Early Entry at Magic Kingdom has the potential to be awesome, awful, or somewhere in between. On a great day, you can knock out multiple Lightning Lane headliners with minimal waits, without paying for Single or Multi-Pass. On a good day, it’s easy to hit one popular ride and a secondary attraction or two. On an ugly day, you could get hit with the dreaded delayed opening, wasting more time than you saved and questioning your decision not to sleep in.
In addition to being a bit of a mixed bag, Early Entry at Magic Kingdom is a moving target. There have been a few changes over the last year, both official and unofficial. More recently, since the start of summer with rides reopening and the attraction roster. All of this changes how you might want to approach Early Entry, and that’s largely what we’ll run through here.
We’re generally big fans of the on-site perk, which gives hotel guests a head-start to do headliner attractions with shorter lines and lower wait times to beat the crowds. Early Entry at Magic Kingdom has actually improved a lot in the last year or so, at least if you know what you’re doing and don’t make any mistakes (easier said than done).
Early Entry at Magic Kingdom is the rare perk that’s both underrated and overrated. It’s underrated in the sense that we hear from many Walt Disney World fans who dislike Early Entry, calling it a waste of time for “only” 30 minutes. This is especially the perspective with regard to Magic Kingdom. My view is that these fans are not giving Early Entry enough credit. It’s better than they think, and has gotten better in both the last year and the last few months.
It’s overrated in the simple sense that more people do Early Entry at Magic Kingdom, at least by my observations, than any other park. This is despite Magic Kingdom only having portions of two lands (Tomorrowland and Fantasyland) open for Early Entry. I’ve said this before, but Magic Kingdom is my least favorite park for Early Entry. If you were only going to skip one park for Early Entry, it would make the most sense to sleep in on your Magic Kingdom day.
Most guests are doing the opposite. Since Magic Kingdom is the most popular park at Walt Disney World and the one guests tend to do at the start of their trip on Mondays, many do EE at MK, conclude the perk is “not worth it” on that basis, call an audible, and skip Early Entry at every other park. This is my working theory, and it would explain a lot about Early Entry at Walt Disney World, from perceptions to crowds.
Before we even get started, I can tell you that the optimal approach is to zig when they zag in a few regards there. First, don’t do Magic Kingdom on a Monday. Second, start somewhere else where crowds are lower at the beginning of the week, do Early Entry there, and reap the rewards.
By the time you get around to your Magic Kingdom day, Early Entry still won’t be as good at the castle park as the other 3, but at least it won’t sour you on the whole extra half-hour experience. Bonus points if you can manage to do Early Entry at Magic Kingdom on one of the rare 7:30 am mornings, because that’s when it really shines. So much so that Magic Kingdom goes from my #4 park to my #1 park for Early Entry simply with that hour time shift.
Unlike the Early Entry photo reports that we normally do, this is not from a single morning. It’s from three different days over the course of the last month (technically 5 weeks).
There’s no real reason for that, aside from each one of those mornings being relatively uneventful. Nothing went catastrophically wrong (the most interesting type of rope drop run!) and nothing went flawlessly. They were all fairly unremarkable or aggressively average. “My Massively Mundane Mornings in Magic Kingdom” as an alternative title has a certain understated stupidity to it.
On top of that, we’ve received several questions about Early Entry and regular rope drop given the changes, so it felt sensible to approach this from that perspective as opposed to a singular walk-through. Finally, there’s also the reality that I may or may not have spent an inordinate amount of time taking photos of the new-look Cinderella Castle on one of these mornings, throwing that out the window from a strategic perspective.
Starting points did differ for each morning. One was during a stay at Pop Century, another was Port Orleans Riverside, and finally was Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Pickup was prompt at all three, but buses were standing room only and packed to the gills. That’s not really a surprise given the size of these resorts, though. Since it’s become a hot topic of late, air-conditioning was very effective on each bus (arguably a little too effective).
