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 Darth Vader and Mickey Mouse!
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 Disneyland 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 Disneyland?
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 Disneyland Park 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 Disneyland officially opens.
Here are the Early Entry rides available to the public at Disneyland Park:
- Alice in Wonderland
- Astro Orbitor
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Disneyland Monorail
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- King Arthur Carrousel
- Mad Tea Party
- Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
- Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
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 Disneyland 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.
Disneyland Park 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 Disneyland before everyone else, allowing you to cross them off your list while the lines are still short.
For Disneyland, decide whether you want to start with Tomorrowland or Fantasyland. Tomorrowland usually offers more thrilling rides, perfect for older kids and adults, while Fantasyland features multiple dark rides, great for guests of all ages.
Strategy #1 for Early Entry - Good for older kids & adults
This strategy takes you to Tomorrowland so you can visit Space Mountain as soon as you can. This strategy is mostly aimed at older kids (age 8+) and young adults that want to visit some of Disneyland’s best attractions. Space Mountain usually gets pretty crowded during the morning and evening, so knocking it off your list early might be a good strategy.
For this one, you will go to:
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours: The Adventure Continues
- Head to Galaxy’s Edge to experience Star Wars Rise of the Resistance as soon as the park officially opens
This strategy lets you experience two attractions during the Early Period, and then sends you to Galaxy’s Edge. Unfortunately, Rise of the Resistance isn’t part of the Early Entry period, but you can save valuable time if you arrive there early.
Strategy #2 for Early Entry - Good for families with small children
Our second strategy will take us to Fantasyland so you can visit as many dark rides as you want. There is also a good perk of visiting Fantasyland first: it’s usually less crowded than Tomorrowland, meaning that you can take pictures of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle without a ton of people walking around.
This strategy is all about chill dark rides that are great for the younglings and don’t have any height restrictions. You should visit:
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Alice in Wonderland
- Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
- Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
Peter Pan’s Flight is an absolute classic at both Disneyland and Disney World, often having 60-70 minute wait times, so it’s a good idea to go there as early as possible. Most of the rides listed above will have close to zero waiting times and you can just visit them all during the Early Entry period.
What’s even better is that Fantasyland is closer to Galaxy’s Edge, so you can move to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance a few minutes before the official park opening time. If your children don’t meet the height requirement for Rise of the Resistance, you can move to either New Orleans Square or Adventureland and try the Haunted Mansion or Jungle Cruise.
Rope Drop Without Early Entry
Are you planning to arrive early at Disneyland but you're not staying at a Disneyland hotel? To make the most of your visit, I’d recommend heading straight to Galaxy’s Edge to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are likely to be crowded with Early Entry guests, so starting in a less crowded area will give you a better experience.
Strategy #1 for Rope Drop - Good for older kids & adults
You should visit:
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Millenium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Indiana Jones Adventure
This strategy allows you to explore everything Galaxy’s Edge has to offer before moving to another area. Be sure to include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a classic roller coaster, and Indiana Jones Adventure, a thrilling ride, at the top of your priority list.
Strategy #2 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. Consider starting with Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, or Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. I usually prefer Runaway Railway since it's a recent addition and super fun.
You could try:
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin (right next to Runaway Railway)
- Haunted Mansion
- Pirates of the Caribbean
This strategy allows you to start by exploring Mickey’s Toontown upon arrival, a great spot for photos and fun rides. Afterwards, head over to New Orleans Square to experience the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.
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