Everything Early Theme Park Entry (ETPE) - Please Read Post 1

[HamSolo06]

So with the new ETPE hours, will the Skyliner and Buses start earlier? We are staying at CBR and going to DHS and MK and would like to be near the front of the lines for entry.

 

[soniam]

So now Animal Kingdom will open for early entry at 7:00--the exact same time that you can book G+ and ILL$. That's tricky. I guess everyone just stops what they're doing at 7:00 and tries to book? Can the park WiFi handle that? Would it be better to use your phone's data plan? (Any idea which, if any, of the major carriers have service problems in AK?)

You will probably be moving before 7am, so it may not be an issue. You may have to do it in line, like we used to do for Rise. During Thanksgiving week, they had us moving through security at MK right at 7am. It was annoying but worked out fine.

 

[soniam]

So with the new ETPE hours, will the Skyliner and Buses start earlier? We are staying at CBR and going to DHS and MK and would like to be near the front of the lines for entry.

Yes, at least to buses, but probably to Skyliner as well.

 

[scrappinginontario]

So with the new ETPE hours, will the Skyliner and Buses start earlier? We are staying at CBR and going to DHS and MK and would like to be near the front of the lines for entry.

Yes, historically there Skyliner begins running early too.

 

[ZeeWP]

I wonder why they didn't do it for Thanksgiving week. That's when we are going in 2022 so it would have helped with those crowds.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

We were in line for MMRR at 8:12 this morning and off around 8:50. The line moves really really fast once they open. We were able to get TSM in as well which was less than a 5 minute wait around 9:00.

 

[kevind2112]

I wonder why they didn't do it for Thanksgiving week. That's when we are going in 2022 so it would have helped with those crowds.

Probably a lesson learned from Thanksgiving week.

 

[Cheerstotheears]

What time would be best to arrive at DHS with a 7:30 ETPE?

 

[scrappinginontario]

What time would be best to arrive at DHS with a 7:30 ETPE?

Post 1 has info about this because a lot depends on what transportation you’re taking.

 

[brockash]

Experience today, 12/14/21, at DHS. My sister and I are staying at AKL. I didn't note exact times, but here's the rundown:

7am: Made ILL$ for RotR for 11:15 am. I got this on my Android phone using WiFi. Sister, on her iPhone also on WiFi, didn't even have the ILL$ available yet by the time I'd purchased it.

7+am: Made G+ for MFSR at 3:40 pm--later than we wanted, but what the heck. We had an ADR at MM for 12:50.

7:30-ish: Left room and got Uber to DHS.

Arrived at DHS maybe 7:45? MBs scanned to make sure we were resort guests. Restroom break, then walked to MMRR.

Waited in line at MMRR and watched as the line got longer and longer, so our hopes of turning around and riding again were dashed. Held in line until official ETPE opening. Line kept moving after that.

It was fun to see the MMRR preshow, which we'd never seen. We were off MMRR at 8:58 am (that time I did note) and since it was too early to make another G+ we looked at the tip board. TSM was listed as 5 minutes, so we headed over there.

By the time we got to TSM the listed wait time was 35 minutes. Actual wait was 20 minutes.

We got off TSM and it was too early to make another G+ so we wandered back to SWGE, thinking we'd shop and check out MFSR, which at that point had a posted wait of 40 minutes. By the time we got there the wait was 85 minutes . . . and . . . RotR was down.

But it was too early for our ILL$ on RotR anyway.

We walked on to the Mickey and Minnie vacation movie, refreshed the heck out of our G+s. RotR was still down and TSM had no G+ available until early evening, too late for us.

12:50 ADR at MM. Restaurant was crowded and a lot of the staff was pretty new, including our server, who was extremely nice, so we cut her all the slack in the world.

While we were at lunch, RotR came back up, so we went right there after we were done eating. The LL looked long--not as long as the standby queue, which was epic--but it was only 15 minutes from the time we started standing in line until we were in the preshow. No spoilers here. Only one element of the attraction wasn't working properly, but most of it was great, and it's always a fun and amazing experience.

Afterward it was too early for our MFSR G+ so we did standby--posted 35 minute wait, actual was 60 minutes. We'd never done it before and won't be doing it again, but the inside portion of the queue itself is worth a look. For those of you who don't like motion simulators, you can skip this one.

At that point, probably around 4:45 there was a G+ for TSM at 5:15, which I grabbed, but by the time it was finalized, the G+ was for 6:55, not 5:15, so I canceled. We were whipped and ready to leave.

On my way out I stopped at a GET and talked with a great cast member. I really just wanted to relay how our day went--that we bought G+ and never used it for anything, that we spent a lot of time waiting for Rise despite having an ILL$, etc., and without my asking--and I wasn't expecting it at all--the CM gave us both a refund of our G+ and a free G+ rez for immediate use at TSM.

Alas, we were too tired to avail ourselves of this nice gift and retuned to AKL, from where I'm now typing out this not-detailed-enough info.

We have another 2 days reserved at DHS and other than definitely doing ILL$ again for Rise, I'm not sure what we'll do.

As an aside, my sister and I both adore MMRR and I utterly despised TGMR, so I love what they've done with the space.

There are a lot of people in the parks. By 5 pm or so there were no G+s available at any of the parks for any ride that didn't also have only a 5- or 10-minute wait. I know because I looked, thinking at one point that we'd hop, particularly to Epcot if we could've gotten ILL$ for Remy. I guess it was sold out. Likewise HM and NRJ were unavailable on G+--two rides I might've considered hopping for.

