Magic Kingdom Early Entry Spring Break Report
With peak season spring break crowds starting to descend upon Walt Disney World, we tested out Early Theme Park Entry again. This photo report offers a look at morning in Magic Kingdom on a 10/10 wait times day, how packed the park is for this on-site perk, what we accomplished, strategy & tips so you can get more done, and more.
On this day at MK, the park opened to the general public at 9 am, meaning Early Entry began at 8:30 am. We arrived at ~8 am, breezing through bag check and the turnstiles in minutes. The first guests heading towards Seven Dwarfs Mine Train likely arrived at least 30 minutes before us–that’s typically when the turnstiles open.
In our experience thus far, getting to the parks for Early Entry is surprisingly easy. Bus transportation starts running early, and most guests simply are not up and out the door by 7 am. Monorails and boats are departing every few minutes, and usually are not full at this hour. We’ve found it to be a far more pleasant transportation experience than leaving an hour or two later.
Our normal recommendation is to arrive “at least” 30 minutes before the start of Early Theme Park Entry, but consider adjusting that upwards to 45 minutes. Probably more like a full hour if your plan is to do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Upon reaching the end of Main Street, you’ll see Cast Members with signs direction guests to the left for breakfast reservations and to the right for Early Theme Park Entry. This works exactly the same as morning Extra Magic Hours, if you remember those.
On-site guests head to the right of the East Plaza Garden. There’s a row of Cast Members stationed here to scan MagicBands, resort room keys, or whatever appropriate identification you might have if staying at one of the participating third party hotels.
You can’t access Tomorrowland or Fantasyland without scanning here. Once you’ve done that, you’re good to go for the morning–unlike Extended Evening Hours, you aren’t scanned at each individual attraction.
From there, you proceed on to either the Tomorrowland Bridge or Fantasyland Bridge.
The crowd is smaller for Tomorrowland. There’s more breathing room here and it’s definitely the more laid back option. By contrast, the Fantasyland Bridge is packed with people.
The mood is also more tense. Guests are revving up their double-wide strollers on the Fantasyland Bridge, preparing to do some serious damage to the ankles of anyone walking too gingerly. The sprint to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a high stakes, eat-or-be-eaten game.
Not really, but the atmosphere does feel tense before the crowd starts moving. Once it does, it’s more like a slow trudge in a sea of humanity. No one is doing anything even resembling running. We call it the “SDMT Shuffle.”
Most guests are rolling up around 15 minutes before the start of Early Entry. The line for Fantasyland really filled up fast around 8:15 to 8:20 am. Approximately 90% of those people are planning to do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
There were significantly more guests waiting here than at the Tomorrowland bridge, but the disparity was lower than last time we did this. It would seem that word has gotten out about the trials and tribulations of starting at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and the comparative upside of Tomorrowland.
I’ve said this many times, but I cannot stand doing the SDMT Shuffle. It’s uncomfortable and unpleasant, and I cannot imagine this sets the tone for a good day in Magic Kingdom for anyone. I’d much rather just wait until evening to do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but maybe that’s just me.
Regardless, this is the best route for getting to Peter Pan’s Flight, which is our recommended way to start Early Entry at Magic Kingdom.
Since we’ve already tested and covered that approach, this Early Entry report will instead start in Tomorrowland.
The vast majority of the crowd was heading to Space Mountain, an understandable move given its Magic Kingdom mountain range status. The overflow queue immediately filled with people, and this was even after the initial rush went into the attraction building.
Space Mountain’s posted wait time was 30 minutes by 8:35 am, as compared 75 minutes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and 5 minutes for Peter Pan’s Flight.
The overflow queue extended back to Astro Orbiter, suggesting that 30 minute wait was probably accurate. One thing to keep in mind is that Lightning Lane wouldn’t be in use at this hour, so Space Mountain would be pulling 100% standby guests.
On a tangentially related note, recently Space Mountain has been using the overflow queue less than it did pre-Lightning Lanes (above is an afternoon photo). This is not indicative of shorter waits. There are far fewer guests in the standby line because the ratio of standby-to-LL is low. With both FastPass and Lightning Lane, less physical queue space is used.
Back to the topic at hand, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin Tomorrowland Speedway, and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover were all walk-ons at this point. Astro Orbiter had a small crowd, but couldn’t have been more than a 10 minute wait.
Heading back into Fantasyland at 8:45 am, the line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train already wrapped around the mountain and was back by the Little Mermaid dark ride.
Its posted wait time for SDMT was 85 minutes at this point. It’s really difficult to assess the degree to which that was inflated, if at all. Lightning Lane guests would slow the pace of the line dramatically once official park opening rolled around.
Peter Pan’s Flight was already posting a 60 minute wait.
As this ballooned around 8:40, it was undoubtedly driven by guests who intended upon starting at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but reassessed upon seeing or getting into that lengthy line.
