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

[scrappinginontario]

Staying at Holiday Inn Disney Springs next Wednesday and wanting to drive and rope drop ROTR at DHS.

DHS begins opening at 8:30 next week, 8:00 for Early Entry. As we will be driving I see on the first post on this thread that the parking lot opens an hour before the park opens and that you will be turned away if too early; is there usually a point/time where they simply let the cars line up (and not turn them around)? Say around 6:45 for this day?

Of course leading up to this I will be practicing handing the attendant cash with my left hand, steering with my knees, and refreshing my phone to get a LL for SDD at exactly 7:00....but I digress...

Also, how much of a difference could it make whether or not we have to go through bag check at that time? We could make it work without a bag if necessary (I assume you can carry in a bottle of water and snack bar and avoid the bag check?); from what I understand people driving are often behind guests using Disney transportation/walking over from the Boardwalk area so I am curious about this.

Thanks!

Bag check is no longer a delay as they are walk through scanners and extremely efficient. If you have things such as glasses case with a metal hinge, metal water bottle or umbrella, take these out of your bag and walk through the scanner with them extended in front of you. The detector will beep but security can see what caused the beep and you will be waved through.

Also, there are multiple scanners, some by layout service guests who drove and others using Disney transportation so you will not be disadvantaged by driving. Yes, there will most likely be people in front of you but not the long lines experienced in the past and the lines move quickly.

I believe they allow guests driving to start lining up 10-15 mins before the parking booths opens but it varies. We don’t drive to the parks so hopefully someone with recent experience will be able to confirm their experience.

 

[HydroGuy]

Bag check is no longer a delay as they are walk through scanners and extremely efficient. If you have things such as glasses case with a metal hinge, metal water bottle or umbrella, take these out of your bag and walk through the scanner with them extended in front of you. The detector will beep but security can see what caused the beep and you will be waved through.

Also, there are multiple scanners, some by layout service guests who drove and others using Disney transportation so you will not be disadvantaged by driving. Yes, there will most likely be people in front of you but not the long lines experienced in the past and the lines move quickly.

I believe they allow guests driving to start lining up 10-15 mins before the parking booths opens but it varies. We don’t drive to the parks so hopefully someone with recent experience will be able to confirm their experience.

No more bag check? That is a great bit of news! Now I can avoid being unpopular when I insist no one brings a bag to the park.

 

[zillayen]

No more bag check? That is a great bit of news! Now I can avoid being unpopular when I insist no one brings a bag to the park.

Seriously, this is a HUGE bit of great news. With 2 kids I can not manage to get into the park without a bag and I was always SOOOO jealous of the people breezing through the "bag free" line.

 

[Isabelle12345]

We were there last week and did ETPE on our 3 park days. We had young kids and were paying for the “premium rides” so we were looking to do some minor rides at park opening

In MK, with a 9AM opening (crowd level 10) we were able to do:
Buzz (walk-on)
Winnie the Pooh (15 min wait)
Dumbo (10 min wait)
Ariel (walk on)
before our 9:30 PP LL

In Epcot, with a 8:30AM opening (crowd level 8) we were able to do:
Frozen (walk on)
Soarin (walk on)
Figment (walk on)
And then walked leisurely with stopping at the topiaries to take pictures
before our Remy LL which we scanned in at 9:40

In AK, with a 8:00AM opening (crowd level 7), some of our party arrived a little later and were inside the park at 7:40, but we were still we were able to do Navi twice (walk on) before our 8:05 ILL for FOP!

it was a great perk for us and combined with Genie+ and ILL’s and park hopping, made for a perfect 3 days in the parks!!!

 

[scrappinginontario]

No more bag check? That is a great bit of news! Now I can avoid being unpopular when I insist no one brings a bag to the park.

Seriously, this is a HUGE bit of great news. With 2 kids I can not manage to get into the park without a bag and I was always SOOOO jealous of the people breezing through the "bag free" line.

Yes!! The security change truly is game changer!! (Note: guests with strollers enter through another scanner so not sure what their process is.)

This was my daughter going through security last month. She’s holding her glasses case in front of her. Notice the person going through in front of her with a full backpack. I had a full backpack on my back too. Easy peasy!!!

https://youtube.com/shorts/Z8Nty154a2A?feature=share

 

[wee-haggis]

How far in advance do they announce the Early Opening Hours park ?
How does Early Opening Hours work with ETPE ?
Thanks

 

[HydroGuy]

How far in advance do they announce the Early Opening Hours park ?

All parks open early, not just selected parks.

How does Early Opening Hours work with ETPE ?

See the first posts in this sticky thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/everything-early-theme-park-entry-etpe-please-read-post-1.3855945/

 

[scrappinginontario]

How far in advance do they announce the Early Opening Hours park ?
How does Early Opening Hours work with ETPE ?
Thanks

Park hours are announced approx 72 days in advance. All parks have early entry 7 days a week.

 

[Lisa P.]

They've recently been adding to park hours for Spring break weeks, adjusting park hours for a full week at a time, about 2 weeks ahead of the Sunday or Monday of each week. Hope that makes sense.

