Don’t make the same mistake that I made in Magic Kingdom!

Disney World offers Early Theme Park Entry as an extra perk for guests staying at Disney-owned resorts or select Good Neighbor hotels. That means you can enter every theme park in Disney World a half hour before other guests. But be careful which ride you go to during this Early Entry time, because not all of the rides open early!

Before we get to the rides that are open for Early Entry, we need to back up a little bit.

What Is Early Theme Park Entry?

Early Theme Park Entry is a bonus perk for guests staying at Disney-owned hotels. If you stay at one of the qualifying hotels, you get to enter any of the four Disney World theme parks a half hour before other guests!

This applies to all four theme parks in Disney World every single day. You can see the hours for Early Entry on the My Disney Experience app.

Go to your profile (by clicking the three stacked horizontal lines on the bottom menu), scroll down to “Plan Your Next Visit,” and select “Park Hours & Info.”

A calendar will pop up that shows the hours for each theme park. The hours for Early Entry are listed as well. Here, you can see that Magic Kingdom was open from 8AM to 11PM on March 26th, and Early Entry took place from 7:30AM to 8AM.

Every park gets a half hour of Early Entry time.

To take full advantage of Early Entry, we recommend being at the theme park entrance a half hour before Early Entry time begins, which is a full hour before the official opening time for the park. That ensures you will be able to get through the front entrance lines, as Disney will typically let guests into the park before it opens for Early Entry, although the rides won’t start operating and Cast Members won’t let you past a certain point until Early Entry officially begins.

When you get to the park entrance, look for signs showing you where you should go for Early Entry. You will have to scan your MagicBand or MagicMobile device in order to use Early Entry to prove that you’re staying at one of the qualifying hotels. There will be a line of Cast Members at a certain point inside the park that will scan one of those devices.

Once you’re through that checkpoint, you’re able to go enjoy the park before the rest of the guests get in!

Disney has confirmed that Early Theme Park Entry will continue through 2025 at least. That means that during your upcoming vacation in 2024 or 2025, you will be able to take advantage of this benefit as long as you’re staying in a Disney World Resort or one of the other participating hotels.

Who Qualifies for Early Theme Park Entry?

Early Theme Park Entry is offered to guests staying at any Disney-owned hotel in Disney World. It’s also offered to guests at select Good Neighbor hotels. Here’s a full list of hotels that qualify for this perk:

Disney World Value Hotels and Campsites

• 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 World Moderate Resort Hotels

• 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 World Deluxe Resort Hotels

• 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

Deluxe Villas at Disney World

• 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

Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels, Disney World’s on-property military hotel, and other select hotels

• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World Resort
• Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

Click here to see our definitive ranking of EVERY Disney World hotel.

Which Rides Are Open during Early Theme Park Entry?

Now we get to the tricky part: Not every ride is open during Early Entry! I learned this the hard way a while ago when I got to the park for Early Entry and beelined it to one of my favorite rides, only to discover that it wouldn’t open until the park’s official opening time! I wasted precious time walking to that ride and then figuring out a Plan B once I learned that it wasn’t open.

30 minutes isn’t a lot of time, so you want to be very careful and intentional with how you spend your Early Entry time. Don’t be like me — make sure that your plan involves going to the rides that are OPEN 😂. Here’s a list of rides that are OPEN during Early Entry:

Magic Kingdom

• “it’s a small world”
• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• The Barnstormer
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress

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

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• DINOSAUR
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• It’s Tough to be a Bug!
• Na’vi River Journey
• TriceraTop Spin

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ™
• Toy Story Mania!

Some notable rides that are MISSING from that list (meaning they are NOT OPEN during Early Entry) include Kilimanjaro Safaris and Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom; Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom; and Gran Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, and Journey Into Imagination with Figment in EPCOT.

Note that rides that don’t have a standby line — including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle / Run — are not open for Early Entry. You must use the virtual queue or buy an Individual Lightning Lane to get on those rides.

Character meet-and-greets are also not open during Early Entry.

Find out which rides you should go to FIRST in Disney World.

Now you’re more prepared than I was the first time I used Early Entry in Disney World! By setting up a plan of what you’re going to do first when you get to the theme parks, you’ll avoid a moment of panic once you actually get there.

If you want more help planning your Disney World vacation, stay tuned to DFB for all the latest news, updates, and tips!

Click here for the ULTIMATE guide to planning a Disney World vacation.

Which ride do you visit first in each Disney World park? Let us know in the comments.