arriving at park only 15 min early??

[studiojmm]

So, I only travel with one kid to Disney, but I do corral dozens on field trips as part of my regular job. Plan in lots of transition time. For example, assume that even if you all go to the bathroom right before you leave the hotel, that someone will need to go as soon as you arrive at the park. Luckily, there are bathrooms right after security at all the parks.

• Don't worry about being too early at MK. The rope of rope drop is actually by the castle and there is a lot to see between there and security.
• AK actually has a TON to see between security and the tree of life, but that could mess with your attraction rope-drop plan. Most people seem to blow past all these animal exhibits, but they are pretty cool and there are photo opportunities in front of the tree.
• We've never rope-dropped Hollywood Studios, but based on infrastructure, I'd bet you don't want to be too early if you aren't racing for a line.

We pretty much want to do it all.

Even for my one kid, I like to have her pick just one or two priorities for the day. Doing everything is not always practical so probably shouldn't be the baseline. If you don't get to everything and that's your baseline, then you think you didn't have a good day. If you have a couple of top priorities and get to more than that, then the day was extra special fun! Having a first and second priority is also helpful when rides break down.

I'm a fan of telling the kids the full story of what to expect. "First we will do this, then we will . . . ." If you don't know, tell them that. "After X, I have to figure out Y, so your job is to wait quietly until I get the information I need and I'll tell you as soon as I know" (It probably won't stop the questions, but it's at least respectful and then you can remind them that you told them they had to wait for an answer.) I think fully half of kid group management is setting expectations. The next biggest part is staying calm yourself.

Also, I pretty much never go anywhere that might involve a wait without a book to read. We don't tend to read a lot at WDW unless we need a break, but if you've got 5 kids beginning to lose it and are still more than 10 minutes from the front of a line, you might all be better off if you plop down and read to them. I generally carry a fair bit of stuff into the parks (and on other outings) and rarely regret bringing a book. Once on a train with my brother and his kids (3 & 1, + my 10 yr old), we broke down just a couple minutes from where we were getting off. Out came my copy of Frog and Toad and everyone was just fine. (You could use your phone if you have battery to spare, I just don't like reading from my phone much and kids are trained to ignore that).

Organizing the adults was the biggest issue.

Agreed. Adults often take direction much worse than children.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

The thing about arriving 15 minutes early is this - do you plan on driving up to the park 15 minutes before they open, or standing at the tapstiles 15 minutes before? There is a huge difference, especially at MK. The amount of time it takes to enter the parking area, follow CMs to park, unload the car, walk to the front/wait for the tram, and go through security is more than 15 minutes. If you're going into MK you also have to wait for the monorail or ferry. If you want to rope drop and make the most of your morning, I would plan on being at the front of the park 15 minutes before. I've done that plenty of times and sometimes (I have no clue what conditions lead to this) they'll be letting people in that early. Nowadays I think they let people in earlier and walk them farther into the park and then hold them there until the park actually opens. So! All that to say arriving at the front of the park 15 minutes early is fine. I personally would plan on arriving at the TTC at least 45 minutes before MK opens. For other parks getting to the parking lots 30 minutes early should be fine. It's super annoying to arrive at the parking kiosks like 5 minutes before the park opens only to be stuck in traffic, then a line for the tram, then a line at security, and 45 minutes later you're actually in the park and you missed rope drop. It's not the end of the world, but it won't be as empty as it could be.

 

[thelegacy27]

This is my dilemma as well. We're going for the first time as a group of 8 in early May with 4 kids 14, 8, 7, 3. I agree with PP that my hardest challenge might be keeping my husband and mother on time lol.

Thanks for the info regarding rope drop and arriving early. Definitely gives me something to think about.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Thanks everyone. While I don't particularly care about welcome shows, I do care about waiting at security. My arrival of 15 minutes early would be when we get off the bus, so it sounds like that isn't going to give me an advantage. If most parks let you through the gates a bit early anyway, getting to the parks 30 minutes early may be better if we can swing it. Thanks again.

If you're using bus transportation, you should really err on the side of being too early. Bus arrivals/departures are well out of your control. Although Disney tries to run buses frequently before opening, they are not on a set schedule. If you plan to take a bus you think will arrive about 15 minutes before opening, you could easily end up arriving well after the park has opened, depending on how long you have to wait for the next bus.

Waiting is never fun, but I'd rather do my waiting on the other side of the tap stiles where there's a bunch of cool Disney stuff to see. If I have a timeline I'm trying to meet, I find it very anxiety-producing to be waiting at a resort, and to have no bus ETA show on the monitors - will it be minutes? Will it be half an hour? More? If I give myself a nice time cushion, it makes for a less stressful morning, even if I have to get up a bit earlier.