How can I get into Disney an hour early?

Early theme park entry is only available to Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel and other select hotels. Valid theme park admission and MagicBand, Key to the World Card or Disney MagicMobile pass is required.



To gain early access to Disney parks, the most reliable method is staying at an official Disney Resort hotel or a designated "partner" hotel. In Walt Disney World (Florida), this benefit is known as "Early Theme Park Entry," which typically grants guests a 30-minute head start every day at any of the four parks. While it is often referred to as "an hour early" by fans, the official window has been 30 minutes in recent years. At Disneyland (California), "Early Entry" provides 30-minute access to select attractions. To utilize this, you must have a valid park admission and a confirmed hotel reservation linked to your account. This allows you to bypass the general public for high-demand rides like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or Avatar Flight of Passage before the official park opening time.

People Also Ask

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.

MORE DETAILS

Early Entry at Magic Kingdom is a good way for on-site guests of Walt Disney World hotels to get a head-start, accomplishing a few attractions with low waits.

MORE DETAILS

If you arrive early, there is no guarantee that your room will be ready. While efforts will be made to have the room available, standard check-in times remain in effect. If your room is not ready when you arrive, you can choose to have the resort send you a text message when your room becomes available.

MORE DETAILS

Unlike the old Extra Magic Hours perk (which was only at 1-2 parks per day), Early Entry happens every day, at every park, including at Magic Kingdom. Because of the sheer number of extremely popular attractions, we highly recommend you plan to use Early Entry at Magic Kingdom if you are eligible.

MORE DETAILS

Disney After Hours is a specially ticketed event (meaning it's a ticket that is purchased separate from regular park tickets) that allows people to enter Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom at 7 p.m. and stay until midnight or 1 a.m. (ending time varies by date).

MORE DETAILS

Arriving at Disney After Hours Events. Even though Disney After Hours officially starts sometime between 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. (depending on the event), event guests are able to enter the parks as early as 7 p.m. You'll definitely want to take advantage of that extra time!

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

Parents often wonder if their kids are too young (or too old) to go to Disney World. The best age for Disney World is between 3 and 12 years old, but people of all ages will enjoy the park. Let's investigate the perfect age range to go to Disney theme parks.

MORE DETAILS

Each Disney theme Park ticket and Park Hopper ticket includes valid reentry into the same Park within the same day. If you have added the Park Hopper option to your Park ticket and have secured a reservation, you can Park hop to enjoy multiple Parks in a day.

MORE DETAILS

Guests are allowed to bring outside food and nonalcoholic beverage items into the park for self-consumption, provided they are not in glass containers and do not require heating, reheating, processing, refrigeration or temperature control and do not have pungent odors.

MORE DETAILS

Second, annual passholders may enter the parks after 2PM without a reservation, except for Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays. Blockout dates still apply for these guests. Third, and most important, there is a partial exception for guests who are park hopping, which we'll discuss next.

MORE DETAILS

However, that has changed. You now can only park hop AFTER 2PM. So you'll have to wait until well after lunchtime if you're planning on visiting another park. However, this rule is different for Annual Passholders.

MORE DETAILS

The Genie 120-minute rule says that you can make a new reservation at most 2 hours from when you made the last one, and this countdown timer doesn't change if you modify the reservation. If you made it at, say, 11 a.m., then your two hours will be up at 1 p.m. even if you modify the reservation at noon.

MORE DETAILS

Unfortunately, there isn't an option to visit for a half or partial day. I would suggest that you consider adding another day to your existing ticket if a theme park reservation is available for the half-day you would like to visit.

MORE DETAILS

Early Entry at the Disneyland Resort Guests who are checked in and staying at one of the Disneyland Resort hotels can enter Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park 30 minutes before regular park opening to enjoy select attractions, dining and shopping locations.

MORE DETAILS

Even though Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party doesn't officially start until 7 pm, you can enter the park as early as 4 pm with your event ticket. You will not need a park reservation since it is a special event. Just a heads up–this event sells out pretty quickly and last year, we saw a huge demand.

MORE DETAILS

Thanks for the question to planDisney! With your park ticket and a theme park reservation, you can enter, exit, and re-enter that primary park multiple times throughout the day. It is great if you want to leave the park to get some pool or nap time for your family back at your resort hotel.

MORE DETAILS

The lowest wait times at Fantasyland rides will be in the first hour of the morning, making rope drop totally worth it. At rope drop time, we recommend going straight to Peter Pan, and you can probably finish it in 15-20 minutes total, including the actual ride time.

MORE DETAILS

Guests who like to rope drop usually arrive around 45 to 60 minutes in advance of the official opening time, and doing this is open to anyone with valid admission. Next, let's chat about Early Theme Park Entry, which is a perk for guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel and select other hotels in the area.

MORE DETAILS

Monorail is typically faster however depending on the crowds and if you are close to the dock, a leisurely boat ride early in the morning might be just the right way to go, dropping you off directly in front of the entrance.

MORE DETAILS