8am Surprise Opening Spoil your 8am ADR??

[lauris87]

So, I'm planning for my trip for next June (2017).....and I've been dreaming of securing an 8am ADR for BOG, strolling in early to take pics in front of castle, and then leisurely walking over to SDMT to ride it first before the crowds.

However, I feel like my hopes have been crushed when my brother just got back from his trip in early June, and told me that MK unexpectedly opened at 8am several days in June (on Non-EMH days)..so I looked it up, and it seems like this happened on most days!???? Talk about spoiling it for the 8am breakfast people! Now I don't know what to do! I don't want an 8am ADR if the park will be opening at 8! I'm not going until June 2017....but, I always look at my month of travel in the year prior for help with planning!

Anyone have the inside scoop on this?

 

[BigAlsGal]

There's just no way to tell. I'd say make the reservations and dont get your hopes up. If they change the hours you can ditch the reservations and say at least you tried.

 

[momtotaryn]

We didn't have an ADR for breakfast, but while we were there last month (early June), one of our MK days had a surprise 8am opening. We already planned to meet my sister and family at the AoA shuttle stop at 8am, thinking MK would open at 9am. However, I was watching TV in our room while getting breakfast ready for my family, and saw the hours for MK changed! YIKES! When did that happen? I had to call my sister's room and let them know to meet ASAP, so that we could try to make rope drop.

I totally understand your concerns. While you can make your reservations and hope for the best, it's disappointing if you are looking forward to that particular restaurant and not be able to go on another day. Personally, I wouldn't do it, but that's just me. I would get REALLY worked up, if something like that happens. You should have seen how panicked I got when I found out about the unexpected 8am MK opening, and we didn't have an ADR ~ LOL!

 

[dkrauss]

Opening hours change all the time, especially at the MK. It's a crap shoot.

Doug

 

[Laura's Dad]

Opening hours change all the time, especially at the MK. It's a crap shoot.

Especially during the summer and holiday periods when the parks are more crowded.

Doug

 

[HopperFan]

Hours are always changing and seen them changed day of often, based on anticipated crowds. PPO ADRs come with breakfast, no other guaranteed perks. As PP stated, book them then wait and watch hours. If you see surprise happening right before your days you can cancel your ADR in anticipation.

 

[Missyrose]

So, I'm planning for my trip for next June (2017).....and I've been dreaming of securing an 8am ADR for BOG, strolling in early to take pics in front of castle, and then leisurely walking over to SDMT to ride it first before the crowds.

However, I feel like my hopes have been crushed when my brother just got back from his trip in early June, and told me that MK unexpectedly opened at 8am several days in June (on Non-EMH days)..so I looked it up, and it seems like this happened on most days!???? Talk about spoiling it for the 8am breakfast people! Now I don't know what to do! I don't want an 8am ADR if the park will be opening at 8! I'm not going until June 2017....but, I always look at my month of travel in the year prior for help with planning!

Anyone have the inside scoop on this?

There's no "inside scoop" to be had. When Disney believes the crowds warrant it, it opens the parks early. Disney has done it more often. Your saving grace may be if Disney continues its pay-for-play Early Morning Magic. I don't believe Disney will open the park at 8 a.m. when guests have paid for the early access to those three attractions.

The best you can do is book a breakfast and, if Disney changes the schedule, you decided if you want to keep the ADR. Simple as that.

 

[lovethattink]

We all found out about the changes about 2 weeks before the first days in June changed. So it was very last minute. Disney didn't announce it, but @yulilin3 was the first to report the changes on the DIS.

 

[dancemonkey]

Here's thought. Go for rope drop and make a later BOG. Then you won't be disappointed.

 

[CAS239]

This is why PPO ADR's don't always work for people. If you're only planning an ADR to get ahead of everyone else you need to A)keep close watch on park hours ahead of your day, B)eat quick and ask for the check as soon as you sit.

Sometimes you can get a jump on the rope drop crowd and be in line to ride something before they get there. A lot of the times they open a park 10-30 min ahead of scheduled time. This happens very frequently and there's no way of knowing as you're eating. But if say you have an 8:20 breakfast for a 9am opening, and they open the park at 8:30, you'll be at the back of the pack and have wasted your money if you really didn't want to eat. And then sometimes they move the park opening ahead by an hour. If they anticipate high crowds they sometimes move the park opening earlier, they sometimes do this 24-48 hours before the day, so you'll want to keep an eye on the day. And finally, when you're booking ADR's at 180 days in advance, those park hours you're looking at are not finalized.

This is why, imo, we don't go with trying to book PPO ADR's. I wouldn't spend extra money to just get a slight jump on the rope drop crowd. However that's not to deter you, plenty of people do it and are able to get a ride in before the crowds

 

[lauris87]

There's no "inside scoop" to be had. When Disney believes the crowds warrant it, it opens the parks early. Disney has done it more often. Your saving grace may be if Disney continues its pay-for-play Early Morning Magic. I don't believe Disney will open the park at 8 a.m. when guests have paid for the early access to those three attractions.

The best you can do is book a breakfast and, if Disney changes the schedule, you decided if you want to keep the ADR. Simple as that.