Bag check was also efficient, as was getting through the turnstiles. I never arrived early enough to wait for the park entrance to open, which is common when coming from resorts with bus transportation. It’s easier to beat the crowd when walking, taking the monorail or boat.
Early Entry at Magic Kingdom Basics
Our normal recommendation is to arrive roughly 30 minutes before the start of Early Entry. If your plan is to do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, you want to arrive 30+ minutes in advance. Less time is fine for Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, or secondary options.
Arriving earlier also gives you time for fun photos on Main Street with empty backgrounds. Once done with that, head to the right of the East Plaza Garden for Early Entry. There’s a row of Cast Members stationed to scan MagicBands or room keys to verify Early Entry eligibility.
Everyone is allowed to enter Magic Kingdom and hang out on Main Street, taking photos or waiting for regular rope drop over on the Frontierland and Adventureland side of the Central Plaza. But you can’t access Tomorrowland or Fantasyland without scanning here. Once you’ve done that, you’re good to go for the morning.
Current Early Entry Protocol at Magic Kingdom
It used to be the case that guests were held on the bridges to Fantasyland or Tomorrowland until roughly the start of Early Entry. As a result, a large crowd would form that was basically a large, amorphous blob of humanity. There was no line. It was a “fill in all available space” situation.
As of about a year ago, Early Entry changed and eliminated the secondary holding points on the Tomorrowland and Fantasyland bridges. Now, after you’re done with the verification point, you proceed to your first attraction of the morning. There are also no longer any secondary holding points on the bridges to Tomorrowland or Fantasyland. It’s right into line for rides!
Nothing else has changed with regard to Early Entry. Bag check, turnstiles and Main Street still open at approximately the same time. My anecdotal observations are that guests still arrive at roughly the same time, so this hasn’t really pulled forward demand.
Most importantly, the start time of Early Entry is also unchanged. Attractions still begin operating at 8:30 am (or 7:30 am on select mornings), meaning guests are allowed to “pre-load” into queues for 30 minutes or so.
This new approach to Early Entry is much better! It is structured, and whoever arrives first actually is first, just like how lines work (no explanation needed, hopefully), as opposed to later arrivals squeezing in to “fill all available space.”
Arrivals are pulsed organically, meaning there is no jockeying for position on the walk from the bridges to the attractions. That slow shuffle to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is dead, thankfully.
Early Entry Protocol Pitfall
No change can ever be perfect if we game out every “what if” scenario, however far-fetched, as fans seem to enjoy. There’s no such thing as perfect when it comes to Walt Disney World touring.
This one isn’t so far-fetched, though. It’s the dreaded delayed opening for an attraction, which I’d estimate occurs about 20% of the time for the most notorious offenders (e.g. Test Track, Slinky Dog Dash, Frozen Ever After, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, etc).
Before, if there was an attraction that wouldn’t open on time for Early Entry, you’d find out as you arrived at the attraction or shortly after getting into line. You could quickly pivot and get to your second choice before the line got prohibitively long. At least, sometimes.
Now, you’re pretty locked into your first choice unless it’s so obvious a delayed opening is going to occur that Cast Members know ~30 minutes in advance and are communicating that to guests. In those rare instances, you’re actually slightly better off with the current protocol.
TRON Lightcycle Run Not-So-Secretly Opens Early
TRON’s status during Early Entry has been a source of confusion. Officially, TRON Lightcycle Run is not open during Early Entry despite being in Tomorrowland.
That is counterintuitive, as Magic Kingdom is the lone park to only open two of its lands, but then ‘withhold’ the biggest headliners in those. I would hazard a guess that most diehard Disney fans realize that, as it’s been the stated policy for a while. (I’m still shocked that hasn’t changed.)
By contrast, I would also hazard a guess that most average guests don’t even realize that TRON Lightcycle Run isn’t an official part of Early Entry. They’re just going where they can go, and most prioritize Magic Kingdom’s two biggest headliners.
