Heres a look at an example schedule: Option 2. If you plan your day differentlysay, without Early Entry or with Genie+thats totally fine and this post will still help you. We were off the ride by 8:23. The following attractions are available during Resort Guest Early Entry at EPCOT: Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along; Frozen Ever After; Mission: SPACE; Remy's Ratatouille Adventure; Soarin' Around the World; Spaceship Earth; Test Track; The Seas with Nemo & Friends; EPCOT Resort Guest Early Entry Priorities I cared about the beacons on Spaceship Earth the most, because of course. Savvy strategy would do just fine, thanks. We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. The only thing you really need to plan around is the entertainment scheduletry and catch about half the shows your first lap through and half your second lap. Epcots World Showcase (the countries) is a circle around the World Showcase lagoon comprising eleven pavilions themed to Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, The United States, Japan, Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Was still a fun day. Throughout, I include sample times based on a day we spent at Epcot. If a festival is ongoingone almost always isyoull find additional culinary booths throughout the park, the bulk of which are in the World Showcase. The festivals might also bring additional entertainment or activities to the pavilions. Weve got a few hundred guests in front of usand a few hundred behind us. In the past, each had unique live streetmosphere entertainment, and that is finally starting to return. Is there a particular reason you went clockwise around world showcase? One of the busiest days of the year, and we never waited longer than 20 minutes!". Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! By 9:40, people were scarce. The ideal strategy would have your party arriving at Test Track before the crowd of regular-park-opening folk can get there from the main entrance. Were probably not ready to put together a final priority list, but heres how attractions rank in terms of pure posted wait time: Any other attractions would not make for a smart first attraction during Early Entry. A weekend during Food & Wine is actually a great time to go if you care more about attractions and less about the food and wine. Would I love an optimized touring plan? The fact that this was a real life touring experience with kids and rider swap included makes me happy. 6 Living with the Land. Starting with Remys allows you to pick something else (Frozen or Test Track) as your first Genie+ Lightning Lane, which gives you a better chance at an earlier time, which allows you to make your second pick sooner. In this post we discuss rope drop strategy and Early Entry strategy at Epcot. We had a 5:20 reservation at Teppan Edo, after which we explored Morocco and then took the Skyliner back to Caribbean Beach by 7 pm. But the park has multiple entrances and four really popular rides, so there is some planning to be done. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish. Eating, drinking, shopping, entertainmentadd in the unique festival offerings throughout most days of the year, and its not hard to fill a full day at the park. For our purposes, were going to try and ride Remys Ratatouille Adventure the hard way. Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. That is, entering EPCOT at the main entrance and walking all the way back to the France Pavilion. Frozen Ever After (World Showcase) 3. This means there will be two rides for Epcot Genie+ that you should consider purchasing Lightning Lanes for individually. 12 Epcot Rides & Attractions 1. Early Entry sign Let's face it, Epcot doesn't exactly have a ton of rides to begin with, so this list is naturally pretty small. Note that some of these rides like Splash Mountain and Jungle Cruise aren't usually available during Early Entry, so it's an . Remys Ratatouille Adventure is not a reasonable option from the front of the park. Our advice on arrival time is to plan to be at EPCOT 30 minutes before Early Entry, which translates to 1 hour before official park open. I used the TouringPlans Room Request to ask for the Aruba section, as close to the Skyliner as possible. You already know about Frozen Ever After in Norway and Remys Ratatouille Adventure in France. 