My family did a BOG PPO two consecutive days last week, and thought I’d share some details that could be useful for others.
First day was also an EMM day, while the second day had a normal 9am open (no EMH).
We arrived at the restaurant around 8am both days, though our actual reservation time was around 8:30. We had no trouble with this. It was a little unnerving after we’d selected a table how long it took to get someone to pick up our receipt and then to deliver our food, but we ended up having enough time both days to eat and casually get out to the SDMT line, which for us was the real attraction.
Day 1 with the EMM, the line for post-BOG people started around the corner from the FP entrance. We got in this line around 8:45 and there were less than 50 people in front of us. At 8:55, they released us into the standby queue (EMM folks were using the FP queue), then held us at the merge point until I think exactly 9:00am. By the time we exited, the standby queue was out heading toward Storybook Circus, though it was moving inside. We headed elsewhere, but I believe the Peter Pan line would have been manageable (30min?).
Day 2, we got into the line at 8:40, with slightly less people than in front of us than Day 1, and this time the line started at the standby entrance and went east the same as it does normally. I believe they planned to open the queue for us early but instead a CM told us at 8:50 that the ride was down. Since no empty trains were running, we bailed, but if things had been operating, we easily could have done two rides on SDMT, or one there plus PP.
Both days I was fairly surprised by how few people were in the line ahead of us, as we didn’t really rush out of the restaurant.
Thank you for the details of your experiences. We have PPO at BOG in December for 8:20. We have been trying to move it earlier. But it sounds like we will be okay as long as the ride is not down.
When we were there in November, all PPO reservations could enter the restaurant at 8. We had an 8:35 that I couldn’t move earlier, and we ended up being the second family let into BOG that morning. Pre-ordering helps you get in and out more quickly, too. They let everyone who had pre-ordered in first.
For those who are targeting something other than SDMT, after we ate at BOG PPO two weeks ago we headed toward Liberty Square. They held us near Peter Pan until 9:00; there was a line for those going to that ride, and the rest of us grouped nearby. At 9 we were let loose and we were the first riders on Haunted Mansion (of which DH is a huge fan). We would have tried to get a SDMT ride in before 9:00 but ran later than planned and didn’t have time. When we had arrived at BOG there was a huge line to check in. DH pointed out that there was a much shorter line to the left which saved us a good bit of time.