Hello and welcome to our special in-depth guide, where Famvia will give hot tips to those that will wake up at 5am just to say hi to Spider Man and Star-Lord!
Yeah, that wasn’t a typo, you will need to wake up pretty early if you want to be one of the first guests to experience everything Disney California Adventure has to offer without spending much (or any) time in lane.
It’s worth it, trust us, and a very fun experience to do with your friends and your family. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend almost twenty four hours inside the Happiest Place on Earth?
What is Early Entry & Rope Drop?
Early Entry and Rope Drop are actually two different terms.
- Early Entry is a perk given to every guest that stays in a Disneyland hotel. It lets you enter either Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure 30 minutes earlier than everyone else.
- Rope Drop is more than just saying “it’s when the park opens”. It’s rare that Disney keeps every guest outside the main gates then gives the green light for everyone to come in at once. This would probably look like that scene from The Lion King with Simba and the stampede, phew!
In fact, most parks open one hour before the official time, even if rides are still closed and most areas are off limits. This is called a soft opening, mostly to spread out guests so the entrance doesn’t look too chaotic. For example, at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, guests can enter Main Street USA and have breakfast at the Starbucks there, even if lands like Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are still closed to the public.
In short, every guest has access to what we call a Rope Drop, but only Disney hotel guests can enjoy Early Entry.
Hotels that give the Early Entry Perk
Currently, these are the hotels that offer Early Entry to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. Keep in mind that you still need a valid park admission to enjoy Early Entry:
- Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
- Disneyland Hotel
- The Villas at Disneyland Hotel
- Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel/Pixar Place Hotel
Guests of Grand Californian Hotel, Disneyland Hotel, and Pixar Place Hotel are able to enjoy Early Entry on both check-in and check-out days.
How does Early Entry work at California Adventure?
Each day, either Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure will open its doors early. They never share the same day when it comes to Early Entry, so make sure to plan in advance.
So, how do you know which park is opening early during a specific week? You can check the Disneyland Mobile App in advance or see it online by following this link.
As of 2024, Early Entry is working like that:
- Disneyland Park: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
- Disney California Adventure Park: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
What California Adventure attractions are open during early entry?
Not every ride is open to the public during Early Entry. Most of the time, the most popular rides are the ones welcoming guests 30 minutes before California Adventure officially opens.
Here are the Early Entry rides available to the public at California Adventure:
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission BREAKOUT!
- Incredicoaster
- The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
- Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
- Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Soarin' Around the World
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
Early Entry Preparations
It’s important to know that you need to have everything ready for your Early Entry/Rope Drop strategy and not leave important details for the last minute.
- Check park opening times through the official Disneyland website or the Disneyland Mobile App the night before your visit.
- Get your backpack ready with everything you need already inside: snacks, an extra t-shirt if you want and everything else you might need. Again, do this a night before your visit.
- Get that alarm clock ready and wake up early! If a park opens at 9am and you don’t have Early Entry, get there at 8am. If you do have Early Entry, this means that the park will officially open at 8:30am, and you need to be there around 7:30am if you want to be one of the first ones in line for the most popular rides. Yes, this means you will need to wake up pretty early. Take into consideration the time to take a shower, eat something and wake up your kids (yeah, this might be tough, but you can do it!).
- Remember that you also have the option to buy the Disney Lightning Lane Multi Pass and the Disney Lightning Lane Single Pass. If you book a popular attraction through this service, you might want to skip it during the Early Entry period. Disney Lightning Lane bookings open at 7am, and you will need to book your favorite rides while you are already inside the park.
- Make sure you know how to get to California Adventure during that specific day. Driving is probably the easier method. If you are taking a monorail or an Uber, for example, you are going to need more time to reach your destination, so take that into account.
Remember that Early Entry and Rope Drop is just a small part of your park strategy for that day. You will save a lot of time in one popular attraction, maybe save precious minutes on a second ride, and that’s about it.
California Adventure Early Entry Strategy
The Early Entry strategy isn’t as complex as you might think. Essentially, you aim to get to the most popular rides at California Adventure before everyone else, allowing you to cross them off your list while the lines are still short. As you probably noticed from our Early Entry list above, there aren’t that many rides open during this special period, but they are at least very fun and popular ones.
