disney tourist blog early entry

• EPCOT / Hollywood Studios / Magic Kingdom / Walt Disney World

What You Need to Know about Early Theme Park Entry

by David Mumpower · November 10, 2023

When you stay at an official Walt Disney World resort, you gain one of the best amenities imaginable.

You can enter a Disney theme park before regular guests!

Photo: Disney

With this option, you can experience one or more of Disney’s best and most popular attractions before everyone else.

You’ll start your park day in the best possible way!

Here’s what you need to know about Early Theme Park Entry.

The Basics of Early Theme Park Entry

Nearly 20 years ago, Walt Disney World introduced a new amenity called Extra Magic Hours.

This perk rewarded guests for staying at official Disney resorts. Disney has since updated the service by giving it a new name.

Photo:visitorlando.com

With Early Theme Park Entry , Disney will allow you to enter a Walt Disney World theme park thirty minutes before it officially opens to guests.

At this time of the day, the only other people in the parks will be Disney employees and the other vacationers staying at official Disney resorts.

Photo: Disney Parks Blog

You don’t need to know much about Disney to understand what a massive competitive advantage that is.

On an average day, Walt Disney World theme parks host tens of thousands of guests.

During Early Theme Park Entry, only a few hundred people populate each park.

That’s partially because the amenity is so exclusive and partially because many guests sleep through Early Theme Park Entry anyway.

On some days, tourists value a good night’s sleep over an extra half-hour at the theme park, no matter how empty it is. And I totally get that.

Low crowds near Cinderella Castle

As a frequent Disney vacationer over the years, I have used Early Theme Park Entry on some mornings and blissfully slept in at other times.

There’s no right or wrong approach here. Many Disney vacationers split the difference by visiting during Early Theme Park Entry on some but not all dates.

The List of Participating Hotels

Before we go any further, we should discuss who qualifies for this perk.

Here are the hotels that provide Early Theme Park Entry as an amenity:

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort
• Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

Photo: Booking.com

Now through December 31, 2023, the following hotels offer early theme park entry for registered Guests:

• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista

As long as you stay at one of these resorts, you WILL get Early Theme Park Entry.

How Does Early Theme Park Entry Work?

You’ll need two pieces of information to take full advantage of Early Theme Park Entry.

First, you must know when your theme park of choice will open for the day.

The official Disney website posts this information. However, you’ll want to monitor the park hours.

Disney updates regularly. Something you write down a month or two before your visit may change by the time you visit.

Keeping up with the park’s opening matters greatly. Should you arrive at the wrong time, you’ll miss the advantage of Early Theme Park Entry.

Second, you should understand that fewer people at Disney isn’t the same as no people at Disney.

You’ll still face crowds in one specific part of the park: the entrance.

Every vacationer participating in Early Theme Park Entry will line up in front of the park.

While this shouldn’t be a problem, you’ve stood in line at the bank, the airport, or the post office. So, you know that sometimes, something goes wrong.

In those instances, a bottleneck can occur. It’s generally a minor snafu that only takes a few minutes to fix.

Unfortunately, your competitive advantage only lasts for 30 minutes. You don’t want to waste any of it!

For that reason, you should plan to arrive at the park well ahead of the beginning of Early Theme Park Entry.

When you get there among the first guests, you’ll also be among the first to enter the park.

That may not sound like much, but it’s often the difference between a five-minute wait for something and a 30-minute wait.

When you spend 30 minutes in line, you spend the entirety of Early Theme Park Entry at one attraction.

A quick wait allows you to ride something else before the park opens to the general public!

What Should You Ride?

Photo: Playbuzz.com

Obviously, your personal preferences play a determining factor here.

If you prefer one attraction over all the others, just pick that! You’ll start your park visit by feeling happy, which is the whole point!

Credit: Disney

Let’s say that you’re not committed to anything specific, though. In that case, you should be aware of a few solid options.

Here are the park attractions that typically require the longest waits.

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Avatar: Flight of Passage, Na’vi River Journey, Adventurers Outpost
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• EPCOT – Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track
• Magic Kingdom – Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise

Image Credit: Disney

I would recommend that you use My Disney Experience to map your way directly to one of these attractions.

Should everything go well, you can actually experience one of these attractions before the park officially opens!

Then, you can make your way to a second ride, guaranteeing that you’ll experience the magical park visit you deserve!

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Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World: A Complete Guide

by Morgan Flaherty | Sep 27, 2023 | Animal Kingdom , Disney's Hollywood Studios , EPCOT , Magic Kingdom , Walt Disney World Resorts , WDW Blog

We’re sharing a complete guide to Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World, a continuing perk for staying at a Disney World hotel.

In 2023, Disney World officially retired their Extra Magic Hours , replacing the perk with Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours . While Extended Evening Hours are only available for Guests staying at Disney World Deluxe Resort hotels and Deluxe Villas, Early Theme Park Entry is available for a wider group. Any registered Guest staying at Disney Resort hotels and select other hotels can enter each Disney World theme park thirty minutes prior to the official opening W e’re sharing your complete guide for everything you need to know about Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World.

What is Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World?

Participating disney world hotels, what is available during early theme park entry, frequently asked questions.

Early Theme Park Entry is available for Guests staying at Disney World Resort hotels, as well as select other hotels. The perk allows Guests to enter each of the four theme parks thirty minutes before they officially open, giving them the chance to experience select attractions, merchandise locations, and dining options.

Photo by Brett Svenson

While this list is subject to change, currently, these are all of the Disney World hotels and other off-site properties that offer Early Theme Park Entry for registered Guests:

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort
• Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

Now through December 31st, 2023, the following hotels offer early theme park entry for registered Guests:

• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista

During Early Theme Park Entry hours, Guests will have select attractions, merchandise, food, and beverage locations available to them. While ride availability is subject to change, these are the rides that are typically open at each of the parks during Early Theme Park Entry.

Photo by Cliff Wang

Magic Kingdom

• “it’s a small world”
• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• The Barnstormer
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
• Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
• Frozen Ever After
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon : Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Toy Story Mania!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• It’s Tough to be a Bug!
• Na’vi River Journey
• TriceraTop Spin

Ride availability during Early Theme Park Entry is always subject to change, so make sure to check your My Disney Experience app for the most up-to-date information on what rides are available while you are there.

We’re answering some of the most frequently asked questions about Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World, including what’s available and the best places to use it.

Will Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World continue in 2024?

Yes, Disney World has confirmed that Early Theme Park Entry will continue in 2024. Looking to book your 2024 vacation? Simply fill out a free quote form to get started !

What other benefits are available for Disney World Resort hotel guests?

Guests staying at eligible Deluxe Resort and Deluxe Villa hotels are also eligible for Extended Evening Hours. You can learn more about this benefit, including dates and what hotels its available for, by clicking here .

What is the best park to use Early Theme Park Entry?

Ultimately, the best park will depend on what exactly you and your group want to get done in a day! However, if you are looking to ride on some of the most popular attractions at Disney World, you may have some luck getting a shorter wait on rides such as  Star Wars:  Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, and others at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Keep in mind if you’re visiting a park like Magic Kingdom that only select lands will be open during this time, so you’ll want to plan your day accordingly.

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Disney World Early Theme Park Entry Info on Resort Perk & Strategy Guide

Guests staying at select Walt Disney World hotels and other resorts have access to Early Theme Park Entry. The timing and style of early entry were changed from the previous Extra Magic Hour system when the offering was reintroduced to the theme parks after reopening post-pandemic.

This guide covers all those changes plus what hotels include early theme park entry, what rides are open, and our best tips.

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Walt Disney World Early Theme Park Entry

Walt Disney World guests are allowed entrance into the theme parks  30 minutes  prior to official park opening. Valid theme park admission and park pass reservations are required.

Early Entry replaced the previous Extra Magic Hours which existed pre-COVID and allowed guests an hour of early access at theme parks. The difference is that Early Theme Park Entry allows resort guests 30 minutes early access to every single theme park, each day instead of on select days or select parks. So this means that you can get into each theme park 30 minutes early every single day of your vacation if you're staying at a Walt Disney World resort.

The bonus of this change from Extra Magic Hours is you can access the theme parks early each day of your visit and this also spreads this access across all four theme parks rather than the previous system which focused it all one theme park at a time. This does help spread the crowds out more evenly even if the early access is cut down to 30 minutes. The downside is really for guests not staying in a Walt Disney World resort hotel as they will always be one step behind resort guests in the mornings. This is just yet another reason to opt for the convenience of staying at a Walt Disney World resort. 

Walt Disney World Early Entry Eligible Hotels

Early theme park entry is a benefit for registered Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels and select other hotels, which include the following resorts at Walt Disney World along with a few partner hotels:

• Disney's All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney's All-Star Music Resort
• Disney's All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney's Art of Animation Resort
• Disney's Pop Century Resort
• The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort (read our Disney World Caribbean Beach Resort review )
• Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney's Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
• Disney's Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
• The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge ( read our Animal Kingdom Lodge review )
• Disney's Beach Club Resort
• Disney's BoardWalk Inn
• Disney's Contemporary Resort
• Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney's Polynesian Village Resort (read our review of Polynesian Village )
• Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• Disney's Yacht Club Resort
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
• Disney's Beach Club Villas
• Disney's BoardWalk Villas
• Disney's Old Key West Resort
• Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort
• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista

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Entry Theme Park Entry Attractions

Here is the full list of available attractions for every single theme park at Walt Disney Wold that is available for Early Theme Park Entry. As you can see below, nearly everything will be open!

Magic Kingdom

• “it’s a small world”
• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• The Barnstormer
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
• Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
• Frozen Ever After
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Hollywood Studios

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon : Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Toy Story Mania!

Animal Kingdom 

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• It’s Tough to be a Bug!
• Na’vi River Journey
• TriceraTop Spin

Disney Early Theme Park Entry Strategy

With only 30 minutes to spend in the theme parks (as opposed to the hour given during the previous Extra Magic Hours offering) before the non-resort guests arrive, you want to maximize your use of this time the best you can in order to get the most from it! Here's our best tips for enjoying your Walt Disney World early entry:

• Arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of early entry as people will already be lined up, you don't want to waste this precious 30 minutes waiting in line outside the gates.
• Allow extra time for Disney transportation, depending on how you plan to arrive.
• Prioritize attractions that have paid Individual Lightning Lane access . If you can utilize these 30 minutes to ride those rides, you can save your self time (these lines get long later in the day) and money for this individual charge.
• Eat breakfast at your hotel, don't waste your morning eating breakfast in the parks when this is the time the ride wait times are lowest. Arrive fed and prepared to ride!

The individual Lightning Lane in this park is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and easily nearly all guests will be booking it to this ride. As long as you arrive 30 minutes prior to Early Entry and are towards the front of the pack, you should get on this ride with minimal wait. This ride will only increase in wait times throughout the day and the only way to beat it is to pay for that individual access. I recommend riding it during Early Theme Park Entry.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is the individual Lightning Lane in this park so most guests will run (literally run!) to this attraction first. This can be a bit of a risk as its easily the most popular ride at Walt Disney World and sometimes can have down time in the morning so keep that in mind! In this scenario, you might be better off going to Slinky Dog Dash instead unless you are at the front of the crowd. You can expect Hollywood Studios to have the most crowded early entry morning hours so I recommend arriving an hour before it begins if Rise of the Resistance is your plan. If not, show up 30 minutes prior to the beginning of Early Entry like we recommend for the other parks, and go straight to Slinky Dog Dash.

Animal Kingdom

Over at Animal Kingdom, Avatar Pandora Flight of Passage is the most popular ride with Individual Lightning Lane paid access. Similar to other popular rides this line will just grow and grow all day. I recommend going to this ride first before anything else. The line won't nearly be as long as it is in the afternoon.

EPCOT currently has a unique situation with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind only having individual Lightning Lane access or a virtual queue option. So in this case, a standby line is not an option making it no go for early theme park entry. In this situation, I recommend prioritizing Remy's Ratatouille Adventure or Frozen. Do your best to enter EPCOT from the International Gateway so you can enter via World Showcase. If you do, you'll be in the prime location to go straight to Remy's since the France pavilion is so close to the entrance here. After that, go straight to Norway and ride Frozen Ever After.

If you arrive early and agree with your group on which ride to head to first, you can make the most out of your first 30 minutes of the park day!

