Early Entry

Either Disneyland or Disney California Adventure offers some sort of early entry every day. (During busy times, Disney sometimes offers early entry at both parks.) Early entry allows a particular group of people into a particular park one hour before the park opens to the public. So if a park officially opens at 8:00 a.m., some people will be able to enter at 7:00 a.m.

Do NOT make the mistake of assuming that Disneyland early entry functions the same as Extra Magic Hours at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Summary

The following chart summarizes the usual timing of early entry programs at Disneyland Resort.

If you find any of this confusing, click on one of the above links or see Disney's explanation at the Disneyland Early Admission Options page.

Still Arrive Early!

If you participate in any of these early entry windows, we recommend that you arrive at least 90 minutes prior to official park opening (that is, 30 minutes before you can enter the park) to ensure that you are among the first to enter and enjoy the full hour of lower attendance.

Disneyland Attractions

During an early entry period at Disneyland, certain attractions in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland will usually be open. The rest of the park's attractions (and all or some FASTPASS machines) will remain off-limits until the official opening time.

Disney California Adventure Attractions

During an early entry period at Disney California Adventure, all attractions in Cars Land are open, along with select attractions and select food, beverage, and merchandise venues. World of Color FASTPASS machines are open for business, but most others will be shuttered until the park opens to the public. A long line will have formed at the Radiator Springs Racers FASTPASS machines well in advance of that.

Parking

If you plan on driving to Disneyland be advised that Mickey & Friends parking structure opens only 30 minutes before the park opens for Magic Morning (90 minutes before the park opens to the general public). Due to this we recommend arriving at the parking structure at least an hour before Magic Morning starts. You’ll spend a bit of time waiting in your car for the parking structure to open, but it’s necessary in order to get to the Disneyland in time for the start of Magic Morning. It’s also important to note that the Toy Story parking lot does not open early for Magic Morning. That means Mickey & Friends is your only option for parking that early in the day.

This reader from Tulsa, Oklahoma wrote:

“We tried to get to the turnstiles as you recommended on a Magic Morning 45 minutes before opening but were stuck in Mickey and Friends parking structure waiting for it to open. It finally opened 30 minutes before Magic morning. Needless to say it ruined the touring plan as we were well behind the mob at the turnstiles by the time we got a tram and security.”