Hi Krista!
Welcome back to planDisney. We're thrilled to help as you plan for another magical visit.
In my experience, the parks typically begin admitting all guests before the "official" park opening. At Magic Kingdom Park, this means ticketed guests can scan in and enjoy the magic on Main Street, U.S.A. within that 30-minute
Early Entry window, while eligible resort guests can proceed to designated areas of the park to have their room keys or MagicBands scanned for entry to participating attractions. My panel pal
Brent said the same was true at Disney's Hollywood Studios as of August last year.
I remember seeing a line of guests in the standby queue as we headed toward the Lightning Lane entrance of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster during the final few minutes of Early Entry last July. I know a lot can change in a few months, and I'd never want to steer you wrong, so I reached out to a Cast Member to confirm the latest standard operating procedures. I spoke with Miley Ann, who shared that's still the current plan at each of the 4 parks.
Non-resort guests should be able to scan in within that Early Entry window, but cannot proceed past certain areas to participating attractions until official park opening.
Theme park parking lots typically open 60 minutes before the parks begin admitting guests, so I'd definitely plan to get to Hollywood Studios before 9 am to kick off your magical day.
My family likes to head straight toward
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (keeping an eye out for a lucky wait time of 13 minutes) and place a Mobile Order for breakfast while waiting. Once our stomachs have survived the dramatic drops, and we've posed for a fabulous
attraction photo, we're ready to eat and proceed to more attractions toward the back of the park.
If you need recommendations for your itinerary, please come back and let us know ahead of your visit. We're always here to share our best tips!
Magic and memories,
Amy