When should I get to the parks?

[EMHDad]

We have moved our June 2021 trip(a redo from 6/20) trip up to Jan 10-16. What time should we get to the parks? To give some clarity, we want to be as close to first as possible. I know that cars are held at the terminal gate until one hour prior to opening. (Is that right?) When do cars start lining up? Also, we are staying at the Cabins, but not getting a golf cart and planning to drive to parks.. (part of picking the cabins is the ability to walk out the door and just get in the car and not have any wait). I assume that driving to the parks is the fastest way to get there. (Is that right?)

We are not showing up at the parks 4 hours early. However, in as much as possible, want to be walking in as one of the first and taking advantage of the rope drop as much as possible.

 

[Heather07438]

Unfortunately I just read a report from easyWDW
https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...p-to-flight-of-passage-in-the-current-normal/
Josh drove in early for a 9am AK opening and the cars were held until 8:30a. By the time he was able to park and get thru gate, he was far behind the people arriving on a resort bus.

This is concerning to us as well because even tho we're staying on site, we like to rent a car and it looks like they are being held until 30 minutes prior to open. Add in that some parks may start letting guests in a bit before official opening and that puts us in the back of the rope drop crowd. Which could also mean we see the highest wait all day if deciding to do FoP first

From WDW's side I think they may being doing this to offer some advantage to onsite guests but it doesn't work so well for onsite guests who want to drive.

 

[Heather07438]

We'll be there the same week as you

 

[disneygirlsng]

I've seen a few reports of Epcot also waiting until about 30 min prior to let cars in. Driving usually isn't faster for MK because you have to park then take the ferry/monorail over.

 

[EMHDad]

Well, this is throwing a big curve ball at me. I still think we are going to drive for convenience. Less walking in Fort Wilderness, and faster return home at the end of the day (and maybe in the middle if park times are extended).
Still, I thought cars were being let in an hour before start time. (Is that just MK?) This is going to complicate my plans big time

 

[EMHDad]

We'll be there the same week as you

Awesome. This is a redo for us (June 2020 was cancelled.) This is also probably our last trip for a long time, so trying to make the best of it. Hope you have a great week.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Unfortunately I just read a report from easyWDW
https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...p-to-flight-of-passage-in-the-current-normal/
Josh drove in early for a 9am AK opening and the cars were held until 8:30a. By the time he was able to park and get thru gate, he was far behind the people arriving on a resort bus.

This is concerning to us as well because even tho we're staying on site, we like to rent a car and it looks like they are being held until 30 minutes prior to open. Add in that some parks may start letting guests in a bit before official opening and that puts us in the back of the rope drop crowd. Which could also mean we see the highest wait all day if deciding to do FoP first

From WDW's side I think they may being doing this to offer some advantage to onsite guests but it doesn't work so well for onsite guests who want to drive.

I was just mapping out my priority rides, and TBH if Animal Kingdom is your park for the day, I am having a hard time finding a concern unless you want to ride FOP 4 times or something.

I am there on Saturday, which granted is the WORST day to be there. However, the park hours are 8-6, which is 10 hours. if I add up all the rides and shows wait times for things that are actually open, it comes to about 4-5 hours. Only half the time. That gives plenty of time for shopping and eating. That's going on every single ride that is available. That is also assuming that the rides actually take as long as the posted wait times (and they are not).

So it seems to me that unless you are hoping to only do a half day and go back to your hotel, you are going to be okay at Animal Kingdom.

The parks that are coming up short any way you slice it are HS and MK. Either way, chances are I am going to have to prioritize rides in those 2 parks.

 

[Ahabart]

Honestly, I think it's too early to tell what January will look like. We have seen such a change in just the last few weeks alone. The reports coming out of early September had me prepared for a different experience than we had last week. Things changed even while we were there... one day we entered MK at 8:15 and crowds of people were already in front of us and the next day they didn't even open temp checks until 8:25.

 

[Surr]

Honestly, I think it's too early to tell what January will look like. We have seen such a change in just the last few weeks alone. The reports coming out of early September had me prepared for a different experience than we had last week. Things changed even while we were there... one day we entered MK at 8:15 and crowds of people were already in front of us and the next day they didn't even open temp checks until 8:25.

This is the correct answer. You really can't make any firm plans at this point. WDW is evolving almost daily.

 

[LizzyDragon]

I was just mapping out my priority rides, and TBH if Animal Kingdom is your park for the day, I am having a hard time finding a concern unless you want to ride FOP 4 times or something.

