Best mode of transportation for getting to HS early

[ballonewb]

They allow you I believe 2-3 hrs to leave your car without a issue. They don’t give you a parking pass or check your plates so your prob fine if it a little over.

 

[subtchr]

We have an early morning breakfast reservation at Ale & Compass and are planning to walk over to HS afterwards. We are staying offsite at a Disney Springs hotel. How long can we leave our car parked at the resort? We're fine to go back and move it to HS but hoping we can leave it there long enough to be able to get into HS at the front of the crowds to do a ride or two first thing before needing to move the car.

Officially, about 3 hours. I don't think it will be an issue at all. Walk to the park, hopefully get your boarding group, and send one person back to get and move the car.

 

[VeeHam]

Driving should be fine, if you time it right. They do not allow you to line up at the parking booths early.

We walked from Yacht Club last week, and that was ideal. We were already lined up at the temp check tents when we saw the cars streaming in to park, the first guests getting off the Skyliner, and the first guests unloading from the buses.

Just to make sure I have this correct, if DHS is opening at 10, we should be on the walkway leaving Boardwalk heading to DHS by 8 AM?

 

[subtchr]

Just to make sure I have this correct, if DHS is opening at 10, we should be on the walkway leaving Boardwalk heading to DHS by 8 AM?

No need to go quite that early. We left YC about 8:15, got to DHS at 8:30, and were held in two queues with a couple dozen other families, on the sidewalk beside the Skyliner station. They moved us to line up in spots by the temp check tents at 8:45, so we were the first in line for those. We could look and see that the Skyliner and resort bus guests, and the cars into the parking lot, started streaming in at 9:00. We were allowed to enter the temp check/security/park about 9:05 or so. I have a pic of us in the park by 9:11.

 

[VeeHam]

No need to go quite that early. We left YC about 8:15, got to DHS at 8:30, and were held in two queues with a couple dozen other families, on the sidewalk beside the Skyliner station. They moved us to line up in spots by the temp check tents at 8:45, so we were the first in line for those. We could look and see that the Skyliner and resort bus guests, and the cars into the parking lot, started streaming in at 9:00. We were allowed to enter the temp check/security/park about 9:05 or so. I have a pic of us in the park by 9:11.

Thank you Subtchr.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Just jumping on the thread here to ask another question: if I’m going to uber to HS, what instructions should I give my driver to be able to walk in and avoid the parking lot?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We did the bus because we were planning on drinking. Caught the first bus that left our resort at 9:05am. Got to the park at 9:20am.

And it was already open. Which I hadn't expected. I figured it would open around 9:30pm but I guess the crowds had them opening it up even earlier.

 

[hlrubin507]

We arrived on foot at about 8:20. They had the guests there (maybe a dozen families in front of us) line up in two physically distanced queues near the Skyliner station, until walking us toward the temp check tents at 8:45. We each found a spot on a marker near one of the tents. Starting at 9:00, we could see that cars were permitted to enter, and guests were arriving via Skyliner and resort bus. They had us enter the temp check tents at about 9:05 or a little after. We were one of the first people into the park, and my pic on the entrance street is time-stamped 9:11.

This is incredibly helpful! What do you think the net gain was, time-wise, of walking in vs. driving/parking (or Disney transport), and what were you able to use that time for? If you were among the first in the park at 9:11am, what were you able to do that the people who were let in after 9am parking lot arrival were not? You arrived at 8:20am, others arrived at 9am, so you "spent" 40 minutes to be early, but did that really help you with line waiting time after you were in the park?

 

[Eliza'sMom]

This is incredibly helpful! What do you think the net gain was, time-wise, of walking in vs. driving/parking (or Disney transport), and what were you able to use that time for? If you were among the first in the park at 9:11am, what were you able to do that the people who were let in after 9am parking lot arrival were not? You arrived at 8:20am, others arrived at 9am, so you "spent" 40 minutes to be early, but did that really help you with line waiting time after you were in the park?

