Current rope drop situations - fill me in

[nkereina]

Haven't been to WDW since October 2015, currently planning for our trip this August. Last time we were there, these were our experiences at rope drop:

-AK - no Pandora at that time so everyone briskly walked to the Safari at rope drop.
-MK - CMs led people back to Mine Train/Fantasyland at rope drop.
-Epcot - no Frozen Ever After yet so everyone briskly walked to Soarin or Test Track.
-DHS - CMs held people at the center of DHS, where the hat used to be and near Brown Derby. At 9am exactly, they attempted to slowly walk people to Toy Story and it was a bit insane.

What's the current rope drop experience like at each park? I imagine first ride priorities have shifted with Pandora and at Epcot. What should our strategy be now to take advantage of rope drop?

 

[sharonabe]

MK now lets everyone in and onto Main St at 8:00 a.m. for a 9:00 a.m. opening. There are actual ropes across each land, so you need to position yourself where you want to go. At 8:55 there is an opening show at the castle forecourt and then the ropes are dropped. I don't know if they are escorting or just allowing everyone to make their way, but 7DMT is still the draw.

EP is a toss up for the three biggies. FEA has been around long enough that the mad rush as ended, but still tons of people headed there at opening (9:00 for FEA even though in WS). Soarin' has added a 3rd screen, so most reports are that the long lines there are much better than they used to be. Test Trak would be my personal go to or have FP+ for it for later and use single rider for extra rides.

HS I'm not sure how they are doing the actual drop, but TSM has also added additional tracks, and the wait times there have come down significantly.

AK 99% of people are headed to Pandora. The longer wait is for FOP. I would search the forums or check out easywdw to see how this should be done. Our next trip is in the fall, so I'm still waiting to see what it looks like later in the year and if they continue the late night EMH for Pandora.

 

[nkereina]

Thanks @sharonabe ! Great information and sounds like mostly good news!