Plan Your Walt Disney World Vacation!

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Lindsay is a college English instructor and has years of writing experience through various nonprofits, charities, newspapers, and online magazines. As the content director of Mickey Visit, she oversees article content and leads our fantastic team of writers to meet guest vacation needs. You can still find her writing weekly content to help make your Disney Parks trip fantastic here on Mickey Visit and Disney Dose- you can also view her recently featured posts on Disney Parks travel on Visit Anaheim, Nerd Wallet and SFGate. Lindsay comes from a dedicated Disney family and enjoys taking her son to the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Early Theme Park Entry for Disney Resort Hotel Guests

Participating hotels.

Disney Resort Hotels

• Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort
• The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• Disney's All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney's All-Star Music Resort
• Disney's All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village
• Disney's Art of Animation Resort
• Disney's Beach Club Resort
• Disney's Beach Club Villas
• Disney's BoardWalk Inn
• Disney's BoardWalk Villas
• Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney's Contemporary Resort
• Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney's Old Key West Resort
• Disney's Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Disney's Pop Century Resort
• Disney's Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter
• Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort - A Disney Vacation Club
• Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• Disney's Yacht Club Resort
• The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Other Select Hotels

• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World Resort
• Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

What’s Available at the Theme Parks

During the early entry period, select attractions, merchandise and food and beverage locations will be operating.

In addition, the following attractions are planned* to operate:

Magic Kingdom Park

• “it’s a small world”
• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• The Barnstormer
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
• Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
• Frozen Ever After
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Disney's Hollywood Studios

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ™
• Toy Story Mania!

Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• It’s Tough to be a Bug!
• Na’vi River Journey
• TriceraTop Spin

*Please note that attractions are subject to change and may not always be operational. To learn about any unplanned closures or long-term refurbishments, please view details about the attraction on our website or mobile app.

Know Before You Go

• For early theme park entry, you'll need valid admission and a MagicBand, Disney MagicMobile pass or Key to the World Card.
• Theme park reservations are no longer required for date-based tickets. For other admission types, theme park reservations may be required. Learn more about theme park reservation requirements .
• Not all Walt Disney World attractions are available during early theme park entry. Early theme park entry schedule and available attractions are subject to change without notice.
• Applicable theme park, days and times of operation, attraction and service availability may vary and are subject to change without notice. Subject to capacity and cancellation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I change or modify my reservation?

Complete Guide to Early Entry Disney World

This article is your complete guide to Disney World’s early entry 2024! Disney has released the newest benefit for guests staying at on-site Disney World hotels, which allows for Disney early theme park entry at all four of the main Walt Disney World theme parks. That’s right, guests staying at a Disney World hotel can now get into the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom a half hour earlier than other park guests! 

In this article, we’ll break down exactly how Disney World’s early entry works, what time Disney early entry starts, exactly which rides are open and so much more. Planning a family vacation to Walt Disney World? Let our Disney travel experts plan a hassle-free vacation for you with a no-obligation quote. Guests can also opt into our concierge service with any discount Disney World ticket order purchased through our small business, including custom Disney park plans to save up to three hours each day, dining recommendations, and price monitoring to ensure you get the best deal. Start your magical journey with us today! 

So if you’re ready to learn about early park entry at Disney World read on!

 Disney World Crowd Calendar

Disney World Early Theme Park Entry 2024

Let’s start with the most common question we receive right now and that is, what is Disney World’s early entry? Disney World’s early theme park entry is a new benefit for guests staying at Disney World hotels and other select resorts, allowing them to take advantage of a 30-minute early entry into Walt Disney World theme parks. This is different from the old extra magic hours which only allowed guests early entry into select theme parks on different days. The new Disney parks early entry system allows guests into the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom every morning up to a half hour early.

Disney is trying to emphasize guests booking a Disney World vacation package   with early theme park entry being one of the main benefits. Of course, guests will also have access to free Disney transportation, resort-wide charging privileges, and so much more.

Which theme parks are included in early access at Disney World?

• Magic Kingdom
• Hollywood Studios
• Animal Kingdom

Related Page: Disney World Vacation Package Deals and Promotions 

What Time Are The Disney Early Park Hours?

The second most important question we receive is, what time is Walt Disney World early theme park entry? And Disney World early theme park entry starts exactly 30 minutes before regular park opening at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Of course, every theme park does have different operation hours however to make it as easy as possible we have included all of the Disney World theme park hours on our Disney World crowd calendar.  Guests can also use this tool to see the one day ticket prices for Walt Disney World as well which can be useful when shopping for the best time to visit Disney World. One of the main reasons is Disney World ticket pricing now fluctuates based on the time of year. So the lower the ticket prices the greater chance of getting a better deal on a discount Walt Disney World vacation package! 

What are typical Disney early park hours?

• Magic Kingdom 8:30 AM (estimated)
• EPCOT 8:00 AM (estimated)
• Hollywood Studios 8:00 AM (estimated)
• Animal Kingdom 7:30 AM (estimated)

It’s important to note that we still highly recommend to arrive 30-45 minutes before Disney early entry even begins. The main reason is so many on-site and off-site guests will show up early in the morning and you will want to make sure to give yourself time to go through security and join the correct group which will be allowed in for the Disney World early hours. This will also allow you to be some of the firsts guests into the park and is a huge benefit when trying to get on as many rides with very little wait time.

How early can Disney resort guests get into parks?

Guests staying at any of the Disney World hotels can officially get into the Disney theme parks 30-minutes before other park guests every day. It’s important to note that un-officially and from our experience visiting the parks Disney does sometimes allow guests into the park 10-15 minutes before the Disney resort early entry even begins. However they typically won’t allow guests to start to go onto rides until that 30-minute mark.

Related Page: The Best Time to Visit Disney World 

How to Get Early Entry to Disney World?

Another important question we receive is, who gets early entry to Disney parks? And guests staying at all on-site Disney World hotels and other select friendly neighbor hotels receive Disney World early entry. It’s important to bring your room card, phone with your my Disney experience account or Magicband which is connected to your room for Disney cast members to scan. This will let them know that you are part of the Disney early theme park entry group for the day.

Is Disney early entry worth it?

We find that the new Disney early access hours can be a huge benefit to families who are trying to get the most out of their day and trying to get on some of the most popular rides with very little wait. The main reason why the new system does work when compared to the old extra morning hours is they are available at all four of the Disney theme parks as opposed to one park each day like the old system was set up. This should allow for the crowds to spread out among the four Disney parks and provide less wait times on some of the most popular Disney early access rides.

Related Page: How Much Does a Disney World Vacation Cost 

Disney World Early Entry Hotels 2024

Next we’ll cover another popular question which is, what Disney World hotels include early park admission? As a general rule of thumb the Disney world early entry hotels include all of the on-site Disney owned hotels plus some friendly neighbor on-site third party hotels.

Disney Owned Hotels with Early Admission 2024

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s Boardwalk Inn
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

Friendly Neighbor Hotels With Early Admission (List subject to change)

• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Shades of Green
• Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

Related Page: The Dolphin Vs Swan Resort at Disney World 

Magic Kingdom Early Entry 2024

Next we’ll take a look at Magic Kingdom early entry and help you come up with a game plan for your morning in the park. And to start one of the most important things to consider when planning for early entry at Magic Kingdom is how you will get to the park. The three main modes of transportation to Magic Kingdom are the busses, boats, monorail and of course guests driving their own card. But it’s important to remember that for guests driving their own car you will park at the ticket and transportation center and then take the ferry boat or monorail over to the parks.

How early should you leave your hotel before Magic Kingdom Early Entry?

• On-site Busses – 75 Minutes
• On-site boats – 45 Minutes
• Monorail – 45 Minutes
• Driving – 90 Minutes

What are the Magic Kingdom early entry rides?

• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• it’s a small world
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• The Barnstormer
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress

Related Page: Guide to Disney World Photo Pass 

EPCOT Early Entry

Another popular question we receive is, does EPCOT open early for resort guests? Yes, as a general rule of thumb EPCOT is included in the early theme park entry at Disney World. EPCOT has also become one of the most popular parks to visit during Disney early entry with one of the newest Disney World rides  in Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. We would also say that EPCOT has more quality rides over quantity so we do find it helpful to rope drop to take advantage of some of the other rides as well such as Test Track, Frozen and Soarin. The main modes of transportation to EPCOT are busses, Monorail, boats, guests driving their own car and the brand new Disney Skyliner. 

How early should you leave your hotel before early entry at EPCOT?

• On-site Busses – 60 Minutes
• Monorail – 90 Minutes
• Driving – 60 Minutes
• Disney Skyliner – 60 Minutes

What are the EPCOT Disney World early entry rides?

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
• Frozen Ever After
• Mission: SPACE
• Spaceship Earth
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Related Page: Guide to the Best Rides at EPCOT 

Hollywood Studios Early Entry 2024

Hollywood Studios is another extremely popular park to use early entry at Disney World these days. With the main reason being many families trying to figure out if they should rope drop Star Wars Rise of the Resistance or not. Overall we do see there to be a benefit to rope dropping at Hollywood Studios still and as you’ll see there are plenty of popular rides to take advantage of such as Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Slinky Dog Dash. The main modes of transportation to Hollywood Studios are busses, boats, guests driving their own car and the brand new Disney Skyliner.

How early should you leave your hotel before early entry Hollywood Studios?

What are the Hollywood Studios early entry rides?

• Star Wars Rise of the Resistance
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Toy Story Mania

Related Page: Should You Rope Drop Hollywood Studios? 

Animal Kingdom Early Entry 2024

Animal Kingdom is by far one of the most complicated parks to visit during the early entry hours at Disney World. With the main reason being that almost all guests are using the Disney resort early entry to ride Avatar Flight of Passage. So for this reason we do typically see the average wait time in the morning to be around 90 minutes. Now on the flip side guests can absolutely take advantage of shorter wait times on some of the other popular rides such Expedition Everest and Dinosuar. We just don’t believe there is too much benefit compared to later on in the day. The main modes of transportation to Animal Kingdom are busses and guests driving their own car.

How early should you leave your hotel before early entry Animal Kingdom?

What are the animal kingdom early entry rides.

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• Expedition Everest
• It’s Tough to be a Bug
• Na’vi River Journey

Related Page: The Best Disney Springs Restaurants 

Is Disney World Early Entry Worth it?

Now that you have all of the basics on how the early entry to Walt Disney World works, you might be wondering, is Disney World’s early entry worth it? And from our experience using Disney World early entry for hotel guests , it can be a huge advantage when visiting the parks. This is especially true if you arrive 30-45 minutes before the early entry even begins, which will allow you to be some of the first guests into the park and have your pick from any of the rides you would like. As a general rule, what we will typically do is pick one of three individual lightning lane rides that accept standard wait time guests or two of the most popular rides included with the regular Disney World Genie+.  We have found that by taking advantage of the Disney World early entry this way guests should be able to save an average of 65 minutes on longer lines later in the day.

Which rides are worth it with Disney World Early Entry?

Related Page: Disney World Vacation Package Deals 

When is The Best Time to Visit Disney World?

Our   Disney  World Crowd Calendar   is the best tool to help you get the most out of your time in the parks. We break down park crowds, park hours of operation, ticket prices, and average temperature. We also break down   the best time to visit Disney World   based on specific times of the year and special events.

Are You Ready to Plan Your Next Disney World Trip?

Are you planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Be sure to speak with a  Disney World Travel Agent   for the most recent deals and promotions. The Park Prodigy will provide a   Free Quote  for all   Disney World Vacation Packages .  The Park Prodigy can also help you save up to $20 per ticket when purchasing your  Walt Disney World Tickets ,  and we offer promotional discounts for special events such as  Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Tickets  and  Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Tickets .  If you’re brand new to Disney vacation planning we recommend our   Walt Disney World Planning Page!   Learn more about Disney hotels by reading our  Walt Disney World Hotels Review page .

Don’t forget to check out our wonderful friends over at  Theme Park Today , as well!

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Michael Belmont is the owner at Theparkprodigy.com, an authorized Disney and Universal travel agent. He specializes in Disney and Universal theme park tickets and vacation packages, as well as daily park plans to help optimize vacation time. Michael and The Park Prodigy have been featured on ABC’s Florida affiliate, WTFV, as well as over 10 Disney focused blogs. As owner, Michael manages The Park Prodigy blog and social media, a Disney themed podcast, and a Disney and Universal focused YouTube channel. Prior to starting The Park Prodigy, Michael was a long time Disney and Universal enthusiast, frequent visitor of the parks, and even served as a Walt Disney World Cast Member in Orlando, Florida!

