Magic Kingdom Early Entry Guide – Available Rides, Best Strategies

Magic Kingdom, the crown jewel of Walt Disney World, is the most iconic and enchanting theme park in the world, drawing millions of visitors each year. For guests staying at Disney Resort hotels and select partner hotels, one of the major perks is Early Theme Park Entry, which allows them to access Magic Kingdom 30 minutes before the official park opening.

This early access offers significant advantages, especially when it comes to beating the crowds at some of the most popular rides. With shorter lines during this time, hotel guests can experience headliner attractions like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, and Peter Pan’s Flight without the usual long waits.

By utilizing Early Entry, resort guests can get a jump on their day and enjoy more of what Magic Kingdom has to offer while avoiding the busiest times later in the day. This added time provides a more relaxed pace for exploring the park, dining, and seeing shows, giving hotel guests a valuable head start on their magical adventure.

Who Has Access to Early Entry at Magic Kingdom?

Gaining Early Entry at Disney's Magic Kingdom is a fantastic way to start your day ahead of the crowds and maximize your time at the park. Early Entry is a special perk offered to guests staying at Disney Resort hotels and select other hotels, such as the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels and Shades of Green. This benefit allows eligible guests to enter any of the four Disney World theme parks during their stay, including Magic Kingdom, 30 minutes before the park opens to the general public. To take advantage of this, you’ll need to have a valid theme park admission ticket for Magic Kingdom on the day you plan to visit. By planning ahead and utilizing Early Entry, you'll be able to enjoy some of the most popular attractions, like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, with significantly reduced wait times, giving you more time to explore and enjoy the rest of your day at Magic Kingdom.

To gain Early Entry at Magic Kingdom, make sure you're staying at one of the participating hotels. I recommend checking the My Disney Experience app for the official park hours and early entry times, as they can vary depending on the day. Arriving at the park entrance at least 30 minutes to an hour (depending on the crowd calendar) before the scheduled Early Entry time is essential to beat the rush and give you enough time to go through security and tap into the park as soon as it opens for early guests.

This is particularly important for Magic Kingdom, because traveling to this park is much more complicated than the other theme parks. I always recommend arriving to Magic Kingdom as early as possible, especially if you are driving or taking an Uber. This is because these guests must take a ferry boat or the monorail to the front of the park after going through security at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC). Since Magic Kingdom is such a popular park, this process can take between 30-45 minutes during the morning rush. Guests taking the resort monorail or resort buses using Disney World's free transportation will also want to consider arriving early, despite not having to travel through the TTC.

Which Magic Kingdom Rides are Open During Early Entry?

Magic Kingdom Early Entry Strategies and Tips

Due to the number of popular attractions at Magic Kingdom, it can be difficult to plan your strategy for Early Entry. However, I usually recommend prioritizing a few select attractions based on their average wait times throughout the day. For example, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is known for consistently having a long line throughout the day. Additionally, if you are able to be one of the first guests on Seven Dwarfs, Tomorrowland is a relatively short walk from Fantasyland, where TRON Lightcycle / Run is located. Both TRON and Seven Dwarfs are the two attractions that require a separate purchase of a Lightning Lane Single Pass, which I discuss more below. By riding Seven Dwarves during Early Entry and getting in line for TRON shortly after, you will be able to save money on purchasing two separate Lightning Lane Single Passes and be able to experience two of the best attractions at Disney World within the first hour of park opening!

For those who aren't thrill seekers, I highly recommend prioritizing Peter Pan's Flight in Fantasyland. Although it is one of the oldest attractions in all of Disney World, Peter Pan's Flight remains one of the most popular attractions and often has a long wait time. Peter Pan's Flight is located in Fantasyland, which is home to several other popular attractions that are open during Early Entry including The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid, which should have little to no wait during Early Entry.

Should I Use Early Entry to Get in Line for Other Attractions?

Another strategy to ensure you can be one of the first people to ride Tiana's Bayou Adventure or TRON Lightcycle / Run is to head straight to the standby queue for these attractions as soon as you enter Magic Kingdom for Early Entry, even though these rides won't be open just yet. If you aren't planning on riding Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, or want to prioritize these popular attractions, it could be a good strategy to use your Early Entry perk to be one of the first people in the standby line. 

The obvious pros to lining up early to Tiana's Bayou Adventure or TRON is that you'd likely be one of the only people in line, as many will likely head to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan's Flight, or other popular attractions. If you want to ride TRON, you can also save money on purchasing a Lightning Lane Single Pass for this attraction by getting in line as soon as you enter the park. Additionally, if you want to ride Tiana's but don't want to pay the expense of a Multi Pass, it would definitely be worth using Early Entry to wait in line. 

The biggest downside is that it may feel as if you are wasting your Early Entry perk by simply standing in line for one attraction. However, for those who are prioritizing one or two headlining attractions, compared to getting the most attractions done in one day, I think this is a really smart strategy!

Lightning Lane and Early Entry at Magic Kingdom

Depending on how busy the park is and what attractions and shows you want to prioritize, you may wish to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass in addition to taking advantage of Early Entry. Guests can purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass in order to book return time windows for popular attractions where they will enter a much shorter line than the standby queue. Typically, Lightning Lane Multi Pass costs between $29 and $35 per person at Magic Kingdom, or more if you choose to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass for multiple parks on the same day. When purchasing a Lightning Multi Pass for Magic Kingdom, guests will be prompted to make their first three selections.

Guests can choose one experience from the following group of attractions:

• Jungle Cruise
• Peter Pan's Flight
• Space Mountain
• Tiana's Bayou Adventure

Guests can choose their other two experiences (or all three) from the following group of attractions:

• The Barnstormer
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Haunted Mansion
• “it’s a small world”
• Mad Tea Party
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

Once guests redeem a Lightning Lane reservation, they can choose another multi pass experience from either group (subject to availability). All Lightning Lane reservations can be booked 7 days in advance of a Disney hotel reservation or date-based ticket, or 3 days in advance for non-date based tickets (such as annual passes) without a hotel reservation. If you're looking to get the most out of your day, I almost always recommend purchasing Lightning Lane.

Guests also have the option to make a separate purchase of a Lightning Lane Single Pass, which is used for Disney World's most in-demand attractions. Guests can purchase up to two Lightning Lane Single Passes per day, but they must be used on different attractions. The Lightning Lane Single Pass can be purchased for TRON Lightcycle / Run (between $20 and $22 per person) and/or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (between $10 and $14 per person). 

Since Early Entry is only 30 minutes, by the time you finish experiencing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or another popular attraction, the wait times will start to get higher. Whether or not you choose to purchase a Lightning Lane, you can at a minimum, avoid having to pay for a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train by using our Early Entry strategy.