Getting to the parks early

[AirlineGuy07]

My DW and I are going to the world in May for our 10th anniversary and was reading on another website that you can see lots of attractions the first two hours of a park opening than you can the entire day if you sleep in and go after opening. Any truth too this? Thanks!!

[faline]

Yes. Early mornings - even during busy periods - are relatively uncrowded. Even better are the early morning extra magic hours wherein only Disney resort guests are allowed in for the hour before official park opening.

[MarkC]

Absolutely the best Disney advise you'll ever receive. Get to the turnstiles about 15-30 minutes before park opening and know what ride you want to see most. Go there and ride it with no line, or grab a fastpass if you so desire. You can do almost everything in a couple of hours if you don't mind walking briskly between attractions. In slower times you don't even need to do that.

[BowTie7]

This can work especially well at the Magic Kingdom, you can get through a lot of the shorter or lower capacity rides quickly in the morning. I would suggest starting in Fantasyland with Peter Pan, Snow White (while its still open), Pooh (and Dumbo or Tea Cups if you wish); then move to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear (and Astro arbiter); before crossing the park to Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise. Then move on to high capacity rides like Pirates and Its a Small world as well as longer rides/shows like Hall of Presidents, Enchanted Tiki Room, Carousel of Progress, Train, Monsters Laugh Floor. Of course how much you can do in a morning will vary with crowds that day and time of year as well as how much your group is willing to push yourself at the start of the day.

[Nascfan]

Absolutely 1000% true! And I meant that thousand, not a typo. We get to the parks before opening, are able to see the opening show (that the sleepers always miss) and are able to get half or better of the attractions done well before lunch time. This can work especially well if planning to see a parade. We can head back to the resort for a lunch and some rest in the a/c and head back to the park refreshed with enough time to see the parade, while the people who have been at the park are wilted. I highly recommend getting to any of the parks early (or maybe not so less people will be in line in front of me ;))

[joonyer]

We love getting to the parks early; very short wait times, and we have been able to get literally dozens of character autographs with almost no waiting back when our kids were into collecting those.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Absolutely! We went for Christmas in 2008 and it was the only way we were able to do the big ticket rides

[Altair]

This can work especially well at the Magic Kingdom, you can get through a lot of the shorter or lower capacity rides quickly in the morning. I would suggest starting in Fantasyland with Peter Pan, Snow White (while its still open), Pooh (and Dumbo or Tea Cups if you wish); then move to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear (and Astro arbiter);

This plan works, guaranteed.:thumbsup::mickey:

[lettripp]

Absolutely true... and not only that but if you go during a really hot season, the mornings can be quite a bit more mild and more comfortable!

[kemps@wdw]

even after 30-something years, the same rule still applies for us...the earlier, the better! We do all we want and then back to the resort by mid-day for some down time, and then off to our preferred park of the evening, depending on where (if any) we have any ADRs. That's why park-hopping is a must for us. I can sleep late at home, and can nap during resort down time!

[LudwigVonDrake]

DHS is the only park I try to get to before it opens. Gotta get a couple of rides on TSMM before the line gets crazy :mickey:

[Goofy Texan]

The parks are designed to handle thousands of people. Most attractions can accomodate a thousand (or more) riders per hour. It takes several hours for enough people to make it through the turnstiles to have an impact on lines. Disney castmembers are really good at bringing on extra coaster trains, boats, etc before the lines build too much. The lines really only get backed up when the number desiring to ride is greater than the attractions capacity to accomodate them. Most days that doesn't happen until after 11am. Exceptions include low-capacity, cycle-type rides like Dumbo.

If you've never gone for opening, try and get there at least once. It's the only way to see if it's worth it to you to miss an hour or two of extra sleep.

[BrerSchultzy]

Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary! And yes...the single most important piece of advice anyone can ever give you about WDW is to arrive at the parks 15 minutes before the posted opening time. I never used to do this....until I had a kid. We got to ride everything in Fantasyland (Dumbo three times), Tomorrowland Speedway, POTC and HM...all before 10 AM.

And what's great...it seems to me that over the years FEWER people are getting to the parks at opening. And those one or two hours of sleep you "lost"...you can make it up by going back to your hotel for a mid-day nap (after getting fastpasses for Space Mountain later that afternoon, of course).

[lovinmesomedisney]

We are up every morning bright and early and in the line before the park even opens. Love the early mornings. One time, when my DD was a BTMRR fanatic, we actually stayed on the ride for 5 consecutive rides, without even getting off! A little much, but she was VERY happy! :mickey: WE are park enthusiasts though. We are also there when the park closes and every minute of the day in between! ;)

[crazygoalie39]

Highly recommend getting to the parks about 20-30 minutes before opening. It's the only way we are able to do everything we want to do in a day. We get everything done by lunchtime and then either go back to the resort or do something else relaxing during the afternoon hours when the parks are hottest and busiest and then come back or go to a different park in the evening. :mickey:

[KatieDuck22]

YES! Get to park at opening round up a fastpass of your choice and hop on the rides that get the longest wait times! This is a great tactic during any type of crowd level!

