Disney is offering Early Entry, a new perk for Disneyland Resort hotel guests. Each day of your stay, enter the parks 30 minutes early. You have the option to either go to Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park with valid theme park admission, a reservation for the park you choose and your hotel room key. It’s a great way to jump start your morning. Alright let’s break it down and discuss what’s open during this time, what if you don’t have Early Entry, what’s the best strategy and more! Make sure to ready my follow up after I experienced Early Entry and things I learned!
Magic Morning and Extra Magic hour are gone
Before the parks closed in March 2020 they offered Magic Morning and/or Extra Magic hour. When the parks reopened April 2021 this option never returned. It’s no longer a thing.
Disney has finally come out with a new program that they actually rolled out months ago in Walt Disney World. Early Entry is an added perk to staying on property now on either coast. You have this added perk when you stay at any of the the three Disneyland resort hotels – Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel or Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
How is Early Entry different from Magic Morning?
One big difference with Early Entry is the option to go to either park Disneyland or DCA. Every day of your stay you have the option to choose which park you want to go into 30 minutes early. Of course you must have a park reservation to enter the park. Both parks are open every day 30 minutes early for hotel guests.
How will Early Entry affect rope drop and guests without Early Entry?
All guests that don’t have Early Entry still need to plan on arriving at least 45 minutes before official park hours. If the park officially opens at 8:00 a.m. you will still be allowed through the turnstiles at 7:30 a.m. to line up for rope drop. None of that changes with the addition of Early Entry access.
(Read up on rope drop if you’re not familiar.) When I was there for the launch of Early Entry at Disneyland I didn’t find that it affected those coming to rope drop. If you think about it, the extra benefit is only for hotel guests at the 3 resort hotels. Those guests get to choose which park they want to go to. So you’re splitting the guests into two different parks and not all guests will get up early for an extra 30 minutes. So I don’t think it’s even going to be a problem for guests not able to use Early Entry (EE). And lastly not all of the attraction are open during EE. The majority of the attractions will not have a line until the park officially opens.
What’s open during early entry?
Disneyland Park Attractions
- Alice in Wonderland
- Astro Orbitor
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Disneyland Monorail
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- King Arthur Carrousel
- Mad Tea Party
- Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
- Peter Pan
- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
- Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Dining and Shopping
- Fantasyland Fruit Cart
- Galactic Grill
- Guide II
- Esplanade Stroller Shop
- The Mad Hatter in Fantasyland
- Market House
- Plaza Inn
Disney California Adventure Park Attractions
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Incredicoaster
- The Little Mermaid
- Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
- Monsters Inc.
- Soarin’ Around the World
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
Dining and Shopping
- Cappuccino Cart
- The Collector’s Warehouse
- Corn Dog Castle
- Esplanade Stroller Shop
- Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe
- Fillmore’s Taste-In
- Seaside Souvenirs
- Oswald’s
- WEB Suppliers
Touring plans options during Early Entry
Not all the rides are open during Early Entry. Keep this in mind when you are coming up with a plan. Here are a few ideas depending on the interests in your group. These are just suggestions you decide what’s best for your group.
Disneyland plans…
Idea #1
- Peter Pan
- Alice in Wonderland
- Head to the rope in Fantasyland closest to Galaxy’s Edge to be one of the first on Rise of the Resistance.
Idea #2
- Peter Pan
- Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
- Head to the rope closest to Big Thunder Mountain
Idea #3
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours
- Go to the Matterhorn which is not open during Early Entry to be the first on the ride when the park opens.
Idea #4
- Space Mountain
- Buzz Lightyear
- Go take a picture in front of the castle with no one in it before the park officially opens.
Disney California Adventure plans…
Idea #1
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
- Go to the rope closest to Radiator Springs Racers to be one of the first on the ride.
Idea #2
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
- Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
- Go to the rope closet to Radiator Springs Racers to be one of the first on the ride
Idea #3
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Incredicoaster
- Go to Toy Story which is not open during Early Entry to be the first on the ride when the park opens.
Whatever you choose to do take advantage of riding attractions that build long lines. No reason to hop in line for Little Mermaid during Early Entry just because it’s open. Save that for later cause the line is usually not long for that attraction. Another strategy is go on rides that are NOT included in Disney Genie+. Save your Disney Genie+ rides for during regular hours. For a complete list of those attractions read about Disney Genie+.
