When planning a trip to Disneyland, it’s important to have a good strategy in order to be able to do everything you want to do. For some guests, that strategy includes using Early Entry. Early Entry is a perk some guests can use to get extra park time in the morning before other guests arrive. This Disneyland Early Entry Guide and Strategy is designed to help you maximize your Early Entry perk if you do have one.

This Disneyland Early Entry Guide and Strategy will tell you everything you need to know about Early Entry, from details about the perk, who can use it, as well as some strategies that can help you get a lot done during Early Entry. Hopefully this guide can help you have a successful and fun-filled day at the parks by getting you on the most popular attractions as fast as possible.

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What is Early Entry?

Early Entry is a perk where certain guests get an extra 30 minutes in the morning to ride select attractions before the parks officially open. Each day, one park is open for early entry, which is different from Walt Disney World as at Disney World, every park has an early entry period every day. 

If you qualify for the Early Entry perk, you can potentially get a lot done during rope drop with the right strategy. But having a successful Rope Drop will require an ironclad Early Entry AND Rope Drop strategy. I can help you with this using my itineraries (linked below) and my Early Entry strategy which is located below.

DCA 1-Day Itinerary without Lightning Lanes  

Who Can Get Early Entry?

As for who qualifies to use the Early Entry perk, only Disneyland Resort hotel guests have the opportunity to use Early Entry. The Disneyland Resort hotels consist of the Disneyland Hotel, the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, and the Pixar Place Hotel. 

Every hotel guest staying at these hotels can use Early Entry, no matter what room they booked at the hotels. This does NOT extend to the Disney Good Neighbor hotels, or to any of the hotels that you can find surrounding Disneyland on Harbor Boulevard or Katella Avenue.

When is Early Entry for Both Parks?

Early Entry for Disneyland Park takes place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, while Early Entry for Disney California Adventure takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. 

Take note that you must have a hotel reservation as well as a park ticket and park reservation for the appropriate park to gain access to Early Entry. Early Entry is valid for every day of your stay, including check-in and check-out days assuming you check in and arrive early enough on check-in day to use the perk. 

What Rides Are Included in Early Entry?

Here are the rides included in Disneyland’s Early Entry period:

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

Here are the rides included in DCA’s Early Entry period:

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

This means that only select Fantasyland and Tomorrowland attractions are open with Early Entry at Disneyland, and over at DCA Radiator Springs Racers is not included with Early Entry. 

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Should You Book a Disney Hotel For Early Entry?

I would say that, if you can afford to book a Disney Hotel for your trip to Disneyland, then by all means go do so, but you absolutely do not need Early Entry to have a good day at Disneyland or DCA. 

Not every ride is open at Early Entry, so in a sense hotel guests only have an advantage when it comes to a select few rides. Notably, Rise of the Resistance and Radiator Springs Racers aren’t open with Early Entry so it’s still possible to rope drop those rides the normal way and get on them with no wait. 

In addition if you want a more level playing field for your day at Disneyland, simply schedule a visit to the park that does not have Early Entry on the day of your visit. By doing so, you avoid the Early Entry crowds and have an even chance with everyone else in getting to the most popular rides in the morning.

I will be writing a companion guide to this Disneyland Early Entry Guide and Strategy that focuses specifically on rope drop, which will be coming in the next few weeks. 

Getting to the Parks Early

This Disneyland Early Entry Guide and Strategy recommends getting past security by 7am if you have Early Entry so that you’ll be one of the first guests at the gates of whichever park has Early Entry that day. They start letting ALL guests in at 7:30, so if you’re a little ways back from the front of the line to enter the parks, waiting outside the park will eat into your Early Entry time. If you want to maximize your Early Entry time, make sure you’re there early enough to be let in first and be able to use it.

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Disneyland Early Entry Strategy

Now I’m going to outline some tips and strategies to help you get the most out of your Early Entry perk, should you choose to use it. 

For Disneyland, I recommend starting at either Space Mountain or Peter Pan’s Flight, depending on which is a priority for you. I’m slightly more inclined to suggest riding Peter Pan’s Flight first as Space Mountain has Lightning Lane and Single Rider lines attached to it while Peter Pan’s Flight doesn’t.

Once you’re done with both rides, go and do the other Fantasyland dark rides. Hopefully you can get on Alice in Wonderland and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride before your 30 minutes are up. 

If time is creeping to 7:55am, meaning you only have 5 minutes of Early Entry left, this Disneyland Early Entry Guide and Strategy recommends going to Indiana Jones next to start your actual Rope Drop strategy. 

DCA Early Entry Strategy 

For DCA, there’s only one ride this Disneyland Early Entry Guide and Strategy recommends starting with during Early Entry: Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission BREAKOUT. This ride’s wait exceeds that of Radiator Springs Racers on some days, so doing it early will give you a huge advantage. 

After exiting the ride, head to Web Slingers next and get that done. By the time you’re done with Web Slingers, Early Entry is probably over, so head to either Soarin or Incredicoaster to begin your rope drop strategy. If you still have a significant amount of time before Early Entry is done, I would recommend going to Soarin first then hitting Incredicoaster when Early Entry finishes. 

Disneyland Early Entry Guide and Strategy Conclusion

And that’s everything you need to know about Early Entry at Disneyland! If you have questions feel free to send me a message or shoot me an email.

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