[teambricker04]

Going early is one of my family's favorite things about our trips to WDW! DSs are morning kids so it works out well. We hit all the major rides relatively quickly and are done with enough by lunch time to head back to the hotel for a swim break. When we go to EPCOT, we actually go past SE and on nearly anything else as it gets busy right away, but almost always walk on later in the day.

The MK show in the morning is a great way to start off the day!

:mickey:

Congrats on 10 years!

[cer]

True, true, true!

There was one time where we did not get to MK early on a Sunday. It was just a bad thing. It felt like the party had started without us and we were trying to catch up! :(

Gotta be there for the rope drop! :thumbsup:

[brownie]

I like to be through the gates about 30 minutes before the park opens. You can accomplish a lot early in the morning. We try to avoid the park with morning extra magic hours, though.

[disney_daddy]

What everyone is saying is correct about getting there early, but going in May I don't think it's that important to get there early. We go in May (early to mid) every year and have no trouble getting on rides multiple times. Yes it helps to get there early, but depending on when you go in May it's not absoultely a necessity.

[AirlineGuy07]

I like to be through the gates about 30 minutes before the park opens. You can accomplish a lot early in the morning. We try to avoid the park with morning extra magic hours, though.

You shouldn't go to the park with morning extra magic hours?? Is it busier early than a regular morning start?? I really don't want to get up that early on vacation anyhow.

[Dream'nDisney]

You shouldn't go to the park with morning extra magic hours?? Is it busier early than a regular morning start?? I really don't want to get up that early on vacation anyhow.

Overall the parks with the morning EMH tend to be busier than non-EMH days. That is all.

[Luv4WDW]

When we went in June we were at the parks before opening and it was great. Now we're going in May and not everybody in our party thinks we have to get there before opening. I'm more than a little concerned since I had such a great experience with it last time. It's important to us to all stick together, I just don't know how to convince them to get there 15 minutes early. We're going the second week of May... maybe it won't be necessary this time? As crazy as it sounds... this is actually my biggest worry about this trip! I must have it pretty good :blush:

[Dream'nDisney]

When we went in June we were at the parks before opening and it was great. Now we're going in May and not everybody in our party thinks we have to get there before opening. I'm more than a little concerned since I had such a great experience with it last time. It's important to us to all stick together, I just don't know how to convince them to get there 15 minutes early. We're going the second week of May... maybe it won't be necessary this time? As crazy as it sounds... this is actually my biggest worry about this trip! I must have it pretty good :blush:


If you are really worried about it, and can separate from some of your party, I would just to get there early and do some of the things you want to do.

[cer]

When we went in June we were at the parks before opening and it was great. Now we're going in May and not everybody in our party thinks we have to get there before opening. I'm more than a little concerned since I had such a great experience with it last time. It's important to us to all stick together, I just don't know how to convince them to get there 15 minutes early. We're going the second week of May... maybe it won't be necessary this time? As crazy as it sounds... this is actually my biggest worry about this trip! I must have it pretty good :blush:

You know, I think it would do your heart good to tour the way you want to. It is simple enough for the rest of your party to give you a quick call as soon as they get to the park. That way you can be at peace and they can sleep in. :thumbsup:

[magicalmom]

And here's another way to get the most from EMH or being at a park at rope drop - if one in your party (like me) can't do the coasters, that person can head straight to FP machines for a second (or third) ride while the rest of your party is riding the first ride or even two. At MK I head to Space Mountain for FPs while my DH and DDs are riding the other mountains. Then I get to ride TTA, or listen to musical performances until they get over to Tomorrowland to use the FPs I got them. This would work in HS, I think, also at AK if they head to EE Everest and I get passes to KS or something else we all like.

[Mousemates]

go early, ride hard for about two or three hours, then slow your pace a bit, eat some lunch, head back to the room for a nap and swim, and then hit parks agian around 4:30 or 5:00 when lots of folks start queuing up to start eating supper instead of riding rides.

[DANAM]

go early, ride hard for about two or three hours, then slow your pace a bit, eat some lunch, head back to the room for a nap and swim, and then hit parks agian around 4:30 or 5:00 when lots of folks start queuing up to start eating supper instead of riding rides.

This is exactly what we do. We have been several times in May. We always hit the Morning EMH park and switch to a less busy park in the evening. We normally arrive 30 min early and catch the rope drop. It's nice especially if you haven't seen it. If you are doing a EMH park I feel like you have to get there at least 30 min early. If not just go for opening.

[Puppy Mom]

go early, ride hard for about two or three hours, then slow your pace a bit, eat some lunch, head back to the room for a nap and swim, and then hit parks agian around 4:30 or 5:00 when lots of folks start queuing up to start eating supper instead of riding rides.

BF and I have done something similar the last few trips and have found that we have a TON more energy through the whole week.

Being Pooh sized, all the walking can get to be a bit much on the feet and back. We have found that tired feet soaked for an hour and backs stretched with a swim in a pool are ready for action again in the evening.

I don't know the ages of those in the OP's party, but if there are any older or larger people, they will probably enjoy the trip so much more if they get a rest mid day.