Early Entry perks
There are plenty of reasons why you should take advantage of Early Entry as a hotel guest. You’ll love being in the parks before general admission, giving you the chance to enjoy popular rides with shorter wait times. The benefits of having EE are going to allow you to knock out some attractions that will have long lines later in the day. And the perk of being in the park with less people is reason enough to consider booking a room on property now. Take advantage of an empty castle backdrop and take photos. Or beat the rush and head to breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza Inn. If you weren’t able to get a dining reservation for this location well you’re in luck now. I love this character dining experience and it’s open during Early Entry.
How do they know if you have Early Entry access?
Everyone lines up at the turnstiles like normal. There is no separate line for Early Entry guests to scan into the park. We arrived just before 7:00 a.m. and were the second group from the front. So you still need to arrive early cause there’s no separate line for Early Entry at the gates. Then everyone is let in the gates and can head up Main Street starting about 30 minutes before the park opens. But you are stopped at the rope and not allowed past a certain point. For guests with Early Entry you will want to watch for cast members holding signs at the end of Main Street heading towards Tomorrowland. You will have to show your hotel reservation in the Disneyland app to have access into the EE area.
Monorail open during Early Entry
Hotel guests can take advantage of the Monorail open during Early Entry. This is a great way to head into the parks. The Monorail drops you off in Tomorrowland near Finding Nemo. But by the time you get on the Monorail and ride over into the parks you’ve lost about 15 minutes of your 30 minute advantage.
So while this is a great idea to use it as transportation to and from the park, I wouldn’t use it thinking you’ll get a very big head start. They won’t let guests on the Monorail until just at 30 minutes before the park opens. Read more on why I love to use the Monorail for other reasons on this post.
How will this affect rope drop and touring strategies?
You could plan to go to rides that won’t already have a line with EE guests. But I wouldn’t change my rope drop strategy. The rush of Early Entry hotel guests will be at the start of Early Entry. Thirty minutes into the day only a few attractions will have a line. Those EE guests have dispersed over many rides and lines are already moving. There will not be a huge difference in lines with the implementation of Early Entry don’t worry! Read up on my how to fit in all the rides in one day at Disneyland or over at Disney California Adventure.
Early Entry follow up and thoughts
I was in the parks for the first few opening days of Early Entry and I am here to report some of things that will help you on your visit!
- Go to Peter Pan first if it’s on your list. You can then knock out most of Fantasyland in the 30 minutes cause there are like no lines!
- You can line up for Rise of the Resistance at the rope near Red Rose Tavern. Be there by 7:55 a.m. and follow the crowd. You barely beat the rope drop group coming from the hub. But remember this approach is risky cause the attraction is sometimes closed when the park opens. Read more about when I recommend riding Rise of the Resistance.
- Have a plan B in place. I headed to Space Mountain first and it was closed, so I lost precious time, but quickly readjusted my plan.
- There is a PhotoPass photographer in front of the castle. This is a great time to get a photo with little to no one in the background.
- Check the app during Early Entry for wait times and see if an attraction is temporarily closed.
- Use the front gates of Disney California Adventure to get in for Early Entry even if you’re a guest staying at the Grand Californian. It takes longer to get through security over on the hotel exclusive entrance side. And they don’t start the security line until just before 7:30 a.m.
- Only Grand Californian guests can use the hotel entrance into Disney California Adventure on Early Entry mornings.
- Plan to leave your Disney hotel no later than 6:45 a.m. Since there is no dedicated entrance for Early Entry guests you’re standing in line with other guests who are there for rope drop. The further you are back in line takes away from your extra 30 minutes in the park.
- Early Entry guests definitely have an advantage over the rope drop crowd to get on Radiator Springs Racers first. Just make sure you’re over at the attraction by 7:55 a.m. to be first in line. Beware this attraction is sometimes closed when the park opens, it was on the day I was there testing strategies. So we went to Guardians of the Galaxy quickly before the park officially opened.
Overall my experience using Early Entry was so worth it. I would recommend doing as many Fantasyland rides as you can during those 30 minutes and then get in line for Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountain or Space Mountain before the park officially opens.
Staying on property at the Disneyland Resort is magical. And with the added benefit of Early Entry now is the time to check out one of the three hotels on property. Read more about each hotel and the benefits of staying at a Disney property.