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Guide to Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World

Early Theme Park Entry (or Early Entry for short) is a great way for onsite guests to ride at least one of the most popular attractions at Walt Disney World before the park opens to the general public.

Here’s how it works:

In this article

What is Early Theme Park Entry?

In a nutshell…

Early Theme Park Entry allows Disney Resort Guests (as well as guests from other select hotels) the opportunity to enter any of the 4 theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios) 30 minutes before non-Disney Resort guests.

Early Theme Park Entry was announced in January 2021 as a part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration as a replacement for the now-defunct Extra Magic Hours .

Are Early Theme Park Entry and Extra Magic Hours the same thing?

Sort of, but there are differences.

Extra Magic Hours (which were frequently abbreviated as EMHs) were times that the parks would open to onsite guests outside the normal operating schedule.

That part sounds an awful lot like Early Theme Park Entry .

But, unlike Early Theme Park Entry where every park is open 30 minutes early , Extra Magic Hours could be in the morning or night, only covered one park per day, and were either 1 hour (for morning EMHs) or 2 hours long (for evening EMHs).

As you can imagine, because Extra Magic Hours were only at 1 park per day, it significantly affected crowds. In fact, historically we rarely recommended people visit a park with Extra Magic Hours because those parks would, nearly without fail, be the busiest.

But, we feel the total opposite about Early Entry.

Since it is daily and at all 4 parks, Early Theme Park Entry doesn’t have the same effect on crowds that Extra Magic Hours did – which is a good thing. And instead, it allows guests to be a lot more flexible with how they plan their days because it is an easy way to ride at least 1 (if not more) of the most popular attractions at each park before the park gets packed.

What time do I need to leave my resort to make it to Early Theme Park Entry on time?

If you are eligible to participate in Early Theme Park Entry, you can use Disney Transportation, drive and park, or even walk. Here’s what we recommend for timing for each of those:

While we used to recommend arriving at the bus stop 60 to 75 minutes before Early Entry begins, after testing the timing out many times, we now recommend 90 minutes. That 90-minute window is especially important if you:

• want to be on the first bus (which we recommend), or
• if you are staying at a large resort like Art of Animation, Pop Century, or the All-Stars, or
• if you are staying at a resort with multiple internal stops, like Caribbean Beach or Coronado Springs.

Expect the first bus of the day to arrive between 1 hour to 75 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry starts . The goal is to be on the first bus of the day, and the lines for the buses will get very long, very fast. Arriving 90 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry will get you to the front of the pack, and likely on that first bus.

For the Disney Skyliner , aim for 75 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry begins if you don’t have to transfer, and 90 minutes if you do. Both the Hollywood Studios and Epcot lines start up about 1 hour before Early Entry begins.

Plan to get to your monorail stop about 60-75 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry. For reference, the Resort Monorail Loop goes:

• Transportation and Ticket Center
• Polynesian Resort
• Grand Floridian Resort

Magic Kingdom

• Contemporary Resort

If traveling by boat, 60-75 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry is probably good.

• Read more about How to Use Disney Transportation

Walking? You’ll have it the easiest!

Guests that walk are typically allowed to line up at the tapstiles around 60 minutes before the park opens for Early Theme Park Entry. If you want to be at the front of the pack of the walkers, plan to arrive ahead of that. (If you arrive before they begin allowing people to line up at the tapstiles, you’ll be held back by security.)

When traveling by car, plan to arrive at the parking lot entrance about 70 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry. If the parking lot booths are not open at that time, you should be able to just wait for them to officially open up. But, don’t show up too early because they may not let you wait for the booths to open and instead will force you to turn around and come back closer to opening.

• Read more about Parking at Disney World

Important note: The Magic Kingdom parking lot will often open up a bit earlier, sometimes closer to 90 minutes before Early Entry begins.

What is open during Early Theme Park Entry?

While you’ll have a lot to choose from, unfortunately, not every attraction in every park will be available. Here’s what you can expect:

Note: Attractions labeled with an * are our recommended choices for Early Theme Park Entry

In Magic Kingdom, Early Entry is limited to attractions in Tomorrowland and in Fantasyland:

Fantasyland

• “it’s a small world”
• The Barnstormer (35″ height requirement)
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• * Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• * Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (38″ height requirement)
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

Tomorrowland

• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• * Space Mountain (44″ height requirement)
• Tomorrowland Speedway (32″ minimum to ride, 54″ minimum to drive)
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
• Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
• * Frozen Ever After
• Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana
• Mission: SPACE (Orange – 44″ & Green – 40″ height requirements)
• * Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (but only if entering at the International Gateway)
• * Soarin’ Around the World (40″ height requirements)
• Spaceship Earth
• * Test Track (40″ height requirements)
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Hollywood Studios

• Alien Swirling Saucers (32″ height requirement)
• * Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (38″ height requirement)
• Rise of the Resistance (40″ height requirement)
• * Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (48″ height requirement)
• *Slinky Dog Dash (38″ height requirement)
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue (40″ height requirement)
• * The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ™ (40″ height requirement)
• Toy Story Mania!

Animal Kingdom

• * Avatar Flight of Passage (44″ height requirement)
• DINOSAUR (40″ height requirement)
• Expedition Everest (44″ height requirement)
• It’s Tough to be a Bug!
• * Na’vi River Journey
• TriceraTop Spin

How does Early Theme Park work?

The procedure for Early Theme Park Entry varies a bit from park-to-park, and procedures can even vary from day-to-day. But, with that in mind, here are some basics that you can expect:

• At Magic Kingdom , all guests (both onsite and offsite) are allowed into the park about 30 minutes before Early Theme Park entry starts. However, offsite guests will be stopped at the Hub (the area around Cinderella Castle), while guests eligible for Early Theme Park Entry will have their tickets or MagicBands scanned at the entrance to either the Fantasyland Bridge (which is where you will go if heading to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Peter Pan’s Flight) or the Tomorrowland bridge (for attractions like Space Mountain).
• At Epcot , guests eligible for Early Theme Park Entry are typically directed to specific tapstiles. At some point, if the lines grow long enough, they will often let onsite guests into the park to be staged until the official start of Early Theme Park Entry. Guests entering at the International Gateway are typically held near the bridge to France, while the exact spot(s) where guests are held at the front of the park can vary due to all the construction. If there are multiple places where guests are headed, make sure you go towards the one that is on the path to whatever attraction you are heading to first.
• Hollywood Studios has a similar procedure. There are specific tapstiles for onsite guests to use, and guests will often be let into the park around 25-30 minutes before the start of Early Theme Park Entry. At that point, depending on which attraction you are heading to first, you’ll be held back near there until the official opening for Early Theme Park Entry. EXCEPTION: although most of the attractions here don’t open until the official start of Early Theme Park Entry, Rise of the Resistance often does open before Rope Drop.
• At Animal Kingdom , oftentimes all guests are typically allowed in early; however, onsite guests will be directed towards the left side of the Tree of Life (towards Pandora), while offsite guests will be directed to the other side to wait until regular park opening.

Early Theme Park Entry Touring Plan

Trying to decide which attractions to focus on?

30 minutes really isn’t that much time. And, considering just how popular this onsite resort benefit is, you can’t skip around from attraction to attraction without lines.

But, we are confident that you can knock out at least one headliner before the park opens. And, if you’re at the front of the pack, you *may* even be able to get through 2, especially if you pair a headliner with a nearby less-popular attraction.

Note: Keep in mind that some of the attractions we recommend have height requirements .

How to save money by going to Early Theme Park Entry

If you want to skip the lines at Walt Disney World, you now have to pay for access to the Lightning Lanes.

That means, for the shortest waits without shelling out money for a spot in the Lightning Lane, you’ll need to either try to ride them during Early Theme Park Entry OR at the end of the evening (right before the parks close).

That’s why we recommend you aim to knock out one of the headliners listed below during that 30-minute Early Theme Park Entry window.

By getting at least 1 high-demand attraction done early, you may find that you won’t need to purchase a lightning lane or pay for Genie+ for that park, which means you’ll either save some money, or free yourself up to select something different, instead.

Magic Kingdom Early Theme Park Entry Touring Strategy

Magic Kingdom has the most attractions of any park , but you can see by the list above that Early Theme Park Entry only includes attractions from 2 lands: Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. That means several other popular attractions that typically see long waits (like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) aren’t available until the park officially opens.

For Magic Kingdom Early Entry, we recommend you head to one of these attractions FIRST.

Note: Keep in mind that 2 of the 3 attractions we list do have height requirements .

• If you finish here before official park opening, head to Peter Pan’s Flight next
• If you finish here before official park opening, get in line for Astro Orbiter or The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• If you finish here with at least 15 minutes before official park opening, hop on ‘it’s a small world”
• If not, use the restroom, get a drink, and line up near the Tangled restrooms to head to Haunted Mansion at official park opening
• Magic Kingdom Early Entry & Rope Drop Strategy

Epcot Early Theme Park Entry Touring Strategy

Although Epcot doesn’t have many attractions to start with, all 4 of their most popular attractions are included in Early Theme Park Entry.

If you are entering from the front of the park, we recommend you head to Test Track first and then Frozen Ever After. If you are coming from the International Gateway, you’ll want to go to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure first, and then head to Frozen Ever After.

• Frozen Ever After
• Test Track (40″ height requirements)
• Soarin’ Around the World (40″ height requirements)
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Hollywood Studios Early Theme Park Entry Touring Strategy

Hollywood Studios is home to one of the hottest attractions around, and if you want to ride Rise of the Resistance, you are in luck as it is available during Early Theme Park Entry.

It is important to keep in mind that Rise of the Resistance is a lengthy attraction and will most likely take the entire 30 minutes (and maybe more). However, if it is a priority for you to ride, hitting it early in the day could be your best bet since the ride is known for going down periodically throughout the day. Follow up a ride on this by hopping in line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

Not interested in riding Rise of the Resistance? We recommend focusing on one of the other attractions on this list:

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (48″ height requirement)
• Slinky Dog Dash (38″ height requirement)
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ™ (40″ height requirement)

If you start your day with Slinky Dog Dash and are done riding before official park opening, we suggest you head over to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway next. If Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is your starting point, heading over to Toy Story Land after would be your best bet.

If you plan to start with either Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror, you should go to the other of the 2 attractions that you didn’t start with second. Our recommendation is to start with Tower of Terror then head over to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster after.

Animal Kingdom Early Theme Park Entry Touring Strategy

With only 6 attractions to choose from, the choice of what to focus on at Animal Kingdom isn’t as tough.

We recommend heading to Pandora and going directly to Flight of Passage. Hopefully you’ll be done there before the line gets too long over at Na’vi River Journey and you can head there after.

If riding Na’vi River Journey isn’t a priority for you, we would recommend heading to Kilimanjaro Safaris after exiting Flight of Passage. Kilimanjaro Safaris often opens before official park opening so this is a great option to do second.

But, keep in mind that even without a long line, Flight of Passage just takes a lot of time to ride, so if you make this your primary focus, you’ll likely spend close to all 30 minutes here.

• Avatar Flight of Passage (44″ height requirement)
• Na’vi River Journey

Who should use it?

Unlike Extra Magic Hours, which we only recommended for a few people, we highly recommend Early Theme Park Entry to all eligible guests .

The busier the parks get, the more important Rope Drop will be.

Lines build fast, so staying at the head of the pack can mean the difference between waiting in a 15-minute line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or a 70-minute one.

And since Early Theme Park Entry is available at all four parks every day , they don’t significantly impact the overall crowd levels for a park.

How does Disney know I am eligible for Early Entry?

Don’t think you can sneak into Early Entry. Disney will scan your ticket or MagicBand before allowing you to line up at an attraction. Only 1 person per party will need to scan in, though, so the process does go quickly.

Which resorts are eligible for Early Theme Park Entry?

All onsite resorts, plus a few offsite resorts that are typically included in special things are eligible for this new benefit.

That includes:

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas — Jambo House
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas — Kidani Village
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s BoardWalk Resort
• The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort
• Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista (accepting reservations for October 27 and beyond)

Are there evening extended hours?