We used this strategy on Sunday. We had an early breakfast at Trattoria at Boardwalk, then walked to HS. We didn’t get there until about 8:40, but were in the first two dozen groups at the temperature check tent. The line built steadily behind us. The first groups off the Skyliner beat the cars and most, if not all, of the buses to line. When we were let into the park, we walked onto MMRR. The wait was posted at over an hour when we got off. Then we went to Slinky and rode that with a 15-minute wait (the line was probably close to an hour when we got off). We finished that at 9:55 and then waited to get a boarding group (got 26!). We basically walked onto TSMM and did alien saucers with about a 10-minute wait. At that point, waits everywhere were looking rough. We had an Oga’s ADR at 11, went there, and then our boarding group was called and we rode ROTR. At that point, we left, took the Skyliner back to Boardwalk, had lunch at the Boardwalk Bakery and went back to our resort to swim and nap. It was a fantastic morning. We went back around 4:30 and did everything we still wanted to do, including walking onto the Millennium Falcon twice. My kids said it was a perfect day.

The wait times just climb so quickly. Had we not been in that first group to MMRR, I probably would have just skipped it in my plan and waited in line later when lines for everything were long, but we probably wouldn’t have been able to take a break during the worst of the waits (which we really needed to recharge). We “waited” 40 minutes for it outside the park, but we more than made that up with the waits we didn’t have at Slinky Dog and the other Toy Story rides.

 

[subtchr]

This is incredibly helpful! What do you think the net gain was, time-wise, of walking in vs. driving/parking (or Disney transport), and what were you able to use that time for? If you were among the first in the park at 9:11am, what were you able to do that the people who were let in after 9am parking lot arrival were not? You arrived at 8:20am, others arrived at 9am, so you "spent" 40 minutes to be early, but did that really help you with line waiting time after you were in the park?

Oh, yes, it was extremely helpful. We did very similar to the poster just above, as far as riding attractions before their wait times grew excessive.

And those people who were arriving at 9, by car, Skyliner, or Disney bus, were using that same 40 minutes (or more), either waiting in line for transport, or driving/waiting to enter the parking lot. We had a lovely walk along the water, and a pleasant chat with other guests in the distanced queue waiting to be led to the temp check tents. We alternated using the nearby restrooms while we waited, too.

People mention this a lot, especially before the closures, that arriving before park opening is spending time that may be the same as the extra time you wait for rides when arriving later. The difference is that the time BEFORE park opening can't be used for anything else (well, other than sleeping a little later, maybe, but that isn't important to us). The time after park opening could be used for other park experiences.

 

[PanchoX1]

if you take an uber to the park, do they have to wait in the parking lot lines?

 

[p44nmun]

We arrived on foot at about 8:20. They had the guests there (maybe a dozen families in front of us) line up in two physically distanced queues near the Skyliner station, until walking us toward the temp check tents at 8:45. We each found a spot on a marker near one of the tents. Starting at 9:00, we could see that cars were permitted to enter, and guests were arriving via Skyliner and resort bus. They had us enter the temp check tents at about 9:05 or a little after. We were one of the first people into the park, and my pic on the entrance street is time-stamped 9:11.

Just to clarify, is this scenario for a 9:00am HS opening or a 10:00am HS opening (if 10, I’m assuming they are letting people in super early and I missed that post?)
I’ve planned quite a few Disney trips and never stress out about getting to parks/etc, and I’m stressing with this trip planning. I was excited with lower capacity thinking thins were going to be less crowded, easier/etc but it almost seems worse. All this info is very helpful though! I hope that doesn’t seem like a stupid question. I remember “back in the day” when HS had a certain opening time but started letting people in earlier, so was just wondering.

 

[subtchr]

Just to clarify, is this scenario for a 9:00am HS opening or a 10:00am HS opening (if 10, I’m assuming they are letting people in super early and I missed that post?)

10:00 opening.

They are opening early since you have to be inside the park to be able to get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance, right at 10:00.

 

[p44nmun]

10:00 opening.

They are opening early since you have to be inside the park to be able to get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance, right at 10:00.

Thank u!
I’m definitely late to the party!

 

[KittyKitty]

if you take an uber to the park, do they have to wait in the parking lot lines?

If you take a Uber to Speedway Gas, you can walk from there.