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

[GBRforWDW]

At 8:35 we used our LL for KS and I booked one for the Lion King show at 10 AM.

I was hoping you would have gotten a Magic Kingdom LL after checking into KS! . Was hoping to confirm you'd have no problem getting a second LL at MK by 10:40, before it had been open 2 hours

Sounds like you had a fun morning, glad you got a lot done before the rain. We had so much rain on our AK day on the last trip!

 

[musicguy856]

I was hoping you would have gotten a Magic Kingdom LL after checking into KS! ☺. Was hoping to confirm you'd have no problem getting a second LL at MK by 10:40, before it had been open 2 hours

Sounds like you had a fun morning, glad you got a lot done before the rain. We had so much rain on our AK day on the last trip!

I doubt it would work since anything booked before the park opens doesn’t start the 2 hour countdown until opening.

 

[Westerner]

I doubt it would work since anything booked before the park opens doesn’t start the 2 hour countdown until opening.

The case here was tapping into a ride in AK prior to MK park open. MK park open should not apply for 2 reasons: you tapped in thus no 2 hour rule, and the 1st LL was booked in a different park.

 

[GBRforWDW]

The case here was tapping into a ride in AK prior to MK park open. MK park open should not apply for 2 reasons: you tapped in thus no 2 hour rule, and the 1st LL was booked in a different park.

Yep, exactly what I'm curious about. Intriguing to know about, but not a big deal.

 

[uandmfan]

If we have two days at DHS is it possible to do all the rides? Ideally only buying G+ once and maybe a LL+ for RotR. But we could also just buy G+ twice. We will try to do the early entry only once. And likely stay all day once. I alternate between optimistic and not. We won't be able to handle hour plus waits.

 

[soniam]

If we have two days at DHS is it possible to do all the rides? Ideally only buying G+ once and maybe a LL+ for RotR. But we could also just buy G+ twice. We will try to do the early entry only once. And likely stay all day once. I alternate between optimistic and not. We won't be able to handle hour plus waits.

It really depends upon the crowd levels. It wasn't really possible without long waits during Thanksgiving, and we bought G+ and ILL for Rise and MMRR. We ended up doing 2 days to get everything in. We did early entry and were some of the first people in line each day. It might work doing G+ twice and early entry.

 

[wisblue]

If we have two days at DHS is it possible to do all the rides? Ideally only buying G+ once and maybe a LL+ for RotR. But we could also just buy G+ twice. We will try to do the early entry only once. And likely stay all day once. I alternate between optimistic and not. We won't be able to handle hour plus waits.

I would say it is definitely possible.

See my post above about our recent morning at DHS on a pretty busy spring break day. Using early entry, Genie+, and a LL for ROTR, we did 6 of the 9 rides by 11:30 AM. All that we would have had left were the two least popular rides (Alien Saucers and Star Tours), and Slinky. It would be no problem doing the other 3 on a second day, if not in one day, if you’re willing to do Slinky early or late or wait in a long line for it.

If you can’t stand hour long waits (I can’t either), Genie + is a good option.

 

[musicguy856]

What time do the first busses unload at MK in the morning? Does driving to TTC and taking the monorail give you any advantage over busses?

 

[Nordic4tKnight]

So on page 1 it states to get to bus stops 90 minutes before ETPE. What about the Skyliner? If the Skyliner opens 60 minutes before ETPE do we need to get to a station 15-20 minutes before it opens? Anyone have any ETPE Skyliner experience?

 

[scrappinginontario]

What time do the first busses unload at MK in the morning? Does driving to TTC and taking the monorail give you any advantage over busses?

Historically all forms of transportation seem to arrive close together but buses seem to have a slight advantage most days, but not all days.

So on page 1 it states to get to bus stops 90 minutes before ETPE. What about the Skyliner? If the Skyliner opens 60 minutes before ETPE do we need to get to a station 15-20 minutes before it opens? Anyone have any ETPE Skyliner experience?

It is recommended to arrive at all transportation 90 mins before ETPE if you wish to be towards the front of the crowd.

Post 1 has been updated to reflect this.

 

[wisblue]

To wrap up my report on experiences with ETPE this week, yesterday (Friday) we started the day at Epcot.

