Drawbacks for EE to Magic Kingdom???

[MMDRMMBL]

Through reading these forums I have noticed that alot of posters avoid EE days at the parks. Why is this? what are the drawbacks? I would think getting an extra hour would be a plus. Magic Kingdom looks like the only EE worth trying since they have many rides open where as the others only have a few. This is our 1st trip we need all the help we can get thanks.

 

[ErikdaRed]

EE is great if you get there early, ie 30mins prior to the early opening (you will probably need 2 at MK, one for FL the other for TL).

People advise avoiding the parks because after the first 30 mins the parks start filling up with every one trickling in from the resorts, then at opening you get everyone else. This makes for expanded crowds/lines by around 11am.

Get there early, ride everything without lines, move to a deeper section of the park as everyone just coming in hit Space mountain and fantasyland. Get lunch and get out of there to another park

 

[Lora]

When we do the extra hour at MK, we do try to get there at the start. If you're late, it's probably not worth it. If you have fans of the Fantasyland rides in your group, do those first and then move to Tomorrowland for the couple rides there. You can easily do that in the first hour or so. If you'd rather, start in Tomorrowland and then be ready to move to Splash and BTMRR right at 9. Toontown is another place that's good to visit when it first opens (maybe 10:00?). You can usually get in lots of great rides before 11. That's usually when we head OUT of the park. Be prepared to feel like salmon swimming up stream when you're leaving.

 

[CamColt]

I think the biggest drawback is the park gets crowded later in the day. We usually arrive 15 minutes before early opening and we are never too far back in line. I cant imagine getting there any earlier would be of much of an advantage as we would only get in the park a matter of seconds earlier. We head straight for Dumbo, then usually knock out the rest of Fantasyland, with everything being a walk on. The only thing we have had a wait for at EE is the Speedway and theres always a line for that anyway. We then go to the Bakeshop for breakfast and then hit some more rides. We are usually gone before 1:00pm, take a break and hit another park in the evening as to avoid those EE crowds. It works great for us.

 

[Eeyore2003]

On one occasion, and this was for EPCOT, but same idea, we were FIFTEEN minutes late for EE opening. My boys waited in line for 1 1/2 hours to ride Test Track, I told them that this was not worth it anymore because this is what we'd hit all day, I took them out of there and went for opening of Typhoon Lagoon and got to do the Shark Reef over and over with no lines and enjoyed the relaxing rest of the day there.

Next time we did it right and got there 30 to 45 minutes before the gates open and avoided the lines and frustration!!! The key to taking advantage of EE day is to get there before the gates open and get ahead of the crowd, by the time the crowds get going, you've already got the crowded rides over and can finish up the morning doing the ones that are not as busy. I usually only hang around then til about noon and get out of there, by then we're ready for a swim break at the resort.

 

[OLT2004]

Buy the Unoffical Guide to WDW and read all about it!

It is worth the money!