at 8:00, I'd probably be at the bus stop by 6:40. I like to be there waiting when the park opens, but I don't mind being a bit further back in the crowd. I don't need to be the first one in the park, lol.

 

[nighttowll]

The only time I'd advise being at a bus stop at 6 AM is for a 7 AM (EMH) opening at MK (possibly buses arrive earlier than that. The earliest one we've been on was about 6:05 from Pop Century). I would not get to the bus stop at 6 for an 8:00 opening. I'm not even sure buses are running that early if the park isn't opening at 7:00 for AM EMH. If MK opens at 8:00, I'd probably be at the bus stop by 6:40. I like to be there waiting when the park opens, but I don't mind being a bit further back in the crowd. I don't need to be the first one in the park, lol.

Yes. That was to arrive by 6:30 if the park was opening at 7:00 (I thought it was always 1 hr early, not just 9 am openings), and you wanted to be in the front of rope drop crowd. Since it isn’t opening at 7:00, but 7:45 you are right that you don’t need to leave as early. In addition, this is why I showed how I came up with that time, so the OP can decide when they do want to arrive and just subtract the travel time from there.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I leave my room around 7-7:15 am for 8 am opening. 8-8:15 am for 9 am opening. We always make it to the park 15-30 minutes before park opening. I'm okay not being right at the front of the pack. We still get a great jump start on rides with little to no wait. I don't see the reason to leave 1.5 hours before park opening unless you are trying to ride FOP.