Rope Drop Attraction

constantstar

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
This trip, I want to be more laid back and not worry with running from ride to ride and park to park. So, we're not doing hoppers and I'm trying to plan our days with a loose itinerary. We can always go back - right?! However, it seems crazy to not plan a worthwhile rope drop attraction. What's your favorite RD ride or one with the biggest payoff?
 
MK we always head to fantasyland and do peter pan then usually its a small world and then mickey's philharmagic, winnie the pooh, and under the sea

HS its always RNRC then TOT.

EP its always TT

we usually don't go to AK because we don't care for it.
 
Check out the cheat sheets at easywdw.com for the best rope drop advice, but here are my favs...

Magic Kingdom - we'll hit MK on more than one morning and start in a different land each time, but the one I actually like the best for RD is Adventureland, then Frontierland. We can knock out Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Big Thunder, and Splash all within the first hour, then move on to Haunted Mansion and it's a small world before the crowds start to build. Almost everyone heads to Fantasyland or Tomorrowland, so you can pretty much run free back there. Then, we'll use FP elsewhere.

Epcot - We like Test Track at RD, although many will say to head to Soarin' because of TT's single rider line. We prefer TT because we can immediately move to Mission: Space after and ride that with no wait as well. However, this will be a moot point a little more than a month from now when everyone starts heading to TT...

DHS - Our DHS mornings are dictated by kids. We either do Jedi Training sign-ups, followed by a walk-on Star Tours, or Toy Story, followed by meeting Woody and Buzz. If I had my choice, we'd start at RnRC, then ToT.

Animal Kingdom - Safaris. I liked this best in the old FP- time. We grabbed FP for the Safaris right at opening, with a return time of 9:40, then walked the animal trail until our window opened. It was cool, and we had the trail to ourselves, then were able to stroll over and still take an early morning ride. Now we will head straight for the ride like everyone else.
 
Magic Kingdom - we'll hit MK on more than one morning and start in a different land each time, but the one I actually like the best for RD is Adventureland, then Frontierland. We can knock out Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Big Thunder, and Splash all within the first hour, then move on to Haunted Mansion and it's a small world before the crowds start to build. Almost everyone heads to Fantasyland or Tomorrowland, so you can pretty much run free back there. Then, we'll use FP elsewhere.
That's the hardest RD park for me because there's so much I want to do! I like that plan though with starting in Adventureland & Frontierland. We have a 2 and 4 year old (both about 36") so they can't ride a lot yet but we can rider swap the mountains. :)
 
That's the hardest RD park for me because there's so much I want to do! I like that plan though with starting in Adventureland & Frontierland. We have a 2 and 4 year old (both about 36") so they can't ride a lot yet but we can rider swap the mountains. :)

If you do rider swap, don't do the second pass right after the first during your precious rope drop time. You can use the pass at any time later, so get the pass and do the first ride, then come back when the crowds have built and use the pass for the other adult. During the early morning time, get that pass and keep on moving! :) We have used the swap passes a lot, though I'm excited that DS will finally be 44" on our next trip - now just waiting for the 48"!
 
If you do rider swap, don't do the second pass right after the first during your precious rope drop time. You can use the pass at any time later, so get the pass and do the first ride, then come back when the crowds have built and use the pass for the other adult. During the early morning time, get that pass and keep on moving! :) We have used the swap passes a lot, though I'm excited that DS will finally be 44" on our next trip - now just waiting for the 48"!
Wow, I never would have thought about that. I swear, I need to take notes to carry with me! ;) Maybe we could take advantage of that on both of our MK days. Right now I have Enchanted Tales as our first stop on our first MK day with morning EMH. Is that crazy? The second day is regular 9a open and I'm planning the start in Adventure/Frontier.
 
Wow, I never would have thought about that. I swear, I need to take notes to carry with me! ;) Maybe we could take advantage of that on both of our MK days. Right now I have Enchanted Tales as our first stop on our first MK day with morning EMH. Is that crazy? The second day is regular 9a open and I'm planning the start in Adventure/Frontier.

Seriously, you can plan your life away with a WDW trip. ;) I wouldn't start with ETWB because it takes a decent amount of time, so by the time you get out you will have lost half of that first hour of touring. On a morning EMH earlier this year we were able to do Peter Pan, Pooh, Meet Ariel, Little Mermaid ride, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Silly Sideshow characters, and Teacups, in that order, all as walk-ons. I wouldn't miss ETWB - super cute! - but would use a FP rather than RD.

ETA: Looks like ETWB won't be an EMH option anymore anyway. Just saw this on the news thread http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/11/enchanted-tales-with-belle-no-longer.html
 
Seriously, you can plan your life away with a WDW trip. ;) I wouldn't start with ETWB because it takes a decent amount of time, so by the time you get out you will have lost half of that first hour of touring. On a morning EMH earlier this year we were able to do Peter Pan, Pooh, Meet Ariel, Little Mermaid ride, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Silly Sideshow characters, and Teacups, in that order, all as walk-ons. I wouldn't miss ETWB - super cute! - but would use a FP rather than RD.

