Why You Should Start Your Day Early at Disney

Year after year Disney continues to add more magic to their theme parks ranging from attractions to new shows, and even entire sections of the park!

Getting to Disney and planning your vacation might have seemed like the stressful part of taking a trip to Disney, but the hard part doesn’t happen until you get there!

While you may have been able to roll out of bed around noon and still do everything in the park, if you don’t get a head start early in the morning, you may have to forego some of your favorite rides! Here is why you should start your day early at Disney.

The parks are basically empty

If you are traveling during peak times, you want to take advantage of those extra hours whenever you can! Most people want to sleep in after staying up late to watch the firework shows and dessert parties. This means that if you plan your day right, you can hit the parks and start riding rides while the rest of the guests are still asleep! While showing up at rope drop might seem WAY too early, even getting there an hour after the park opens will still save you time in the lines.

You can enjoy breakfast in the park!

There are a ton of great places to enjoy a delicious breakfast and meet characters at Disney. If you want a truly magical experience, book yourself a dining reservation for breakfast inside the park.

Not only will you be able to be in the park before everyone else, but you can enjoy your meal at a more relaxed pace. The characters are more lively in the morning, and your wait staff isn’t running around and burnt out yet. Here are some of the character meals I recommend hitting early in the morning both inside and outside the park:

Chef Mickey’s @ Contemporary Resort
Cinderella’s Royal Table @ Magic Kingdom
The Crystal Palace @ The Magic Kingdom
The Garden Grill @ Epcot
Hollywood and Vine @ Hollywood Studios
Ohana @ Polynesian Resort
Tusker House @ Animal Kingdom

Take a tour of Disney

Disney parks offer amazing tours that are available for guests, and many of these tours start really early in the morning. The Animal Kingdom has a backstage tour where you can see how the animals are taken care of and even take a look at the veterinary area! The Magic Kingdom also has a tour where you can see a backstage glimpse of their steam train and so much more! Resorts also have tours and even tastings that you can enjoy so make sure to look into these while you are booking.

The animals are awake on Kilimanjaro Safaris

If you ride this attraction during the afternoon, you may find that most of the animals are sleeping or aren’t even out and about. You can take advantage of there being almost no wait time if there is one at all, but you can also take a look at animals enjoying their breakfast and waking up to start their day.

The lions and other animals who normally sleep during the day will become active during the early morning hours.

You can enjoy the early morning festivities!

Disney has magical shows all throughout the day, but about five minutes before the parks open in the Magic Kingdom, you can join Mickey as he welcomes you to the park with a special show! This show is called Let the Magic Begin and will create a magical memory that you’ll never forget. This takes place on the Castle Forecourt Stage so make sure to head there as soon as the park opens if you want to catch this show!

You can walk on popular rides

In case the empty park and the breakfast weren’t enough to make you head to the park, you can walk onto popular rides if you are there early! Rides like Test Track, Soarin’, Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Slinky Dog Dash, and even The Rockin’ Rollercoaster will have really short wait times in the early morning.

If you weren’t able to get a Fastpass for these rides, you may be waiting for four or more hours if you don’t hit them in the early morning! If you do have a Fastpass for these rides, this is your chance to get to ride them a second time!

Planning a trip to Disney doesn’t stop after you get there! This list only brushes the surface of all the many reasons why you should go to the park early! As you can see, you have to think about not only what you’ll do when you get there but when you’ll start your day! Even if you’re not an early bird, it might be worth it to set your alarm a little earlier so you can enjoy a magical day at the park.

Why You Should Start Your Day Early at Disney