12:45 Mariachi Cobre (currently in America Gardens Theater). Because our highest priority attraction today is Remys Ratatouille, and because its located further away than any other Early Entry priority attraction from the main entrance, were going to try and arrive early. Individual Lightning Lane isnt really going to save you much time. The first is what entrance you're using. If youre not a Disney resort guest, youll be able to make this purchase at the time the park opens, subject to availability. The long walk to the ride also gives you more time to get ahead of some crowds. Several pavilions also have attractions. I got back to my resort a little before 12:30 am. You can visit the Thrill Data page for the ride to see if these trends have continued at the time of your visit. I make all of the Genie+ videos and blog posts. if youre willing to use the single rider line on Test Track, Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom Rope Drop and Early Entry Strategy 2022-2023, Animal Kingdom Rope Drop and Early Entry Strategy 2022-2023 , Visiting Harry Potter World from Disney World. Not every attraction or dining spot is open for Early Entry, so you can't necessarily do everything you can normally do during regular park hours. 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM Eastern Time. The wait will usually be at least 30 minutes by the time you get there. The goal is to be on the first bus of the day, and the lines for the buses will get very long, very fast. So I think that means that we dont want to try to rope drop Remy. Travel Tools from The Unofficial Guide Team Visiting the parks daily allows him to keep up with the latest Disney news, reviews, and photos from around the Disney Parks. 3 EPCOT Park Rides - Spaceship Earth. If you have access to Extended Evening Hours and Epcot has those hours, for example, that will be a part of your park strategy. Always expect the most popular attractions to cost more. Get full access to the WDW Crowd Calendar, Lines Mobile App, Touring Plans and More! BlogMickey.com is an unofficial Disney fan site and not affiliated with The Walt Disney Company in any way, Full List of Disney World Hotels Eligible for Early Theme Park Entry Beginning October 1, Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! If you go the other way from the entrance to World Showcase, you begin with Canada and UK and those have fewer things for kids to latch onto. If you choose not to watch Harmonious, you can plan to get in line for one last ride (usually Test Track or Frozen Ever After) just before park close. While crowds are still low, youll also find additional checkpoints near the fountain. If you have any of these, youll just get through the rides quicker and have more time for everything else. If you start slipping past that, all bets are off. Who Is Eligible For Early Entry at Disney World? Soarin' (World Nature) 4. Let me know what you think. Terms of Use Privacy Policy Mouse Hacking 2022, Epcot Rope Drop and Early Entry Strategy 2022-2023, early access to each park at Disney World for 30 minutes before other guests, every day, Genie+ and Lightning Lanes have debuted, giving guests who are willing to pay access to the new skip the line system at Walt Disney World, youll need a good Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes strategy, checking into the hotel online before you arrive, If youre willing to use the single rider line on Test Track. And Ive run through enough scenarios to know that Early Entry at EPCOT saves more time than Genie+. At this point you should have pretty clear expectations for how long the rest of the World Showcase is going to take you, and you should be looking at a small selection of remaining rides, most of which should have relatively short waits. Without Early Entry your morning might not be as productive. Since Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind is using a virtual queue, you dont have to worry about fitting it into your dayyou either join the queue and go when youre called, or you buy a Lightning Lane and go at that time. 3. -. If you want to ride this one (and it's adorable!) When were with our toddler, we prioritize Frozen Ever After and use single rider for Test Track. ], read the Epcot Early Entry and Rope Drop post, If youre a Disney resort guest youll move onto making any individual Lightning Lane purchases, you can read more about Epcot rope drop with and without Early Entry here, Epcot Starbucks is located in Future World, on the Test Teack side. Just like our other Early Entry articles, we tried to arrive roughly 60 minutes before the Early Entry window officially opened. Back on January 10th, Disney added Remys Ratatouille Adventure to the Early Entry on the same day that the standby queue was opened and Virtual Queue was abandoned. I watched those, and then wandered back to World Showcase in time for Harmonious. Becky what are your tips to get to the IG if you are not staying at a resort with skyliner access. 