ETA: Looks like ETWB won't be an EMH option anymore anyway. Just saw this on the news thread http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/11/enchanted-tales-with-belle-no-longer.html
You're a life saver. So glad I posted! I'm going to rework my plan now (which I actually enjoy). We have a lunch at BOG at 10:30 (best time I could get), so, maybe we'll squeeze Belle in right before or after.
 
You're a life saver. So glad I posted! I'm going to rework my plan now (which I actually enjoy). We have a lunch at BOG at 10:30 (best time I could get), so, maybe we'll squeeze Belle in right before or after.

LOVE the pairing of ETWB and BOG. We did this last time and thought they complimented each other perfectly, although I confess, I am a huge BatB fan.
 
We did EYWB right before our BOG too. Worked perfectly. For us it was a one and done attraction though.
 
If you do rider swap, don't do the second pass right after the first during your precious rope drop time. You can use the pass at any time later, so get the pass and do the first ride, then come back when the crowds have built and use the pass for the other adult. During the early morning time, get that pass and keep on moving! :) We have used the swap passes a lot, though I'm excited that DS will finally be 44" on our next trip - now just waiting for the 48"!

wow great advice. never thought to do that. this will come in handy when we go in April with our 4yo and 1yo. thanks
 
I enjoy the running of the bulls (errrr rope droppers). If I happen to be up that early, I'll go whatever direction everyone else didn't.
 
AK - Safari and then on to Expedition Everest
DHS - Toy Story and then RnRC or Tower of Terror
MK - I second the multi-day plan, Peter Pan if it's EMH and Big Thunder if it's not
Epcot - Soarin'
 
At the Magic Kingdom I always head to Space Mountain. At Epcot Test Track. The the Animal Kingdom it is Expedition Everest. The Disney Studios it would be Toy Story.
 
Last year, at an 8am Rope Drop during March break with our 2 year old daughter we did:
Peter Pan (but it was down)Pooh, TeaCups, Speedway, Dumbo, Pete's (all 4 characters), Mermaid X2, Gaston, Small World, Merry-Go-Round Carousel, Philharmagic and then got a spot for the noon parade at 11:30am while we ate our lunch on the curb.

Spent 12:30-3:30 doing Country Bears, Pirates FP+, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise FP+, Tiki Room, Magic Carpets

After a nap, finished from 5pm-8pm with: Move It Shake It, Dream Along with Mickey, Buzz FP+, Buzz 4th FP+, dinner, People Mover, Buzz 5th FP+, Pooh 6th FP+, Haunted Mansion 7th FP+

We never waited more than 10 minutes in line on a 9-10 park crowd day.

This year, instead of having a Buzz FP+ later in the day, we are going to instead get a Peter Pan FP+ for between 10am-11am and hope to snag a Mountain or Big Thunder 4th FP+ in the late afternoon. If not, we will do what we did last year and get the 4th FP+ for the attraction with the earliest time that we are closest to in proximity.
 
I'm hoping to do RD at MK this year for the first time. I was just excited about seeing the show that opens the park, but now I need to start getting a plan together for what to hit first!! We will have DD5 and DS3 so I'm thinking Fantasyland, although Adventureland and Frontierland are favorites for me and DH.
 
I'm a big fan of the Big Thunder to Splash to Pirates/JC/HM combo. I've considered hitting up Peter Pan first and then heading to Big Thunder, but I don't know how reliably you can get on PP quickly at RD.
 
but I don't know how reliably you can get on PP quickly at RD.
I've read some people say that PP wasn't open right when they got there. That would definitely delay the RD plans! I'd love to just skip PP but DH thinks it's necessary :/ Oh, and Roll Tide ;)

Last year, at an 8am Rope Drop during March break with our 2 year old daughter we did:
Wow, you got a lot done! Do you write down a plan? That's where I get bogged down. I start a document with times and such for each attraction, look at maps, read touring plans, decide what's next, etc. How do you keep it all straight and remember what to do when you get there?
 
I've read some people say that PP wasn't open right when they got there. That would definitely delay the RD plans! I'd love to just skip PP but DH thinks it's necessary :/ Oh, and Roll Tide ;)


Wow, you got a lot done! Do you write down a plan? That's where I get bogged down. I start a document with times and such for each attraction, look at maps, read touring plans, decide what's next, etc. How do you keep it all straight and remember what to do when you get there?


I just had an idea of what I wanted to do in my head and used some of the online cheatsheets (http://www.easywdw.com/cheatsheets/mk_cheatsheet_v3.pdf). I think Peter Pan being down really did help us get ahead of the crowds. That is why I am going to use it as our first FP+ this year between 10am-11am and walk straight to Pooh. The TeaCups and Dumbo were both empty when we are on them. I was also surprised at how many FP+s were available that were perfect for our riding plans late in the day.


Here is our plan between 8am-11:30am for this March Break: Pooh, Speedway, Teacups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Pete's 4 Characters, Meet Ariel, Under the Sea, Smallworld, Philharmagic, Peter Pan FP+, Carousel.
 
You can get more done in Fantasyland at RD than anywhere else in the MK because the rides themselves are so short (besides IASW). This is where we usually head. PP first, Pooh second, then whichever you want next. I usually save Philharmagic for later in the morning (or the day) because it's not hard to get into and it makes for a nice break.
 

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