Theme Park vs Water Park Rope Drop

[spgoad]

Hey guys, we are going to be in the world in about 3 weeks (commence the countdown!) and are planning to hit up one or both water parks for the first time. I'm a big fan of hitting rope drop at the theme parks, and it sounds like that is pretty good strategy at the water parks as well. However, it seems like a tall order to me to give up a rope drop morning at the theme park in favor of a rope drop morning at a water park. This is especially true because the water park hours while we are there are 10AM-5PM. For a rope drop person, 10AM seems super late.

So, my question is this - For Mid-March at the water parks, is rope drop a big enough advantage that we should make a point to hit it? Or would we be better off to maybe hit up the 8AM EMH park, go back & change after lunch, then hit up the water park mid-afternoon to close? Thanks for the thoughts!

 

[daveyk]

IMHO, I would go with the second option. Head over to the water parks after lunch. I know some people love the morning at the water parks for the donuts and to then leave the afternoon free - but that's exactly why I like doing it the other way.

That's just me, though.

 

[chicagoshannon]

It depends on how long you're going to be in the World. We always like going to rope drop at the water parks when we go. The lines can get really long in the afternoon. But if you're only going to be I. The World for 7 days or less your EMH plan might be a good idea.

 

[writersblock42]

My personal experience is that waterparks get really crowded after about 12. In fact, this is the reason that I am not a big fan of waterparks-there really isn't a good touring plan for them and the waits for slides are really long because you have to wait on person at a time. I would go first thing in the morning and hit the biggest rides first.

 

[I-4Bound]

We hit Typhoon at rope drop on our trip last summer and it was great - no lines, and we were able to ride all the slides with no problem. But, that was a designated "water park day" for us, and we weren't going to any of the theme parks. If you don't have a day just for the water parks, I don't know if I would sacrifice morning theme park hours in favor of the water park. (Sorry, I don't know if that helps any!)

 

[parkhopping]

I would suggest making RD at a waterpark, then hitting a major park that has evening EMH. I'd wait to go around dinnertime, and after eating, hit some attractions that typically have low waits. Save the headliners for the end of the night.

 

[spgoad]

Thanks all. Sounds like it could go one way or the other depending on personal preference. It sounds like RD at the water parks is a pretty big advantage, and there is no way around lines there (no fastpass), so we may try to work in RD one day. If we decide to hit both water parks, we may try the EMH approach the second time. We've got a good amount of time at the world (7 days), but as I plan out the days you realize how quickly the rope drop hours will pass.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

We do rope drop at waterpark in the am and then evening in the World Showcase at Epcot as that is a 1 1/2 day park for us.

 

[emmsmama]

I'd say to use separate days for the regular parks and the waterpark whenever you can, but for a totally different reason than some of the previous posters - I like to get the most out of my park days, no matter where I'm at. If my kids were super young, I'd feel differently, but the first time we went to WDW, my kids were 6 and 9 and now they are 10 and 13, and we like to spend as much time at the parks as I can. We try to get to a park at rope drop and stay all day (taking a break for lunch of course), and if we are at a park like AK where it closes early, we will hop to another park to finish the night riding a few rides or watching a show or parade.