Knowledgeable about the official policy, diehard fans are more likely to do the math, and realize that the extra 30 minutes of waiting (easily) makes Seven Dwarfs Mine Train the better first destination.
You’re already there 30+ minutes before Early Entry starts, then waiting another 30 minutes until TRON opens at 9 am. That’s an hour of waiting even before accounting for any guests in front of you. And there are usually a lot of guests in front of you, because TRON Lightcycle Run has become the #1 starting destination (see photo above of the line past Space Mountain).
It’s now about a 60/40 split in favor of Tomorrowland, where it was once more like 75/25 in favor of Fantasyland. If TRON isn’t open until 9 am, you might as well just do TRON Lightcycle Run at night. You’d wait around the same amount of time (perhaps less!) and have the better ride experience.
There’s only one problem with that. At least in my anecdotal experiences over the last 6-8 months, TRON Lightcycle Run is often “secretly” open during Early Entry. Maybe not the minute it starts, but people are riding it by 7:45 am or 8:45 am (as applicable).
This hasn’t always been the case. There were a few times when I did Early Entry last spring and summer when TRON Lightcycle Run definitely did not open until 9 am. That’s how I got the photos of the sign above! But that has not been my experience in a while.
The issue for me is that there is no knowing whether TRON Lightcycle Run will be open during Early Entry until committing to Tomorrowland. And frankly, I don’t know just how frequently this is happening. It’s possible I’ve gotten incredibly lucky the last several times I’ve done Early Entry.
It’s also possible this is the new normal, and TRON Lightcycle Run is secretly part of Early Entry as an odd, permanent sort of “surprise and delight.” It’s a risk I really don’t like taking or, especially, recommending to readers with more on the line.
Thankfully, there are a couple of things that now make this recommendation easier. One is Party Season, which is fast approaching and is the best time for those highly efficient 7:30 am Early Entry starts. There have been several occasions on those mornings when I’ve knocked out Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in under 15 minutes, from start to finish, making it easy to take the “risk” on TRON Lightcycle Run afterwards.
Every single time, I’ve been rewarded. There have even been multiple mornings when SDMT has started running early and I’ve been able to loop TRON Lightcycle Run as a walk-on. Really!
In trying to find reports on reddit and Facebook to see just how often this is occurring, the most common advice is “avoid TRON, it’s not open but everyone heads that way, anyway.” But those are largely stale reports, informed by experiences from a year ago or longer. This is precisely why TRON Lightcycle Run unofficially opening during Early Entry at least some of the time is a “not-so-secret.”
Meanwhile, “everyone” is heading that way (they’re right about that), but the demographics of first-timers and casual visitors who are more inclined to follow the crowd are much less likely to report on their experiences in fan forums and on social media. So there’s this odd breakdown where conventional fan wisdom appears to me to be wrong (or stale), and the blissfully unaware guests are “right” (but arguably for the wrong reasons).
Hopefully that makes sense, and readers can share datapoints about TRON Lightcycle Run being open (or not!) during Early Entry in the last 6-8 months. This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed it being secretly/quietly operating early, so here’s hoping you’ve had similar experiences. Either way, please share in the comments.
More recently, the reopening of Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin has changed the equation for me. While it’s not optimal strategy, I will
happily take Space Mountain plus a couple of spins on Space Ranger Spin should TRON Lightcycle Run not open until official park opening. I love the recharged ride, and typically ride it three or more times on an average day in MK.
At this point, I’d rather do TRON Lightcycle Run or Space Mountain (sometimes twice) followed by Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin over Fantasyland. Sticking in Tomorrowland presents a much easier pivot if TRON isn’t open.
For this reason, I now personally prefer Tomorrowland over Fantasyland by a slim margin.
It’s not TRON over SDMT, it’s the respective lands as a whole. And even then, the objective argument for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train plus Peter Pan’s Flight is probably stronger. Perhaps this will change as the new blaster smell wears off Buzz.
