Early Theme Park Entry is a perk of staying at a Disney hotel at Disney World, replacing the old “Extra Magic Hours” offering. In this post, we discuss what you can expect from Early Theme Park Entry, what guests of Disney hotels will be able to accomplish using this time, and how this perk impacts people who aren’t staying at Disney hotels.
Related Posts
This post is a more general introduction to the perk of Early Theme Park Entry. We also have posts focusing on Early Entry and, relatedly, rope drop, at each park:
Early Theme Park Entry Basics
Let’s start with the basics…
What Is Early Entry at Disney World?
Early Theme Park Entry is a perk of staying at a Disney hotel or select other hotel that allows these guests access to every park, every day, for 30 minutes before the park opens.
How do you get Early Entry at Disney World?
The only way to get Early Entry at Disney World is by staying at a Disney hotel or select partner hotel.
What hotels get Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World?
There are two groups of hotels that will have access to Early Theme Park Entry.
First are the “Disney hotels”—by which we mean the hotels actually owned an operated by Disney. These include the value resorts (All Star Music, Sports, Movies; Pop Century, Art of Animation), the moderate resorts (Port Orleans, Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs), and the deluxe resorts (Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Yacht Club, Beach Club, BoardWalk Inn). It also includes all the Disney World Disney Vacation Club properties.
Second are the “select other hotels”, (Note: Because Disney’s relationship with local hotels can change, you should always confirm what perks will be available with the hotel before booking) which are:
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
Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
Waldorf Astoria Orlando
Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
You can view the official list from Disney here.
What Time Does Early Theme Park Entry Begin?
Early Theme Park Entry begins 30 minutes before the park is scheduled to open. Guests may be allowed into the park sooner, and some rides may begin to queue before that time. In rare cases, rides may operate before that time. There have been very rare dates where Disney extended Early Theme Park Entry to an hour before park open.
What Parks have Early Theme Park Entry on what dates?
All four Disney World Parks—Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom will have Early Theme Park Entry every day.
How Much Does Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World Cost?
Early Theme Park Entry will be available at no cost to guests of Disney hotels and select other hotels, listed above.
What happened to Extra Magic Hours?
It’s gone.
Are there evening hours for Disney hotel guests?
Yes, for select guests. Guests of deluxe Disney World hotels (including DVC properties) will have access to extended evening hours at select parks on select dates. That is, there are four big differences from Early Theme Park Entry. Extended Evening Hours:
occurs at night
is only for guests of deluxe Disney World hotels, DVC properties, and a select group of partner hotels
is only at select parks
is only on select nights
What rides are included in Early Theme Park Entry?
The full list of available rides is here, but I’ll provide a quick summary, too (last updated March 2024):
Magic Kingdom — Most Fantasyland and Tomorrowland rides
Epcot — (full list) Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, Mission: SPACE, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
Hollywood Studios — All rides (including Rise of the Resistance)
Animal Kingdom — Avatar Flight of Passage, DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest, It’s Tough to be a Bug!, Na’vi River Journey, TriceraTop Spin
If a ride isn’t a part of Early Entry, you might try and ride it right when it opens at regular hours. Jungle Cruise is not a part of Early Entry at Magic Kingdom. Kilimanjaro Safaris is not a part of Early Entry at Animal Kingdom. Your strategy might be to ride one big ride during Early Entry before heading to these rides when they open at regular park hours.
As of this update, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, at Epcot, is using a virtual queue that is not usually operating during Early Entry.
Planning For Early Theme Park Entry
We cover Early Entry strategy on a park-by-park basis (these posts include what to do if you don’t have Early Entry):
Should I stay at a Disney hotel to get Early Entry?
Overall we think it’s a good idea to stay at a Disney hotel, even at their relatively high prices, and that’s in part because of Early Entry access. In particular, we think the value hotels are a good option.
That said, if you can buy Genie+ or an individual Lightning Lane for at least two, maybe up to four days of your trip and you’re willing to wait in at least one 60-minute line each day, you probably don’t need Early Entry to experience the best the parks have to offer.
Genie+ OR an individual Lightning Lane each day will cost you about $20-$40 per person per day. For a family of four that’s over $100 per day, which is probably less than the premium you’d pay to stay at a Disney hotel in most cases. Of course, even staying at a Disney hotel we recommend at least two days of Genie+, so the math isn’t totally straightforward.
If you get into more complicated approaches—split stays, ticketed events like After Hours, longer stays with multiple days at each park—you definitely can avoid the need for a Disney hotel with Early Entry, you’ll just be spending more money or more time. You can read more about some of the ticketed events here:
Finally, Early Entry simply is the only good option some days for some rides. There have been days when Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lanes sell out by 7:30AM and the ride has a two hour wait almost the entire day. If you’re not at a Disney hotel you can’t buy that Lightning Lane until the park opens, so your only option without Early Entry would be that two-hour wait.
With Early Entry, you’d still have to arrive really Early, but you could be done with the ride 15 minutes before the park opens to most guests.
What if I don’t like waking up early?
Guests without Early Entry aren’t allowed into the park until scheduled opening time. While there is going to be some variance in the specifics, even if you can get to a park just 5 minutes before it opens, you’ll have some advantage over these guests. You’ll still be behind the bulk of Early Entry guests, but every park should have a few rides with waits of 15 minutes or less.
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.