Sort of, but just for guests of select resorts.

Guests of Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts have access to extended evening hours at either Magic Kingdom or Epcot.

But, unlike Early Theme Park Entry, the Extended Evening Hours are just a couple of days per week and only include Disney Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts plus the Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green.

Monday 18th of September 2023

As a resort guest, can you enter any moment during early entry? Or can you just get in 30 minutes before and then have to wait for official opening?

Monday 5th of December 2022

Wondering, any idea if we can enter early the day of our resort reservation? Meaning we can check into our disney resort that afternoon but can we go to a park that day and get in early?

Lonnie Wold

Sunday 26th of September 2021

First time at the magic kingdom Orlando, today. I would love early entry. Wife is suffering several diseases. What do you think? Thanks. Lonnie

Linda Andrae

Sunday 27th of June 2021

So, basically anyone staying at an offsite, more reasonably-priced accommodation has no chance of entering the park early at rope drop?

Helena Basket

Tuesday 22nd of November 2022

They hope you buy Genie+ and ILL instead. Most reductions in guest spending come at a compromise, either reduced park experience or increased upcharge spending.

Michael Ann Effron

Sunday 15th of August 2021

I am wondering the same thing!!! We are rope drop people but could find absolutely NO affordable availability (and now none at all) on Disney property. So worried we will get there and the lines will be sooooo long as soon as we can enter.

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5 Important Tips For Early Theme Park Entry in Disney World

By Quincy Stanford 1 Comment

Getting additional, exclusive time in the parks is a huge benefit to staying at a Disney World Resort hotel .

Magic Kingdom

In 2021 Disney introduced Early Theme Park Entry giving guests at any Disney World Resort hotel (plus a few others) the chance to spend an extra 30 minutes in the parks before their official opening time. And if you’re planning on taking advantage of this perk when you visit, we have a couple tips for you to keep in mind!

1. Know your transportation options!

First up, if you’re headed to the Disney World theme parks for early entry you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a good understanding of your transportation options. These vary from resort to resort, so it’s important that you know exactly how you can get yourself from your hotel to the parks.

If you’re staying at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, or Disney’s Contemporary Resort, you can hop on the monorail to go to Magic Kingdom.

Generally, the Monorail System operates from 30 minutes prior to earliest park opening until one hour after latest park closing.

If you’re in the mood for some morning exercise, you can choose to walk to some of the parks , depending on what resort you’re staying at. Those at the Contemporary have a short walk over to Magic Kingdom. And the walkway between Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Magic Kingdom isn’t too long. You could even walk from the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian and from there to Magic Kingdom if you want to.

Grand Floridian Walkway

Guests at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort, and the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel can walk to EPCOT and enter through the International Gateway section. They can also take a little bit longer of a walk over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Several resorts also offer boat transportation to certain parks. You can hop on a boat at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian, or Disney’s Wilderness Lodge to get to Magic Kingdom. Or, you can take a boat from Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, Disney’s Beach Club Villas, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, or the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Friendship Boats

Most routes run on 15 to 20 minute intervals, and the hours of operation can vary depending on water and weather conditions. So, before you plan on using the boats to get to the park, you’ll want to make sure they’re operating for that day and check with your resort to see at what time they’ll begin taking guests to the parks.

If you’re staying at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, or Disney’s Riviera Resort, you can hop on the Disney Skyliner to get to Disney’s Hollywood Studios or EPCOT.

Disney Skyliner

The hours of operation for the Skyliner can change so be sure to check exactly what they are during your trip.

One of the most common forms of transportation you might use to get to the parks is a Disney bus. In most cases, a bus may run between your resort and the park beginning 45 minutes prior to the opening of the park — or, in this case, the start of Early Theme Park Entry.

Drive or Use Rideshare

You can also drive your car to the parks if that’s what you prefer, or use a rideshare service.

To make sure you have the BEST choice of transportation in mind, check with the front desk at your resort hotel to see what options are available for you . The Cast Member will be happy to let you know your options so that you can get to your early entry morning as easily as possible.

Click here to learn what we know about the reopening of the EPCOT Monorail!

2. make sure you have a disney park pass..

As far as we can see, the Disney Park Pass theme park reservation system will be sticking around for some time , so getting a Park Pass will still be a necessity — even for Early Theme Park Entry. What’s a Park Pass , you ask? Well, it’s essentially a reservation to enter a park. The Park Pass system was introduced when the Disney World theme parks reopened in 2020.

Park Pass and Safety Signs

Let’s say you want to visit Magic Kingdom on a particular day. First, you’ll need a valid ticket to enter the park on that day. But, to get in, you’ll ALSO need a valid Park Pass reservation for Magic Kingdom for that same day as well.

Disney Park Pass Screenshot

Park Pass availability can change a LOT. So, when the dates and details for early entry are announced, you’ll want to make sure that you snag that Disney Park Pass for the park you want to enter early .

International Gateway

Even if they don’t seem to be going quickly, we’d recommend you  go ahead and snag them well in advance just to be sure . You can always try to change your plans later as long as capacity and availability allow!

Click here to learn EVERYTHING you need to know about Disney Park Pass!

3. set an alarm and leave on time.

A lot of the same tips that apply to getting to a park right at its regular opening (a.k.a. “rope drop”) time generally apply to Early Theme Park Entry. Perhaps the BIGGEST of those tips is to make sure you set an alarm and leave on time!  We know, we know — “no sleeping in?! But we’re on vacation!!” If you’ve got some members in your family who want to sleep in, you’ll want to start convincing them that the “early bird gets the worm” right now. Or, you might want to talk about splitting up your group so some can stay and sleep in while others take advantage of the Early Entry.

Disney’s POP Century Resort!

Early entry is a BIG perk and you’ll want to get into the park as soon as you can to take advantage of the extra time and more limited lines, especially since this will only get you in 30 minutes early. In general, we recommend allowing one full hour for transportation to get anywhere in Disney World. As we mentioned earlier, some transportation really only kicks off around 30/45 minutes prior to the parks’ opening.

If you want to make sure you’re at early entry as soon as you can, you’ll want to head out of your resort hotel room about an hour in advance . That means you’ll have to add in that extra hour to your regular getting ready and getting breakfast morning prep-time.

If Mickey waffles and bacon are a must, consider whether you want to get up EXTRA early and eat them at the Food Court in person, or if you can maybe designate one person in your party to go get them for the family and bring them back to the room while everyone else gets dressed and ready. You might also want to talk about bringing your own breakfast snack bars or just getting breakfast in the park.

Chef Mickey’s Waffle, Pancakes, and French Toast

And while leaving your room a whole HOUR before the Early Entry time might sound like a bit much, we think it’s better to get to the park early and end up waiting a little bit than to end up losing out on some of that extra time! If you get lots of things done in the morning, you can always take a nap later when the crowds start to form.

4. Have a park plan for your day in advance.

Planning your trip can be complicated. This is especially true if you’re thinking of taking advantage of the Park Hopper option .

If you’re looking to Park Hop AND visit a park for Early Theme Park Entry, you’re going to need to have a pretty specific plan . In the past, folks would head to Extra Magic Hours and then immediately hop elsewhere, but that won’t be an option in this case.

Tree of Life

Park Hopper hours start at 2PM each day. So, you’ll need to be okay with spending the morning and rest of your day — until 2PM — in the park that you chose to visit for Early Entry, or at least not hopping to another park until the afternoon. Keep in mind you’ll also need a Park Pass reservation for the first park you want to visit — the one with the Early Entry, and Park Hopping all depends on park availability and capacity limitations.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Consider what park you want to visit first, look at the available Park Passes, make sure you know which park(s) you’d like to hop to later, and check on all the park operating and Park Hopper hours well in advance of your trip,  so that you can really maximize your time in the various parks.

To learn more about the return of Park Hopping, click here!

5. be flexible.

Planning is fantastic and necessary, but you still need to be flexible with your plans! As we know, things can change last-minute, so don’t get TOO attached to your plans . If there is some sort of hangup, it’s always good to have a backup plan.

On top of that, not every attraction will be available to you during the Early Theme Park Entry. And, even if an attraction is offered during that 30-minute period, sometimes they are temporarily closed due to technical difficulties (which can/does happen).

Sunset Boulevard

You can see the full list of rides available during Early Theme Park Entry here !

Click here to learn more about what Early Morning Magic was like!

Stay tuned to DFB for all the latest updates and to make sure you’re prepared for your next trip!

Want to learn more about early entry? Click here!

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Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.

Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!

GET YOUR GUIDE NOW

Will you be heading to the parks early? Tell us in the comments! 

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August 11, 2021 at 7:21 pm

Only 30 minutes of early entry for “Extra Magic Hours” while others get up to 2 hours after closing???? My family is coming in October & staying at a “value” resort, but spending HUGE bucks on a family suite & all we get is a measly 30 minutes extra before the parks open?? That really stinks! To be more fair, Disney should allow to switch up some extra magic hours by alternating between those for morning & at night giving everyone a chance to experience both & still keep crowd levels low.

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Off-Site vs. On-Site Hotels at Disney World

Whether to stay in an on-site or off-site hotel is a big, important decision when planning your Walt Disney World vacation. This weighs the pros & cons, with an unbiased look at third party accommodations, Universal v. Disney resorts, and other options near the parks around Orlando, Florida. ( Updated December 29, 2023 .)

We stress the “unbiased” aspect because it seems like there’s a stigma around off-site hotels for many Disney fans. The mental picture of non-Disney hotels is shady dives that are unclean and even unsafe. While there are certainly some sketchy places in Orlando where we’d never consider staying, there are also some exceptional, 5-star hotels. In fact, it’s arguable that the top 5 hotels in Central Florida do not have “Disney” in the name.

To that end, we’ll try to fairly address the benefits and downsides to each option. Walt Disney World resort hotels have a lot of great benefits and are a compelling choice for many guests, but the hundreds of local off-site hotels offer many equally compelling reasons as to why guests should stay off-site. If you already know whether you want to stay on-site or off-site, you should skip this article and go directly to our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews index page to determine which hotel is right for you.

For many people considering where to stay at Walt Disney World, price will be the determining factor, as it can be cheaper to do a Walt Disney World on a tighter budget while staying off-site. However, this isn’t always the case, and there are other factors to consider before booking. Those with small vacation budgets might be surprised to find that, in some circumstances, it’s better to stay on-site, and those with large vacation budgets might be better served by staying off-site.

We’ve stayed at numerous off-site and third party hotels near Walt Disney World, including every single Bonnet Creek, Disney Springs, and Universal Orlando Resorts–among many others. We’ve revised this post several times to reflect how those off-site stays have changed our perspective. In the process, we’ve also added some specific off-site hotel recommendations.

When it comes to this topic, a lot has changed in the last 3 years. The biggest blow to the on-site advantage at Walt Disney World was the retirement the ending Disney’s Magical Express, the airport shuttle service between MCO and Walt Disney World resorts that was an included perk for guests saying on-site. Guests now need to find their own ground transportation from the airport to their hotel–we cover the range of options in our Guide to Airport Transportation for Walt Disney World .

We have used Uber and Lyft on a number of occasions in the last year-plus for getting between Walt Disney World and MCO. These services are our recommendation for anyone who values their time and doesn’t want to break the bank with a private transfer. The other upside is that you can use them to get from MCO to any hotel in Central Florida. For an easy but less efficient option,  Mears Connect is the shared shuttle services that is the spiritual successor to Disney’s Magical Express.

The good news is that aside from Disney’s Magical Express, most of the on-site perks are back or will return at some point in 2024 at Walt Disney World…

Benefits of Staying On-Site

Ride Reservation Booking Windows – There has been a lot of outrage about the paid Genie+ line-skipping service, which is Walt Disney World’s paid replacement to free FastPass+. (See our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for everything you need to know.) This is particularly understandable among on-site guests, who no longer have a material advantage when making ride reservations.

Well, that’s about to change– again . In response to guest feedback, advance booking of Lightning Lanes is coming to Walt Disney World in 2024 . While the date this will happen is presently unknown, our expectation is that the new system will launch in Spring 2024. Our guess is that the goal is to have this ready for Spring Break, which would mean it debuts no later than early March 2024. So if you’re visiting before then, this is not relevant to you.

