Sad Commentary IMO

[SnowWhite]

I don't think the "rush" at ropedrop is a sad commentary on the state of Disney...

That being said, yes your daughter has the right to stand at the rope to watch the pre-show however in the name of safety for your daughter whether it be at Disney or not, I would pick her up in that large of a crowd because you just can't predict what will happen. Yes I went to ropedrop twice last month in order to get the TSM early ( I do LOVE the ride). The crowds did not run but their was definitely a LARGE amount of people moving in one direction so just for that reason alone my 2 year old was in her stroller.

My 2 cents?? Go to rope drop and watch the show from the side closest to ToT and when the rope goes down head off to the right or stand nearest the shops on the left and head towards Min and Bills...this way you get out of the line of the crowds immediately....

 

[luvthemouse71]

Rope drop is about the most inane practice I have yet witnessed at Disney World.

Agreed, it is very overrated.

 

[Cinderella1122]

Rope drops at Disney terrify me. 2 summers ago, I traveled with extended family, my niece and nephews included. We went to Epcot one morning and I directed my sister to take the whole group over to test track while I joined the madness heading towards soarin' to grab a fastpasses. They dropped the rope and everyone went running towards the land, me included out of fear of getting trampled. I only paused for a minute to see that my 10 year old niece had decided to follow me and to see as a grown person stepped on the back of her shoe taking her down. I was able to quickly grab the back of her shirt and pull her up before she was seriously hurt. Luckly, she only had skinned knees and a PO'd aunt.

 

[McIntoshTx]

It is simply amazing that that the planning that goes into a family attack on the TSM ride matches that of the planning that went into the planning of the attack on Sicily during WWII.

It seems the Sicily invasion might have been a little more sane. If we skip a Disney park next trip to head the Busch Gardens it will be DHS because of the crazy TSM and F! crowds actions.

Not knocking the park or the ride / show but it does not sound all that relaxing a vacation fighting for position and since I do not react well to "mob idiots" I think it might just make me crazy to be there!

 

[zhazhazsu]

In May my Mom and I were right at the front of the pack for TSM @ RD. We are avid power walkers ( 2-3 times a week in the summer ) and had little trouble keeping up with the CM. I thought she was going reasonably fast, yet not not too fast ( like running) We were right behind the Family of the Day on the ride and were the second riders. The best part was when my Mom jumped about 30 feet and screamed when the Toy Soldiers came to life, she had literally no idea they were real! I saw no one trying to walk with a small child at the front of the pack and lots of Dads in front to get FP while Mom's took it slower with the lil' ones. It was a good experience and there was no running what so ever.

I have also done RD at MK both outside by the Train Station and Inside under the castle ( after a pre RD ADR.) both times I saw no running or shoving, however one one occaision there was a real ******* harrassing the CM about why we had to walk behind a rope to Peter Pan. Seriously he was standing right next to my Mom and I and we were the first people to ride AND he got a FP. The CM told him if he kept it up she would have him escorted. I mean he got the first FP of the day, how much time could he have possibly wasted

 

[pampam]

Where were the toy soldiers? I don't think I've heard of them.

 

[Zeebs]

I know many of you don't rate the ride, and to be fair if I didn't have two small boys mad on Toy Story I probably wouldn't be extremely upset if we didn't ride,

But

1. We don't go very often to WDW so try to make the most of our trip and ride the most amount of rides we can.

2. There is a real lack of family friendly rides at DHS, lots of shows but the 1 real family friends ride is TSM.

3. My kids love Toy Story/and shooting things, so fantastic a ride the has both.

While I don't agree that there should be a run and knock everyone who gets in your way mentality, I am fully expecting it so I will plan accordingly so my children don't get hurt.

Kirsten

 

[Robo]

Where were the toy soldiers? I don't think I've heard of them.

They are there on occasion. HERE is someone's video clip.

They are commonly called "the Green Army Men" from the Toy Story films.

The live Disney characters are based on these toys-

 

[riomaggiore]

RD sounds really crazy! I don't find the two rides- Soaring & TSM all that exciting myself. They are of limited popularity at DL/CA but have helped putting some life back into CA in particular. I guess I'll have to count myself fortunate having already experienced both rides (and once was plenty for me!) at DL

 

[smidgy]

.

As much as I complained about it at the time, in retrospect, the way IOA did it during our visit there several years ago is the right way to do thing, imho. Have rope drop essentially be nothing more than the point in time when guests can start roaming the parks, picking up light breakfasts perhaps. Then open the major attractions later, at least a half-hour later perhaps, if not more. Let rope drop be a celebration of being there, of sharing this wonderful vacation destination together, rather than the starter's gun of a footrace.

I'm partial to the idea of moving all the FastPass distribution to a central location, preferably right by the entry area, before the rope. And leave it there all day. I know why they don't do it, but I think it would be better vis a vis the rope drop concerns if that's where the machines were. FastPasses aren't the problem (while stand-by lines could be a problem) - the problem is where the FastPass machines are.

both great ideas!!!

I love being there for rope drop. At DHS, I left my husband and the two kids in the stroller and shimmied up to the front and hustled to get fast passes. There was no shoving. I didn't knock anyone over, I kept up with the CMs and the crowd. I ended up being third in line in my machine (FP return time 9:55) and when I exited my DH was just dropping off the stroller and we all got in line together. I don't think I'd let my small child out on his own for that, and I can't say I agree with the OP that is a sad state of affairs. Disney is not just for little kids, it is for people of all ages, some parts more appropriate for certain ages than other. I would say the front of the rope drop line is not the place for a 3yo.

