Crowd calendar & Rope Drop

[pfeifer14]

We will be there 11/28-12/4. Most of crowd calendar predict those dates to be "slow" day. For an example, it shows EP as 2/10 for crowd level on 11/28. Should we still try to be there at RD at 845am? Or we can sleep in a bit and not have to rush much?

 

[redsbe]

Even on the slowest crowd days the most popular rides in each WDW park can build up 30-60 minute waits during the day, such as PP, 7DM, TSM, Soarin.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Rope drop will give you some of the shortest standby wait times of the dday regardless if the crowd levels are 9/10 or 2/10. You will wait longer for just about any headliner at 10:30 than you will at 9 am. You can certainly arrive later, but you will likely spend more time in line.

 

[pfeifer14]

Got it.

Thanks so much. We will plan to be at RD for sure then.

 

[Klayfish]

Depends on how you want to do it. If you want to ride 7DMT repeatedly or don't want to use a FP+ on it, then yeah, you'll want to do rope drops. We used to do a lot of them too, but we just got back from a really long trip. We didn't do a single rope drop and still did:
Soarin' - 5 times
7DMT - once
RnR - 4 times
TSMM - 4 times (5?)
FEA - once (waited only 27 minutes)
PP - twice
Space Mountain - 4 or 5 times
Test Track - 3 times

It can be done if you want to sleep in. Just monitor line times

 

[redsbe]

Depends on how you want to do it. If you want to ride 7DMT repeatedly or don't want to use a FP+ on it, then yeah, you'll want to do rope drops. We used to do a lot of them too, but we just got back from a really long trip. We didn't do a single rope drop and still did:
Soarin' - 5 times
7DMT - once
RnR - 4 times
TSMM - 4 times (5?)
FEA - once (waited only 27 minutes)
PP - twice
Space Mountain - 4 or 5 times
Test Track - 3 times

It can be done if you want to sleep in. Just monitor line times

How long was your really long trip as it makes a big difference. For someone a week or less with plans to visit all the parks getting on Soarin 5x without long lines is nearly impossible.

 

[Delirium]

How long was your really long trip as it makes a big difference. For someone a week or less with plans to visit all the parks getting on Soarin 5x without long lines is nearly impossible.

And, I will add the question of 'What was skipped?' For example, was riding RNR and TSMM multiple time done at the expense of skipping Tower of Terror, The Great Movie Ride, and all the shows at HS? Or, was doing Soarin and Test Track multiple times accomplished by skipping a lot of other things Epcot has to offer? And, finally, was AK visited at all?

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that RD is one of the best strategies for touring the parks. I never try to ride attactions multiple times, but I like to walk though the parks, hit attactions with minimal waits times and have a chance to enjoy teh ambiance without the crowd buildup that happens by lunchtime.

 

[rwdavis2]

Keep in mind that on "slow" days they may only run a ride at half/reduced capacity which still causes some long waits.

 

[bryanb]

I'm not usually a morning person, and until recently, rope drop had no appeal to me. Who wants to wake up at such a ridiculous early time while on vacation? My only experience with rope drop had been as a Disneyland cast member, watching guests power walk down Main Street while I was still yawning through an insufficiently caffeinated state.

But then I tried it out for the first time and what a difference! Even on the most crowded days, you can basically walk onto 5+ attractions before you encounter any meaningful lines.

That said, it's your vacation. Some people love dashing from ride-to-ride early in the morning. Others get more joy with a no-pressure stroll in around noon. I personally don't like to wait any longer than 30 minutes in a standby queue if I can help it, so even during the slow season it's either wake up early, be there near closing, or rely on FP+ for the more popular attractions.