Disney World - Times to arrive for opening

[RiverRat]

Looking for some advice about what time to arrive at the parks when we go to Disney next week!

Opening time is 9am - so what time do you aim to arrive at the parks? Details: We will be driving, so we will need to walk from the parking lot. What time do you try to get to the parking lot and then into the park? We will have MagicBands so we don't have to worry about purchasing tickets. We also have Memory Maker, so I'm not sure if there are photo opportunities before we get into the park? Also, I remember something about a train ride and Mickey and friends being there for opening? I honestly don't remember :)

We are going to Magic Kingdom for 2 days and Hollywood Studios.

[BDKmom]

I would aim to arrive in the parking lot at 8 am for MK. You will likely have to take a tram to the monorail and the monorail to the park. When we were there a few weeks ago, that all took 45 min to an hour. Also, traffic was worse than we expected getting to the parking lot, so you may add 5-10 min to your anticipated drive time. Qualifiers to the above are that we traveled with a 3 and a 6 yr old, so there is no moving quickly, and we had a double stroller to load on the tram, which makes it harder to get a seat quickly. You can get into the park more quickly if you don't bring in a bag, as you can bypass the wait in a bag check line before going in.

Hollywood Studios doesn't take nearly as long to get in. We went there last year, so I can't remember exactly, but I remember it being much quicker.

Of course all of this depends on the crowds the days you go.

[abh5e8]

We were there last week. The train is down. They started the opening show at 840 and opened the gates at 845. Lines for bag check and then to swipe in with magic bands were long. You will park at the transportation center, take tram up to the center, then either boat or monorail to magic kingdom gates. I agree with getting to the parking lot by 8, but that still may not get you into the park with that first wave at 845. I was surprised at how long it takes.

[Still-in-Shock]

Definitely check a crowd calendar, and if it is a high number, add 15-30 minutes. If you need to see the rope drop (when the park opens), add another half hour.
And just to reiterate, for people who drive in, you have to park at the TTC, then take a tram to the monorail and then you get to MK. At HS, you get to park near then park, and then walk in.

[georgiegirl]

8:00, 8:15 at the latest for MK. When we went in Nov., the monorail was closed in the AM, so the only options were bus (we had a big stroller, so we didn't want to take the bus). The boat took forever.

The other parks, you should be fine arriving at 8:30

ETA: we arrived early enough we never had to take the parking tram (much to my kids dismay)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk