I have several questions and would appreciate your input:
We go in a couple weeks and will do ETPE for our MK and HS days. I’m hoping to use my TP and not buy LL+ or G+ b/c we stay all day in the parks and don’t park hop. Assuming we are allowed to get in early (8:00am-ish) for the 8:30 early entry–if I head straight to our first ride, will my TP app let me optimize for the next ride before 8:30 am? I ask b/c I know that TP’s are not currently allowing a start time before the official ETPE opening of 8:30.
Also, assuming we can get in at 8:00am–anyone who has been lately since release of G+/LL+…would you recommend going to SDD or ROTR first thing at 8:00am?
My TP plan has me going to Pooh but it is starting at 8:30 on our MK day. I’m thinking head to Space instead of 7DMT?
There are reports of people being allowed into the park as early as 7:45am. However, no rides operate until 8:00am. (It may not seem like a lot, but 15 minutes advance walking can get you to your first attraction quickly and probably onto #2 immediately after.
IME (pre-COVID) - The app will let you try to optimize for times before opening, but I haven’t found them to be accurate. My advice is to pick a land and just stay there for ETPE and if you do everything there or the BIG attractions you want, quickly, head to your next Land by park opening. (Just being in the park and in the Lands gives you such an advantage of people still at the gates / Main St.
I haven’t been, but am knowledgeable enough through my WDW obsession, to advise you go to SDD. Both attractions have long waits, RotR is known for starting late or breaking down early. Get over to SDD, where the queue is outside in the sun / heat, before it gets too hot and crowded.
ETPE is a great time to do 7DMT - if you get in early. Otherwise, TP’s best advice is to not RD 7DMT… It gets packed at RD - unless you can guarantee to be at the front of the pack. If you show up to the queue about 20 minutes after park opening the rush has gone through and the queue settles down…
If you love Space Mt. you’ll be able to get more than one ride before park opening. Heck, you’ll probably knock out all of Tomorrowland not much later.
Related question. Let’s say you plan on doing FOP first during early entry regardless of what the TP says. You think this because you think that you will truly, really, honestly be at the front of the pack. But, you know that stuff happens, so maybe not.
So, you setup a personalized touring plan. Optimize. Then you get to the park and you are at the front of the park so you go to FOP rather than what TP says. When you get off of FOP, can you go down to where FOP is on the list, click Done, and will the TP know that you are standing outside of FOP?
Got to HS at 7:50 today and they were already letting people in. We walked back to RotR at not a super fast pace. We still ended up basically walking right on. Walked straight onto Smuggler’s Run and then Star Tours. Did TSM and THEN finally got to SDD about 9:45. Posted wait time was 60 minutes. TP estimated 36 and it ended up being about 41.
By the time we did TSM the line for RotR was well over an hour and climbing.
That was our experience today at least in a level 6 busy day.
Once I marked off our first ride, TP popped up a notification asking if the park had opened earlier than posted and if I wanted to start my plan then.