Today, EE guests were allowed to wander around Tomorrowland and get in line for attractions starting at 7:45, although rides didn’t start til 8:30. Wonder if TRON will be added to EE? And if this procedure will be followed for Fantasyland too.
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Watching this closely! Thanks!
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That’s a 45 minute wait for the first person in line… Plus all the extra time to get to be the first person in line… Does that defeat the purpose of EE?
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Nope because EE is to not “waste” park time in lines. Any waiting outside of park hours isn’t “wasted” as long as you are willing to get up. It’s all in what matters to you.
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But your waiting still 
I don’t get the concept. Unless you are just up and ready to be in the parks… I could see getting up early to wake around an area with very few people. Actually… No, that’s not me either
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Are they letting you in early to things that aren’t part of EE? Or are they letting EE people in early to wait in line to start at EE start time? Now I’m not sure.
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When I visited in December, I was lucky enough to ride and exit Rise of the Resistance before Early Entry officially started. Not something people should count on, but it was a pretty magical start to the day!
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Yes, you are still waiting. However, you are not using park time to wait. By waiting early, you are saving time because then you will have time for other EE attractions and when EE is done, you will be able to do other attractions.
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This is what they typically do during EE for HS. Taps open at 8 for an 8:30 EE time and then you get to walk to the entrance to the queue for whatever ride instead of entrance to the land.
Don’t know that it makes too much of a difference. 90% of people RD TL are heading to Space for EE but it does get the most stressful and unpleasant part of the experience completed earlier in the day.
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The true rope drop at MK does make you use the early entry time in line plus has the added stress of being in that mass of people behind the rope. Last time we rope dropped HS we arrived at 7:40 and by 8:44 we had ridden MMRR and TSM (rise was down.). Still had 20 minutes before opening. I doubt the MK version will save much time but should make the process less stressful.
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More bloggers reporting this
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Most blogs are specifically mentioning Tomorrowland along with the impact on Tron. Any confirmation that Fantasyland is also open and you can line up for SDMT?
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I only know what the bloggers reported. They don’t say specifically yay or nay on Fantasyland. Try asking on Chat, someone may be in MK and able to confirm.
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Yes I can confirm it includes FL. But can also share this may be temporary while work is being done in the TL bridge.
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If a park is open, let’s say 14 hours, 8AM - 10PM, but you wait til park open to arrive and then it takes 10 minutes to get thru taps, and then you walk to a ride that now has a 30 minute line, you are already 40 minutes into that 14 hour day.
But if you arrive 40 minutes before open and get thru taps and can walk to the line you want all before the park even opens, all your time spent is not inside the 14 hours.
Don’t anyone get caught up in my numbers etc. I’m just trying to elaborate on @mathhound ‘s response.
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But now you will have to arrive even earlier than that. Because people can now line up at attractions 45 mins before EE even starts.
All they did is push the rope drop time earlier yet not attraction start time. So now, even if you make it to the beginning of the “new” RD crowd you still have to wait at least 45 mins. for the attraction to let people on the ride. When previously they dropped the rope about 5 mins before EE opening. So if you were at the front of the pack you may wait 5 or 10 mins. The amount of time you allow for getting to the park, tapping in and lining up for RD hasn’t changed. It just got earlier. But attraction opening time did not.
You can only wait in 1 line before official EE. So now you’re just waiting longer in that 1 line because Disney is allowing you access to those lines 45 mins before EE.
A good EE strategy would be to hit the rides that do not open their queue up earlier. Those lines haven’t had 45 mins to build, lol.
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I wouldn’t use the time to time up for a ride that opened later than the other rides.
I was just explained that any waiting you do prior to operational hours doesn’t affect the return on your investment.
If the whole course of my vacation I spend $6000 on tickets for my family and I have 60 park hours, it costs me $100 an hour to be in the parks. But any waiting I do before operating times doesn’t cost me anything.
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The way I see it there are 2 schools of thought:
School A - Optimize park hours
- EE increases total park hours, bc you can get more rides in
- In that sense, this MK change could be a good thing, bc you can get in line starting at 7:45, instead of 8:30.
School B - Optimize wait time
- EE allows you ride with lower SB waits - but you also have to line up for EE.
- In that sense, the MK change may not be a good thing, bc you may be facing a longer SB line for some rides.
I belong to school B - I find waiting exhausting, and I can only last 6-8 hours total in the park, with a break in between, and DW doesn’t like getting up early, so those are my limiting factors. But others may feel differently!
As an example of how this change might impact us, 2 weeks ago my calculation was that it didn’t make sense for us to get up early enough and wait in the RD pack long enough, to be near front of pack for 7DMT. So I went with the “zig when they zag” approach, we arrived at around 8:20, back of RD pack, and headed straight for WtP and then JotLM, no wait, and then 7DMT via LL at 9AM. Will this change mean longer EE SB lines for non headliners like WtP and JotLM? It might. I’d check thrilldata for post-change wait data and then decide.
One thing I do like about the change is a calmer RD experience - you’re not in that horde of people shuffling forward.
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Just time. But waiting in line 45 mins earlier doesn’t save you any time either. You get to line up 45 mins earlier than EE time vs 5 mins earlier than EE time.
Example:
Last week: The Smith family arrive at MK parking lot at 7am for 8:30am EE. They park, tap in and get in the front of the RD line, ready for an 8:25 rope drop. They head straight to Space Mountain with a 10 minute wait and then continue onto other Tomorrowland EE attractions.
Now: The Smith family arrive at MK parking lot at 6:15am for 8:30am EE. They park, tap in and get in the front of the RD line, ready for an 7:45 rope drop. They head straight to Space Mountain with a 45-55 minute wait and then continued onto other Tomorrowland EE attractions.
This is how I see it happening. Unless MK doesn’t open the parking lot earlier. Then those entry tap in lines will be LONG.
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But at 7:45 you wait 45+ mins. At 8:30 you wait 10+ mins… You don’t actually get on the attraction any earlier.
Only if MK opens up earlier to allow people to get in. If they stick to the 90 mins before EE (or whatever it is), RDing will be chaotic.
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