Regardless of the choice you make to start, we’d highly recommend lining up for TRON Lightcycle Run by 8:59 am or not at all. You do not want to get caught behind the wave of regular rope drop crowds, because it is massive.
This is a situation where casual guests don’t think about crowd dynamics, and fail to realize they’re going to be behind a huge herd of Early Entry guests by starting in Tomorrowland or Fantasyland.
They would be so much better off with the blank slates of Frontierland or Adventureland, which are not open during Early Entry. It’s far better to be among the first guests at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Jungle Cruise, etc.
This is doubly true if TRON is not operating during Early Entry. Not only are those regular rope drop guests behind the wave, but the ride hasn’t even been processing people during Early Entry.
It’s mornings like these when the posted wait time for TRON Lightcycle Run is instantly 90+ minutes at park opening, far eclipsing anything else. The opportunity cost of doing TRON then as opposed to later in the day is tremendous.
Early Entry Ends at PhilharMagic
Meanwhile, Mickey’s PhilharMagic is no longer part of the Magic Kingdom’s Early Entry attraction roster. The 4D film was quietly dropped from the list of eligible attractions a couple of months ago, which is mostly “who cares” news.
This isn’t an Impressions de France plus Les Halles situation. No one in their right mind is getting up at the crack of dawn to prioritize PhilharMagic during Early Entry. I cannot speak to crowds in there for that 30 minutes since I am (allegedly) in my right mind, but I’d imagine they were low.
Nevertheless, I care. First, because my hope was that PhilharMagic getting booted from the lineup was going to “free up” whatever resources were needed to officially add TRON Lightcycle Run. Now that we’re a couple of months out from the change, it’s safe to say that wasn’t the case.
Second, because PhilharMagic made for a great burner Lightning Lane to start the day. Being able to tap in 5 minutes early meant you had a head-start on the rolling 3 rule, and that could be advantageous. If I’m being honest, I only ever leveraged that once, and it was probably overkill, but it did make it easier to start in Fantasyland, hit that before rope drop, and then race to Frontierland ahead of the crowd.
Regular Rope Drop in Frontierland
For the first time in several years, it’s best to start in Frontierland at regular rope drop. A first for this side of the park since before Splash Mountain closed!
Our advice is to prioritize Big Thunder Mountain Railroad since it’s a shorter minimum time commitment from start to finish. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has a longer queue, and a longer ride time. On slower dates, you might even be able to loop BTMRR before lines build at either attraction.
The monkey wrench here is that both have ride reliability and downtime woes, meaning that they’re not always operational at park opening. Fortunately, the likelihood that both will have the dreaded delayed opening on the same morning is low, so pivot accordingly if one isn’t running. Big Thunder was down a lot at park opening during its first month or so, but seems to be improving.
Big Thunder plus Tiana’s Bayou Adventure easily beats the alternative of Jungle Cruise plus Pirates of the Caribbean, especially during summer. That might change later once the weather cools down, and especially once Jingle Cruise debuts. But we’re months away from that.
Ultimately, morning in Magic Kingdom can be fantastic. On a good to great day, it’s possible to knock out multiple headliners in that 30 minutes. Knowledgeable guests can really come out ahead with the phased opening approach, especially as TRON Lightcycle Run disproportionately absorbs the regular rope drop crowd.
It’s not unrealistic to hit 2-3 attractions with minimal waits in Tomorrowland or Fantasyland, and then do the exact same thing in Frontierland or Adventureland. An efficient Early Entry can be more effective than lackluster Lightning Lane Multi-Pass selections. But by contrast, an awful Early Entry can be far worse than leveraging the rolling 3 rule and playing the Lightning Lane refresh game.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you skip Early Entry at Magic Kingdom or take advantage of the perk? What’s your strategy? Start with Fantasyland or Tomorrowland? Would you pivot in the case of the dreaded delayed opening, or be reluctant given the sunk cost and wait times everywhere else? Agree or disagree with our advice or approach? 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!
