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

[nurseberta]

Like the other poster said, they are not holding anyone at the tapstiles, except when they are holding everyone before opening. They are letting onsite and offsite guests into the park. Further in, sometimes not much, is where they check for onsite vs offsite.

Oh sure, but I mean if I arrive at 7:30, park opens at 9. there are guests lined up at the turnstiles. but if I can get in half an hour before them, I want to be at the early entry tapstile.... right? or are you saying they do not isolate one tapstile for early entry? how does that not make you get stuck waiting behind off site guests? I thought I had seen someone post in general that early entry guests are usually to the right or to the left. am I making it up? I swear that was a thing

 

[elgerber]

Oh sure, but I mean if I arrive at 7:30, park opens at 9. there are guests lined up at the turnstiles. but if I can get in half an hour before them, I want to be at the early entry tapstile.... right? or are you saying they do not isolate one tapstile for early entry? how does that not make you get stuck waiting behind off site guests? I thought I had seen someone post in general that early entry guests are usually to the right or to the left. am I making it up? I swear that was a thing

No, as I said before they either hold everyone at the tapstiles or no one. You are only separated once inside the park.

 

[Thomasboys]

For those who have stayed with the 30m early entry window before posted park opening, do they open any earlier or right at the 30m mark? We usually arrive 1 hour before traditional park opening, I'm wondering if we should still arrive an hour before early entry. I get that will put us at the front of the crowds, but curious about some experiences so far...

 

[scrappinginontario]

For those who have stayed with the 30m early entry window before posted park opening, do they open any earlier or right at the 30m mark? We usually arrive 1 hour before traditional park opening, I'm wondering if we should still arrive an hour before early entry. I get that will put us at the front of the crowds, but curious about some experiences so far...

Your post has been merged with the 'Everything Early Theme Park Entry' thread. Post 1 will provide answers to your questions.

If you wish to learn more about actual experiences, the 'Here Now and Just Back' thread has guests sharing their experiences on a daily basis, including ETPE.

 

[nurseberta]

No, as I said before they either hold everyone at the tapstiles or no one. You are only separated once inside the park.

Gotcha, so no need to actually stress about getting up front!! thanks so much!!

 

[soniam]

For those who have stayed with the 30m early entry window before posted park opening, do they open any earlier or right at the 30m mark? We usually arrive 1 hour before traditional park opening, I'm wondering if we should still arrive an hour before early entry. I get that will put us at the front of the crowds, but curious about some experiences so far...

They sometimes open earlier, particularly at DHS, about an hour there, at least during busy times. Some open right on time.

 

[torchlight]

This was my experience with Remy yesterday entering through IG.
Arrived about 8am. (2 other parties were there)
Held behind barrier.
8:35 moved through security and held again
8:52 moved through entrance touchpoint and held again before bridge
8:55 scanned again by CM and held on bridge at France entrance
9:23 Led by CM for leisurely walk to ride
9:30 Boarded Remy

(Park opened at 10)

So, I'm working on putting together a rough plan for our upcoming trip, and I'm attempting to convince my family that Early Entry is a great benefit that we should be taking advantage of because we are staying on property. Our goal (combining Early Entry, Deluxe Extra Hours, Genie+ LL, and ILL) is to avoid spending long amounts of time in line for any attraction as no one in our group thinks any attraction at WDW is worth standing around in a queue for hours each day.

When it comes to Early Entry, I've tried to argue that we get to knock out one or two rides that would have much longer waits later in the day. But they see a post like this one I've quoted and say, well that person waited in line for 90 minutes to ride Remy, and you're trying to convince me that's some great benefit?

And when they put it that way, I have a hard time disagreeing. What am I missing here? I've been thinking about Early Entry in terms of shorter waits being the benefit, but am I wrong?

