Rope Drop Tips

[AudreyLovesTheMouse]

My teen daughter and I are trying a new strategy (well, new for us). Rope drop... big midday break at our hotel... park in evening. We have only done rope drop once, and that was kind of by accident.
(We are at the Grand Floridian, so we're on the monorail. When do the Resort monorail and the Epcot monorail start running?)
Any advice from veteran rope-droppers???

 

[mom2rtk]

In the MK, most will be rushing off to Fantasyland for 7DMT and A/E. That creates a nice advantage for those wanting to visit the other areas of the park. I'd start with Adventureland and Frontierland.

 

[lynch34]

Get there 45 minutes early
Get FP+ for 7DMT a few hours in
Do Peter Pan, Winnie, etc
Blow through your FP+
Start booking more FP+

 

[nilla]

Elbows out.

 

[Lucius Best]

Note that actual rope drop might be 5-15 minutes before posted park opening. General consensus for midday break would be to have your 3 FP+ reserved for the evening, but depends on how late you are staying in morning before break, and if just going back in evening for dinner/fireworks or for rides.

 

[JennyDrake]

My strategy is always to head to what I want to see at the BACK of the park, then work my way toward the entrance.

My vote is for late morning/early afternoon FP then head back for the well deserved break.

 

[dancin Disney style]

We always do RP, stay until lunch, the resort for the afternoon and then back to the park for the evening. We absolutely love this plan and have been doing it for years. We like to have 4-5 hours in the afternoon at the resort so that there is enough time to swim or nap.

I would say to arrive at the park about 30 minutes before it's due to open. Know where you are heading before you get inside.

On our last trip we had FP+ for the first time and I opted to book the times between 11am-2pm(roughly). I made sure that there was a gap in the middle to be able to have lunch. Now, staying until 2pm is a deviation from our usual plan to leave the park to have lunch or right after but it worked well on that trip. Most days we booked a 4th FP+ for later in the evening. When we came back to the park we would use that FP+ and do a couple of other things then watch the evening parade/fireworks etc. We never felt over tired....had a great time but still did so much.

 

[xlsm]

Our plan for MK, which has served us well, is to start in Tomorrowland or Frontierland and work our way around the park. I try to make our first FP to land around the timeframe of 10 or 10:30. Lunch right at 11, then inside shows and two more FPs, watch the parade, make 4th FP for the evening at a kiosk, then head back to the resort for a couple of hours. We take the evenings pretty slowly, and use extra FPs for things like Little Mermaid or Winnie the Pooh. With that strategy, we're able to knock out most of the MK in one day, at least our priority rides. We do two MK days at least, and we do the second day the opposite of the first (starting in whichever land we didn't on the first day).

An example from last August on our first park day we did:
-rope drop
-walk on Buzz
-met Stitch
-walk on Space Mtn
-walk on Dumbo
-met Ariel
FP for Seven Dwarfs
-met Gaston
-minimal wait for Small World
-FP for Peter Pan
-stopped for shopping and photopass pictures along the way
-11am lunch at BOG
-Philharmagic
-stand by Haunted Mansion
-dole whips
-FP Splash Mountain
-Parade
-made 4th FP for Pirates
-back to resort

Then back to the park for the evening, dinner, used pirates FP then made a new one,stand by jungle cruise, shopping, pictures, Little Mermaid, etc...

 

[Praying Colonel]

There's rope drop, and then there's rope drop. Technically you can show up 5 minutes before gate opening/morning show/etc. and be there for rope drop, but you'll be behind a large mass of humanity that were there 30-45 minutes ahead of you and your RD advantage will be reduced. So if you're going to be there early, go big and be there so you're to the front of those going through the turnstiles.

 

[Mouse of Mystery]

On our last trip we had FP+ for the first time and I opted to book the times between 11am-2pm(roughly). I made sure that there was a gap in the middle to be able to have lunch. Now, staying until 2pm is a deviation from our usual plan to leave the park to have lunch or right after but it worked well on that trip. Most days we booked a 4th FP+ for later in the evening. When we came back to the park we would use that FP+ and do a couple of other things then watch the evening parade/fireworks etc.

We do this too -- get to the park 40 mins before opening to get near the front of the crowd, experience the most popular rides, use FP+ starting at 10:30-11:00 when the crowds start to build, lunch, break. 4th FP+ for the evening and low-demand attractions. I don't think we waited more than 15 minutes for a ride the entire time we were at WDW and many of the early rides were walk-ons or 10 minute waits.

RD tips: don't be assume the crowd is lined up correctly. I am not advocating you push ahead of other people at all, but understand that realllllly long lines tend to form on one side or another and one or two tapstiles on the other side will have very few people (AK/HS). At MK, get near the front left or right of the planter so you can see the welcome show and then slip right in the gates when they open (if you stand in the center like everyone wants to do then you're going to wind up a few hundred people back from wherever you're planning to go first.)

 

[AudreyLovesTheMouse]

Great advice! Thanks guys!
We'll show up super-early, hug the sides (hopefully elbows will not be necessary), and be poolside for lunch by 12:30/1:00.
I like the blow through your fast passes and get #4 for later approach. Haven't tried that yet.
Thanks again!!!