Thanks everyone. So....if I 'wait and see'.....does anyone know how much of a notice there is on the MDE app showing that there's been a change in opening hours? (I know no one can predict, just a guess from experience?) More than 24 hours? Don't I have 24 hours to cancel my ADR without my credit card being charged or something? Sorry, it's been a while and I forgot the ADR rules.....

 

[Missyrose]

Thanks everyone. So....if I 'wait and see'.....does anyone know how much of a notice there is on the MDE app showing that there's been a change in opening hours? (I know no one can predict, just a guess from experience?) More than 24 hours? Don't I have 24 hours to cancel my ADR without my credit card being charged or something? Sorry, it's been a while and I forgot the ADR rules.....

You won't get notifications from Disney if the hours change, they just change and people who are watching will notice and post. You must cancel before 11:59 p.m. the night before your ADR to avoid the $10-per-person no-show fee. You will typically have the changed hours a couple of weeks out.

 

[AngiTN]

My advice is always to book an ADR because you want to eat at that restaurant, not because you want to get in a park early or attempt to get a jump on crowds. Both of those things can fail for any number of reasons.
If you do book an ADR in hope to get in a park early, be prepared to dump the ADR or be prepared to loose the advantages you booked the ADR for.

 

[Shanti]

So, I'm planning for my trip for next June (2017).....and I've been dreaming of securing an 8am ADR for BOG, strolling in early to take pics in front of castle, and then leisurely walking over to SDMT to ride it first before the crowds.

However, I feel like my hopes have been crushed when my brother just got back from his trip in early June, and told me that MK unexpectedly opened at 8am several days in June (on Non-EMH days)..so I looked it up, and it seems like this happened on most days!???? Talk about spoiling it for the 8am breakfast people! Now I don't know what to do! I don't want an 8am ADR if the park will be opening at 8! I'm not going until June 2017....but, I always look at my month of travel in the year prior for help with planning!

Anyone have the inside scoop on this?

I say book the PPO ADR and hope for the best, checking back in the weeks and days prior to your visit. These changes are usually made weeks in advance, except during very high crowd times such as holidays. We've used PPO ADRs time and time again in summer, winter and spring, without a problem. The 9am opening times seem to be holding firm for our upcoming trip later this week, and we have 2 strategic PPO breakfasts that we're looking forward to.

If it ends up opening early, like others said, you can always cancel. But hours don't usually change at the very last minute. If you're torn because you really want the restaurant, I recommend booking it for another time later in your trip, as well, and you can always cancel that one if the PPO ADR works out fine.

 

[tlmadden73]

I dont' consider it "spoiling" a breakfast. You still get to eat the meal that you reserved, right?

Oh .. that's right, most people use PPO meals just as a way to get ahead of the crowds.
To me .. that is a bonus.

This is why Disney created Early Morning Magic .. they know there is a demand for people to get into the park early and people are willing to pay extra for it.

 

[RedSox68]

So, I'm planning for my trip for next June (2017).....and I've been dreaming of securing an 8am ADR for BOG, strolling in early to take pics in front of castle, and then leisurely walking over to SDMT to ride it first before the crowds.

However, I feel like my hopes have been crushed when my brother just got back from his trip in early June, and told me that MK unexpectedly opened at 8am several days in June (on Non-EMH days)..so I looked it up, and it seems like this happened on most days!???? Talk about spoiling it for the 8am breakfast people! Now I don't know what to do! I don't want an 8am ADR if the park will be opening at 8! I'm not going until June 2017....but, I always look at my month of travel in the year prior for help with planning!

Anyone have the inside scoop on this?

Why does this spoil the 8 am breakfast for people? Is it because you wanted to get in before the main crowds? You could call Disney and see if they are opening early that day and maybe change the time to 9 a.m. -- which would still give you time to run around and take pictures?

 

[Shanti]

Why does this spoil the 8 am breakfast for people? Is it because you wanted to get in before the main crowds? You could call Disney and see if they are opening early that day and maybe change the time to 9 a.m. -- which would still give you time to run around and take pictures?

Be Our Guest PPOs typically allow people to ride 7DMT (and then Peter Pan) with no wait. That's what would be ruined.

 

[Shanti]

This is why Disney created Early Morning Magic .. they know there is a demand for people to get into the park early and people are willing to pay extra for it.

For a mere $75 per person...lol. I'll stick with the $20 - 30 per person PPO breakfasts.

 

[loves to dive]

My advice is always to book an ADR because you want to eat at that restaurant, not because you want to get in a park early or attempt to get a jump on crowds. Both of those things can fail for any number of reasons.
If you do book an ADR in hope to get in a park early, be prepared to dump the ADR or be prepared to loose the advantages you booked the ADR for.

I dont' consider it "spoiling" a breakfast. You still get to eat the meal that you reserved, right?

Oh .. that's right, most people use PPO meals just as a way to get ahead of the crowds.
To me .. that is a bonus.

This is why Disney created Early Morning Magic .. they know there is a demand for people to get into the park early and people are willing to pay extra for it.

This and this. They can and have changed the hours the morning of or a week before.

 

[mom2rtk]

Be Our Guest PPOs typically allow people to ride 7DMT (and then Peter Pan) with no wait. That's what would be ruined.

Additionally most people don't like to give up being in the park the first hour it's open.