Pretty much everything else is also unknown about advance booking of Lightning Lanes, including what advantage will be offered to on-site guests. Previously, it was a 60 day window for on-site and 30 day for off-site. Our expectation is that it’ll be a much shorter timeframe than the old FastPass+ system, but far enough in advance that people with weeklong trips can book Lightning Lanes for the duration of their trips ahead of traveling. If we had to guess, it’d be 14 days vs. 7, or perhaps 30 vs. 14. (It’ll almost certainly be a month or less.)

Regardless of the exact number, this will be a  huge  advantage for on-site guests. Suffice to say, if you want Slinky Dog Dash, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, and other popular Lightning Lanes…you’ll pretty much need to be staying on-site!

Disney Dining Plan – The Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan (QSDDP) and standard or regular Disney Dining Plan (DDP) are now bookable for 2024 Walt Disney World vacations. For now, the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan (DxDDP) and Disney Dining Plan Plus (DDP+) remain unavailable. See our Ultimate Guide to the 2024 Disney Dining Plan for everything you need to know about the DDP, including whether it’s likely to be worth the money for you.

Although it’s very much a love-it-or-hate-it thing, the Disney Dining Plan is neither inherently good nor bad. It can be a great tool or a terrible waste of money depending upon how it’s used. For some people, the Disney Dining Plan is great. For others, it’s awful. Like so many things at Walt Disney World and in life, it’s not one-size-fits-all.

Regardless, the 2024 Disney Dining Plan is only available if you stay on-site and a lot of guests absolutely love it. Although we’re hardly DDP diehards, we’re glad to see the Disney Dining Plan returning. Our major hope is that this leads to even more normalcy on the food front, as it’s one of the few areas at Walt Disney World that is still far from firing on all cylinders as compared to pre-closure.

Bottom Dollar All-In Price  – Value proposition is discussed below as a strength of off-site hotels, and it’s fairly undeniable that if you’re looking at larger or luxury accommodations, you will get way more bang for your buck off-site. At the high-end, Walt Disney World resorts are incredibly expensive, costing far more than almost all of their real world counterparts. (Excepting some of the fancy suites at the Four Seasons.)

That’s not necessarily the case at the lower end, though. Although a lot of longtime fans complain about price increases at the Value Resorts, these are fairly commensurate with Central Florida budget hotels that are safe and modern ( important caveat there–if you don’t care about quality, there’s no shortage of sketchy hotels in Orlando! ). This is something we cover at length in  Are Walt Disney World’s Cheapest Hotels Actually Good?  

Our answer is yes. After discounts, you can routinely score rooms at the All Stars for under $125 per night. That’s still more expensive than off-site alternatives, but the big difference is that transportation, parking, Early Entry, etc. are all included. Once you start factoring in the cost or value of all those things, it more than bridges the gap. Obviously, individual circumstances will vary, but we’ve crunched the numbers repeatedly, and it’s rare for us to come out ahead staying off-site in budget accommodations. Totally different ballgame at the higher end of the spectrum, though.

Location & Convenience – The biggest benefit of staying at an on-site Walt Disney World resort hotel is convenience. To one degree or another, just about every “pro” radiates out from here. The hotels are generally closer to the parks, which in some cases can mean it’s as simple as walking or taking a monorail or boat from the hotel to the park.

This short and simple commute can enable parties to split up more easily or go back to the hotel for a midday nap without killing a large chunk of the day. This convenience can make the day more efficient and enable your party to accomplish more. This is primarily a benefit if Walt Disney World is the top or sole priority on vacation–as other non-Disney parks continue to add more compelling attractions, this is becoming less important to many guests.

Park Transportation – Once on property at Walt Disney World, guests can use a provided transportation between hotels, theme parks, and other locations on property. All of this transportation is complimentary (or built into the price of their room).

The efficiency of the transportation provided to Walt Disney World resort hotel guests is hotly disputed, but it is a nice perk. Our perspective is that the included transportation is “good enough” and in the rare cases when there’s a problem, we will simply use Uber or Lyft to supplement Disney transportation.

We seldom rent a car at Walt Disney World, as we find it much more convenient to just hop on a bus, monorail, boat, Skyliner gondola, or even walk from our hotel to the parks than have to hassle with navigating the roads, parking, and trams. We have the “pleasure” of dealing with all of that junk (minus the trams) in our daily lives–it’s nice not to deal with it on vacation.

Transportation is a huge advantage that can tip the scales in favor of staying on-site, as it can obviate the need for a rental car, which means not paying for that or parking at a hotel and at the theme parks. It’s worth doing the math before booking your hotel.

Free Resort Parking – One way Walt Disney World once again differentiates its hotels from real world alternatives in Orlando is by not charging for overnight self-parking. This actually returned recently–complimentary resort parking was an on-site perk until several years ago, until Disney followed the trend of other Orlando hotels and started charging for it.

At the time, the introduction of the parking fee was the most controversial change we had ever  seen made by Walt Disney World. Not only did  our post  garner over 300 angry comments, but Walt Disney World got hit hard by negative reviews on crowdsourced travel sites like TripAdvisor and Google. I had never seen fans so mad–although backlash to the subsequent elimination of free FastPass and Disney’s Magical Express did exceed that response.

Free Parking at Theme Parks – In addition to overnight hotel self-parking, Walt Disney World resort hotel guests also receive complimentary standard parking at Walt Disney World theme parks, which is another plus.

In tandem, these two things take some of the sting out of the elimination of Disney’s Magical Express–at least for the guests who opt to rent a car while staying on-site. (That number will only grow, as Universal Orlando continues to expand and turn itself into an equally-compelling theme park destination.)

60+10 Rule  – Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for Walt Disney World table service restaurants are currently available up to 60 days in advance for everyone. However, on-site guests can make ADRs for the duration of their trip (up to 10 days) up to 60 days prior to their resort check-in date.

This makes it easier to book all of your ADRs all at once rather than day-by-day. More importantly, the head start can be hugely advantageous in booking the most difficult-to-score Advance Dining Reservations, such as Chef Mickey’s, Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Space 220, Topolino’s Terrace (breakfast), California Grill, and Akershus. By the time the 60 day mark rolls around, many of those will already be gone!

See our Guide to Booking Difficult Advance Dining   Reservations at Walt Disney World , for how to best leverage this “60+10” ADR window, which is often misunderstood. (Admittedly, it being the “60+10” rule rather than simply the 70-day booking window is confusing,  but there’s a reason for the distinction!) This rule can be a huge head-start for popular table service restaurants or larger parties, especially during busier travel dates. If character dining or highly themed restaurants are important to you, this is essential.

Individual Lightning Lane Priority  – While there is no priority booking window for Genie+ Lightning Lane selections, the same is not true for the most popular attraction in each park. Paid line skipping for each of those can be purchased on an a la carte basis via Individual Lightning Lanes. ( Confused yet?! If so, consult our Guide to Individual Lightning Lanes , which covers everything you need to know, including how to avoid paying extra for these by beating long lines with alternative strategies.)

When it comes to Individual Lightning Lanes, guests staying at a Walt Disney World resort hotel are able to purchase and schedule their ride reservations at 7 am, ahead of off-site guests, who can to do so when each park opens. Both Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance book up  fast. 

If you’re not staying on-site, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to book either of those. When peak travel weeks–like those around Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Presidents’ Day, Easter–other rides might also sell out fast.

The other big difference is that Extra Magic Hours lasted for an hour. By contrast, this is 30-minute access to any Walt Disney World theme park. That may not seem like much of a head start, but it can be huge. (Also, it usually ends up being more than 30 minutes in 2 parks.) As discussed in our Best Time-Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World , this is usually the top option in each park–with the notable exception of Magic Kingdom.

For strategy & info about how beneficial this perk can be, check out our Guide to Early Theme Park Entry at Walt Disney World .

Extended Evening Hours – This has a smaller pool of eligibility and occurs less frequently than Early Entry. It’s exclusively for guests staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas (Disney Vacation Club units), or other select hotels (only the Swan & Dolphin and Shades of Green). So Extended Evening Hours is not a “pure” on-site benefit.

Extended Evening Theme Park Hours occur two nights per week in total and are usually held at EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. Guests staying at Value or Moderate Resorts are not eligible for Extended Evening Hours. (Again, those guests are eligible for Early Theme Park Entry.) We’ve had some great no crowds experiences with Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom and Epcot. See our  Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World   for strategy and other info.

Walt Disney World has confirmed that both Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours will continue throughout 2024.

Resort Fees – Hidden fees have proliferated in recent years at off-site Orlando hotels. We cannot stand these resort fees and recommend you fight back against the incredibly consumer-unfriendly practice . Thankfully, Walt Disney World has not reduced itself to tacking on a resort fee.

Some third-party hotels are known to charge non-optional resort fees for “wellness packages” (their term, not ours) including things like internet, newspaper, and bottled water. It’s important to factor in all fees when comparison shopping hotel pricing, as that “great deal” might not be nearly as good of an option once you tack on all of those non-optional fees.

Vacation Packages – Many guests also find the convenience of booking a vacation package that covers all aspects of their trip preferable, and those packages necessarily include hotel accommodations. ( We suggest buying your park tickets from sources other than Disney to save money .) However, there is something to be said for simply calling up Walt Disney World and buying your park tickets, room, dining, and transportation all in one fell swoop.

The biggest and best component of package bookings is the Disney Dining Plan, which is temporarily unavailable (see above). While we often rally against the illusory convenience of the Disney Dining Plan here , many people do find it more convenient than paying a la carte. More importantly, when the Free Disney Dining Plan promotion is offered, the only hotels at which it can be booked are the Disney-owned ones.

Disney Themed Design – Another benefit of staying on-site is that your hotel is an extension of the Walt Disney World theme park experience. It has its own distinct design and may not always scream “Disney” with icons from animated films, but the on-site Walt Disney World resort hotels feel very similar to the parks in terms of thematic yarns.

For the most part, they don’t feel like ordinary hotels any more than the Disney theme parks feel like ordinary amusement parks. They have an additional layer of detail and storytelling to “transport” guests to a different time and place. In simple terms of luxury, Disney hotels don’t always surpass their real world counterparts, but they almost always have better theme.

Along those same lines, one of the biggest benefits for us of staying at an on-site Walt Disney World hotel is being immersed in the “Disney bubble.” This isn’t one you’ll find on an amenities list, and it’s where our otherwise attempt at an objective comparison fails.

For many people traveling to Walt Disney World, being insulated from the real world is appealing. From the moment you cross through those gateways that mark each entrance to Walt Disney World property until ending your trip, exhausted, and heading back to the airport, you’re encapsulated in the Walt Disney World experience.

Of course, there are some intrusions, but for the most part, it’s an escape from reality to a fantasyland of sorts. A lot of people won’t understand this or simply won’t care for it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you fall in that category, an off-site hotel is more likely to appeal to you. You simply cannot get this experience while staying at an off-site hotel.

Benefits of Staying Off-Site

Value Proposition – The biggest advantage to off-site hotels is bang for buck. This is usually expressed as off-site hotels being “cheaper,” but that’s not all it is. Even if you want luxury accommodations that aren’t going to be cheaper than all on-site hotels, you will find that they offer better value off-site. In other words, you’re not paying Disney’s premium for its name, reputation, and location. There’s more competition among off-site hotels, keeping prices low.

Even if you aren’t necessarily looking for a bargain basement price on a hotel, you’ll typically get more value out of non-Disney hotels. In addition to this, although Disney does many things well, their best hotels simply do not compete with the best real world hotels in terms of luxury.

If you want luxury accommodations, your best bet is to look elsewhere, such as the Four Seasons (which is actually on Walt Disney World property), the Waldorf Astoria, Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt Regency, etc. Even the Swan & Dolphin offer superior bedding and other amenities than any Walt Disney World resort hotels , and usually these can be booked for about the price of a Walt Disney World Moderate-tier hotel.

We have a list of the Top 10 Off-Site Hotels Near Walt Disney World , which primarily focuses on the luxurious options. The list also includes a couple of villa/vacation home style resorts that are large enough to accommodate families of 5 or more, and are competitively-priced.

Disney is somewhat insulated from off-site competition. For visitors who want the on-site location, a seamless ‘bubble’ experience from their resort to the theme parks, or rooms with specific Disney themes, off-site is less appealing. Walt Disney World knows they have those advantages, and price their hotels accordingly.

