Why arrive so early before the parks open?

[moopdog]

I realize you want to arrive a little early (10 minute?) before the gate opens, but 45 minutes?? That's the UG's suggestion, but I can't figure out what the heck for? Are the lines INSANE to get through the gate or something?

 

[Bob P]

Hi Moopdog,

Yes, they are...especially at busy times.

If you arrive ten minutes before opening there will be a whole lot of people ahead of you. First you must pass through security if you have any kind of bag on youy (including a purse or a fanny pack) and then you must go through the turnstiles with a ticket and a finger scan.

All of the people who have been there for the last half hour will be ahead of you. In September or Janauary it may not matter; over a holiday break or the summer it definitely will.

Bob

 

[dzneelvr]

We've been going for the past decade and have a different perspective....first trip we were all hyped about what we'd heard on crowds and so we got PSs for before the parks opened (Cindy's Castle) to beat the rush. What happened was that by getting up so early every day and staying up late at night, our kids (and DH and I) were wiped by the 3rd day.....now when we go in the summer we do the day upside down (leave resort by noon; lunch at a park; stay until the place shuts down; sleep late, swim, eat breakfast by the pool; and start over again) and it works for us. I'm not saying getting to the park early isn't an experience I'm glad we did, but we quickly found out it just wasn't for us. We find that by getting to the park with a ready PS, we get our energy and we're ready to tackle a day that may not end until midnight. We prefer how the parks look at night, rather than first thing in the morning, when the cleaning crews may still be re-potting flowers! Just know that you don't HAVE to be first in the park to enjoy them. A tired and fatigued family is no fun at all either.

 

[Greg K.]

It's not uncommon for the parks to open 15 or 20 minutes early. Better safe than sorry!

 

[WaltD4Me]

I've never done a park opening (not being a morning person) but decided to try it last week. -- Never again! We were up at 7am and at the MK gate by 8:45am. I thought the morning crowds were much worse than the afternoon crowds and wondered why I got up so darn early. Granted it was not peak season and not very crowded, but we didn't run to Fantasyland and by the time we got there, waits for Dumbo and Pooh were 40 minutes. When we went back after 6pm, waits were non-exsistent or not more than 10 minutes.
So I could have slept in!

I'm sure it's a totally different story once schools let out or during the busy holidays, but I would never go during those times anyway, so in the future, I'm going to do like dzneelvr and do my park touring "upside down" it is just too tiring doing the early morning nonsense!

 

[ottawamom]

We got back from WDW last week. We are early morning risers and usually get to the park for 20 min before park opening. Its interesting to see how each park opens (they each have their own ceremony). The biggest bonus for us though is the number of rides we can get done before 10:30am. We usually head over to Tomorrowland first and ride Buzz 2 or 3 times quickly (most popular ride with our kids) then head off to get Fastpasses for Space Mountain. We do travel commando style for the first hour and a half but the kids agree its well worth it. Around 11:00 or so we slow down and move with the flow do fastpasses and take in the scenery.

 

[cheerdancer11]

. We usually head over to Tomorrowland first

Thats the same thing we did our last trip! It was awesome we did Space Mountain twice, Buzz, and then booked it over for Space Mountain and Splash Mountain and faced minimal waits there. It was awesome

 

[ryley26]

We have had the experience many times of the park opening before the scheduled time.

 

[torianne31]

My family and I are also late risers and we are going on our first trip to WDW in early June. Not trying to hijack the thread or anything, but what's better crowd wise during peak season - being there when the parks open, or doing the day upside down and getting there more like 11 am and staying until close?

 

[mkymouse4ever]

In August: We are more personally scheduled to go early too. We start work at 7 & 6 am cst. So get up about an hour before that normally. Just feel better getting up and staying on our usual schedule than sleeping in. I really can't sleep in that late anyway. We stay in the parks till around 11 - 12 pm when its hot or filling up then we head back to the resort and go swimming, etc.. . shower, eat, and return to park after 4 or 5pm?

Off season, we don't set the clock but we still wake up very early and get to park by opening usually.

Mky

 

[crazywig]

we have a 3yr old and an 8 month old. if the parks opened at 6am we could still get there having already eaten and showered

we're up so we go early. we do get a lot of the 'important' (to a 3yr old) stuff done with minimal wait, and short waits are extremely important with small children. definately with my boy.


i also think it's a hard habit to break. on a child free trip dh and i were the very first ones at the turnstiles at mgm.... on early entry day....in the off season

 

[mattr555]

I did rope drops at every park in Orlando and was glad i did. you can get all the major rides done in the first 90 mins then relax, take in the park and anything else you do is a bonus. It also means you are set up for early lunches (11-11:30) and can ususally walk into a restaurant of your choice without a PS. It is good to get there 40ish minutes early so that you are at the front right by the rope. You dont feel so squashed and you can chat to the CM as they walk the croud to the rides.

Dont bother with rope drop at Seaworld. Everyone has to sing the national anthem and its bit weird.

 

[Leota]

We did Park opening a couple times during Spring Break & boy I am glad we did! We got so much done the first 90 minutes or so, while the rest of the day was packed. We only stayed at the Park til noonish, then left for lunch, swimming, breaktime.... then back to the Parks to use some Fast Passes & stuff....

Off season, I didn't find it so necessary to get there early. But if I ever have to go during one of the school breaks again, I will definately be at the Parks (esp MK) 1/2 before opening.

 

[MNmom]

We understand the benefits of arriving early and would love to get in a bunch of rides before the lines get crazy long but.......

If we get to the park 30-40 minutes before opening are we standing with hundreds of other people packed at the front of the park just waiting for them to open the turnstyles and then when they do open is there a big rush forward of all the people trying to get to the gates????

We don't mind waiting in a line but when everyone is just packed in like sardines and then suddenly start pushing forward I get a little panicky...ok I get a lot panicky!!!

Any info appreciated

 

[goofy4tink]

Once you get to the turnstyles, you're golden. That's the point you're in the park. We get to the park about 20 minutes before opening only on EMH mornings. Then we get to do quite a lot before the park opens to the general public. And the only park we religiously do EMH for is MK. With the other parks I try to get there just at the EMH time for opening. The crowds just don't seem as big as they do in MK for some reason.

For those days that we're going to a non-EMH park in the morning, we tend to just take our time. We are morning people so it's easier for us to motivate early in the day. For my dh, an EMH park in the evening is just not going to happen. In fact, dd and I are looking forward to the evening EMH at MK on June 22 since dad is leaving for home that morning and we can stay out and play until MK shuts down in the wee hours of THursday.

But we don't really care to get caught up in that huge crowd of the general public streaming into the parks at 9:00. So, we just go with the EMH park and get there by 7:30 or wait a bit and enter the other non-EMH park around 10ish. More crowded...yes, but that's okay.