I really appreciated the recent Ear Scouts video on Epcot early entry because Rob suggested a way to take advantage of early entry without having to get up super early and spend a lot of time in line. Similarly I appreciated the Animal Kingdom multipass strategy video because it did not involve getting to the park early.
My goal is to not spend time in lines (including to get into the park for early entry), and I'm willing to purchase single and multi pass lightning lanes to make that happen.
So here's what I'm thinking for each park, let me know if this makes sense.
Animal Kingdom: replicate Rob's day where he starts in Dinoland and pre-books Na'vi for late in the day, getting into line for Avatar at park close. Early entry could be used to have some extra time before the park opens to just enjoy the park rather than trying to get in lines for popular attractions.
Epcot: We'll be using the international entrance, so I'm thinking we'll go to Frozen during early entry and pre-book a Lightning Lane for Remy. In the Ear Scouts video from a year or so ago, Rob does Frozen as a walk-on after having done Remy by arriving super early. I'm hoping that if we arrive at the beginning of early entry we can do Frozen without a long wait at the gate or at the ride. I'm assuming I won't have trouble booking Soarin later. We probably won't do Guardians because it might be too intense for my youngest kid.
Hollywood Studios: we plan to do Mickey & Minnie's during early entry. There's an "all the bells and whistles" hs video where Rob does Tower of Terror and then Mickey & Minnie's as a walk-on. Similar to the Epcot strategy, I'm thinking of pre-booking tower, and going straight to what was Rob's second ride as a walk-on. I'll pre-book Slinky, and buy single passes for Rise. Note we won't be doing Rock n Roller Coaster because of height requirements.
Magic Kingdom: this is the hardest to figure out. I'm thinking we'll do Peter Pan in early entry, and hoping that if we show up at the beginning of early entry (without lining up super early), the wait for Peter Pan still won't be too long, and that after riding it we'd be able to get to Jungle Cruise before that queue gets too long. I'll pre-book Tiana's, and buy single passes for Seven Dwarfs. I might use Aladdin to tap in early (en route to Jungle Cruise), to book Space Mountain. Note we won't be doing Tron because of height requirements.
Do these strategies make sense? Any other suggestions?
Wow it sounds like it went really well, I think you could release your own strategy guide with that sort of planning!
I definitely know what you mean about doing very early entry. We did it a number of times when we were there, but its definitely not something you can do every day. Using it to get to your first lightning lane on time is a very good tip.