 

[diana13]

We are going rope drop Epcot tomorrow extra morning hours for hotel guests. We want do Remy then head Soarin. Hotel guest early opens 8 am. Is Remy open then and if so what time to get to IG and any advice best way there from Saratoga? Thx!

 

[Kerr84]

Yes, it’s open. Most people say get to Disney transportation 90 minutes before park opening.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We are going rope drop Epcot tomorrow extra morning hours for hotel guests. We want do Remy then head Soarin. Hotel guest early opens 8 am. Is Remy open then and if so what time to get to IG and any advice best way there from Saratoga? Thx!

Yes, Remy is open. Post 1 of this thread has transportation information.

just a heads up that coming from SS you will arrive at the front of the park and need to walk to the back which will put you behind International Gateway guests. An alternative people are finding helpful is taking a bus from SS to DHS then either taking Skyliner, Friendship Boat or walking toEpcot IG entrance.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Yes, Remy is open. Post 1 of this thread has transportation information.

just a heads up that coming from SS you will arrive at the front of the park and need to walk to the back which will put you behind International Gateway guests. An alternative people are finding helpful is taking a bus from SS to DHS then either taking Skyliner, Friendship Boat or walking toEpcot IG entrance.

With the now earlier open for Epcot vs DHS, this strategy may not work as well, would it? I guess they both open at the same time, so probably would be fine, both will be crazy.

We are going rope drop Epcot tomorrow extra morning hours for hotel guests. We want do Remy then head Soarin. Hotel guest early opens 8 am. Is Remy open then and if so what time to get to IG and any advice best way there from Saratoga? Thx!

If possible, might also suggest ride share to DHS or Swan hotel instead to not fight the bus crowd

 

[scrappinginontario]

With the now earlier open for Epcot vs DHS, this strategy may not work as well, would it? I guess they both open at the same time, so probably would be fine, both will be crazy.

I wondered about this too. I think it comes down to how early the OP arrives at SS transportation. If they’re towRds the front snd therefore able to get to IG before ETPE begins they’ll be ahead. If they’re going to arrive close to ETPE beginning g then you’re right, going too the front via bus and walking might be the better option.

I think it’s arrival time at SS bus stop that is key.

When we were at Epcot 4 weeks ago, IG guests were allowed inside the park (as would bus guests) but, the big difference is we were able to go to Remy and line up rather than being held at the front of the park. Based on photo time stamps we were in the Remy queue at 9:14 and the ride opened at 9:30. We were a good distance back in the queue even by 9:14 and then there were 15 min of people behind us before they opened the l ride. IF bus guests are held until close to 9:30 that’s a disadvantage but I’m honestly not sure what time bust guests are permitted to walk to Remy and Frozen.

 

[cavesrus]

How do we know what they’re opening up the parts of park we are planning on going to Adventureland today we got here it wasfuture and fantasy.
Ty all. We r back a couple more days at mk!

 

[glocon]

It’s always Tomorrowland and Fantasy Land for early entry.

 

[Delirium]

It’s always Tomorrowland and Fantasy Land for early entry.

Which is ridiculous. Disney is offering onsite guests a relatively weak perk to begin with (only 30 minutes?) and cutting the value in half by only opening half the park.

 

[Miffy]

We were at MK yesterday (3/5/22) and were relatively near the front of the ETPE crowd in Fantasyland. Since we'd failed at going to PPF during ETPE in December, we went to Pooh . . . but Pooh wasn't open yet! So we decided to try for PPF, but by the time we got there--maybe 2 minutes after RD--the wait was already an hour. So our strategy didn't work out.

We ended up going back to Pooh, waiting about 10 minutes, then doing Phil, then using our G+ for HM. A convenient time (for us) for PPF never showed up again on G+.

BTW, the RD at Fantasyland was at 8:26 a.m., so a little before the actual ETPE of 8:30.

 

[vinmar4]

I wondered about this too. I think it comes down to how early the OP arrives at SS transportation. If they’re towRds the front snd therefore able to get to IG before ETPE begins they’ll be ahead. If they’re going to arrive close to ETPE beginning g then you’re right, going too the front via bus and walking might be the better option.

I think it’s arrival time at SS bus stop that is key.

When we were at Epcot 4 weeks ago, IG guests were allowed inside the park (as would bus guests) but, the big difference is we were able to go to Remy and line up rather than being held at the front of the park. Based on photo time stamps we were in the Remy queue at 9:14 and the ride opened at 9:30. We were a good distance back in the queue even by 9:14 and then there were 15 min of people behind us before they opened the l ride. IF bus guests are held until close to 9:30 that’s a disadvantage but I’m honestly not sure what time bust guests are permitted to walk to Remy and Frozen.

Hello,
Do you think is doable, to not have to wait that long ,if we go from Remy to Frozen, using the IG entrance?
If is not , I'll just wait for the moonlight event. I love that ride but I'm not willing to wait hours.

 

[adrock1212]

ETPE @ HS week of 3/13 - I have read reports that HS will often open earlier than the "Official" ETPE time. Based on current experiences, what time is the "expected" ETPE time? (FWIW, the "Official" ETPE that week is 8.00a