A luxury hotel that might cost over $500+ per night on-site at Walt Disney World may have an analogue off-site for around $250/night. Whether this premium pricing for being in the Disney bubble (“location, location, location!”) is worth it to you is a personal question.

Loyalty Rewards – Due to work or other travel, you might have loyalty to a specific chain of hotels. If you have status or points at one of those chains and want to take advantage of it, you have an obvious advantage in staying at those hotels.

We are Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum members, entitling us to a variety of perks there, so whenever we travel to non-Disney locations, we try to stay at a Hyatt. For a lot of people, the familiarity and known quality of a major chain like this is very appealing, even if they have no points to use.

Other Perks & Amenities – This one is a very broad, but potentially very important catch-all. Many off-site hotels offer free continental breakfast. Some are pet friendly with minimal fees for that. Others have impressive pools that surpass anything at Walt Disney World. The off-site hotel might have an airport shuttle and shuttle service to the parks–and not just the Disney parks.

The specifics obviously vary by hotel, and with thousands of properties in Central Florida, it’s impossible to list them all here. If there’s something you want from a hotel, you can probably find it somewhere within a ~20 minute drive of Walt Disney World.

Tailored Accommodations – Generally speaking, staying off-site affords greater latitude in booking accommodations perfectly-suited to your family size and needs. Outside of Walt Disney World property, vacation homes, suites, and all sorts of varying sized accommodations all can be found at a multitude of price points.

For instance, it’s much easier to rent a vacation home with individual rooms for everyone, a kitchen, activities room, or whatever you might want for your vacation if you stay off-site. These rooms do exist on-property, but most of the time their pricing puts them firmly in the Deluxe tier, making them cost prohibitive for many groups.

Straightforward Design – Although we mention Disney theming as an advantage of staying on-site in that section above, it may be a disadvantage to you.

After a long day in the parks, you might be having sensory overload at the end of the day and just wanting to get away from all things Disney. If you’re not a huge Disney fan, staying off-site might be a nice reprieve during your trip.

Location – Much like on-site hotels, it’s important to remember that not all off-site hotels are created equal. In this article, we are sort of using the terms “off-site” and “non-Disney” interchangeably, but there are many non-Disney hotels that are located on Walt Disney World property.

This is important to know because it undermines some of the location advantages touted by Disney-owned resorts. For example, the Swan & Dolphin are walking distance to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Likewise, the third party hotels at Disney Springs and Bonnet Creek are closer to the parks than some Disney-owned resorts.

Universal Hotel Benefits – We save the best for last, as the biggest off-site perks are those offered by Universal Orlando’s resorts. All Universal hotels offer Early Park Admission one hour before the theme parks open to the general public.

Guests staying at Universal’s Premier Hotels get free Unlimited Express Pass to skip the regular lines at most popular attractions in Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. This is Universal’s equivalent of FastPass/Lightning Lanes, but better–and it normally costs a lot more money.

While it’s beyond the scope of this article, Universal Orlando resorts offer many of the same advantages of Walt Disney World hotels. Universal’s hotels also feature great themed design, transportation to the parks, and a great location–most are within walking distance of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

If you’re debating between resorts at the two main theme park complexes, see our comprehensive breakdown: Universal Orlando v. Walt Disney World Hotels . That should help you determine which is the better option for your vacation–or if a split stay might be best!

Arguably the biggest beneficiary of Walt Disney World eliminating so many on-site guest perks is Universal Orlando. If I were planning on visiting both theme park complexes and had a decent budget for accommodations, I’d have less hesitation that I were “missing out” on something by not staying on-site at Walt Disney World.

While I’d still lean in favor of a split stay, another compelling option would be booking a Premier Hotel at Universal as my home base to take advantage of the unlimited Express Pass that’s included with my stay there. On my Walt Disney World days, I’d commute to those parks using Uber or Lyft. Obviously, that’s not going to make sense or be ideal for everyone, but it’s just one way Universal has gained significant ground on Disney in the last year-plus.

Universal’s hotels offer better value for money and they’ve maintained their benefits, two things that cannot be said for Walt Disney World resorts. Notably, Universal has excellent budget hotels that cost around—or sometimes under—$100 per night. Even Universal’s Premier Hotels with included Unlimited Express Pass are almost always significantly cheaper than Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World.

Consequently, our opinion is that Universal is beating Disney when it comes to the pros & cons of their respective hotels. If you’ll be spending equal (or close to it) time at Universal and Walt Disney World during your Orlando, Florida vacation in 2024, give serious thought to staying at Universal instead of Disney. For insight into the various options at Universal, their pros & cons, and how they compare and contrast with one another, see our Universal Orlando Hotel Rankings & Reviews .

If you’re exclusively visiting Walt Disney World, obviously this advice is irrelevant.

Overall, there’s a lot to consider when determining whether you want to stay off-site or on-site at Walt Disney World, and there’s no one size fits all answer as to which is “better.” As you can see, different families might make very different decisions based upon what matters most to them. There’s really no right or wrong answer, it’s more what you want out of your vacation and how you weigh the pros and cons.

The subjective factors are almost always going to be the overriding ones, and savings that seem to make staying off-site a no-brainer slam dunk for some guests may be insufficient to lure others off-site. Whether the on-site premium is “worth it” to you is largely a matter of personal preference, but hopefully this post presented some objective considerations for you to weigh and make the decision for yourself.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? If you’re interested in learning more about hotels, our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page is a good place to start. For where to eat, try out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. If you want to save money on tickets or determine which type you should get, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at unconventional things you should take on your trip. Once you arrive at the parks, our Walt Disney World “Ride Guides” are great for determining what to do and when to do it. For overviews of all of these topics and so much more, the best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!

Your Thoughts

Do you generally stay on-site or off-site? Why? What are your key considerations when determining where you stay? Thoughts on Universal Orlando v. Walt Disney World hotels? Are you a fan of renting a vacation home or using Airbnb when booking a Central Florida vacation? Any specific off-site or third party hotel you recommend? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

Written by Tom Bricker

TQ for sharing the valuable information about the hotel’s.. please keep sharing like this..

Actually we recently stayed at a Good Neighbor Disney Springs Hotel and, while we could book our first Genie + ride, we could not book the paid Lightning Lane at 7am and had to wait until park open time to do so. That seemed weird to us for Disney to not allow us to spend more $ early but it was confirmed at MK that day that it was not a perk for our hotel to book LL early.

Also Deluxe Resorts have random extra hours at night for both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios…these are published ahead when they release them but the nights are very random and it’s hard to predict when trip planning at this point.

Tom, always a great read! Thanks for the information that you share. One minor point: its time to delete/revise the following from this updated post: “For many people traveling to Walt Disney World, being insulated from the real world is appealing. From the moment you step onto Disney’s Magical Express bus until exiting at the end of your trip back at the airport, you’re encapsulated in the Walt Disney World experience.”

Oof. Can’t believe I missed that when editing and revising. I swear I searched for all instances of both FastPass and Disney’s Magical Express!

Either way, thanks for the catch–the reference has been removed!

“Arguably the biggest beneficiary of Walt Disney World eliminating so many on-site guest perks is Universal Orlando.” Great point, and one, with Epic arriving in 2025, makes no sense whatsoever. If they’re thinking is “all boats rise” WDW management is in for a rude awakening, acting, fat, sloppy, lazy and GREEDY. Sure, they’ve added/replaced rides, but they’re about to be slammed by a time-stealing park and what are they doing? Alienating people.

I agree with you in every way. The best way I have heard it described is while at Disney we were once GUESTS. Now when we are at Disney we are just customers.

We have always stayed onsite at WDW so we can be immersed in the “Disney Bubble” which we love. Travelling from Australia we usually stay for 16 days and will split our stay between 2 or 3 hotels (usually Animal Kingdom Lodge, Cabins at Fort Wilderness and Beach Club) to enjoy all the different themes which definitely cannot be beaten at any offsite hotel. We haven’t been to WDW for some time due to COVID and other factors and I must say I am not in a hurry to return just yet with all the negativity I read about it but when we do, price will become a huge factor in our accommodation choice. I think we will still stay onsite but may opt for a longer stay at the cabins, a shorter stay at a Deluxe and will probably throw Port Orleans Riverside into the equation to try and save a bit of money. Earlier this year we were finally able to travel again and we chose to go to Disneyland which we really enjoyed. Staying onsite there was definitely out of the question as the hotels were well out of budget so I chose the Howard Johnson because it still had some theming to the rooms. We enjoyed out stay there but realised that extra walk to get to and from the parks wasn’t worth the little theming, so next time we will opt for one of the hotels right opposite the plaza. I find it really hard to explain why I am okay with staying offsite at DL but not at WDW but there you have it.

We have always stayed onsite at deluxe resorts. For us it is part of the experience- my boys particularly love the wilderness lodge and are kind of upset we are trying the contemporary this upcoming trip lol. We went to Universal last September for the first time and stayed at LRP- it was ok, definitely cool you could walk to the park- have nothing to compare it to in universal so it was fine nothing special. In fairness it was technically during covid so probably not the “full” experience. Our last few Disney stays since pandemic have also left lot to be desired- I know a lot of the workers are probably new etc but having experienced Disney several times precovid it was definitely a step down in the sense of the “magic”

James, my daughter and I are thinking of visiting Disney for the first time. I’ve asked folks who have stayed both on site and off site and it’s always mixed reviews. I’m not too crazy about the cost of hotels within Disney per night. We don’t need fancy but we do need quiet and comfort while traveling/sleeping. I’m leaning towards staying outside of Disney so we can also go see other things. I know the biggest drawback is the commute back n forth. I want to know more about the Dolphin? I keep hearing that’s great for off site. If we stay inside Disney, my pick would be Wilderness. Advice?

It’s almost impossible to overstate the value that Swan/Dolphin usually offer. The location is so good, the hotels are nice and you get all (or nearly all) the benefits of a Deluxe while paying so much less.

The only drawback is the non-Disney bubble burst, but honestly this isn’t that pronounced (for me at least) since the hotels are surrounded by the incredible theming around Crescent Lake. It definitely feels like you’re in WDW, which is more than I can say for Four Seasons and some of the other on-site non-Disney options.

I came here to say this. Personally the ability to quickly leave the park and take breaks at our resort is the most important thing to me as a disabled, neurodivergent guest with a disabled, neurodivergent partner. I absolutely cannot put a price on that, thinking of times the heat/noise/stimulation has gotten to me and what a blessing it was to be able to get to my room in 15 minutes, especially at MK. Swan and Dolphin is the most offsite I’ll get because they have the same location benefits that I stay at Deluxes for, and if I need that Disney theming it’s literally right outside. I actually prefer the Dolphin to BC/YC and it’s not even a contest.

I don’t think I’ve seen this addressed anywhere yet: If you’re staying on-site, can you buy Individual Lightning Lanes at 7:00 AM on your arrival day, or do you have to already be checked into the hotel?

you can buy them at 7 even if you’re not yet in Florida! I bought ours at 7am eastern time in Chicago. I did do online check in to our Disney hotel, but I don’t think that mattered for purposes of buying the lightning lane

If you stay off site can you still use Disney transportation to park hop or go to Disney springs? Obviously not to get to and from the park but to get around within the bubble?

Last time I was there, ANYBODY could get on the buses. They didn’t scan Magic Bands or anything. BUT there were no buses going FROM Disney Springs TO the parks until very late in the afternoon, presumably to keep people from just parking at Disney Springs while spending all day at the parks.

I haven’t seen Disney transportation limited to hotel guests in 25 years, so that’s not really a plus (except for location, of course). Most park-to-park transportation doesn’t exist until 1pm or so; since that even included the express monorail from the MK to the TTC, just be aware of that for your trip.

Do the “Official Walt Disney World Resort Hotels”, in the Disney Springs area for instance, qualify for Early Entry at the parks? Still weighing accommodation options here…

here is the list: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/early-entry/

although you get early entry with these hotels, you can’t buy individual lightning lanes at 7am unless you are staying at a Disney hotel (or Swan, Dolphin, and Shades of Green)

If you stay offsite, check in advance if your hotel (like the B Resort) has a shuttle to the parks. Keep in mind though, that you may or may not be able to get that shuttle when you want it, unlike Disney transportation that runs constantly and may be only a 10-15 minute wait. Hotels near disney springs are 8-10 mins from Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Magic Kingdom is further, but you are usually dropped at the Transportation and Ticketing Center and take Disney transport from there. Those hotels are even closer to Seaworld and Universal. The best option remains Uber and Lyft to know you can get from point A to point B on time.