We were at DAK yesterday (12/13) and used ILL$ for FoP and G+ for NRJ and KS. Although we did only those three upcharged attractions, we felt the expense was worth it since at least we go to do 3 things we really wanted without having to wait in long lines and at times that fit well into our schedule.

But getting those attractions and times to line up is very hit-or-miss, which is one of the most frustrating and annoying aspects of G+ and ILL$.

Genie itself is useless, at least to someone who knows their way around the WDW parks. G+ is not always intuitive, although after some trial and error, one eventually figures things out--if they're working at any given moment, which they may not be.

Both mornings when I bought G+ I was asked to log back in to my account. I've never had the "we're sending you a code" experience. Yet. Who knows what's to come.

My takeaway so far is that if they'd just started charging for FP+ and kept the same FP+ system in place, I wouldn't've been happy about it, but I would've used it, assuming they didn't charge, say, $100/day for it. As it is, it's annoying to try to do these things at 7am and then if you want to RD, dash out to get to your park.

Some other posters really seem to like the new system. So far, I am not too amused by it.

TL;DR: ILL$ for FoP and RotR are worth it. G+ was useless today at DHS, at least for the attractions we wanted it for. G+ may be difficult or impossible to fit into your desired schedule and most-wanted attractions are sold out by late afternoon, if not earlier.

Question...when you arrived by uber around 745, were you one of the first or were the gates already open and ppl. flowing in...trying to figure out what time to arrive at DHS and if buses get in before ubers or vice versa...TIA...hope the rest of your trip goes well.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Question...when you arrived by uber around 745, were you one of the first or were the gates already open and ppl. flowing in...trying to figure out what time to arrive at DHS and if buses get in before ubers or vice versa...TIA...hope the rest of your trip goes well.

Ubers use the same entrance as the buses at DHS so no longer need to wait for the parking lot to open.

 

[Miffy]

We did ETPE at MK yesterday, when ETPE was still 1/2 hour before official opening.

We were in line on the bridge at 8:10--20 minutes before ETPE started--and there were a lot of people in front of us, although there were many many more people behind us.

PPF's queue was already at least 60 minutes by the time we got anywhere near there, so we reversed course and did WtP instead. That was a walk-on but by the time we exited, the wait was already 20 minutes.

The only G+ we used at MK was our HM, which we booked at 7 am.

I expect things will be even more intense today and through the New Year, since it feels as though park attendance has doubled in the last couple of days.

ETA: If you like Philharmagic, ETPE is an ideal time to do it, as there is basically no one there. We saw it twice in a row after we did WtP. The new Coco scene is wonderful and the entire film seems to have been sharpened up.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I guess I misunderstood. I thought that when they said that Disney resort guests could get into the park a whole 30 minutes early, that meant that everything was open then. Now I find out that on the day I go to Animal Kingdom, 6 attractions are open, NOT including my favorite, Kilimanjaro Safari. Are the places that serve breakfast and snacks open-TamuTamu refreshments, Starbucks? And Epcot isn't much better-7 attractions open.

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

I guess I misunderstood. I thought that when they said that Disney resort guests could get into the park a whole 30 minutes early, that meant that everything was open then. Now I find out that on the day I go to Animal Kingdom, 6 attractions are open, NOT including my favorite, Kilimanjaro Safari. Are the places that serve breakfast and snacks open-TamuTamu refreshments, Starbucks? And Epcot isn't much better-7 attractions open.

Happened to me last month. I was staying onsite at Yacht Club. I got up bright and early and was one of the first Guests in line. My intention was to head straight over to Splash Mountain.

Just before dropping the rope, they told us that the only attractions available were Space Mountain and SDMT. Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan were down/not ready yet.

 

[georgina]

I don't think this is anything new. It was that way pre-covid also, as far as I remember. At MK only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland were open early.

 

[Farro]

I don't think all the rides were ever open during the "old" early-entry resorts used to have. It was always a limited amount.

 

[soniam]

Same lands/attractions as Extra Magic Hours before. Everything was never open for those.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I guess I misunderstood. I thought that when they said that Disney resort guests could get into the park a whole 30 minutes early, that meant that everything was open then. Now I find out that on the day I go to Animal Kingdom, 6 attractions are open, NOT including my favorite, Kilimanjaro Safari. Are the places that serve breakfast and snacks open-TamuTamu refreshments, Starbucks? And Epcot isn't much better-7 attractions open.

Your post has been merged with the, 'Everything Early Theme Park Entry' thread. Post 1 contains a list of attractions in each park that are normally open during ETPE.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Happened to me last month. I was staying onsite at Yacht Club. I got up bright and early and was one of the first Guests in line. My intention was to head straight over to Splash Mountain.

Just before dropping the rope, they told us that the only attractions available were Space Mountain and SDMT. Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan were down/not ready yet.

Thanks-it makes me feel better to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't know all about it. And thanks too for whoever pointed me to this thread-I have a feeling I'll learn a lot.

 

[clschrein]

Sorry if I missed it, but is ROTR still starting before official early entry begins? Most were reporting that ROTR was starting 30 mins before early entry. With Disney changing early entry to an hour for Christmas weeks, is that still the case?

Thanks