Rope Drop?

[JerseyDisneyGirl]

It seems that some people feel passionately about rope drop. To be honest it scares me a little bit. I have seen too many stories on DIS about people acting crazy. How important is rope drop, and how crazy do people act? I don't mind crowds, I can't stand pushing and shoving. I am on vacation, and I would like to avoid getting in a fight. Jersey Girls don't react well to being pushed .

 

[Reddy]

We did rope drop a couple of times
more to see the show - which I really like
now at the water park - the CM had our famliy go ahead & get to the ride(crush & gusher) but we have austic sons & one was starting to get fussy about the crowds - Ithink the girls behind him were very happy we got to go more than us going

 

[g-dad66]

In general, I think it's a very good idea to be at Rope Drop, especially for the headliner rides.

You won't see pushing and shoving, and you are likely to find that the "stampede" isn't nearly as bad as what you had been led to believe.

But I think the Rope Drop reports, especially about DHS, are a good thing, because it's the people who have had no "warning" about the crowd speedwalking who are likely to feel a bit overwhelmed.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I always thought getting to rope drop was "no big deal" so we didn't really try it. Our past trip this summer we decided to do rope drop on our MK day. First of all, we LOVED the little opening ceremony - DH got such great pictures of the characters coming off the train and the "mayor". Then, we rode Splash Mtn, Big Thunder Mtn, Jungle Cruise, saw the Tiki Birds and went through the HM within an hour and a half. So, it was totally worth it and there was no "mad rush" to anything, at least at MK.

This fall when I do a girls trip with Mom and Sis, I am hoping they will be up for rope drop every day.

 

[DizzDoll]

Hey fellow Jersey Girl!!!! As to the rope drops I didn't find them to be so bad. I did one by myself at MGM just to see what it was like while the rest of my group slept in. I would rate it as controlled chaos. The only "problem" I saw was one man who led the cavalry charge to TSM to get fastpasses and even that wasn't horrible (although the FPs were wiped out for the day within an hour). I really enjoyed the entertainment before the rope drop, and the Streetmosphere actors go out of their way to get everyone involved. Lots of fun laughs and no mean, nasty, cranky, shoving people. The "Charge of the Light Brigade" could be summed up as a competitive race walk. The CMs don't allow any running.

Did one at MK with my kids last time we were there and it too wasn't horrendous. Crowded: yes, beastly: no. The opening ceremony, in my opinion, should NOT be missed by anyone. And when the rope dropped, people hustled to where they wanted to go. My kids and I started in Adventureland and worked our way to Tomorrowland and did every single ride from here to there with no waiting in lines. Total bliss.

So from my point of view, they're not to be passed up. You can get so much accomplished in 2 to 2.5 hours before the parks get unbearable. We go in August (PS - just booked our trip!!!) so we're done and gone by the time the sun starts beating down on our pointy little heads. And if you try one and don't like it, at least you tried it. And I don't like being pushed around, either!!

 

[oldenewguy]

Is the rope drop done every day at every park or is it only on certain days?

 

[Belleandtinker]

We are always at rope drop only to get a jump on the rides/fastpasses. The shows are cute, but can be missed if your family likes to sleep in. We've never been run over nor have we run over anyone.

Now, if you walk into the park a few steps, stop and open a map = we might just run over you.

We rather stand at rope drop than stand in a ride line.

Have fun!

 

[Belleandtinker]

Is the rope drop done every day at every park or is it only on certain days?

Every morning every park has an rope drop show. I think DS is the only one with characters in the show.

 

[dmxwidget]

I tend to sleep in and miss rope drop...I would rather be relaxed and ready for a long day (and night) in the parks.

 

[oldenewguy]

Every morning every park has an rope drop show. I think DS is the only one with characters in the show.

Thanks! Im a big fan of getting there early. You can get so much accomplished before people get there.

 

[Tltorrez]

We loved the MK show. All the characters come out on the train. My suggestion for this one is to line up in front of the train station not by the gates. That way you'll get a good view of the show. We actually got nice seats on the ledge around one of the trees. Let all the really aggressive people push to the front of the rope. Nothing in MK fills up fast enough to make that kind of difference. After the opening show, make your way over to the gate.

I've read that AK also has a fun opening show. But unfortunately we're going to miss that one because we have ressies at Tusker House.

 

[whitneyNC]

It's not crazy in my experience. Only the studios gets a little nuts to tsm, but even there we ride w/out a wait then get our fp for later. No problem. Getting there before opening is the single most important tip to me.

