If you’re planning a Walt Disney World vacation, you’ll want to take advantage of as many resort benefits as possible. One of those benefits is the early theme park entry benefit. Below, we list the Disney Resort Hotels and other select hotels eligible for early theme park entry benefits through 2026. After that, we’ve included a list of attractions available at each park during the early entry period.

Disney introduced the early theme park entry for Disney Resort Hotel and select other hotel guests a few years back. It allows eligible guests to enter the theme parks 30 minutes early and applies to each of the four parks daily. Therefore, if you’re staying at an eligible hotel, you can enter Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom up to thirty minutes before the official park opening each day.

Having an extra 30 minutes each morning is a tremendous advantage. You’ll be able to visit popular attractions with little to no wait before the bulk of the crowd arrives. Getting at least one of the more significant attractions out of the way before the parks open to regular guests puts you ahead of the crowd.

All of Disney’s Resort Hotels are eligible for early entry, but for the sake of being thorough, we’ve listed them below.

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
• The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort
• Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s Boardwalk Inn
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• 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 and Bungalows
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa
• The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve

The following off-site hotels are eligible for early theme park entry at Disney World.

• 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
• Renaissance Orlando Resort and Spa
• Shades of Green at Walt Disney World Resort
• Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

*Valid admission and park reservations (where applicable) are required to enter the theme parks. Guests must link their resort reservations to their MagicBand, Keys to the World Card, or Disney MagicMobile Pass.

Below, we’ve provided a list of available attractions during early entry per park.

The following attractions are available at Magic Kingdom during early entry. Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are the only lands open during the early 30-minute period.

• “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

Need to Know: TRON Lightcycle / Run is part of Tomorrowland. Unfortunately, it is not included during early entry at this time. You can, however, join the standby line for TRON during the early entry period. This is a reasonable strategy, especially if you’re not purchasing a Lightning Lane to experience this attraction.

The following attractions are available during early entry at Epcot each morning.

• Frozen Ever After
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• Test Track**
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

**Test Track will reopen from a lengthy refurbishment in the late summer of 2025.

You’ll want to strategize which ride to go to first based on where you’re entering the park. Guests at the park’s main entrance will flock to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Those who enter at Epcot’s International Gateway will be closer to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. When Test Track reopens, we anticipate it being another popular first choice.

The following attractions are available during early entry at 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!

As you can imagine, the majority of guests head straight to Galaxy’s Edge for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. The second largest crowd heads to Toy Story Land for Slinky Dog Dash. Both attractions will build long lines quickly and likely maintain them throughout the day. If you’re at the front of the pack, either attraction is an excellent option.

The following attractions are available during early entry at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• DINOSAUR*
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• Na’vi River Journey

*2025 is the last year to ride DINOSAUR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Most guests will head straight to Avatar Flight of Passage at park opening. Long lines will build quickly for this attraction. It will likely have long waits throughout the rest of the day.

Here are a few tips for making the most of early entry at Walt Disney World

• Arrive early. How early? If possible, arrive 30 to 45 minutes before the stated early entry opening time.
• Have a plan for breakfast. We recommend having breakfast before you get to the park or having breakfast in the park after you’ve experienced a couple of attractions.
• Know where you’re going and what you’ll ride first. If you’re going to take advantage of early entry, you need to know exactly where you’re going. Please don’t wait until the last minute or go back and forth over what you should do. Choose a first ride and a nearby backup or second ride.

If you plan to take advantage of this considerable benefit, you should arrive at the park as early as possible. Even if you arrive on time for early entry, you will likely be too late due to the crowds. It’s like the old saying: If you’re early, you’re on time, and if you’re on time, you’re late.

Now, the next question is: Are you eligible for extended evening hours? Or you can preview all the benefits of staying at a Disney Resort in 2026.

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