Done documenting the lines, I did the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The posted and actual wait were both 10 minutes. (It was a walk-on during my first pass-through of Fantasyland.)
This obviously wouldn’t have been my top priority were I doing this “for real,” but it’s not a bad pick, either. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh averages a 50+ minute wait time on 10/10 crowd level days, with lines that are sometimes longer than Space Mountain.
By the time I got off the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, it was 9:05 am.
Haunted Mansion already had a 30 minute wait (and long line spilling back into the rest of Liberty Square).
It was a similar story at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, where the wait time was also 30 minutes and the line extended back to the Frontierland bridge.
This queue was moving quickly, but again, that would be short-lived. Lightning Lane guests would soon clog things up and slow down the standby speed.
Splash Mountain was only posting a 20 minute wait. This was probably understated by a bit given how much of the queue outside was in use. (It was also a bit chilly out–temperatures dropped overnight.)
Wait times at Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise had already shot up, too. All within only a few minutes of 9 am.
Waits only continued to build from there, with rope drop quickly transitioning to normal crowds.
Were I doing this as an actual guest, the best approach to Early Entry and rope drop at Magic Kingdom would’ve been:
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- “it’s a small world”
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Splash Mountain
- Jungle Cruise
- Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean likely would have rather lengthy wait times by then, but still better than what they’d be posting later in the day. This would be a very solid start to the day, and position you well for a full day in Magic Kingdom, even amidst 10/10 crowd levels.
Alternatively, starting in Tomorrowland and knocking out Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin before bouncing across the hub to Frontierland and Adventureland is all theoretically possible during Early Theme Park Entry plus the first hour or so of Magic Kingdom’s regular operations.
In both cases, the aggregate time savings would’ve been better than starting with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Unless you’re at the very front of the pack, the opportunity cost of doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train first is too great. In the time it takes to do that one ride, you could knock out 3-4 smaller ones with shorter waits. Later in the day, those rides will have long lines, too.
On a totally off-topic note, my favorite moment of the morning was watching this custodial Cast Member using his broom to brush water art of Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Even in the hustle and bustle of rope drop, a small crowd gathered to watch him work his magic.
Obviously, people visit Walt Disney World for the theme parks and I don’t want to diminish rides as integral to the experience. With that said, I’d hazard a guess that this type of thing leaves an equally lasting impression on guests, and is probably a big reason so many of you reading this became fans in the first place.
Don’t put too much weight or pressure on riding X or Y as make-or-break to your vacation experience. Sometimes, these unexpected moments form better memories than the headliner attractions you’re hyping up in your head. I’d love to see Walt Disney World get back to the basics, nailing the “little things” like this that are actually so significant to the guest experience. Kudos to this Cast Member and the many, many others who continue to make the parks special.
Ultimately, we recommend taking advantage of Early Theme Park Entry at Magic Kingdom. If you follow savvy strategy and pair that with traditional rope drop for Frontierland or Adventureland, you can have a solid start to your morning at Magic Kingdom–even with 10/10 crowd levels, as was the case for this day in MK. Even during peak season, it is possible to accomplish a lot and beat the crowds if you simply start early, pace yourself, and stay late.
What you encounter might appear intimidating at first, but just remember: most of those lines aren’t getting any shorter later in the day. Whatever you’re seeing at 8:45 am, triple it and that’ll be the wait time in 2 hours (with the exception of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which often peaks at 9 am and falls by 10 am). If you want additional strategy for the starting your day at the other three parks, check out our Guide to Early Theme Park Entry at Walt Disney World.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, 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 clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on Early Theme Park Entry at Magic Kingdom? Have you experienced this 30 minute jumpstart to the day at Magic Kingdom? What’s your preferred approach to early entry? How would you have done things differently? Any other feedback on arriving early to the Walt Disney World theme parks? 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!
Which crowd calendars are most accurate. I see the undercover tourist and touring plan crowd calendars are totally different for when our vacation is in May
Question: for early entry is Adventureland not open? My ocd is always to do Pirates first and then carpets and the jungle book which we have always found to have very minimal waits first thing. It will bum me out if my only option is either fantasyland or Tomorrowland.
Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland attractions are open during Magic Kingdom’s Early Theme Park Entry but I bet if you head over to Adventureland right at normal park opening you will still beat the lines.
I really needed this post today! In two weeks from today we will be at a magic Kingdom and I am trying to stay positive and not freak out about the crowds. I am going to suggest to my group (13 of us) that we buy ILL for 7 dwarves so we don’t have to worry about that at early entry. And try to his those fantasy land rides first and get genie plus for things like big thunder and pirates . I would start with Tomorrowland but we have three 7 year olds, a 5 year old and a 3.5 year old all first timers and I don’t want to freak them out with space mountain the first ride of the day on their first day of the trip.