 

[sapereaude]

It seems that some people feel passionately about rope drop. To be honest it scares me a little bit. I have seen too many stories on DIS about people acting crazy. How important is rope drop, and how crazy do people act? I don't mind crowds, I can't stand pushing and shoving. I am on vacation, and I would like to avoid getting in a fight. Jersey Girls don't react well to being pushed .

The reason the rope drop rocks is because its your best chance to ride the super headliners with no wait and get early fastpasses. The first hour in the park is the best. As for the 'craziness' of it, Disney rocks at coordinating these things. This isn't black friday at Walmart, the CMs don't just drop the rope and everyone books it - they walk the crowd slowly from the rope area to the major attractions, often by a circuitous route to give time for the crowds to spread out a bit.

 

[wickersham]

We are nearly always at rope drop since we are early risers and find the benefits in terms of short lines and plenty of FPs in the morning are worth it.

No one has mentioned one of the best benefits of being at the rope for rope drop--being asked to help the CMs or receiving special rides. We have twice been asked to carry the rope at AK then be first on the safari. At MK we were waiting for Tomorrowland to open with the CMs and were first to ride space mountain. The same CM met us at the end of the ride and walked us over to the other track for a 2nd ride without waiting! The early bird sometimes gets the worm!

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

We try to be at rope drop for the opportunity to see the shows, get fast passes or, in the case of HS - my husband got the FP's for TSM while I hot-footed it over to Jedi Traninig with my grandson and granddaughter.
I will say, that "controlled chaos" is putting it mildly when you have small children in tow. This is only my opinion, but if you have small children, I would hang back a bit at RD at HS! (We were actually almost pushed down by an adult male and his son who were trying to "beat" us. I was truly scared for a few seconds - but that part passed quickly. Don't want to alarm you - but do be prepared for some bullishness!)
HS is the only place we have ever experienced this. Otherwise I actually enjoy RD, as others have so well pointed out.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I hate getting up eaarly especially on vacation, but I do rope drop every day at WDW. The benefits outweigh the "pain" of getting up early. Food court isn't as crowded, buses aren't as crowded, you get your first FP early and that means your next FP is earlier too. You can ride headliners quickly and sometimes two or three times in a row (not during peak seasons), and you can get great photos of a almost empty park.

Even better is if you are staying on-property and can do the extra magic hour in the morning--not everything is open (at MK just Fantasyland and Tomorrowland; at Epcot just FutureWorld) but you can get those out of the way and then head to Splash or BTMRR while everyone who slept in is trying to get Space Mt FP.

To make sure I can enjoy the night atmosphere in the park I often head back to the resort for lunch and a "rest" (okay, it's really a NAP) and then I head out again around 5pm (this usually works best in the summer when the parks are opening super late.

 

[photobob]

I tend to sleep in and miss rope drop...I would rather be relaxed and ready for a long day (and night) in the parks.

Which is the thought of many, many people and why rope drop is so good. If you arrive at opening you can do so many rides that are walk-on that will in a couple of hours be a very long wait. We usually go pretty much wide open until about noon, have a nice lunch and then either do a few more attractions or head back to the resort for pool and naps. We usually head back to a park in the early evening. Rinse and repeat!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

It seems that some people feel passionately about rope drop. To be honest it scares me a little bit. I have seen too many stories on DIS about people acting crazy. How important is rope drop, and how crazy do people act? I don't mind crowds, I can't stand pushing and shoving. I am on vacation, and I would like to avoid getting in a fight. Jersey Girls don't react well to being pushed .

The importance depends on the time of year, the park and your plans in the park. If you are going in the summer and want to ride Dumbo without having to wait in some ridiculously long line, then being at rope drop is important.

The only park I find to be crazy/rude is DHS. If you want FastPasses for Toy Story Mania, but you don't really care if you ride it right away, rope drop isn't that important. But you still need to go get FastPasses right away as soon as you get in the park, which really needs to be in the morning.

 

[jmkjr72]

the onyl rope drop i have ever seen get crazy is the one for mgm but then again its all those that have to try and ride tsm 10 times in a day

for some reason when it comes to tsm people cant act civilzed at times

at epcot on more then one ocassion have we ben blessed with getting walke dover to either tt or soarin early infact one morning we got to ride soarin 2 times before the rd crowd got there

 

[kaligal]

If you don't want to be pushed, avoid the rope drop or just hang back a bit.

They used to open up and let people go. It was great. The people who wanted to get there ran ahead and the people who were kind of, "We'll get there in a minute or two" walked behind.

Now everyone has to walk behind a rope. This means that your walkers and your "I HAVE TO BE FIRST" people are all jammed in together.

Hang back. Let the people who have to be up front be up front. If you're one of them, though, get ready for some nudging and pushing.

Why Disney has to have everyone crammed in together, nudging and pushing, I just don't know.