Have you ever arrived early enough for opening Disneyland Resort at either Disneyland Park or California Adventure Park?
Disneyland Rope Drop Q&A
View this post on Instagram
What Time Does Disneyland Open?
Opening Disneyland Resort
I always tell people that sleeping in is against the rules at Disneyland Resort. Why? You’ll get so much done during those first couple of hours inside the parks when everyone else is sleeping in! Plus, local Annual Passholders tend to show up later in the day, making wait times longer and the parks more crowded.
When opening Disneyland Resort means waking up early, it’s easier to wake up when you’re staying at nearby Holiday Inn Express and Suites. It’s one of my favorite Disneyland area hotels because it’s a short walk over to the parks. Plus, you can grab a fresh, hot breakfast to eat at the hotel or take on the go.
Arrive at Disneyland Resort Early
The more days you go, the cheaper you per-day admission cost. I get Disneyland discount tickets from our partner, Get Away Today before heading over to Disneyland Resort. Your 3+ day ticket will be cheaper than buying through Disney itself, and includes a Magic Morning admission.
Plus, enjoy an extra $10 off when booking a hotel stay of two nights or more along with your discount Disneyland tickets! Use promo code DisneylandPlan at checkout.
How early do I need to arrive? When opening Disneyland Resort, the key is to arrive at the parks gates about 40-60 minutes before the park opens. Do not be parking your car 45 minutes before opening, do not be going through security, be at the gates. Add extra time to park and/or walk over, take the tram and go through security. This is especially important during peak summer months, holidays and events.
Summer hours means arriving even earlier! In the summer Disneyland Resort opens at 8:00 am or 7:00 am on days with early admission. One year we did a quick two day visit, that meant one day at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure. It also meant waking up at 5:30 am so we could get ready, eat breakfast, walk to Disneyland and go through security.
We have been the first people in line at our turnstile many times. If you’re an early riser or coming from a later time zone, this is the perfect chance to opening Disneyland Resort and see Disneyland and California Adventure in a way you’ve never seen it before! If you are using Magic Morning, you’ll need to arrive even earlier.
Non-peak hours means you can sleep in a teeny bit. If you simply can’t resist seeing a part of Disney Magic you’ve never seen, getting up early is a must. If you’re traveling during off-season, when the parks open at 10:00 am, then you get a little more time to sleep in but not much. When the parks open later, more people are there for rope drop, so I advise being at the gates 60 minutes before.
Bonus Tip: Get prepped to use Disney MaxPass with our simple guide right here so you can ride more big rides in less time.
Pick the Right Park
Disneyland: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
California Adventure: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday (limited to Disneyland Resort hotel guests)
When the cast members start letting guests through the gate, take it in that you are one of very few people in the park and at that very moment. Keep in mind this is not the time to run to your destination, cast members will let you to a certain point in the park for the official rope drop at the opening time. Shops on Main Street, U.S.A. and Buena Vista Street are open.
Ride More Attractions
One of the best reasons to arrive for rope drop is the amount of things you can experience before most people even roll out of bed. We often ride 10 or so rides before lunch along with meeting Disney princesses and other characters with little to no wait time.
If I’m driving up from San Diego and Disneyland Park opens at 8am, what time should I get to the parking structure to ensure I can be one of the first ones in to park?
Hi Ausha, I would arrive at the parking garage at about 6:20 am. That’s an early, early day coming up from SD but the parking lot will open at 6:30 am. I tested it myself just a couple weeks ago to make sure they do open 90 mins prior and it was on the dot. We were the 10th car in and arrived at 6:20.
Hi. Your website has been so helpful. Our goal is to go Sunday 12/2 . We want to be the first ones through the gates 🙂 What can we do to help our chances? Website says parking opens 1 hour but we still have to go through security. What time does security allow people through? We are thinking of dropping off one of us early and then going to park the car?
