I am working on the itinerary for our DL trip in June. We will have 13 people total (9 adults and 4 children). Several of them have never been to a Disney park, while the rest of us grew up in CA and went countless times.

Our first day in the park is a Tuesday, which I know is a MM day. I would rather not use our MM on our first day as we were planning on different "first" rides for our newbies other than ones in FL/TL. I guess that is kind of silly, but we just have certain rides that from experience really "wow" people new to the park and would like to do those first.

The park opens at 8:00 that day, so is that the time we would be allowed in through the turnstiles? Or do they rope off the end of MS at some point before then and allow people onto MS until the official opening time? Grandma would like to not have to rush up MS and onto a ride. She wants the group to enjoy the atmosphere a little when we first enter.

Also, on the evening we arrive we are planning to walk Downtown Disney. Does the World of Disney sell autograph books? We'd like each child to have one ready to go when we enter the park the next morning.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Yes they sell autograph books at World of Disney. They usually do not open the gates till 8am. I usually get there 30 min prior so we can be one of the first people in. The park usually doesn't get packed for a couple of hours.

if each child has an autographbook, your pace will be slowed down as you enter the park, remember, Main Street has already been open and characters should be about. If no characters, I suggest the double Decker bus or fire engine or trolly, to slow you down and still take in the surroundings. with the wide range of experience of your visitors, I suggest FP runners and have a written plan of what your 1/2 hour segments would look like.. OR catch the train to your first land and when you leave the park catch Main STreet OR... catch main street while different folks hold down curb spots for the parade.

On Magic Mornings, it's my understanding that they don't open the gates for the general public until the park is officially open because otherwise the MM people wouldn't be able to get through the crowds to get to FL. I think (but I am open to being corrected) that on these days, the park countdown is at the main gates and then it's just straight up main street and in to the park (rather than what happens on non MM mornings, when they open the gates to main street half an hour before park opening, and have the count-down at the end of main street).

If the park opens at 8am, gates open at 8am. If the park opens at 9 or 10am, the gates open 30 mins early and they rope drop at 9 or 10. Most MM folks are in the park prior to the 30 mins. Stores on Main St are open when the gates open.