Hi,
We are visiting DW April 15-22; we are planning to do MK on a day with a crowd level of 4. I built a beautiful plan that has us doing everything we want to including a 3-4 hour afternoon/dinner break (we are staying at contemporary and will be heading back for naps). However, I had completely written off SDMT because it just wasn’t worth the wait/the stress of the crowd in the morning. The only way we’d consider it is if we can be first in line. My kids wake up by 6:30 so we could easily be at the park by 7:30— is that early enough? (Early entry is 8:30 that day)
IME - If you can, realistically, be at the entry taps at least one hour before RD you’ll be in the front of the RD crowd. That should get you into early entry for hotel guests too
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Yes. The only limitation is what time the security checkpoint on the walking path from the Contemporary opens. But I’d be surprised if it doesn’t open by the time the first buses are due to arrive.
Once you get through the gates, everyone will be making their way down to the Hub, and you need to line up again to get into FantasyLand.
The alternative to all that is to buy an ILL for 7dmt, if that’s within budget.
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The last time I rope dropped 7DMT by walking from the Contemporary path was in July 2021, so this information may have changed. But according to my time stamps, the Contemporary security gate opened 55min before park open (EE did not exist yet), at the same time as the regular security gates (the walk to taps is slightly shorter from Contemporary so you’ll be near the front if you walk with purpose).
Then taps opened 10 min after that. If you walk straight the the hub and scan in for EE (right side of the hub), you can line up at the FL bridge and be among the first at the rope.
So yes, being at the park 1hr before EE on a CL4 day sounds like a good bet to guarantee a walk on or very short wait at 7DMT. That said, you’ll spend 1hr waiting at various holding points before park open, which can feel long too (though if you plan well I guess you could bring breakfast snacks to eat while waiting, use that time to apply sun screen, etc.)
I personally find the 7DMT rope drop too stressful because the RD crowd there is large and can get a bit pushy (and there’s limited crowd control by CM when the rope actually drops).
So I agree that if you can swing an ILL, and then rope drop PPF or SM instead of 7DMT, you’ll likely have a less stressful morning.
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and the ride is semi-frequently not operating at RD. So you could go to all that trouble and then be faced with choosing between waiting it out or aborting mission.
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Thanks that’s helpful confirmation! We aren’t doing SM because my youngest isn’t tall enough. My plan has us hitting Buzz then Fantasyland, using first LL on Peter Pan (though TP is only estimating a 17 minute wait for that shortly after 9 so not even sure it’s worth it but don’t know what else we would do that early and don’t want to wait until 11 to book another one.) Will stick with the plan thanks !
When I stayed at CO and walked to MK I was literally first in line at the tapstile. If I recall correctly, security opened one hour before EE.
Totally agree with NTEI. The 7DMT crowd is very pushy. So, my approach is to not sweat the pushers and runners and let them go knowing we will still get a decent spot in line. My attitude is "I’m on vacation and will not be rushed to anything. You can also just jump into line at the end of the night. You may have a wait but you are not having to pay for an ILL and theoretically you’ve already completed everything you came to do
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