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

[Figmentv]

We will also be driving every day from our Disney Springs hotel (and thus doing early entry).

You may want to consider using Disney transportation for MK mainly because driving only gets you as far as the TTC. You will still need to take either the monorail or ferry which will take more time.

Disney buses drop you off at the MK entrance.

 

[Good&Plenty]

You may want to consider using Disney transportation for MK mainly because driving only gets you as far as the TTC. You will still need to take either the monorail or ferry which will take more time.

Disney buses drop you off at the MK entrance.

We would have definitely taken Disney transportation, but we are staying at a close-by Hilton. Definitely a nice perk of being on-site

 

[scrappinginontario]

You may want to consider using Disney transportation for MK mainly because driving only gets you as far as the TTC. You will still need to take either the monorail or ferry which will take more time.

Disney buses drop you off at the MK entrance.

We would have definitely taken Disney transportation, but we are staying at a close-by Hilton. Definitely a nice perk of being on-site

Both forms of transportation will take @Good&Plenty to TTC.

 

[rpmaill]

Hi

Trying to fig out how to rope drop PP. The posts ive read are outdated and say to go thru the castle at rope drop but there is a welcome show now, so doubt i can cut thru it lol. Im gonna buy a LL because my daughters 7 and I dont wan a try rope dropping w her so fig PP and then so.e nearby things and I can genie plus something else

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi

Trying to fig out how to rope drop PP. The posts ive read are outdated and say to go thru the castle at rope drop but there is a welcome show now, so doubt i can cut thru it lol. Im gonna buy a LL because my daughters 7 and I dont wan a try rope dropping w her so fig PP and then so.e nearby things and I can genie plus something else

Please read post 1 and the last couple of pages of this thread. The information and much more is here.

 

[DMLAINI]

We're staying at The Contemporary & will walk to MK for ETPE. How early before ETPE should we leave to walk over? Also, planning on going on ROTR first during ETPE. Does anyone know if they're currently letting people on it before ETPE?

 

[scrappinginontario]

We're staying at The Contemporary & will walk to MK for ETPE. How early before ETPE should we leave to walk over? Also, planning on going on ROTR first during ETPE. Does anyone know if they're currently letting people on it before ETPE?

If it were me I’d leave Tge Contemporary 60 mins before ETPE, 45 mins at the least.

Yes, guests are often riding RotR before EPTE officially begins but it can change from day to day. On your DHS day I would arrive at Contempirary bus stop 90 mins before ETPE officially begins.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Is the pathway open from France to Norway at Epcot during early magic hours?

It was when I was there a few months ago. I entered through the IG, headed straight for France because I thought (incorrectly) that Les Halles might be open during ETPE. When I found that it wasn't, I headed toward Norway.

 

[pepperderr]

Do they let everyone into the park at once and then lead people to certain lands and when it is time they open those lands? Or do they just let everyone in the front of the park and you go wherever to get in line? Like at AK we want to rope drop Everest. Will we be let in to get in line or will they stop us at Asia and then we go to Everest after rope drop? What about rope dropping Runaway Railway? We will probably rope drop Peter Pan and then I am not sure what to rope drop at Epcot.

 

[tigertides]

Question for Friday trip to DHS.

Will be staying at Dolphin. Would like to knock out all ROTR, Smugglers Run, MMRR, and Slinky Dog. Willing to use Genie+ and ILL+. What is the LATEST we should be in line for Rope Drop for this strategy to effective? 07:30am? I want to find that perfect sweet spot of not wasting any excessive time early, but still make early wake up effective.

Also, I know this is debatable, but is it best to knock out alot of medium rides, or go big and do ROTR/Slinky Dog first? Last time we tried for SDD, and it was not running. We wasted 15 precious minutes

 

[Marionnette]

Question for Friday trip to DHS.

Will be staying at Dolphin. Would like to knock out all ROTR, Smugglers Run, MMRR, and Slinky Dog. Willing to use Genie+ and ILL+. What is the LATEST we should be in line for Rope Drop for this strategy to effective? 07:30am? I want to find that perfect sweet spot of not wasting any excessive time early, but still make early wake up effective.

Also, I know this is debatable, but is it best to knock out alot of medium rides, or go big and do ROTR/Slinky Dog first? Last time we tried for SDD, and it was not running. We wasted 15 precious minutes

If you're going to do ILL$ and G+ then I would get a G+ for SDD and book an ILL$ for ROTR right at 7 AM. If I was also doing Early Theme Park Entry, I would head to MMRR for standby, followed by TSM (also standby) and monitor MFSR G+ return times to pick up my second G+ at 10 AM (geniehelper.com is showing 2:25 PM as a "last reliable booking time" to make a MFSR G+ reservation on a recent Friday). By booking SDD with G+, you will get a multi-experience G+ to be used later on SDD or any other attraction (with exceptions) if SDD is down during your return time. If ROTR is having a bad day with lots of disruptions, you will not have wasted precious park time in a long standby line when the breakdowns occur. Your ILL$ will get you in later even if the ride was down when your return time came up.

Of course, this will probably mean you'll have down time between attractions. But you can use that time for refreshments and attractions with shorter standby lines. It will probably also involve criss-crossing the park a couple of times.

 

[mizzouchief74]

What time do the resort buses start taking people to the parks? I want to take advantage of the 30 min early entry for resort guests but wasn't sure what time the buses started operating?