We did not intend to rush to any attraction right at 8:00 when ETPE opened, so our plan was to arrive just before 8AM, not 60 minutes before like we did at MK and DHS. We had done Remy with an ILL earlier in the week, and didn’t care about doing Frozen, which we have done several times on previous trips. We were also skipping Mission Space because one of my daughters doesn’t do it and I and the other daughter with me did it recently and didn’t mind skipping this time.

We were at the SSR Congress Park stop at about 7:20, got a bus at about 7:30 and were tapping into the park about 7:50.

There was a crowd to the right of Spaceship Earth so it appeared that nobody had been let past that hold point yet. After a quick restroom stop the crowd was moving ahead, just a couple of minutes before 8.

We walked to Soarin and quickly got into the boarding area for the first ride of the day in that theater. After that we walked over to Test Track, which we prefer doing single rider so we can skip the car design, which we have done a few times before. We were the only people in the single rider line and were on and off within minutes. Then we settled in for a relaxing morning of touring before our lunch at Via Napoli.

My message from this week is that I agree with getting to the bus stop 90 minutes before the start of ETPE if you want to get a quick start to the day by getting on one of the very popular attractions early.


Otherwise, you can do fine arriving just before ETPE starts, which is what we did at DAK (where we used Genie + for KS and IALL for FOP), and Epcot (where we used Genie+ to get rides at DHS between 4:30 and 6:30) after a midday break and returning to Epcot for Harmonious.

 

[Westerner]

To wrap up my report on experiences with ETPE this week, yesterday (Friday) we started the day at Epcot.

We did not intend to rush to any attraction right at 8:00 when ETPE opened, so our plan was to arrive just before 8AM, not 60 minutes before like we did at MK and DHS. We had done Remy with an ILL earlier in the week, and didn’t care about doing Frozen, which we have done several times on previous trips. We were also skipping Mission Space because one of my daughters doesn’t do it and I and the other daughter with me did it recently and didn’t mind skipping this time.

We were at the SSR Congress Park stop at about 7:20, got a bus at about 7:30 and were tapping into the park about 7:50.

There was a crowd to the right of Spaceship Earth so it appeared that nobody had been let past that hold point yet. After a quick restroom stop the crowd was moving ahead, just a couple of minutes before 8.

We walked to Soarin and quickly got into the boarding area for the first ride of the day in that theater. After that we walked over to Test Track, which we prefer doing single rider so we can skip the car design, which we have done a few times before. We were the only people in the single rider line and were on and off within minutes. Then we settled in for a relaxing morning of touring before our lunch at Via Napoli.

My message from this week is that I agree with getting to the bus stop 90 minutes before the start of ETPE if you want to get a quick start to the day by getting on one of the very popular attractions early.


Otherwise, you can do fine arriving just before ETPE starts, which is what we did at DAK (where we used Genie + for KS and IALL for FOP), and Epcot (where we used Genie+ to get rides at DHS between 4:30 and 6:30) after a midday break and returning to Epcot for Harmonious.

Thanks again for all the info!

Overall, would you say ETPE is worth it, in terms of incremental time spent lining up and dealing with crowds before park open, vs time saved on morning rides? I'm planning to stay onsite next time chiefly for RotR $ILL and am debating whether to push for ETPE or let fam sleep in a bit.

 

[wisblue]

Thanks again for all the info!

Overall, would you say ETPE is worth it, in terms of incremental time spent lining up and dealing with crowds before park open, vs time saved on morning rides? I'm planning to stay onsite next time chiefly for RotR $ILL and am debating whether to push for ETPE or let fam sleep in a bit.

For us it was totally worth it at DHS because we were able to do TOT and RNRC in short order and get to MMRR while the line was still very manageable even though offsite guests were let in a little before the official opening of 8:30. Doing that required being there at 7 AM for the 8 AM early opening so we could be near the front of the line at the tapstiles and one of the first to TOT. Arriving even as late as 7:30 might have produced significantly different results.

At MK, ETPE let us do Space Mountan and Buzz quickly before we joined the crowd heading to the 5 major rides on the “left” side of the park. An advantage, but not as big as DHS. Someone staying in the park until closing could probably do as well or better.

At the other two parks, we didn’t really get there that early and we still did what we wanted.

We had 4 full park days, with one park reservation for each. If I had a longer trip I probably wouldn’t be getting there as early every day. If you want to let the troops sleep in you can still use Genie+ and IALL to your advantage, especially if the troop leader is able to get up by 7 to make reservations.

