17. Early Entry at DLR vs. Extra Magic Hours at WDW
DLR and WDW have a history of offering extended park hours to certain visitors. These perks change over time and the current form of these perks will most likely change in the future. Therefore the information in this section is the most likely of all sections in this guide to become outdated.
At DLR EE means Early Entry, not Expedition Everest (as at WDW). The DLR Early Entry and WDW Extra Magic Hours (EMH) are recent perks offered to guests. Similar to EMH, paying attention to how EE works will have a major impact on how you plan your days at DLR.
EE is offered at DL on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. During EE DL opens 1 hour early for certain guests. The rides open during EE are fairly regular but subject to change on any day. During EE most of the FantasyLand rides are open, as are Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in TomorrowLand.
Officially the only way to get EE is to buy a 3+ day parkhopper bonus ticket. Note that most DLR tickets are bonus tickets, but some (such as those offered by the military) are not (or so I have heard). If a guest buys one of these 3+ day bonus tickets, they are entitled to one EE morning during their trip. It does not matter if the guest stays at a DLR hotel, a good neighbor hotel, or any hotel for that matter.
In July 2005 DLR started offering EE to its DLR hotel guests. When this second EE access method began it was described as a test, which meant it could be stopped at any time. This test has now gone on for a year and some DLR hotel guests have come to regard it as a perk and not a test. In any case, if you are a DLR hotel guest you can use EE on every day it is offered while you stay at the hotel, not just on one day as the official bonus ticket visitors are allowed. At least you can as long as the test continues.