As someone who did actually ride FOP 4 times a couple weeks back on a Monday, I rolled in at 11:30am. Still had time to ride Everest several times and all the other rides at least once (sometimes a couple times). Even grabbed lunch at Sat'uli with little wait. It's just not a park that needs a lot of planning.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

As someone who did actually ride FOP 4 times a couple weeks back on a Monday, I rolled in at 11:30am. Still had time to ride Everest several times and all the other rides at least once (sometimes a couple times). Even grabbed lunch at Sat'uli with little wait. It's just not a park that needs a lot of planning.

That's kinda what I came to realize. AK has always been a show based park (there are just not a lot of attractions). With shows down and out for the count, and the reduced foot traffic, I was really scrapping the edge of the need for any plan to tackle it. I could not envision any scenario where we would finish the park with significant time left to decide if we wanted to go somewhere else or re-ride certain things or bring the kids back to the resort pool.

As I mentioned, HS I think will be a very different experience and we are going to have to select some rides we care about and skip others.

 

[RangerPooh]

Unfortunately I just read a report from easyWDW
https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/d...p-to-flight-of-passage-in-the-current-normal/
Josh drove in early for a 9am AK opening and the cars were held until 8:30a. By the time he was able to park and get thru gate, he was far behind the people arriving on a resort bus.

This is concerning to us as well because even tho we're staying on site, we like to rent a car and it looks like they are being held until 30 minutes prior to open. Add in that some parks may start letting guests in a bit before official opening and that puts us in the back of the rope drop crowd. Which could also mean we see the highest wait all day if deciding to do FoP first

From WDW's side I think they may being doing this to offer some advantage to onsite guests but it doesn't work so well for onsite guests who want to drive.

We rarely take the buses anymore but decided to try it today. We’re staying at AK-K and our park is AK. The bus did not arrived at the resort until 8:25, and took forever to get to the bus stop at AK due to CM/Bus traffic backed up to the stop light. So this approach is hot or miss. We have certainly wondered if it would be advantageous. We did see two MK buses arrive/depart between 8 and 8:20. Both AK and MK don’t open until 9am today.

 

[Nanceliz319]

following....I agree, it appears from what folks are saying, things are changing daily. I really appreciate experiences though so we can decide our plan.
Thank you!

 

[wendy3]

"From WDW's side I think they may being doing this to offer some advantage to onsite guests but it doesn't work so well for onsite guests who want to drive."


Actually, I think the parks open early when the lines get too crowded for safe social distancing.

 

[Heather07438]

"From WDW's side I think they may being doing this to offer some advantage to onsite guests but it doesn't work so well for onsite guests who want to drive."


Actually, I think the parks open early when the lines get too crowded for safe social distancing.

Oh yes, that makes sense. I was referring to resort buses getting in the earliest. Not sure if it's intentional but getting a better position at ropedrop could help make up for onsite guests no longer get perks of EMH or better FP window.

 

[LizzyDragon]

As I mentioned, HS I think will be a very different experience and we are going to have to select some rides we care about and skip others.

Even at HS, I've not had too much difficulty with lines on weekdays, and can usually do all the attractions in about 5-6 hours and still have time for repeats if I want to. The key to HS is just being flexible and willing to bounce across the park and back to take advantage of whatever's got the shorter waits.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Even at HS, I've not had too much difficulty with lines on weekdays, and can usually do all the attractions in about 5-6 hours and still have time for repeats if I want to. The key to HS is just being flexible and willing to bounce across the park and back to take advantage of whatever's got the shorter waits.

Thank you for the report. It's so hard to tell from here (far away) since we get such conflicting information from different sources. One person says it's terrible. The other says it's reasonable. Sometimes reporting on the same day in the same hour from the same section of the park! It's all very subjective and hard to figure out what is really going on.

Even looking at wait times on the app is ambiguous at best since those are reputably not correct.

 

[LizzyDragon]

It's all very subjective and hard to figure out what is really going on.

Yes it is. For what it's worth, my perspective is a local who's been visiting the parks on weekdays to meet up with friends. We like going to Disney because they've been enforcing their guidelines and because we can spend most of the day outside. It's a chance to meet up in-person while also keeping the Covid risk fairly low. So for me, it's not a big deal if a line has a crazy long wait- I'd skip it and come back later, or just not bother.

The crowds to me have been average. The weirdest part is seeing all the ride lines spilling out of the normal queue areas, but that's a side-effect of social distancing and not necessarily an indicator that the wait time is crazy long.