That’s the thing isn’t it when crunching the numbers, you need to take all that into consideration. If you need to catch an Uber every day to and from the parks, although the accommodation may be cheaper your overall daily cost may work out to be the same as say the cost of a moderate resort on property. I always sit down and do the math and if on property comes really close then I will opt for there just for the “Disney Bubble” experience.

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How to Get Early Entry With Disney World’s Third-Party Hotels

A couple of weeks ago I heard from my friend Justin, who had friends staying at a Disney Springs hotel.  Justin had the following question:

How do my friends get access to Early Theme Park Entry? We’ve been running around the hotel asking the staff what to do, and none of them knows what we’re talking about.  Do we just show up at the park?  We don’t have My Disney Experience accounts, and I doubt the Magic Kingdom Cast Members are going be able to scan our third-party room keys to prove we’re eligible.

I read this question on the Disney Dish podcast , and got dozens of emails from guests who’d gone through the exact same thing.  So I thought I’d do some research to help future guests get this done faster.

What Is Early Theme Park Entry?

One of the most useful benefits you can get from staying at a Walt Disney World hotel is Early Theme Park Entry.  Early Theme Park Entry gets you into all four of Disney World’s theme parks 30 minutes before regular guests, every day of the week ( and occasionally, even earlier than that ).

Those extra 30 minutes in the park will allow you to see many more attractions than off-site guests. During our testing during Christmas Week 2021, we saw the following:

• Guests with Early Theme Park Entry saw 9 attractions before noon, with an average wait time of 13 minutes per attraction
• Guests without Early Theme Park Entry saw 6 attractions before noon, with an average wait of 20 minutes per attraction

That’s roughly 50% more attractions in roughly 50% less time , during one of the busiest weeks of the year.  So Early Theme Park Entry helps avoid long waits in line. It’s valuable.

Which Third-Party Hotels Get Early Entry?

Some non-Disney hotels – mainly the Disney Springs hotels and Bonnet Creek, plus Shades of Green and the Four Seasons, get the Early Theme Park Entry benefit too.  The next section lists each hotel that we know gets Early Theme Park Entry, gives instructions on how to link your reservation in the My Disney Experience (MDE) app, and provides fallback methods that might work in the event MDE doesn’t.

Before we get started, here’s a look at My Disney Experience’s “Link a Hotel Reservation” screen.  We’ll be referring to it a few times later.

If you’re making a third-party hotel reservation through Disney’s website, your reservation will likely be linked to My Disney Experience automatically.  But many folks don’t do that. For example, if you’re using Hilton or Marriott points to book your reservation, that’s got to be done through the chain’s website. This article guides you through how to link that reservation to MDE once it’s made.

Walt Disney World Swan, Swan Reserve, and Dolphin

Linking your Swan, Swan Reserve, or Dolphin reservation is about as easy as it gets: Just enter your hotel confirmation number into MDE, along with the last name on the reservation, and you should be set.  This isn’t surprising, because these three hotels are probably the most integrated into Disney’s benefits programs of any non-Disney hotel in Walt Disney World.  Other than using third-party bus services (and having Magic Kingdom guests dropped off at the Transportation and Ticket Center instead of the park entrance), there are few benefits for Disney-owned hotel guests that are not also afforded to guests at the Swan, Swan Reserve, and Dolphin.

Also, the Swan and Dolphin have their own app, with instructions on how to link your reservation into MDE:

Shades of Green

A Disney Dish listener named Jeff had this to say about linking his Shades of Green reservation:

I can confirm that those staying at Shades of Green can link the reservation on MDE to allow for extra hours access. We did this in August and again for an upcoming week – it works well. MDE knows the number of folks in the reservation and only that many can be chosen in MDE. (By the way, Shades has a really nice indoor set-up at the bus stop too.)

That’s great news – it’s the same process as guests staying at the Swan and Dolphin described above, and only one step more than guests staying at a Disney-owned hotel.

B Resort and Spa Lake Buena Vista

I was surprised to hear that it’s possible to link reservations made at the B Resort and Spa to MDE.  The trick is that it might take a few days for your B Resort reservation information to be transferred to Disney’s systems – it doesn’t appear to be as fast as with the Swan, Dolphin, or Shades of Green.   That’s fine if you’re making reservations months in advance, but less good if you’re taking a last-minute trip and need to do things in a hurry.  We’ve heard the transfer time can be anywhere from two to three days, so plan accordingly.

All Hilton Properties

Hilton properties in Walt Disney World include:

• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando – Disney Springs Area
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista Palace
• Signia by Hilton Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando

The Hilton properties proved to be the most difficult to research for this article, because guest experiences were all over the place when it came to linking reservations in MDE.

Our friend Brendan said this:

I’m a big My Disney Experience guy, so I’m no stranger to planning, linking, booking, etc. For some reason, however, our Hilton reservation wouldn’t link in the app. After asking about a dozen people how I could make sure I’d be able to get into the park for early entry, (including official Disney guest relations at Disney Springs who said they could not help), we finally landed back at the concierge desk inside the Hilton hotel. After going through a few different staff members who acted as if they’d never heard of Early Theme Park Entry, we got to a manager who could help.

Believe it or not, the answer is that they give you what is essentially a business card . One for each guest, the concierge writes down a bunch of numbers (basically a confirmation code), the dates of your stay, and each guests’ name on little paper cards with Disney branding on them, and those are what you show to the park gates cast members for early entry. To my understanding, this is the “backup” process for all of the 3rd party Disney Springs hotels/resorts.

I’ll take a minute here to echo Brendan’s point about Disney Springs Guest Relations not being able to help.  I asked Disney Media Relations for guidance on how third-party hotel guests could make use of Early Theme Park Entry.  They never responded.

Our friend Katie chimed in with this experience:

I called the Hilton Bonnet Creek with this exact question:

Question #1 How does a guest prove they are at an eligible hotel for Early Entry?

Hilton Concierge’s Answer Link to MDE.

Question #2 But what if that doesn’t work? Is there a card?

Hilton Concierge’s Answer YES, but the guest MUST ask for this “magic card” and it’s good for their length of stay.

This is a lot of work! Not only are there hoops to jump through, but the hoops are on fire in quicksand. I worked Magic Kingdom Guest Relations in the early 2000’s and I long for the days of a simple FastPass!

We’ve also heard from guests who were able to link Hilton reservations in MDE without having to contact the concierge or MDE technical support.  In all of those cases, the guests waited at least three days between making the reservation with Hilton, and linking the reservation in MDE.  So that might be the secret. Again, it’s not helpful if you’re making a last-minute trip to Walt Disney World.

Holiday Inn Orlando – Disney Springs Area

John said this:

I’m a passholder and I typically stay at one of the offsite Disney Springs hotels that provide early entry.  Most of my encounters involve really kind Cast Members who have no idea about the policy and need to ask a manager. This most recent visit, the Cast Members actually had to Google Disney World’s “approved” hotels to see the list. To make it even more complex, at the time, the Holiday Inn name was listed on Disney’s website incorrectly, leaving me trying to explain that the hotel I was staying at was in fact the Disney Springs location.

John’s email arrived when I was tagged in a Twitter thread about Disney call centers giving out wrong information. Disney’s a big, complicated place, so it’s not really surprising that Disney itself doesn’t always have the right information.  (But still, if they don’t, who does?  And why is it on the guests to correct it?)

Like other third-party hotels, the trick to linking a Holiday Inn reservation seems to be to wait a couple of days after making the reservation with Holiday Inn, before trying to link the reservation in MDE.

Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista

The Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista is the hotel that Justin’s friends were staying at, and that insipired this blog post.  It’s safe to say that asking the front desk there for help, didn’t result in an optimal guest experience.  But like the other hotels, if you allow a couple of days for your Wyndham reservation to make it to MDE, you should be fine.  And if that doesn’t work, ask for the magic business card.

Disney World Third-Party Hotels Booked Through Hotwire, Priceline, Expedia and Others

Ah, this is a little trickier because there’s three companies involved: Disney, the hotel chain you’re staying at, and the third-party booking engine.

Lucky for us, a Disney Dish listener named Robbie found a solution by calling the Disney Wholesale phone number:

As a huge fan of scouring Hotwire’s “Hot Rate” hotel offers and finding the Disney World resorts hidden there, I discovered a great work-around. After getting my room confirmation from Hotwire, I call the Disney Wholesale number (below).  I give them my Hotwire confirmation number and they convert it for me to a MDE friendly reservation number within minutes of making the original reservation. I hope this helps, and keep up the good work!

The Disney Wholesale number is (407) 939-7671.

Other Disney-Area Hotels and Information

This is what I’ve found out so far for these Disney World-Area hotels. The common themes are:

• Link your reservation in MDE for best success – but how you do this may not be consistent
• Try to allow at least three days between making the reservation and trying to link it in My Disney Experience
• If you aren’t successful in linking to MDE but your hotel offers Early Theme Park Entry, be prepared that you may need to talk to multiple employees to find one who is familiar with the “business card” backup process.

If you’ve stayed at another hotel and figured out how to do link your reservation to My Disney Experience, let me know in the comments.  And if all of this sounds wayyyy too complicated, our Travel Agents can help with your hotel booking .

Also, if you’re thinking about using your third-party hotel’s transportation, make sure to verify that the hotel shuttle will get you to the park in time to take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry.  Some off-site shuttles only operate a few times each day, and some don’t start until close to park opening. In those cases, it might be more useful to take a taxi or ride-share to the parks.  It’ll save you a ton of time in line.

Postscript: All the Different Names Disney Uses for “Nearby Hotels We Don’t Own”

In updating this post I had to verify the difference between hotels in Disney’s own hotels, the ones in Disney’s “Good Neighbor” program, and others.  It’s confusing because Disney uses a lot of different names to refer to these hotels and their benefits.  Here’s a quick rundown:

Disney Partner Hotels – Mainly used by Disney’s U.K.-based sites, “Disney Partner Hotels” refers to:

• The Disney Springs hotels (also called “Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels” – see below)
• The Swan and Dolphin (and probably the Swan Reserve, but the website doesn’t list it)
• The Bonnett Creek resorts: Hilton’s Waldorf-Astoria and Signia, and Wyndham’s Grand Orlando Resort
• The Four Seasons Orlando
• The SpringHill Suites and TownePlace Suites at Flamingo Crossings, which this site calls the “Western Entrance”. See also “Disney Gateway Hotels” below

Disney Gateway Hotels – Another term used by Disney to refer to the hotels of Flamingo Crossings.  See also “Disney Partner Hotels” above.

Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels – Along with “Disney Partner Hotels”, Disney uses this term to refer just to the seven hotels within the Disney Springs area.

Good Neighbor Hotels – Disney uses this term to refer to third-party hotels that aren’t Partner or Gateway hotels and that do not receive any special theme park benefits.  These hotels include national chains such as Empassy Suites and Hampton Inn, as well locally-run hotels such as the Rosen Inn Lake Buena Vista.  Note that the link is broken on Disney’s site that is supposed to show the list of these hotels.  It should go to https://www.wdwgoodneighborhotels.com/browse-hotels/

Orlando Area Hotels – Disney uses this term to refer to the combined set of its own hotels, the Swan, Swan Reserve, and Dolphin, plus the Four Seasons Orlando, the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, the Good Neighbor hotels, and the Bonnett Creek Resorts.

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Len Testa is the co-author of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, and has contributed to the Disneyland and Las Vegas Unofficial Guides. Most of his time is spent trying to keep up with the team. Len's email address is [email protected]. You can also follow him on Twitter: @lentesta .

17 thoughts on “ How to Get Early Entry With Disney World’s Third-Party Hotels ”

Has anyone stayed at Drury Plaza Hotel? It’s a newer hotel and curious how they handle early entry and if they are aware of a business card.

I know this is an old post, but did you ever get a photo of one of these cards Len? I can’t get my Wyndham hotel to show up in MDE and I called the hotel and they had no idea what I was talking about for the “business card”. I’ll try again when there in person, but would be nice to have a pic or reference as you said!

Ah, I didn’t. Definitely try in person, please, and let me know how it goes.