 

[scrappinginontario]

What time do the resort buses start taking people to the parks? I want to take advantage of the 30 min early entry for resort guests but wasn't sure what time the buses started operating?

Please see post 1. It is recommended you arrive at the bus stop 90 mins before ETPE. Buses normally start running 60-75 mins before ETPE begins.

 

[ThistleMae]

I'm beginning to wonder if ETPE is even worth getting up that early just to get to the parks. In MK there's only two lands opened. In AK, are you serious, only a few rides open and you'll have to fight all the other ETPE people. I'm rethinking my strategy.

 

[CarolynFH]

I'm beginning to wonder if ETPE is even worth getting up that early just to get to the parks. In MK there's only two lands opened. In AK, are you serious, only a few rides open and you'll have to fight all the other ETPE people. I'm rethinking my strategy.

DH and I are don’t like the heat of the day, and our family hasn’t gotten up for early entry for 20+ years. On our trip earlier this month, for AK we bought a 6:10 PM ILL$ for FoP, but our plans for before that got rained out. For MK, we bought a late evening ILL$ for SDMT and Genie+ and then stacked all day so that we could enter MK at 6 PM and still ride everything we wanted to. IOW, with judicious use of Genie+ and ILL$, you can enter parks later in the day and still be successful in doing what you want.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm beginning to wonder if ETPE is even worth getting up that early just to get to the parks. In MK there's only two lands opened. In AK, are you serious, only a few rides open and you'll have to fight all the other ETPE people. I'm rethinking my strategy.

We found this last trip sometimes we used it, other times not. On the days we were going to MK and DHS and purchased G+, we found we didn't need it as we would stack for later in the day.

AK was also fine as we didn't arrive until afternoon and still got everything done we wanted to.

We did find it beneficial at Epcot as we didn't purchase G=+.

 

[jwhtewolfd]

When I was last there Jan 2020, I was on the first bus that left from my resort, but when I arrived at the park I was already fairly far back in the rope drop crowd. I'm not sure if our buses started late, but usually being on the first bus would put me less than a dozen people back from the turnstiles (or whatever we're calling the tap in point now). The FoP line was easily 2 hours at that point and I decided to make better use of my rope drop time since I had a FP+ booked for FoP. Is this still the case for rope drop? Is it still a massive crowd that makes it pointless to try unless you are at the very front of rope drop?

 

[Scalemaster34]

When I was last there Jan 2020, I was on the first bus that left from my resort, but when I arrived at the park I was already fairly far back in the rope drop crowd. I'm not sure if our busses started late, but usually being on the first bus would put me less than a dozen people back from the turnstiles (or whatever we're calling the tap in point now). The FoP line was easily 2 hours at that point and I decided to make better use of my rope drop time since I had a FP+ booked for FoP. Is this still the case for rope drop? Is it still a massive crowd that makes it pointless to try unless you are at the very front of rope drop?

Depending on EE time, there is a good chance that the Safari isn't running yet. Few want to do Kalia first thing, so it's go to FoP, EE or DINO. So yeah, something like 95% are going for FoP.

That said I've been way back in line... even outside the normal que area, and it still not be but a 20 Min wait first thing. Remember there are no FP/Geni+ folks being dumped in till a bit after park opening, so the line moves pretty quickly.

But you can just pay for FoP, go do Dino, EE and get in line for Safari.... before normal park opening. Which is why Geni+ isn't needed at AK, if buying it... use it to stack at another park.

 

[scrappinginontario]

When I was last there Jan 2020, I was on the first bus that left from my resort, but when I arrived at the park I was already fairly far back in the rope drop crowd. I'm not sure if our busses started late, but usually being on the first bus would put me less than a dozen people back from the turnstiles (or whatever we're calling the tap in point now). The FoP line was easily 2 hours at that point and I decided to make better use of my rope drop time since I had a FP+ booked for FoP. Is this still the case for rope drop? Is it still a massive crowd that makes it pointless to try unless you are at the very front of rope drop?

Post 1 of this thread contains a lot of helpful information.

Depending on which order buses arrive from the 20 different resorts, even being on the first bus can unfortunately put you further behind than the first dozen people. Only people on the very first bus from all the resorts would get that.

It is recommended you arrive at your resort bus stop 90 mins before ETPE begins to have the best chance of being towards the front of the crowd. People have reported having good success being towards the front by using this method.

 

[jwhtewolfd]

Post 1 of this thread contains a lot of helpful information.

Depending on which order buses arrive from the 20 different resorts, even being on the first bus can unfortunately put you further behind than the first dozen people. Only people on the very first bus from all the resorts would get that.

It is recommended you arrive at your resort bus stop 90 mins before ETPE begins to have the best chance of being towards the front of the crowd. People have reported having good success being towards the front by using this method.

Yes, I read the first post, but it didn't really address the crowd level to expect. I arrived at the bus stop 2 hours early, waited, waited, and waited. I know for certain I was on the very first bus that left from my resort. I was still pretty far back in a large pack of people, and once they started letting the crowds into the queue and forming the line, the CM said the line from the point where I was would be over 2 hours. I'm more looking to understand what sort of waits to expect with ETPE at the major headliners everyone is heading toward. It would seem a waste of ETPE time to spend it all in line for one ride.