Also, to the person who said that is a vacation and people should relax. Crowds stress me out. Waiting stresses me out. So if I don't get there early, get fast passes and avoid the crowds, I am not having a fun time. We spend the day in the parks and the late afternoon by the pool and that is my "relaxation" time.

We are a rope drop family!!!! We love it..but I really dislike the mad dash to Toy Story. Last month, we did rope drop and walked slowly to TSM..saw the fast pass line and decided to head to the first Little Mermaid show...after that, there weren't any lines at TSM so we got our fastpasses.

This is probably on our top 5 list of rides in disney and we did it 3 times in one day so I disagree that it is not worth it

Rope drop frenzy is exciting to us...as long as people are respectful and we enjoy it, we'll keep doing it!!

however, I also agree with these two posters. I don't say your trip will be "ruined" if you don't do rope drop, but I suggest it. because you can get a lot accomplished in a much shorter time than later in the day. and can collect fast passes for later. then go backtot he resort to swim (well, not this last dec trip) and relax for a while.


I also think the queue to TSM is great, which you miss with the fast pss. and we don't wait in line over 20 minutes for a ride, so it's either rope drop or fast pass for us.

 

[smidgy]

Maybe they should bring out some of the green soldiers to actually enforce the "no running" rule.

another great idea!!! have the green army men lead the "rush" to rope drop.! people would be more apt to "obey" them!

 

[sjs314]

Rope drop is about the most inane practice I have yet witnessed at Disney World.

Just make sure you do not trip or stumble with your little one, you both could get walked over.


When I was doing an early AM KTTK tour at MK earlier this year, our group was about half way up Main Street. The guide looked at his watch, I guess with getting some visual cues from nearby CM's, and told us all to get up close to the buildings as the rope drop people would soon be surging in. And sure enough. In about 15 seconds, moms and dads, many with strollers and little ones in front of them, came roaring up Main Street. Not sure where they were going, whatever is open early I guess. It was not a fun thing to see. I can't imagine what would have happened if there was anyone, much less a little kid, who would stumble and be hit by a group like that.

I am probably one of the few who have never been to rope drop, I did attend back in the early '90's the EMH at MK when it first started, my youngest DS was off with DH riding splash Mt and my oldest DS and I were just walking around up by the castle and we hear them announce about the opening of the park so I got my video camera ready and it was the most amazeing thing to watch, even to this day when we have watched the video of the massive amount of people chargeing up Main St, splitting apart at the hug to continue onto there desired destinations, we just stood still while I ran the camera as what seemed like thousands of people ran past us.

There was no such thing as a fast past then it was first in line first ride but I am surprised no one has ever been seriously injured in the mad rush to enter the parks. It is just crazy.

 

[maxiesmom]

There was no such thing as a fast past then it was first in line first ride but I am surprised no one has ever been seriously injured in the mad rush to enter the parks. It is just crazy.

Rope Drop is more controlled than it was then. Now at the Magic Kingdom you can walk up to where the different lands break off, and that is where they hold you. No need to run up Main Street.

As an adult I have no problem with being in the Rope Drop masses. But there is no way I would take my 10yr old niece and not expect her to be trampled. She just has one speed, and that is slow mosey. Not the type of person who should be in a fast moving crowd, even if those people are not running.

 

[pampam]

Thanks, Robo. Yes, I've seen the green army men many times. I guess I was thinking something like the toy soldiers in the Xmas parade.

 

[TLinden16]

Rope drop at the studios is absolutely insane. My friend Goofy4Tink and I were discussing it as we followed the masses to the Toy Story fast pass lines (it took us 12 minutes to get through the fast pass line).

Disney really needs to do something about this one because it's chaotic there for the first hour of the day. They almost need to not turn on the fast pass machines for an hour, or hand them out as people run their tickets through the main gates or something. It's crazy!

 

[JimmyV]

When we were at DL this past summer, CMs were handing out FPs for World of Color. Each CM had a stack of them, and as you approached the FP machines, instead of having to put your Admission Ticket into the machine, they simply handed you a FP. I have seen the same thing done at EE in AK. Sooooo.....while people are lining up for RD at DHS, why don't they just have CMs hand out FPs right then and there, and then don't open up the FP machines until around 10:00. That way, the early birds still get their FPs, but there would no longer be any incentive to rush to the machines at RD, since the machines wouldn't be open. Yes, there would still be a rush to get into the stand-by line, but by taking the FP machines out of the equation, you eliminate at least some of the rush. Plus, since early arrivers will already have FPs, many will opt not to run with the bulls to the standby line, knowing that they will have easy access later that morning.

 

[Vincent405]

There is not an attraction in Disney that I would run to get on or risk injuring someone.

Having been there, and at rope drops and gone on the rides and watched the shows, there is nothing there that I would consider running for or waiting more than 20 - 25 minutes. If we ever go back, we'll just do what we can do easily and skip the rest. Nothing was worth the waits.

 

[DanielJoseph]

They need to do away with the fastpasses for TSM, and just let the stand by line police itself.

If they have to, they can extend the queue line all the way across the park to the rope drop area, and force the stampede into a single-file turkey trot.

Totally agree! Let the free market work!

 

[forgetmenot]

another great idea!!! have the green army men lead the "rush" to rope drop.! people would be more apt to "obey" them!

They do carry guns and everything, so I am thinking they would be very good at enforcing order....

 

[tessa67]

Have not check in for a while (working retail). But to clarify, DD and I were NOT going to TSM, we were going to the Mickey Mouse Playhouse show, so we were not in the TSM crowd. We were all the way to the right of the rope and I had her in front because I expected a show like MK and Epcot. I didn't know there would be no characters.

She was at the rope at Epcot and got hugged by Minnie and Mickey. Made her whole trip.