7 Top Rides at EPCOT - Frozen Ever After. She loves problem solving and travelling. Rope Drop Remys Ratatouille Adventure. Crowds here were modest, but this was during the opening moments of the Early Entry period. The full list is here. Heres a look at the scene behind us as we make our way through the United Kingdom and towards France. When it comes time to book well help you find discount Disney World tickets. It is. Two things are going to determine your rope drop strategy. At 7:26, the gates opened and we were allowed to scan in and walk all of the way to the bridge to France. With EPCOT opening at 11:00 AM, we got to the park at about 10:00 AM to see how early entry would go. Early Entry is a new-ish perk for guests staying in Disney World hotels, and it allows them to enter Disney Parks 30 minutes prior to opening time. If you spend about 2.5 hours from 11:30AM to 2PM on your first lap, you could average 30 minutes a pavilion for 5 pavilions, or nearly half the pavilions. Two things are going to determine your rope drop strategy. So I had plenty of time to enjoy a rapidly emptying World Showcase. If youre looking for an overview of the rides an entertainment discussed in this post, you want to visit our Epcot Rides and Entertainment Guide. Ive heard people have taken a Lyft to Beach Club or other close places and have been denied access to the walking path without an ADR. Know, though, that if the ride happens to break down late in the day it might not reopenthis is a risk you run if you put off a ride until the very end of the day. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! Prost! On our last trip we were staying at an off site hotel an so did not qualify for early entry. Nothing like the crowds at the main entrance, but still a lot of people. Spaceship Earth (World Celebration) 7. It wouldnt get you there before the early people to arrive via the skyliner from the skyliner resorts, but it gets you there using free Disney transportation. I walked up 8 minutes before showtime and was able to secure a not-bad view just to the right of the Port of Call merchandise location. Heres a look at some of the crowds that we experienced. FROZEN EVER AFTER Ride POV | EPCOT Early Park Entry at Walt Disney World | September 2022 No views Sep 29, 2022 Here is a ride POV for Frozen Ever After at Disney's EPCOT park in Walt. Here are the best Epcot rides for 2022! Princesses were late and didnt get to Test Track till 9:30 where the 40 minute wait turned to 1 hour due to breakdowns. And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations! Yes, yes. Most of the pavilions also have small walkthrough galleries with some cultural focus. This is pretty typical for Guardians. The first group of us waited 30 minutes after we tapped in. Our actual wait, including that lengthy design preshow, was 25 minutes. We didnt reach the loading area until 10:15am, a 38 minute wait against a posted 40 minute wait. Then, even with an over-tired mama and two young kids waking up too early, we made it to the Skyliner by 7:04 (it opens at 7 am, or a little earlier, each day). Group 1s window had already lapsed by about half an hour but we were allowed on anyway. The downside is that youre working with a relatively thin lineup of rides, especially when youre talking about all-star attractions. Your email address will not be published. Tomorrowland Speedway. If youre watching Harmonious, Disney Tourist Blog has a good post on Harmonious viewing spots. If the Test Track wait is low enough for you later in the day, ride it as a family, otherwise use the single rider line. We rode Living with the Land instead, which is a must-do anyway. Alternatively, you can pay for an individual Lightning Lane (available at 7AM for resort guests and, subject to availability, park open for everyone else). Our 1-day Epcot itinerary assumes moderate to high crowds at the park when lines are long. It had a 15-minute posted wait, but was actually a walk-on. Expect at least a 15-30 minute wait by the time you get there. This post discusses rope drop for guests both with and without Early Entry. Important Information From January 22, 2023 through January 29, 2023, the Disney Skyliner will be closed for refurbishment. In this post, we walk you through how to put together a full day at Epcot, starting from waking up early to join the virtual queue and ending with the featured nighttime show, Harmonious. Some shows have final showtimes around 5PM. Why??? "Our TouringPlans subscription was a lifesaver on our trip. We tried this strategy today (Aug 3). In this case, dont drive. And 6-year-olds are sometimes difficult to motivate at 8 am. At Epcot, those rides are Frozen Ever After and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. This post includes discussion of Early Theme Park Entry. We are not financial or legal experts or advisors, and the contents of this site should not be considered as or a substitute for financial advice. Im a Disney vet, but touring with a little guy is going to be a different beast altogether. Click here to close the subscription form, Early Theme Park Entry at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Early Theme Park Entry at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Magic Kingdom, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at EPCOT, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Disney's Animal Kingdom, EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, What to Know if a Hurricane Might