I’m not sure about It’s a Small World due to it’s duration. The ride itself is almost 15 minutes long, and that doesn’t count time in line, waiting for passengers to be loaded and unloaded. I guess it depends on what other short attractions you want to do (I might grab a Tea Party or a Carrousel ride, depending on time savings.) I 100% agree with shuffling to Peter Pan and if you don’t want to do any other rides and want to minimize walking, It’s a Small World right across the path. The key is to be ready for the second rope drop when the rest of the park opens.
I’ve been trying to do some historical research about touring patterns and advertising (going back to the 1980s!), because at some point we’re going to have to talk about whether the Magic Kingdom should once again be considered a two-day park.
Is there a landmark on the Fantasyland Bridge that you can use as a Barometer – like, if you are waiting behind this point, you will definitely wait more than 20-30 minutes for SMDT during Early Entry (assuming the attraction is fully operational)?
Great stuff as always, Tom! Question: you referenced this as a 10/10 crowd day. Are you pulling that # from TouringPlans or somewhere else?
Thanks!
How does one do the early entry for breakfast? I have gone my genie plus and tried to search locations that do breakfast and it says it’s unavailable.
heartbreaking,..I remember how decades ago this kind of scene was what it was all about,..
“Sometimes, these unexpected moments form better memories than the headliner attractions you’re hyping up in your head. I’d love to see Walt Disney World get back to the basics, nailing the “little things” like this that are actually so significant to the guest experience. Kudos to this Cast Member and the many, many others who continue to make the parks special.”
This. My first visit to WDW was not until I was 29 years old back in 2011. My wife dragged me there on my honeymoon. While I remember the rides (Soarin was my very first ride and it certainly left an impression) I remember the little things just as much and how even the little details seemed to be handled and not just skipped over. I was hooked and a fan for life at that point. That magic feels like it has been largely lost over the past few years and has been so noticeable on my recent trips. It is quite disheartening.
In regards to what you said about the cast member making water art – I could not have said it better. I agree 100%! I hope Walt Disney World brings more of these little things back, too.
If I were to purchase Genie+ (as I’m heavily leaning towards for our upcoming trip), would it make sense to get there an hour early as you suggest, and do the “SDMT Shuffle”? I would hope to capitalize on the shorter lines via G+ but obviously SDMT isn’t included, so would knocking that out first be viable? Or do you suggest leaving it for last?
This is one of my complaints with G+ vs. FP+. In that “era”, I would often have a FP for a headliner like SDMT, taking the pressure off rope dropping it and getting more “smaller” rides in before the crowds.
I’d purchase Mine Train or save it for the night.
Purchasing still lets you knock it outside during a period where all lines are long.
Something like:
8:30-9
Peter Pan
Small World
Pooh
By 9:15– redeem G+ for Big Thunder mountain, and hopefully still get a priority Second morning G+.. maybe 11am Pirates.
So by 10, you’re done with Splash and Big Thunder.
By 11, you’re wrapping up Jungle Cruise, ready to redeem G+ for Pirates.
By 11:30, finished with Pirates. Lines are crazy everywhere.
Hopefully still book G+ for something decent — afternoon Haunted Mansion, maybe Buzz Lightyear… but not until 3-4pm.
So between 11:30-3… your purchased Mine Train LL. And lunch, and Hall of Presidents, Country Bears, etc.
What do you think about this touring plan: doing early entry at Magic Kingdom, doing 5 or so rides + the shows like Tiki Room, Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress, Presidents, leaving in the afternoon, coming back late at night for the last 2 hours of normal park hours + extended evening hours? We’re not attached to doing any specific rides. We’ll be at Magic Kingdom next Wednesday.
We did MK on Wednesday 2/16, which was forecast to be a 2/10 crowd day but wound up as 7/10. I couldn’t get my family there early, but we did a few rides and then left around 2:00. We came back a little before 7pm and rode through the fireworks (only because we saw them earlier in the trip) and continued for extended evening. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in those last 2 hours (in our case SDMT twice and Space Mountain several times).
Especially if you’re not wedded to any particular ride, your plan is excellent. Whether or not Genie+ is worth it to you depends on how many rides you’d like to do and how you feel about waiting in line. If a few 40-50 minute lines don’t phase you and you’re willing to hustle during early entry and 9-11pm there’s probably no need. On the other hand, you can probably snag one LL window before 10am with your first reservation and then book several rides for evening slots after you check in for that one. Check out the Genie Lightning Lane availability charts from Thrill Data website and you will see that you can often book an evening Jungle Cruise before 11am and an evening Peter Pan two hours later. You might be able to grab BTMRR or Haunted Mansion with your next one and Pirates after that.
Hi. Just wondering if purchasing ILL or genie plus changes the need to get there early entry to ride seven dwarfs train.
I think one of the key points Tom has made a number of times is that you shouldn’t try to rope drop SDMT. If you are eligible for extended evening hours on Wednesday, that is the best time to ride it. If not, right before regular park closing may be next (but could still be over an hour). Obviously if you are willing to pay for the ILL that is the easiest of all. Regarding Genie+, please see my comment to Ann above.