Is Early Entry & Extended Hours Worth Staying On Property?

Written By Kathryn Spoor

UPDATE: For a limited time, December 19th through January 3rd, Early Theme Park Entry will be expanding to 60 minutes rather than 30 minutes.

Ahead of The World’s Most Magical Celebration, the Walt Disney World Resort announced that there would be a ‘new’ benefit to staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel. This ‘new’ benefit would grant guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort Hotels, or other participating hotels, additional access to the theme parks.

If this sounds reminiscent of Extra Magic Hours, that’s because it is. . . . kinda. While this ‘new’ benefit does allow Walt Disney World Resort Hotel guests [and those staying at other participating hotels] to enjoy more time in the parks, there are some very distinct differences that you’ll need to be aware of. Today, we’re going to go over everything that you’ll want and need to know if you’re planning to take advantage of this ‘new’ benefit. We’ll also share some of our thoughts as to whether or not it’s worth going out of your way for.

The Basics

Taking advantage of the ‘added benefit’ of enjoying more time at the Walt Disney World theme parks isn’t as straightforward as it once was. Unlike before, when all Walt Disney World Resort Guests could partake in Extra Magic Hours, there are now limitations. The way Disney has chosen to do this is by dividing this extra time in the theme parks into 2 separate categories; Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.

As the much less than creative names suggest, Eartly Theme Park Entry allows guests to enter theme parks before they open to the general public. This is available to all Walt Disney World Resort Guests and those Guests staying at participating hotels. Extended Evening Theme Park Hours allow guests from Deluxe Resorts and select participating hotels to stay in select parks on select nights after the park closes to the general public.

Early Theme Park Entry

Early Theme Park Entry is a benefit for Guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort Hotels as well as select participating hotels. This benefit allows Guests to enter the theme parks 30 minutes early, every day. This gives Resort Guests the leg up on getting in line for some of their favorite attractions. The list of Walt Disney World Resort Hotels and other participating hotels includes:

  • Disney's All-Star Movies Resort

  • Disney's All-Star Music Resort

  • Disney's All-Star Sports Resort

  • Disney's Art of Animation Resort

  • Disney's Pop Century Resort

  • The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

  • Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

  • Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

  • Disney's Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter

  • Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside

  • The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

  • Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

  • Disney's Beach Club Resort

  • Disney's BoardWalk Inn

  • Disney's Contemporary Resort

  • Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

  • Disney's Polynesian Village Resort

  • Disney's Wilderness Lodge

  • Disney's Yacht Club Resort

  • Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort

  • Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge

  • Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge

  • Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House

  • Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village

  • Disney's Beach Club Villas

  • Disney's BoardWalk Villas

  • Disney's Old Key West Resort

  • Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

  • Disney’s Riviera Resort

  • Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

  • The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

  • Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel

  • Walt Disney World Swan Hotel

  • Walt Disney World Swan Reserve

  • Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort

  • B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista

  • DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando

  • Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace

  • Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista

  • Holiday Inn Orlando

  • Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista

  • Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

  • Four Seasons Resort Orlando

  • Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek

  • Waldorf Astoria Orlando

Participating in Early Theme Park Entry is easy. Simply arrive at the Walt Disney World theme park of your choice and scan your admission. Once you’re through the turnstiles, you’ll be directed towards Cast Members who will check your Magic Band or Admission Ticket to ensure you’re a registered guests at one of the abovementioned hotels. Once that’s been confirmed you can move about the park. You can then enjoy any of the available attractions, but keep in mind that only select attractions will be open during Early Theme Park Entry. These attractions include:

Magic Kingdom Park

Epcot

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park

Is Early Theme Park Entry Worth It?

Based on our experience, Early Theme Park Entry is usually well worth the trouble of setting an alarm for when staying at a Walt Disney World Resort or another participating hotel. While it might not seem like a lot of time, 30 minutes can be enough of a head start that you can knock out a few of the most popular attractions and maybe even skip Disney Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lane Selections. It’s also a great opportunity to get into the parks earlier, which we’re a huge fan of during the summer months, so that you can head back to the hotel when things really start to heat up.

As convenient as an extra 30 minutes in the parks might be, Early Theme Park Entry isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, there are times when Early Theme Park Entry doesn’t quite work as advertised. This is something that I encountered during my last visit when trying to access EPCOT through the International Gateway. Rather than being let into the parks 30 minutes early, we weren’t let through until 20 minutes before park open. This was somewhat upsetting, especially for those of us being held at the gate, because we were watching guests walk through the park before we so much as able to get through security. While this is something that may very well have been a fluke, it is an important reminder that none of the benefits of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel or participating hotel are guaranteed.

Extended Evening Theme Park Hours

Extended Evening Theme Park Hours is a benefit for Guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resorts, Disney Deluxe Villa Resort or other select participating hotels. Guests staying at one of the qualifying resorts will have access to select theme parks on select evening for 2 hours after the park closes to all other guests. The list of Disney Resorts and other participating hotels that can take advantage of Extended Evening Theme Park Hours includes:

Disney Deluxe Resorts

Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts

Other Select Hotels

  • Walt Disney World Swan Hotel

  • Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel

  • Walt Disney World Swan Reserve

  • Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World®

Is Extended Evening Theme Park Hours Worth It?

Unlike the Early Theme Park Entry, that we discussed earlier, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours isn’t going to be right for everyone. This isn’t only because it’s only something Deluxe Resort, Deluxe Villa Resort and select participating hotels can partake in. Extended Evening Theme Park Hours aren’t available every day or at every theme park. That being the case, there’s also a chance that the ability to enjoy these extra hours in the parks won’t line up for you or won’t be offered at the parks you’d like to spend some extra time in.

It’s also important to keep in mind that these Extended Evening Theme Park Hours do not include everything that the theme park has to offer. This is especially important to keep in mind if you’re hoping to spend some extra time in EPCOT. While you can still enjoy some of the attractions, you will find that parts of the park will be closed off to guests. This includes shops and restaurants. You’ll also find that food booths are closed, so you won’t have the ability to keep eating and drinking around the world during these Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.

With all this being the case, we personally think that it’s a toss up as to whether or not Extended Evening Theme Park Hours is worth going out of your way for. However, one thing that we will say is that they don’t seem to be worth staying in a Deluxe Resort for. If you’re already planning to stay at one of those resorts. . . . sure! Otherwise, it’s not that good a benefit in our opinion.

You can see the schedule for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours on the Walt Disney World website HERE.

Of course, whether or not extra time in the theme parks is worth the trouble [or the price you’ll have to pay for the benefit] is going to be a matter of opinion. As always, we’d love to hear yours! You can share your thoughts and experiences with us by Joining The Jamboree! We hope to see you there!

Kathryn Spoor
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