 

[jfeasel]

We were just at MK for rope drop and the rope drop was at 8:45 a.m. on a day when the park opened at 9 a.m. We were in the park early for a tour so we got to watch the rope drop from the Chamber of Commerce (first building on the left). It was crazy. They now have cast members who slowly walk around with a rope to prevent people from sprinting down Main Street USA. We actually saw a woman in a motorized scooter go around the castmembers holding the rope to get in the very front of EVERYONE. We could not believe our eyes as she whipped right around them like she was passing a slow-moving car. Our tour guide told us if we are ever in line at rope drop, don't go right as that's where everyone goes (toward Tomorrowland). Go left or head straight back and go under the castle.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Great advice! Thanks guys!
We'll show up super-early, hug the sides (hopefully elbows will not be necessary), and be poolside for lunch by 12:30/1:00.
I like the blow through your fast passes and get #4 for later approach. Haven't tried that yet.
Thanks again!!!

Another tactic that may work well for you is to visit a park with EMH morning. You should be able to a lot done before noon without FP+. Then have your FP+ for later in the day/evening. I think this might be your best option if you know you will be back at the resort by 12:30ish.

 

[wisblue]

If I were planning a long midday break on a day on which I was visiting MK and starting at rope drop, I would save my 3 FPs for the evening and do as many things as possible without FPs before lunch. By "blowing through" those valuable 3 FPs that you can reserve ahead of time, you may find that you are using them on attractions that don't have long standby lines in the morning.

For example, for someone who is interested in these things, you could get FPs for 7DMT, Anna and Elsa, and Space Mountain with return times of something like 5-6, 6-7, and 7-8. At rope drop, you could go directly to Peter Pan while the masses are going to 7DMT and A&E. Then you could go to BTMRR, Splash, JC, POC (if it's open), and HM. In those first two hours, and taken in that order, those attractions should all have short to manageable waits. Then, before lunch and your break you could do another thing or two, such as some of the "anytime" attractions or anything else with a reasonable wait. Then, when you return in the evening, you will have your 3 big FPs and can still see the parade and/or fireworks. After you use your 3 FPs, if you plan to stay later, you could so some more attractions as lines get shorter and possibly get another FP or two. That approach gets you two blocks of time in which you are doing attractions.

Another possibility would be to use one FP at around 11-12 and save 2 for the early evening with the possibility of getting a 4th (and more) after you use the 3rd. Of course, availability and selection for the 4th FPs will depend heavily on the crowd.

 

[ZoZo]

If I were planning a long midday break on a day on which I was visiting MK and starting at rope drop, I would save my 3 FPs for the evening and do as many things as possible without FPs before lunch. By "blowing through" those valuable 3 FPs that you can reserve ahead of time, you may find that you are using them on attractions that don't have long standby lines in the morning.

Another possibility would be to use one FP at around 11-12 and save 2 for the early evening with the possibility of getting a 4th (and more) after you use the 3rd. Of course, availability and selection for the 4th FPs will depend heavily on the crowd.

I would use this strategy, too. Use the first few hours to ride standby, while the lines are shortest, saving your FPs until later when the lines are long. You may very well be unable to get a 4th FP later -- especially during busier times of the year, most of the FPs for the really popular rides are booked way in advance.

From what I understand, your best shot at getting additional FPs will be at MK, which has by far the highest number of available rides, and therefore more FP opportunities. (Most of the other parks have a small handful of rides worth getting a FP for. Think about Animal Kingdom; there are really only four rides you would need FP for: EE, Kali, Dinosaur, and the safari ride. There are a limited number of FPs available, and they're quite often booked well in advance or are filled the morning-of. Additional FPs are hard to come by, from what I've read here on the DIS.)

I'd definitely recommend rope drop, ride as many things standby as you can, take a break around lunchtime, then save your FPs until later.

 

[Mouse of Mystery]

If I were planning a long midday break on a day on which I was visiting MK and starting at rope drop, I would save my 3 FPs for the evening and do as many things as possible without FPs before lunch. By "blowing through" those valuable 3 FPs that you can reserve ahead of time, you may find that you are using them on attractions that don't have long standby lines in the morning.

This is a good point -- if you take that approach (we sometimes do), you have to be sure you're getting FP+ in the 10:30-2:30 window for attractions that fill fast (7DMT, Anna & Elsa, etc) and spend the early morning getting in as many other rides as you can. There are lots of good strategies.

 

[dogdangling]

As others have said, don't waste your fast passes on early morning, hit the rides early, afternoon break and then back to the park for the fast passes.

 

[SillySallySews]

We always do RD, afternoon break, and back to the parks for some evenings. You should try to find a current monorail schedule for whenever your trip is scheduled. We were there last week and MK opened at 8am (regular opening, not EMH) and the monorail didn't start running until 9am, but that's not always the case. But there should be other options to get to MK from GF if it isn't running first thing in the morning. Last year I scheduled our FP+ for morning and found we really didn't need them. This year I scheduled them for the evening and it worked perfectly.

 

[AudreyLovesTheMouse]

Wow, thanks everyone!
I am going to spend some time right now rethinking my fastpasses.

 

[bbjunkie]

Another tactic that may work well for you is to visit a park with EMH morning. You should be able to a lot done before noon without FP+. Then have your FP+ for later in the day/evening. I think this might be your best option if you know you will be back at the resort by 12:30ish.

Just a heads-up for EMH. At Magic Kingdom, EMH only allow you in to Tomorrowland and Fantsyland. There will be additional ropes blocking your entrance inside the park to Adventureland and Fronteirland. You will have to re-wait at these ropes in order to go to those places for "rope drop." (And again, the cast members don't actually allow you to take off frantically running stampede-like, and will wait for the groups from other entrances to merge before allowing everyone to go on their own). So, if your plan is to tackle Splash Mountain and BTMRR at rope drop, just be aware that for EMH you will still have to wait until 9:00.