 

[Kazi7]

Has anyone had success driving to AK and being at the front of the pack for FoP? Given the first post says parking lots open an hour before ETPE and if you get a good parking spot it's an easy walk to the entrance, I'm wondering how far back drivers are from bus arrivals? (Staying at Boardwalk)

We have been among the first cars to enter AK on a few occasions and there are always people getting off the buses and queuing before us. It depends on the overall crowd level of the park also. We have been near the front of the pack and had a near walk on and we have been held on the bridge behind hundreds of others and waited 40 min to board. Everyone goes to that ride first. The line builds very quickly. If you arrive to the AK parking lot more than an hour before park open, you may not be able to enter the toll booth plaza to wait. It might be cone-d off. We have had to circle on the highway and come back which is a giant pain. We love FoP and it's the one for which I miss fastpass the most. Going in June with our adult kids and we may buy the ILL to avoid the craziness/stress. Despite staying on property, we are in the habit of driving, but we might consider taking the bus for ETPE for AK.

 

[GBRforWDW]

So, I'm working on putting together a rough plan for our upcoming trip, and I'm attempting to convince my family that Early Entry is a great benefit that we should be taking advantage of because we are staying on property. Our goal (combining Early Entry, Deluxe Extra Hours, Genie+ LL, and ILL) is to avoid spending long amounts of time in line for any attraction as no one in our group thinks any attraction at WDW is worth standing around in a queue for hours each day.

When it comes to Early Entry, I've tried to argue that we get to knock out one or two rides that would have much longer waits later in the day. But they see a post like this one I've quoted and say, well that person waited in line for 90 minutes to ride Remy, and you're trying to convince me that's some great benefit?

And when they put it that way, I have a hard time disagreeing. What am I missing here? I've been thinking about Early Entry in terms of shorter waits being the benefit, but am I wrong?

Keep in mind, they went for Remy on the first day of Standby! People were excited for it and lots of people wanted to see how standby would go. Most of their time was waiting before park opened too, which depending on how you look at it, can be a good use of time or not. They certainly didn't lose park time waiting around in a line.

Also, instead of doing Remy first thing, you could instead knock out Frozen or Test Track and Mission Space.

However, I would guess if you're doing After Hours at Epcot, you probably don't need early hours too, unless you plan on a good portion of the day doing festival things most of the afternoon.

I would check out after hours reports leading up to your trip to see how many rides and which ones people are going on in that 2 hours.

 

[happ]

So, I'm working on putting together a rough plan for our upcoming trip, and I'm attempting to convince my family that Early Entry is a great benefit that we should be taking advantage of because we are staying on property. Our goal (combining Early Entry, Deluxe Extra Hours, Genie+ LL, and ILL) is to avoid spending long amounts of time in line for any attraction as no one in our group thinks any attraction at WDW is worth standing around in a queue for hours each day.

When it comes to Early Entry, I've tried to argue that we get to knock out one or two rides that would have much longer waits later in the day. But they see a post like this one I've quoted and say, well that person waited in line for 90 minutes to ride Remy, and you're trying to convince me that's some great benefit?

And when they put it that way, I have a hard time disagreeing. What am I missing here? I've been thinking about Early Entry in terms of shorter waits being the benefit, but am I wrong?

This was the first day Remy moved from virtual que to standby. I expected tons of people and got there very early. Things will likely calm down over time. I was thrilled to be able to do Remy and Frozen before the park opened. Personally, I'd rather get to the park early before the masses and enjoy the park without the crowds. It's not just the wait; it's the experience. Plus, the wait is before the park opens, so you are not wasting precious park time waiting in line. For context, the day before it took me 1.5 hours to get to MK between the bus delay and traffic due to the marathon. I missed early entry and wait times were already high when I arrived. I missed out on rides that I had planned to do. The night before, I had a virtual que for Remy and the ride went down. I didn't get to ride it. After two disappointing experiences, getting to Epcot early to avoid another one was a priority for me. It was a small price to pay for a more enjoyable day.

 

[jldeahl]

Our group of 8 is hoping to rope drop MMRR at HS on our upcoming trip. That day early entry starts at 8:30AM (we are staying on property). I'd love any advice on what we should do / what time should we arrive to be in the best position for that?

