Pre-RD ADR's

Walt Disney World
1

Hi,
We didn’t have any Pre-RD breakfast’s on our last trip but are considering it for the future.
If I make an 8am res or 8:05, will I get in thru the tapstiles, earlier than say people with like 8:20/8:30 reservations? Or do they just start letting all early ADR’s in at the park gates at the same time, which I presume is like 7:45 am maybe?
Can anyone let me know how they handle letting people in and if those really early times actually get preference for getting in?
appreciate any feedback.
also, for those of you who have done pre-RD H&V, did it actually give you a jump on JTA sign up?

2

@mjsmomma, I believe they let all of them in around the same time. Can’t help with the JTA question though sorry.

3

My new take on pre-RD ADRs is this.

  1. If you care most about getting a head start on attractions, don’t do a pre-RD ADR. Just be first in line for RD. You’ll have less stress and get the most benefit this way.

  2. If you care most about taking photos or seeing a mostly empty park then do a later pre-RD time like 8:20 or 8:30. You’ll get in at 7:45 with everyone else and then have plenty of time to take pictures and wander before you have to check in for your ADR.

  3. If you care most about the characters and food then try for the 8:00 time. You’ll have to go straight to the restaurant and only stop for 1-2 photos, because there just isn’t that much time between getting in and your ADR. However, you’ll be at the start of the character rotation and get through all of them more easily and quickly than anyone else.

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4

so @SallyEppcot, if they let all pre-RD Adr’s in at the same time (what is this time by the way?) do they give preference to the people that have earlier res times, 8:05 vs. 8:20 etc at check in at the restaurant?
Was waiting to get in for a Pre-RD bkfst at MK madness? how early did you get there?
thx!

5

I believe it’s 7:45. The restaurants will only let you check in about 10-15 early so later ADR’s will have to wait a bit. By the way if you’re going at any time that might potentially be busy the open time might get pushed up and then your pre-rd breakfast becomes rope drop breakfast lol. I’m not saying that just because it’s happened to me for our trip next week and I’m a little bitter… nope no way lol. P.S. it might not hurt to book a second one for 10 or so in case that happens so you can do some rides and then go enjoy breakfast. Then within the 24 hours when you know for sure which one you’ll use cancel the other.

6

I only have one experience, but it was just a few weeks ago, so at least it’s recent. My ADR was for Crystal Palace at 8:00. I arrived at MK at about 7:30, went through bag check and saw there was a long line of people already waiting to get in. We all stood in line until about 7:45 when they opened 2 tap stiles for park entry. They didn’t check IDs or a reservation list or anything. It was just like regular RD. There were way more people than I expected, but I guess it was everyone with an ADR time before 9:00 at Crystal Palace or Cinderella’s Royal Table. The lines for photo pass photographers were very long right away. Main Street was less congested than at regular park opening, but there were people in all my castle photos. I realized at about 7:55 that there was also a line at CP to sign in for the ADRs. I was pretty tired of people and lines by the time I was called to be seated. I ate and met 2 of the 4 characters and left the restaurant at about 8:50. There were already regular guests in the park by then. I don’t think I’d do it again. I’d have my family do regular RD and then a late brunch time.

7

it won’t give you much of a jump, if any. HS tends to open 15-20 minutes earlier than posted. So even if you have an 8am Pre-RD reservation, you’ll only have about 45 minutes before the masses enter and start the sprint to JTA sign ups. The character meal will take you about 60-90 minutes to meet and greet all the characters.

Thinking out loud…

One strategy would be, about midway through breakfast (around 8:45am), someone hangs back at the table while you and the kids that will be participating in JTA could hoof it over to the sign ups, spend about 15-20 minutes signing up, and then come back to breakfast.

It might prolong your b’fast if you haven’t met many of the characters (and that might throw off your TP a bit) but it could be a fair trade off since the extra time at b’fast probably won’t be as long as if you had waited until AFTER breakfast to sign up or been in the back of the crowd at rope drop.

8

thx guys. will continue to think about this. thankfully trip looks to be about a year away so I have time to figure it out!

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