From the rides open during early entry, you will probably focus on three of them: Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, Web Slingers, and the Incredicoaster. Guardians of the Galaxy and Web Slingers are very popular attractions that might have long lines throughout the day. The same can be true for the Incredicoaster, but you can still get in relatively quickly after California Adventure officially opens its doors.
Also, keep in mind that Radiator Springs Racers is the most popular ride in the entire park. This one isn’t part of the Early Entry program, but you will already be inside the theme park, and you know what that means, right? It might be a very good idea to head there as soon as California Adventure is about to open. You can also buy a Lightning Lane Single Pass for it if you desire.
Strategy #1 for Early Entry - Good for older kids & adults
This strategy will take you straight to some of the best and most popular rides in California Adventure.
For this one, you will go to:
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission BREAKOUT!
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
- Radiator Springs Racers (if you don’t have a Lightning Lane Single Pass for it) or the Incredicoaster (if you do have a Lightning Lane Single pass for Radiator Springs).
This is a basic, simple strategy that will cross two of the most popular rides in California Adventure off your list before bringing you to Radiator Springs Racers. The idea is to be ready to go to Radiator Springs as soon as the park opens. If you have a Lightning Lane Single pass for it, you could go to the Incredicoaster and face short lines.
Strategy #2 for Early Entry - Good for families with small children
Our second strategy focuses on rides that don’t have height requirements and that everyone can enjoy. This might be challenging at California Adventure, as it is a theme park with more thrilling attractions and not as many rides without height requirements like Disneyland Park.
Good news, though, Web Slingers is one of the most popular rides and doesn’t have any height requirements, so that’s a good choice for your first visit. Here’s how your strategy should look like:
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
- Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
- Toy Story Midway Mania (as soon as the park opens)
The Little Mermaid is right next to Toy Story Midway Mania, so it should be a short walk between the two attractions.
Rope Drop Without Early Entry
Are you planning to arrive early at California Adventure but you’re not staying at a Disneyland hotel? To make the most of your visit, I’d recommend heading straight to Radiator Springs Racers. This is the most popular ride in the entire park, and lines will be shorter as soon as the theme park opens.
You could skip it if you have a Lightning Lane Pass for it, or decide to experience it twice. Honestly, I’d go for it twice since it’s such a fun attraction, but the choice is yours.
Strategy #1 for Rope Drop - Good for older kids & adults without Lightning Lane Multi Pass
This strategy aims to cross off your list the most popular rides in the entire theme park. It will probably cost you some time after you visit Radiator Springs Racers, and it’s the best strategy if you don’t want to worry about Lightning Lane Passes.
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission BREAKOUT!
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
I won’t lie, there will probably be a long line for Guardians of the Galaxy and Web Slingers. You could skip those rides if you have booked a Lightning Lane for them and follow this strategy instead.
Strategy #2 for Rope Drop - Good for older kids & adults with Lightning Lane Multi Pass
Radiator Springs Racers isn’t included in the Lightning Lane Multi-Pass (it is available as a Lightning Lane Single Pass, though), so it should still be your top priority. You could skip it if you decide to buy a Lightning Lane for it, or go there anyway and ride it twice, which is not a bad strategy at all.
You should visit:
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Toy Story Midway Mania (or Guardians of the Galaxy if you plan on riding it twice)
- Goofy's Sky School
For this strategy, make sure to use the Lightning Lane Multi-Pass and book a spot for both Guardians of the Galaxy and Web Slingers as soon as possible! After Radiator Springs Racers, you could go to either Toy Story Midway Mania or Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians is incredibly fun and one of my favorite rides there (well, I love Tower of Terror, so that explains it), so I would never complain if I had to ride it twice (or three times… or four times… or five times).
Strategy #3 for Rope Drop - Good for families with small children
If you are traveling with young children and looking for rides without height restrictions, you have plenty of options. You should go to Web Slingers IF California Adventure isn’t open for Early Entry during that day. Otherwise, go to Toy Story Midway Mania. Both rides are fun and a good time, and you can’t go wrong with either.
Here’s how your strategy should look like:
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Mickey’s Philharmagic
This strategy is all about rides without height requirements. You can’t go wrong with either Web Slingers or Toy Story Midway Mania as your first or second rides. After that, you should visit Hollywood Land to check out Mike & Sulley to the Rescue and Mickey’s PhilharMagic, which are very charming attractions that kids love.
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