 

[ScarletFire]

I love, LOVE MMRR. Guests begin queuing for the ride as soon as people are allowed in the park. I'd say arrive at HS by 7:45. Tap in and go to MMRR. Don't be discouraged if the line already looks long. It moves quickly when the attraction opens at exactly 8:30am.

Yay! There are two storylines: Minnie and Mickey trying to get to the picnic and Pluto making sure Minnie and Mickey get to the picnic. ENJOY!!

 

[g-dad66]

On November 3, we were in a short MMRR line at 7:55 and waited untl 8:30 when we walked on to the attraction. We were off the ride and to Rock n Roller Coaster by 9:00, for which we had a 10-minute wait.

 

[JLong06]

If you have any interest in Slinky Dog too, I'd ride that first, then get in line for Mickey. Here's what worked for me

Get to HS roughly 45 minutes before the early access opens (that should put you near the front of the line to tap in). Immediately walk to slinky dog and get in line there. We were on and off Slinky after about 15 minutes after early access started which allowed us to get in line for Mickey before the park opened (we had an hour early access and actually did Toy Story Mania before heading to Mickey). I think we had a 20-30 minute wait for Mickey at that point and had 3 must do rides done by park opening.

 

[EpcotNerd]

Will early entry guests have an advantage getting into Frontierland when it opens at 9:00? Will we be able to talk over from Liberty Square and be held at the Frontierland rope before 9? Or do we have to go to the hub and wait with the offsite guests in front of the Adeventureland gate?

 

[scrappinginontario]

ETPE guests are held in Fantasyland, near the entrance to HM is my understanding.

 

[nurseberta]

Will early entry guests have an advantage getting into Frontierland when it opens at 9:00? Will we be able to talk over from Liberty Square and be held at the Frontierland rope before 9? Or do we have to go to the hub and wait with the offsite guests in front of the Adventureland gate?

ETPE guests are held in Fantasyland, near the entrance to HM is my understanding.

this would be ideal! early entry 7DMT, and a few fantasy land rides, then be on HM as one of the 1st to be there! can anyone confirm this works

 

[riversend22]

On November 3, we were in a short MMRR line at 7:55 and waited untl 8:30 when we walked on to the attraction. We were off the ride and to Rock n Roller Coaster by 9:00, for which we had a 10-minute wait.

If you have any interest in Slinky Dog too, I'd ride that first, then get in line for Mickey. Here's what worked for me

Get to HS roughly 45 minutes before the early access opens (that should put you near the front of the line to tap in). Immediately walk to slinky dog and get in line there. We were on and off Slinky after about 15 minutes after early access started which allowed us to get in line for Mickey before the park opened (we had an hour early access and actually did Toy Story Mania before heading to Mickey). I think we had a 20-30 minute wait for Mickey at that point and had 3 must do rides done by park opening.

So I have a question based off of what you both experienced. Did anyone at the rides check to see if you were an EE guest? We are staying offsite but plan to be there early as I know they let everyone in at the same time. I'd like to have an idea if certain rides are separating the EE guests from the regular ones and was wondering if either of you experienced this on the rides first thing in the morning? Thanks!

 

[soniam]

So I have a question based off of what you both experienced. Did anyone at the rides check to see if you were an EE guest? We are staying offsite but plan to be there early as I know they let everyone in at the same time. I'd like to have an idea if certain rides are separating the EE guests from the regular ones and was wondering if either of you experienced this on the rides first thing in the morning? Thanks!

Yes. At DHS, just after the tapstiles, in the area with the tower/pin trading, bathrooms, and guest relations, CMs with pads check 1 person from each family to see if they are hotel guests. They scan your magic band or card. They won't let you beyond this point at DHS. You won't get near any attractions until regular park opening. The other parks are similar, but the CMs are scanning at different locations, depending upon the park.

 

[boop0524]

Hi all! With ETPE back to 30 mins, really curious to hear how this has been working for others in MK specifically. My plan as of now is to book an ILL for 7DMT so we can skip that madness in the morning. Thoughts on good alternatives to head to first with low waits? I am leaning towards Space, but we're not huge fans of the ride since it's so rough lol