Our family these days is made up of adults used to getting up early, so sleeping in is not a priority for us. I’m not a coffee drinker, but my wife and daughters are all happy getting up early but then relaxing with a Starbucks after a quick ride or two.

 

[Westerner]

For us it was totally worth it at DHS because we were able to do TOT and RNRC in short order and get to MMRR while the line was still very manageable even though offsite guests were let in a little before the official opening of 8:30. Doing that required being there at 7 AM for the 8 AM early opening so we could be near the front of the line at the tapstiles and one of the first to TOT. Arriving even as late as 7:30 might have produced significantly different results.

At MK, ETPE let us do Space Mountan and Buzz quickly before we joined the crowd heading to the 5 major rides on the “left” side of the park. An advantage, but not as big as DHS. Someone staying in the park until closing could probably do as well or better.

At the other two parks, we didn’t really get there that early and we still did what we wanted.

We had 4 full park days, with one park reservation for each. If I had a longer trip I probably wouldn’t be getting there as early every day. If you want to let the troops sleep in you can still use Genie+ and IALL to your advantage, especially if the troop leader is able to get up by 7 to make reservations.

Our family these days is made up of adults used to getting up early, so sleeping in is not a priority for us. I’m not a coffee drinker, but my wife and daughters are all happy getting up early but then relaxing with a Starbucks after a quick ride or two.

Interesting. It feels like ETPE was a net gain of 2.5+ rides at DHS and getting ToT in early is currently worth a lot with all the capacity/downtime issues it's been having. MK feels like it was a net gain of 1.5 rides (valuing Buzz at 0.5 for wait time saved purposes). All-in ETPE seems like a winner at DHS so we may try that first and see how it goes.

 

[SharkBruce]

Our family is planning on Rope Dropping MK this week. What time do the parking toll booths open in the morning? I am thinking for an 8am early entry it has to be about 7am? Earlier? Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Our family is planning on Rope Dropping MK this week. What time do the parking toll booths open in the morning? I am thinking for an 8am early entry it has to be about 7am? Earlier? Any help or advice is appreciated.

Please read post 1

 

[HydroGuy]

When we did ETPE at DHS on Friday I would have loved to have been at the Dolphin boat stop at 6:30AM to be near the front of the line like Wisblue. DW flew in from Mtn time zone the day before and I thought that would be way too hard. I was shooting for leaving our room at 7am which ended up being 7:05 after getting our LLs.

We caught a boat at about 7:20 and were to DHS at about 7:30. In line for a ride probably at 7:40.

We got in line for RnR and both it and TOT were still being held at the end of Sunset. Lines began to move after about 10 minutes.

RNR line was about half of TOT. I would say we had maybe 100 people in front of us? So TOT had maybe 200 at 7:40?

After RNR we did MMRR with about a 20 minute wait then TSM which should have been like 15-20 (it was posted as 20) but part of the ride broke down while we were in line and they mixed the 2 lines into 1 which slowed it down and took us 30 minutes.

Bottom line is that ETPE was worth about 2 rides for us by arriving at DHS at 7:30. The 2.5 would be if you were near the very front like Wisblue.

 

[DeeBee3]

I don't know how to search for this, but can someone describe or point out to me where exactly you need to go in MK to tap your band for the ETPE? Specifically, I hope to get in line for Peter Pan, but it sounds like you have to enter over on the right side of the castle instead of the left? Can someone clarify?
Thanks!

 

[GBRforWDW]

I don't know how to search for this, but can someone describe or point out to me where exactly you need to go in MK to tap your band for the ETPE? Specifically, I hope to get in line for Peter Pan, but it sounds like you have to enter over on the right side of the castle instead of the left? Can someone clarify?
Thanks!

Hi, yep, you have to head towards Tomorrowland or Fantasyland to the right of the castle. This is probably the best way to go, turn left just after the bridge to break away from the crowds heading to 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. You'll end up behind the castle, just head out towards the carrousel then over to Peter Pan.

 

[moorish]

Hi, yep, you have to head towards Tomorrowland or Fantasyland to the right of the castle. This is probably the best way to go, turn left just after the bridge to break away from the crowds heading to 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. You'll end up behind the castle, just head out towards the carrousel then over to Peter Pan.

View attachment 659374

We’re planning on doing PP first during ETPE too. Can you (or anyone who has been during ETPE) confirm if this path is open right away?