Impact Your Orlando Vacation, How to Get Early Entry With Disney Good Neighbor Hotels, Early Theme Park Entry at EPCOT The walk is simply too long and too many people at the other entrance will be queued before youre anywhere near the ride. We were at Epcot on August 1. If you have Early Entry or Lightning Lane access, youll get more done. But the Skyliner stayed open until 10:30 pm. However, since then, attractions have been updated on the availability list. That meant we beat anyone that got on when it opened at Art of Animation or Pop Century and had to connect through Caribbean Beach, which was key. Did you all pay for LL? Maybe after Test Track we will also have time to do Frozen standby without too much of a wait? I personally cant wait until the construction in (former) Future World is done, but until then Ill enjoy the drummers in Japan, the funnel cake in the United States, and the beer in Germany. Option 1. Test Track is closest to the main entrance, and it will often make sense to start your day there if youre using that entrance. Were that to happen, we think the ride is worth paying for if this is a once-in-a-very-long-time trip. 2 Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. You can adjust your experience based on your own willingness to get to the front of the pack or hang back. The rest of my family were snug in their beds after a relaxing evening that included dinner at Primo Piatto (a great counter-service option at Riviera). Usually its going to make sense to visit one of the other big three rides once youre done with your first one at Epcot. Finally, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind has debuted and as of this update is using a virtual queue in addition to its Individual Lightning Lane. I dined at Victoria & Alberts the night before, and the 5-hour dining time meant that I was still at the Grand Floridian at midnight. Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! For more on a full day at Epcot, check out our Epcot One Day Itinerary post. If you can walk to Epcots World Showcase entrance from a nearby hotel (Yacht Club, Beach Club, BoardWalk Inn, Swan & Dolphin), thats the best option. The parks will open 30 minutes early for guests in the resorts listed below. Guests who purchase Genie+, which should be done before 7AM (if at all)will make their first selection (presumably Remys Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track, or Frozen Ever After) at 7AM. And I had the normal first-night-at-Disney problems which meant that I was too excited to fall asleep even when I was finally able to collapse into bed. Looking through some of my posts, I see that Im not even consistent on which approach I use here. We love it, but well usually only wait 10 minutes or less for it. There is an eleventh rideGran Fiesta Tourwhich we love, but its located inside the Mexico pavilion and rarely sees long waits, so its more of a fit it into your World Showcase time thing than something you need to strategically plan for. Finally, rope drop strategy is only one part of your overall park strategy. Epcot has two entrancesthe World Showcase entrance served by the Skyliner and the Boardwalk, and the Main entrance served by all other methods of transportation. From that point, the pavilions themselves get theoretically less engaging. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide. But maybe that was a rumor??? Yes, I should put expiration times on the strategy Ideal is getting to International Gateway around 7:15, then Remy+Frozen, with Test Track happening before official park opening. As with other Early Entry arrival advice, we dont suggest showing up before then simply because you wont be able to enter the parking lot. The Epcot Starbucks is located in Future World, on the Test Teack side. First, Early Theme Park Entry. Early entry guests were directed to the right. Copyright 2022 TouringPlans.com. Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Theres also a ton of construction going on in (former) Future World. Theres probably nothing to prevent you from going either direction to accomplish your Early Entry goals, but we went right towards World Nature to rope drop Remys Ratatouille Adventure. The second is what you book on Genie+. After that, youll head to the rest of the ridesstarting with Soarintrying to get as many short waits done as quickly as possible. August 3, 2022 Becky Gandillon 21 Comments By the Numbers, Early Entry, EPCOT, Touring Strategy. But as it was, we were happy with our choices. By this time it was almost 2 pm we hadnt experienced any real waits. 8 Rides at EPCOT 2022 - Soarin'. Before then, much of it wont be open (some stores are opening even later these days). Aug 28, 2022. Mostly, personal preference and Im just being silly. Splash Mountain. Norways got Frozen and a meet and greet, also super engaging. Frozen, Remys and Test Track are all part of Genie+. Our basic approach to Epcot is to start with rides, take a lap around the World Showcase, ride a few more rides, take a second lap around the World Showcase, finish the rides, and finish our day. The opinions expressed here are those of the author. This is a great way to get on one or two of the bigger rides without a super long wait! