What You Need to Know About Early Theme Park Entry
When you stay at an official Walt Disney World resort, you gain one of the best amenities imaginable.
You can enter a Disney theme park before regular guests!
Photo: Disney
With this option, you can experience one or more of Disney’s best and most popular attractions before everyone else.
You’ll start your park day in the best possible way!
Here’s what you need to know about Early Theme Park Entry.
The Basics of Early Theme Park Entry
Photo: Disney
Nearly 20 years ago, Walt Disney World introduced a new amenity called Extra Magic Hours.
This perk rewarded guests for staying at official Disney resorts. Disney has since updated the service by giving it a new name.
Photo:visitorlando.com
With Early Theme Park Entry, Disney will allow you to enter a Walt Disney World theme park thirty minutes before it officially opens to guests.
At this time of the day, the only other people in the parks will be Disney employees and the other vacationers staying at official Disney resorts.
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
You don’t need to know much about Disney to understand what a massive competitive advantage that is.
On an average day, Walt Disney World theme parks host tens of thousands of guests.
During Early Theme Park Entry, only a few hundred people populate each park.
That’s partially because the amenity is so exclusive and partially because many guests sleep through Early Theme Park Entry anyway.
On some days, tourists value a good night’s sleep over an extra half-hour at the theme park, no matter how empty it is. And I totally get that.
Low crowds near Cinderella Castle
As a frequent Disney vacationer over the years, I have used Early Theme Park Entry on some mornings and blissfully slept in at other times.
There’s no right or wrong approach here. Many Disney vacationers split the difference by visiting during Early Theme Park Entry on some but not all dates.
The List of Participating Hotels
Disney
Before we go any further, we should discuss who qualifies for this perk.
Here are the hotels that provide Early Theme Park Entry as an amenity:
- Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
- The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
- Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
- Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
- DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
- Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista
- Four Seasons Resort Orlando
- Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
- Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
- Holiday Inn Orlando
- Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort
- Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
- Waldorf Astoria Orlando
- Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
- Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
Photo: Booking.com
Now through December 31, 2023, the following hotels offer early theme park entry for registered Guests:
- B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
As long as you stay at one of these resorts, you WILL get Early Theme Park Entry.
How Does Early Theme Park Entry Work?
You’ll need two pieces of information to take full advantage of Early Theme Park Entry.
First, you must know when your theme park of choice will open for the day.
The official Disney website posts this information. However, you’ll want to monitor the park hours.
Disney updates regularly. Something you write down a month or two before your visit may change by the time you visit.
Keeping up with the park’s opening matters greatly. Should you arrive at the wrong time, you’ll miss the advantage of Early Theme Park Entry.
Second, you should understand that fewer people at Disney isn’t the same as no people at Disney.
You’ll still face crowds in one specific part of the park: the entrance.
Every vacationer participating in Early Theme Park Entry will line up in front of the park.
While this shouldn’t be a problem, you’ve stood in line at the bank, the airport, or the post office. So, you know that sometimes, something goes wrong.
In those instances, a bottleneck can occur. It’s generally a minor snafu that only takes a few minutes to fix.
Unfortunately, your competitive advantage only lasts for 30 minutes. You don’t want to waste any of it!
For that reason, you should plan to arrive at the park well ahead of the beginning of Early Theme Park Entry.
When you get there among the first guests, you’ll also be among the first to enter the park.
That may not sound like much, but it’s often the difference between a five-minute wait for something and a 30-minute wait.
When you spend 30 minutes in line, you spend the entirety of Early Theme Park Entry at one attraction.
A quick wait allows you to ride something else before the park opens to the general public!
What Should You Ride?
Photo: Playbuzz.com
Obviously, your personal preferences play a determining factor here.
If you prefer one attraction over all the others, just pick that! You’ll start your park visit by feeling happy, which is the whole point!
Credit: Disney
Let’s say that you’re not committed to anything specific, though. In that case, you should be aware of a few solid options.
Here are the park attractions that typically require the longest waits.
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Avatar: Flight of Passage, Na’vi River Journey, Adventurers Outpost
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- EPCOT – Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track
- Magic Kingdom – Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise
Image Credit: Disney
I would recommend that you use My Disney Experience to map your way directly to one of these attractions.
Should everything go well, you can actually experience one of these attractions before the park officially opens!
Then, you can make your way to a second ride, guaranteeing that you’ll experience the magical park visit you deserve!
MickeyBlog Logo
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
Feature Photo: Disney