Yes you get early entry on the day of check in and day of check out. You don’t have to be physically checked in yet, but you need the reservation linked to your disney account so that you can show it on your phone to the gate keepers at Disney.

I think morally you’re just fine! You are paying for the early access with points.

Sorry one further to this question. If I am checking in on a Monday, but cannot check in until 4 PM, can I get early entry on that Monday? Thanks.

I had two questions related to this:

1. If my checkout day is a Monday (let’s assume an 11 AM checkout time), am I eligible for early entry on that morning for perhaps a 7:30 AM early entry day?

2. I was planning on renting a home (family of 5), but using Hilton points to get a room for 4 days at the Hilton Double Tree Suites (that will sit empty) that will accommodate 5. Is this morally dubious or TP Savvy to get the early entry benefit?

I am staying at: Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort Address: 12205 Apopka Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32836 Phone: (407) 239-0444 It is a Disney Good Neighbor hotel. I booked through Undercover Tourist. Do you think it’s possible to get early entry for us and how, please?

Thanks so much for this helpful info! We are planning to stay at the Doubletree Disney Springs and I successfully linked the reservation. However, I’m getting mixed info on whether I’ll be allowed to book individual lightning lanes at 7 am when staying at this hotel, or if I’ll have to wait until park opening. Any info available on this? Thank you!

Hi Disney Gal! You’ll be able to purchase Genie+ at 7 a.m. Good luck!

I shared my (outlier) experience on Twitter, but I’ll expound on it here.

I stayed at The B in late April 2022, booked through a lesser third-party site (I think it was called Agoda?). I used early entry three days of my trip (more on that in a second). I could not see my reservation in MDE. My park ticket was a 4-day base ticket.

On day one, I went to Epcot. I scanned in with my MagicBand, and the CM asked where I was staying. I told her, and flashed my room key. She let me in.

On my Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom days, I had my room key ready when I scanned my MagicBand. Never was stopped or challenged about whether I should have early access.

As noted in the article and echoed by others, bus service is wildly unpredictable. The service that stopped at the row of Hotel Plaza Blvd locations differed in operation from day to day. Usually it was three busses, but the two parks combined onto one bus (and the order of drop off) changed daily. This is why my Hollywood Studios day wasn’t an early entry experience. Our shuttle ended up behind another bus that spent ten minutes at the Animal Kingdom booths. By the time we made it through that, dropped off the Animal Kingdom guests, and went to Studios, it was regular park open.

Now, it’s possible that I was incredibly lucky during my trip. I was traveling solo, and I generally look amenable, trustworthy, and laid-back. (My wife thinks this is why I often get pulled for routine additional screening by TSA.) But it’s also possible that CMs at the gates are making the general assumption that the folks who know about early entry, show some plausible form of confirmation, and are using a base ticket (not an annual pass) are not trying to swindle Disney out of a 30-minute benefit they are not entitled to.

I have been successful linking Good neighbor hotels to my MDE account (both Hilton and Holiday Inn).

But… if you have to make changes to those hotel stays, there is no way to get MDE to recognize the change. First, we had to move our dates back a few days due to some airline flight changes. Made the change on the Holiday Inn website, then went to MDE – message says to call to make changes. I called, and after a long hold time was told they cannot change the dates, and it would have to be escalated to a different group, with a 48 hour turn around to show in MDE. A week went, by, and then another, with no change. Called again, got same info relayed. Again, two weeks later no change. In the end, we ended up switching to a Hilton property and a brand new reservation. I was able to link that one, and it overlapped with the Holiday Inn reservation in MDE.

Finally, I had to call again and tell them to cancel the Holiday Inn reservation. After 6 weeks, and multiple phone calls the changed reservation finally showed correctly in MDE. That was frustrating.

Thanks for this, Chuck. Based on this experience, it sounds like the process is a “Send once in batch mode” thing. The first time a reservation is created, it’s sent to Disney. And nothing after.

Thanks for this article (and the podcast)! I stayed at the Dolphin last year, booked through Priceline, and had to call the Dolphin to get the confirmation number to link to MDE. The confirmation number I got from Priceline didn’t work. Once I entered the number the Dolphin gave me, it took a couple of days to show up, but all good after that.

Thanks Dee! This is good to hear.

Thanks for the article, Len! I heard the segment on this and decided to investigate a little further as we were heading down for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon weekend and staying at the Doubletree (Disney Springs). I called and spoke with the front desk, and they informed me to just ask for the paper business card (my words, not theirs’) when we checked in. We requested our early entry cards upon arrival, and the front desk happily filled them out. We utilized them two different days at Epcot with no issues. Simply showed them to the cast member monitoring early entry and they let us in. On a related note, I took the bus from Doubletree one morning (meeting my husband after he finished the half marathon) and the bus driver was unaware of the road closures due to the race. He drove around a while, then informed us that he couldn’t get us to Epcot, and dropped us at the TTC. Not a big deal but this was the same bus then going on to Hollywood Studios and had picked up at multiple hotels before it picked up at Doubletree. Seems like you would be on this bus for a while trying to get anywhere! I spoke with others on the bus who said it took forever to get to the parks and then their bus never came when they were supposed to take it home the night before. So, definitely consider using your own transportation in order to take advantage of early entry if staying at the Doubletree (Fabulous Buses was the company but they were less than fabulous…). Thanks for all the great info!

Thanks Erica! Do you happen to have a photo of those business cards? In case someone else goes looking for them, it’d be nice to say “…and this is what it looks like.”

Len, I do still have the card. Happy to pass along a photo. Is there a way to attach an image to this thread? If not, if you want to email me, I would be happy to attach to send along a photo!

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Guide to Disney Resorts with Family Suites

T here are many benefits to staying at a Walt Disney World resort hotel. These include complimentary transportation to the theme parks, access to early theme park entry, and the option to charge purchases to your room. Some guests with families would prefer a larger space than a traditional hotel room, whether it’s to accommodate more than four people or to have a little more privacy. Luckily, Walt Disney World offers some family suites with options in varying price ranges.

Interested in staying in a Disney Resort with family suites? Here are the various options you’ll find when booking. There are family suite options in value resorts, moderate resorts, and deluxe resorts, so you’ll want to compare prices when considering the options.

Disclosure: We’ve been on some complimentary/discounted Disney trips and have also paid our way many times. This post contains affiliate links and a purchase/click through one of these links may result in a commission paid to us at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own.

When booking your Walt Disney World vacation, consider purchasing through our affiliate Get Away Today . They offer great prices on tickets and can book many hotels.

Disney Value Resorts with Suites

Disney’s all-star music resort  .

Disney’s All-Star Music Resort is a value resort at Walt Disney World. While there are three All-Star Resorts (including Movies and Sports), only the All-Star Music Resort offers family suites.

These family suites can accommodate up to 6 guests. They’ve been recently renovated in the style that’s been used in the value resorts (we’ve reviewed the All-Star Movies and Pop Century upgrades in the past), so they are clean and open, with the new-ish style pull-up Murphy beds. We love these beds because you can have much more space during the day, and then pull down the bed when you are ready to sleep.

These family suites at the All-Star Movies include two bathrooms, a kitchenette with fridge, microwave, and sink, and two main rooms. One room has one queen bed and a flat-screen television, while the other room has two pull-down queen beds. One of these beds converts to a small set of table and chairs if you want to eat in the room.

This resort offers a food court, a large feature pool (the Calypso Pool) as well as a smaller pool (the Piano Pool). There’s also a kiddie pool.

The All-Star Music Resort, like the other All-Star resorts, only offers bus service to the theme parks. It’s a fun, lively resort that is great for families. These family suites are typically the most affordable of the options at Walt Disney World.

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort has been a welcome addition to the Walt Disney World value resorts. The resort has several different themed areas, including three that are exclusively dedicated to family suites. This whole resort is fun – with loveable themes, bright colors, and great family amenities.

The family suites are located in three themed areas – Disney/Pixar Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King. A fourth section, the Little Mermaid, has traditional hotel rooms rather than family suites.

The family suites in those three themed sections have the same general layout and features but with different decor. Rooms include two main rooms – one bedroom and one living area.

The bedroom has one queen-size bed, while the living room has one double-size convertible TableBed and one double-size sleeper sofa. There are also two bathrooms and a small kitchenette area. The TableBed can be lifted during the day to create a small kitchen table, so you can easily eat in the room.

The family suites at Disney’s Art of Animation can accommodate six guests. There would be two in the bedroom and four in the living area.

In addition to vibrant themes, Disney’s Art of Animation offers the largest resort pool on the property – the Big Blue Pool. There are also several smaller, themed feature pools. It also has a Disney Skyliner station, offering convenient access to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. To reach Disney Springs, the Magic Kingdom, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom, bus service is provided.

Because of the larger-than-life themes, it’s also fun to walk around Disney’s Art of Animation. When we stayed there, my kids loved just checking out the decor. The resort also offers an arcade and a food court.

Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

There are fewer Disney moderate resorts than value resorts, and there are fewer options for family suites. Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort offers 1-bedroom suites in the Casitas.

These one-bedroom suites include two queen beds and one queen sofa bed. They can accommodate up to 6. The decor of these is more upscale and elegant. These are listed as one-bedroom suites, rather than family suites, but can also accommodate a family.

There are also some suites in the newer Tower part of Disney’s Coronado Springs . Keep in mind, however, that all of these suites are typically more expensive than those at the value resorts. Options include a presidential suite and executive suites.

Coronado Springs, while known as one of the more popular convention hotels on Disney property, does offer lots of great family amenities. A Mayan pyramid towers over the Dig Site pool area, featuring the Lost City of Cibola pool and a 123-foot-long waterslide. There’s also a large whirlpool, a volleyball court, an arcade, and a kiddie pool.

To get to any of the theme parks or Disney Springs from Disney’s Coronado Springs resort, complimentary bus transportation is available. It’s a large resort, so there are multiple bus stops scattered throughout the resort.

Disney’s Fort Wilderness

While they aren’t advertised as family suites, the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are a great option for families and can accommodate up to 6 guests. These cabins include a set of bunk beds, a queen bed, and a double-size sleeper sofa, as well as a small kitchen. Please note that the original cabins are being renovated into a Disney Vacation Club property that will be opening later this year.

Fort Wilderness guests still have access to the great on-property Disney amenities, including complimentary transportation to the theme parks. When this area reopens, it will be a great place to stay with a larger family.

Disney Deluxe Resorts

If you are interested in staying in a suite in a Disney Deluxe Resort, you’ll find a variety of options that are part of the Disney Vacation Club. While Disney Vacation Club is a time-share-style vacation club, guests who are not part of the program can book a stay in these rooms based on availability. Keep in mind that they are extremely popular, however, so availability may be limited. DVC members get first access.

There are many DVC suites and villas on Walt Disney World property. Some of the popular DVC properties include:

• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Riviera Resort

These DVC suites are appealing to families for many reasons. Deluxe studios are most similar to a standard hotel room. But, these buildings also have one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas/suites offering several family-friendly amenities including a washer and dryer and a kitchen.

DVC villas and suites feel very deluxe and make for a more comfortable stay. You’ll have so much more extra space to move around, and can even plan to have meals in your room. These are great for large families, but this convenience and comfort does come with a significantly higher price.

A few of these properties are especially unique. The cabins at Copper Creek (at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge) are private units located along Bay Lake. They have 2 full bathrooms, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, and a private porch with a hot tub overlooking the lake.

At Saratoga Springs Resort, there are Treehouse Villas . These properties can sleep up to nine adults, with bunk beds, two queen beds, a queen sleeper sofa, and a twin sleeper chair. They also have nice patios that are great for sitting outside with some privacy.

The Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows are located in the Magic Kingdom area of the resort, with access to the monorail. These bungalows can accommodate up to 8 guests with 1 King Bed, 1 Queen Bed, 1 Queen-Size pull-down bed, and 2 single pull-down beds. They offer 2 full bathrooms, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, and a private deck with a plunge pool.

Have you stayed in a family suite at Walt Disney World Resort? Which suite is your favorite?

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on your preferences. The family suites at Disney’s All-Star Music and Disney’s Art of Animation are great for younger families, and the kitchenettes can be useful if you have dietary preferences.

Since it opened over a decade ago, Disney’s Art of Animation is very popular with families looking for suites. Most of the resort, except for the Little Mermaid section, offers family suites.

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