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond, Mike is the owner and writer for BlogMickey.com. Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! If youre doing Early Entry from International Gateway, try to be on that Skyliner as early as possible. What would you prioritize as riding standby at rope drop vs. aiming for a LL? And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World. Now that Early Entry has debuted, rope drop at Epcot occurs on a pretty precise schedule. If you dont have Genie+, then Remys is going to be the best option to rope drop from this entrance in any case. Valid admission and a Disney Park Pass for the park that you want to visit are required. Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom open 30 minutes early each day for guests of Disney World and select area resorts. Get a 7am G+ for Remy and rope drop Frozen. Frozen Ever After Indoor adventure boat ride. Returning to the park at 5:00 we were able to do everything we wanted to with reasonable wait times. 4 Gran Fiesta Tour Featuring The Three Caballeros. To accomplish this itinerary in a single day, some (less popular) attractions are skipped. My fall-back plan is just to do Remy via ILL or Genie+ depending on what happens Aug 7 and rope drop TT and then FEE. Buses are probably the worst option, but we dont actively avoid them unless we have a car. I think your day was excellent. As part of The Worlds Most Magical Celebration, Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels and select other hotels can take advantage of a 30-minute early entry into Walt Disney World theme parks every day. At Disney's Magic Kingdom, these rides will be running during Early Theme Park Entry: "it's a small world" Astro Orbiter Heres a sample Frozen rope drop with a late arrival, starting with a look at the crowd when I arrived: 9:36AM On one of the first few Frozen boats. While Lightning Lane strategy will definitely impact your rope drop, its not the focus of this post. The problem with buses is that while I want to say, in general, that you can be pretty chill about getting to Epcot, being chill with the buses might mean you miss one and wait 20 minutes for another one, and now all of a sudden youre way late. Mexico has a boat ride, Gran Fiesta Tour, inside its pavilion. Rope drop refers to this processthe actual opening time and steps involved if you arrive early enough at the park. We often dine at Regal Eagle Smokehouse, which does have mobile order. We took an Uber to the Swan, they would not let us be dropped off at the Boardwalk, and entered from IG to get to Remmy first. Well, today, I bring big news. With Genie+ and a booking for one of these, just pick the one you dont have booked. Expect the first bus of the day to arrive between 45 minutes to 1 hour before Early Theme Park Entry starts. Our team is in the parks every day to keep up to date on everything exciting and amazing in the world, It's been quite a busy week for Walt Disney World, and while the celebration may not be to the scale that, With topiaries "springing" up everywhere in preparation for the EPCOT Flower and Garden festival, and with temperatures being fairly mild in, Do you love the entertainment aspects of a Walt Disney World vacation? And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish. One way to get from Saratoga Springs Resort to the International Gateway is to take a bus to Hollywood Studios and then walk or boat or skyliner over to the IG. The best rope drop option from the main entrance is Test Track. Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. Thanks for all your helpful articles and YouTube videos! EPCOT. This site is in no way affiliated with The Walt Disney Company or its subsidiaries. Finally, make sure you learn about Disney new skip the lines system by reading our Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes guide. Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way. Guests arriving via Skyliner (Pop Century, Riviera Resort, Caribbean Beach Resort, Art of Animation) or walking from the Boardwalk area hotels (Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan / Dolphin, Boardwalk Inn) will use the World Showcase entrance (technically called the International Gateway). At every Disney World park now, there are a ton of possible scenarios you might find yourself in based on whether or not you have Early Entry, the individual Lightning Lanes, or Genie+. That all changed this past weekend on my familys very quick trip to Walt Disney World. When it comes time to book well help you find discount Disney World tickets. Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide!