We are checking into Saratoga Springs on a Monday when Epcot is having Extended Evening hours. According to TouringPlans, “To use Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, Disney requires guests to display or scan their room keys in order to enter attraction queues during these extra two hours.”
We’ll have Park Hoppers. Assuming we enter Epcot or any of the parks that day, am I correct in assuming that at least one of us will have to leave to go check in at the resort so that we’ll have room keys to show for the extended hours? We haven’t stayed on site since 2009, so I’m a little clueless.
Related question: There’s no way for us to take advantage of early entry on our day of check-in, right?
How are you entering the parks? Do you have tickets are will you have Magic Bands? When are you planning on dropping off your luggage and checking into the resort?
You may go to early entry. You could go to SSR and pick up room keys for parking, early entry, and evening hours at any time (early). Or you can get magic bands or use MagicMobile (download your tickets to your phone’s wallet) and go to the resort when you want.
At evening hours, they will also scan your magic band or electronic ticket at each attraction.
When you do an Online Checking using the My Disney Experience (MDE) all entitlements become active without the need to physically go to the hotel’s front desk. As @PrincipalTinker stated, all electronic instances of your tickets (Magic Band or MagicMoble) can be used to enter a Park or later in the Extended Evening Hours period enter an attraction queue.
Any Guest Service location, in a hotel or park, can provide you with a World Key Card, which works seamlessly for everything from unlocking your room door to entering a park without having to deal with Magic Bands or electronic wallets or BlueTooth connections.
Our daughter is completing her Disney College Program, so we’ll be using her Chip-and-Dale park hoppers.
So, to be clear … we could do online check-in with Saratoga Springs prior to the start of early entry and then we’d be allowed to enter the parks early that day? It never would have occurred to me to try to check in at, say, 7 AM when the room won’t be available until that afternoon.
You guys have been so helpful. Thanks. Let me throw another question at you: On the day that we check out of the resort, we’re able to use Early Entry, right?