Hi Vanessa, I like your plan. Yes, I recommend dropping one person off (if not everyone else) at the passenger pick up/drop off spot referenced in this article. Security is there well before the parking lot opens. I’ve even wandered over there before the official security screenings open (lots of people jog through Downtown Disney in the morning) and you can go right through to the gates. There are many turnstiles so being there about 90 minutes early should certainly get you in the front of one of them.
I’m planning to do a 2 day visit. So can I still do rope drop without Margic morning?
Absolutely. The official rope drop begins at normal park opening hours. There will still be rope drop even if Magic Morning is happening.
We have tomorrow which is Sunday and Tuesday to go to both parks which park do u recommend which day?? I was thinking Tuesday for the big park for the best day for my kids because should be less crowded but but i may be wrong because of magic hour. We do not have hopper privileges.
Hi Amy, let me make sure I understand correctly. You have a 2 day ticket, visiting one park per day. You’re wondering which day to go to Disneyland Park and which day to go to California Adventure Park? This time of year it’s truly a toss up; with summer break in full swing I expect the parks to be busy either way. I would consider more if you’d like to end with Disneyland Park or not. Most people feel Disneyland Park is the most magical and want to end their visit there. For that reason, I would suggest California Adventure on Sunday and Disneyland on Tuesday. Don’t stress about not being in the park for Magic Morning (not included in 2 day tickets) and arrive at the gate by 7:15 and get ready for some fun!
What time should I get to security in order to be at the gate 45 minutes early?
I would say 15-20 minutes just to be sure. If you have specific questions regarding your exact date feel free to contact me and we can discuss further. Happy planning Jennifer!
The only time i happily get out of bed early is on a Disney holiday!
Looking forward to rope drop on our Sept visit. We did rope drop @ WDW last year, (even though we were exhausted from our flight from Australia) – it makes a big difference to how much you can get done in a day.
Disney does that to ya for sure!
I got a quite hyped and a little ansious too reading this post :).. me and my wife will travel from San Diego early morning on a fairly busy day (May 18), Disneyland opens at 8, California Adventure has magic morning that day and Grad Night events so it opens at 7am, i got the single day park hopper with maxpass, any recommendations or tips for our trip? thanks!
Hey Luis, yes lots to plan for but being there early is my number 1 tip, followed closely by having a plan in place. Here’s all my Disneyland Plan options if you’d like something to bring with you.
How do you get picked to oppen and welcome to the people to the park
Hi Ruth! I wish I had some tips to be chosen as the opening family, but I think any group that is there first at the gates has a good chance of being chosen.
This sounds like so much fun! We are hoping to go to DL next year but our kids are all fairly young and I’m not sure that we’d be able to get up that early with them. I’ve heard that there is a separate rope drop at Toon Town though, so maybe we could do that instead.
You are right! Mickey’s Toontown typically opens one hour later than the rest of Disneyland Park.
This was very helpful info. We are going in May and we have to try this out!
Hey Rachel, you’re going to have a blast in May! Definitely get there early and let me know what all you were able to ride in the first couple hours.
Hi Jessica!
I’m coming from the FB post you did. I really liked your recommendation for a rest day in between. My wife and I did a 3 day Disney trip a year ago and we were SOOOO tired after the first two days. We bit the bullet and went back to our hotel to take a nap cause we were so exhausted. So I definitely agree that if you have the time, a break day at the beach or relaxing by the pool would be beneficial.
Thanks so much for backing me up Andy :). Nap time, even for adults can be a life saver!
[…] Jamba Juice. Refreshing smoothies on a hot summer day or the perfect way to boost your energy if you skipped breakfast in an effort to be at the park for rope drop. […]
[…] Opening Disneyland Resort […]
[…] Opening Disneyland Resort […]
[…] Disney fans in your group, ride one of your must-rides first thing in the morning (read more about opening the Disneyland Resort here) and then head over to see the Princesses and Fairies at their various locations throughout […]