Hello and happy Friday -
I wanted to chat today about what an ideal park morning looks like for us in order to minimize waits while also avoiding the chaos that sometimes accompanies park opening time.
A quick rundown of an ideal morning for us:
- 1.5-2 hours before Early Theme Park Entry (ETPE): wake up and eat breakfast in the room
- 1 hour or 1 hr 15 minutes before ETPE: be at the bus/Skyliner/boat/monorail so you're at the front of the pack to arrive at the theme park
- 45 minutes before ETPE: arrive at the park, go through security, enter tapstiles, get snacks/pics if open, head toward direction for 1st ride
- At Early Theme Park Entry start time: head toward a popular ride, but not the 1 most people are headed to which can be chaotic (more on that below)
- At regular park opening time: since not everything is open during ETPE, you can effectively have a second rope drop by heading toward something that doesn't open until the regular park opening
- After that: continue your day by visiting attractions at optimal times and/or by booking Lightning Lanes
Rides to rope drop without the chaos
In step 4 of our timeline above, I suggest heading toward something popular but not chaotic. That's because the mad dash toward the top ride can make for a rough start to the day.
Instead, we'd suggest booking Lightning Lanes for the chaos-causing rides and heading somewhere else for a gentler start.
- At Magic Kingdom, most people will be headed to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Instead, head to Peter Pan's Flight and Winnie the Pooh. Bonus to this approach: you get to see the adorable Peter Pan's Flight queue which you bypass when using a Lightning Lane.
- At Epcot, most people will be headed to Remy's. Instead, head to Frozen Ever After. I've even been able to occasionally fit 2 rides in during Early Theme Park Entry.
- At Hollywood Studios, most people will be headed to Rise of the Resistance (which is only operating about 50% of the time) and Slinky Dog Dash. Instead, head to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway OR Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster.
- At Animal Kingdom, most people head to Flight of Passage. Instead, head to Navi River Journey.
Second rope drop opportunities
In step 5 of our list, I mention that there's a chance to rope drop something else when Early Theme Park Entry ends and regular park entry begins. Here's where we'd suggest heading in each park at regular park opening time:
- Magic Kingdom - Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, or Tiana's Bayou Adventure
- Epcot - Living with the Land
- Hollywood Studios - all rides are open during ETPE, but many characters start meeting right at park opening so this is a good chance to cross off any must-do characters before lines grow
- Animal Kingdom - Kilimanjaro Safaris
When to visit rides (and which Lightning Lanes to prioritize)
After the initial rope drop time, you'll want to continue your day to minimize waits. You can do that through a combo of using the standby lines before they grow and booking Lightning Lanes.
We have cheat sheets for each park to help you know when to do this for each attraction:
Hope that helps give you an idea of how to lay out your park touring days to minimize time in lines as much as possible.
Have questions? Feel free to hit reply and we'll get back with you.
Have a good weekend,
Shannon
P.S. Interested in a Disney cruise for 2026? Itineraries are now out through summer 2026. Get a DCL quote now.
