I asked about this in 2019, pre-COVID, obviously, because it seemed like the RD crowds were already way bigger in 2019 than they were in 2015.
Now that we are Post-COVID (or at least, post-COVID park closure) we now have Early Theme Park Entry for Disney Resort Hotel Guests, at every park, every day. Part of the beauty of RD pre-COVID was you’d do RD at a park that did not have early entry (or whatever they called it back then), expecting that most people would be going to the single park with early entry that day.
Between ETPE and the “secret” of RD so well known now, I feel like RD is not nearly as valuable as it once was.
Is it just me, or is this accurate?
3 Likes
Like anything these days, the internet has made this information more accessible. Until just 7 - 8 years ago there weren’t so many vloggers / bloggers / YT. So, I’ll agree that RD isn’t much of a “secret” anymore. Especially since so many people are waking up at 7am to do G+. (A lot of those ppl would’ve slept in before G+)
Combine all that with years of pent-up demand from folks wanting to “get back out there” and/or reschedule cancelled trips is making the parks packed all day.
3 Likes
I know this post is a bit old, but I was just thinking about this. I do want to be there early to get started, but for our short upcoming trip we only have 3 days (fly in day 1 morning, fly out day 3 evening). For MK I am thinking about EE RD Space Mt instead of fighting the crowds for SDMT/PPF, and getting ILL/LL for those later. The only other RD we have is AK and I’m not as worried about that one. I will likely do ILL for FOP since my hubby won’t be riding with me.
1 Like
We did this a couple of weeks ago. We were not there super early due to teens, probably arrived at MK shortly after 8:00 for 8:30 EE. We were lined up middle of the Tomorrowland pack for RD, had about a 10 minute wait for Space, then Buzz with no wait, then HM with about a 12 minute wait after which lines were starting to build.
3 Likes