Arriving at Park Opening

[DisneyPrincess']

Next week will be my 6th trip to WDW, and its the first trip I'm following a touring plan. I'm planning on arriving at Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom all at park opening and I've never done this before. How early can you arrive and park? I was reading something in the unofficial guide that said Animal Kingdom doesn't open their parking lot until 15 mins before the park opened. We are staying at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is right by Caribbean beach so its not too far from the parks. Any tips on arriving at park opening would be really helpful!!

 

[toystorymaniacs]

Welcome :wave:. I see you are from Atlanta, so am I. I'm not sure what time the parking lots open but I know its more than 15 minutes before the park opens. People get there early for b-fast reservations and such. That being said 10- 15 minutes before park opening is generally enough time (to be at the gate maybe 25 minutes early in the parking lot).

 

[Seleucus]

Since it is not going to be insanely busy when you are there, getting there 5-10 minutes before park opening is fine. The main reason you want to be there is to go thru the gate at 9:00 because that first hour has virtually no lines for the major attractions. Get them outta the way and it is smooth sailing.


Often times the lines do not get long until 10:30 or 11:00, so make use of the first hour to do the long line attractions. ( Peter Pan, Soarin, Toy story mania, Safari ) When I was there May 8-12, these were the only attractions with lines over 30 minutes. (except for the attractions that broke down ) I even walked onto Splash Mountain at 7:00 pm on a hot day. Walked on to ToT at noon and RnR was 5 min wait.

Do get to MK at least 10 min early so you can see the nice opening with the train. It comes in about 3 min before opening, and is a nice addition to your morning.

 

[erstwo]

I've only been to the Epcot park opening. We arrived at Epcot at about 15 minutes before park opening. There were already lines about 50 people deep at each turnstile. (It ended up that it didn't really matter how long the turnstile lines were... as you'll see by the photo.)

They started letting people into the park about 2 minutes after we arrived. We thought - alright! We are getting in early! But turned out they just "walk" you to a roped off section of the park.

Our plan was to head straight for Soarin and get a fastpass (or let DH and DS ride while I waited with DD and get the switchpass) so we ran/walked straight toward Soarin and when we "hit the rope" toward The Land there were several CMs there explaining that they would drop the rope right at park opening time.

We were so excited when Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald, and Goofy came out and greeted the crowd and participated in an "offical" rope drop ceremony! It really was a magical moment! See below:

 

[ShookieJones]

If you're an early riser

There is nothing better as far as getting to see the all the attractions and getting things done than getting to the parks at rope drop! That's what we always do and we're usual done kicking the heck out of the park by noon.

I'm not sure about Animal Kingdom and opening the parking lot 15 minutes before park opening. I know that was the one park where we did have to wait outside before we could enter the parking lot, but I'm not sure how long till the park opened after that.

 

[magicmaya]

Nice to see someone who lives in Atlanta! Welcome!:wave: I live in atlanta. I miss california......

 

[magicmaya]

I never knew mickey had eyebrows.:lookaroun

 

[AshaNeOmah]

I've been to all 4 parks at least an hour or so before opening. I think bus service to a park starts about 1.5 to 1 hours before opening. The parking lots shouldn't be too much later. I'm sure someone here can confirm those numbers. Getting there way before opening is not really a requirement but not unheard of.

For Animal Kingdom be sure to go through the RFC entrance to the left of the main gate. You'll save a few minutes and be first on your ride of choice.

For MK, most people tend to flood Tomorrowland. My plan is to usually go to Adventure/Frontier and knock out Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Spalsh, BTMRR, and HM. Then go where ever your heart takes you!

For EPCOT, get Soarin' done as fast as possible and grab a FastPass for it. The only other FastPass rides that really count are Test Track and M:S, which usually aren't too bad if you get them in right after the first Soarin'.

Hollywood Studios is in a state of denial right now so ride the rides that are there at your leisure. Arriving early really isn't a necessity unless you plan on multiple RnRC or ToT rides.

 

[DisneyPrincess']

Thanks for the input! I definitely want to get a head start on all the crowds and actually get to enjoy all the little things you miss in the parks when running from attraction to attraction!

 

[nancy2584]

Wow,you have a nice party.

 

[DisneyPrincess']

I've been to all 4 parks at least an hour or so before opening. I think bus service to a park starts about 1.5 to 1 hours before opening. The parking lots shouldn't be too much later. I'm sure someone here can confirm those numbers. Getting there way before opening is not really a requirement but not unheard of.

For Animal Kingdom be sure to go through the RFC entrance to the left of the main gate. You'll save a few minutes and be first on your ride of choice.

For MK, most people tend to flood Tomorrowland. My plan is to usually go to Adventure/Frontier and knock out Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Spalsh, BTMRR, and HM. Then go where ever your heart takes you!

For EPCOT, get Soarin' done as fast as possible and grab a FastPass for it. The only other FastPass rides that really count are Test Track and M:S, which usually aren't too bad if you get them in right after the first Soarin'.

Hollywood Studios is in a state of denial right now so ride the rides that are there at your leisure. Arriving early really isn't a necessity unless you plan on multiple RnRC or ToT rides.

I've never been to Animal Kingdom so how do you get to the Rainforest Cafe entrance and what land does it bring you into?

 

[AshaNeOmah]

I've never been to Animal Kingdom so how do you get to the Rainforest Cafe entrance and what land does it bring you into?

It's not hard at all. As you walk past the security gates, veer to the left. You'll see the sign that indicates the entrance to RFC and will probably see the entrance. When you enter into the gift shop (which it the first room you go into) Take a sharp right and walk all the way through the shop. You'll exit the shop to an open bar area and the AK turnstile is at the end of that area. It will place you in almost the same exact place as the regular entrance but you can hug the left wall and get to Discovery Island just a little faster.
I've not used it in a few years but it will usually save you 5-10 minutes in ticket lines and bypass the crowd trying to meet characters at the entrance.

Hope that helped.