IIRC, they increased the regular park hours to handle the extra guests coming into the park for GE. So they did not have time for paid extra hours events.
Looking at the September 2019 hours, they had early morning EMH starting at 6:00 AM. Park opened officially at 9 AM and closed at 10 PM.
If I had to wager a guess, it would be that they do one or two nights a week for (Deluxe?) resort guests, and save other nights for general later hours OR After Hours events or parties so that they can continue to offer up-charge events.
Just catching up, and wanted to throw a thought out thereâŚdo we really think 30 minutes early entry will actually be only 30 minutes?
I mean, the parks have recently been opening well before the stated opening time?
Perhaps it is actually going to be more like âthe park will be fully operational and available to resort guests at least 30 minutes before stated openingâ, but theyâll really start letting people in an hour or so before stated opening and open attractions as they complete their checklists or whatever?
It seems like soft opening times help them process incoming guests, so might be retained? (And gives them some flexibility on ride opening delays)
Last couple of days I was there they had begun sort of rope dropping us and making us wait longer to ride things. We didnât get actually âintoâ Epcot till 30 min early though we were being corralled in WorldShowcase
Thatâs what I was thinking. Doesnât do me any good since I usually close out the parks rather than RD. But I figured â30 minutes earlyâ will practically be closer to an hour, but give them a cushion for unexpected delays.
F[quote=âjennyturin, post:228, topic:79131, full:trueâ]
Last couple of days I was there they had begun sort of rope dropping us and making us wait longer to ride things. We didnât get actually âintoâ Epcot till 30 min early though we were being corralled in WorldShowcase
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The return to more normal rope drop is almost certainly the first step towards the early entry process, getting people used to the old system again.
Iâd be interested to hear what happens at AK if youâre going there in the next couple of days.
I think I was there a week after you? HS they had us line up in the park depending on the section/attraction you wanted and rope dropped 30 minutes before opening. At IG we scanned into EP at 10:40 and were stopped at Canada. That dropped at 10:42.
I hope the prediction that 30 minutes early entry will be the minimum (and will actually start to open an hour ahead of time) will be correct! That would be an awesome perk when crowds are spread out amongst all the parks.
Canât wait for a schedule & more info to come out for the evening hours, along with some first hand reports!
When I was looking at the 2019-2020 August-March hours the other day I remembered there were a lot of rumors about Evening Magic Hours at MK. I think anyone depending on that benefit should remember that there were no Evening Magic Hours at MK September-December because of parties and AHs.
What stinks, is from what Iâve read half the parks are back to original rope drop with no emh. You get in 30 min early, but canât ride until right at opening time. Supposedly the extra 30 min doesnât start until Oct 1. I understand they definitely needed to get back to regular rope drop to cleanly implement the Early Magic Minutes for resort guests. But those of us with trips between now and Oct 1 get increased crowds and nada extra minutes.
At HS two weeks ago you were allowed to go to attractions exactly 30 minutes before scheduled park opening. I did it two mornings in a row and they counted down to 8:30 on a 9am opening.
Yeah, I heard AK was still letting people ride in pandora a little before park opening as well. But I thought I heard MK and Epcot were holding people at the ropes inside the park u til right at opening time?