DCA rope drop question

[RedVines2001]

Here now. Staying at GC. Looking to rope drop DCA for RSR in the morning. Should I use the hotel entrance into the park or should I go through the main gate. Never rope dropped DCA before. Thanks in advance. Happy Halloween.

 

[JavaDuck]

If you are rope dropping RSR, use the main gate entrance. Most of the main gate crow heads to RSR, which is closer to the main gate. If you are rope dropping Pixar Pier, either gate is a good choice.

The single rider line is a great option for RSR as well if your party is ok riding separately.

Have a great trip! DCA is my favorite park.

 

[RedVines2001]

If you are rope dropping RSR, use the main gate entrance. Most of the main gate crow heads to RSR, which is closer to the main gate. If you are rope dropping Pixar Pier, either gate is a good choice.

The single rider line is a great option for RSR as well if your party is ok riding separately.

Have a great trip! DCA is my favorite park.

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately I got a 6 year old so we can’t do single rider.

 

[DisneyKidds]

If you are going to rope drop RSR make sure you are there early to be near the front of the rope drop crowd. Last time there (August) we got to the park entrance at opening, but not early. By the time we got to RSR the line was half way down the street, and by the time we filtered into the queue area the posted wait was almost three hours. We bailed on that line and jumped to single rider with no wait, but that’s not an option for you. So, if you want to rope drop RSR you need to line up EARLY. We’ll be there this Friday and I think we’ll shoot for 45 minutes before opening, but I’m not sure if that’s even early enough.

 

[RunnerMom71]

You can enter for rope drop via the GCH entrance: just turn left at Grizzly River Run and que up at the rope at Buena Vista / soarin' area!

You can also que up near Pixar Pier, go through the wharf area and under the arch to RSR: but this is a slightly longer than queing at Buena Vista Street area

 

[RedVines2001]

Thanks for all the replies. I had trouble wrangling the kids in the morning so didn’t make it downstairs till almost 0750. Figured I’d just go through the hotel entrance. Turned right and went towards PP and got to the rope right as it dropped.

Hard left and I saw what you were all talking about. Wall of people curb to curb pouring into Cars Land. Saw this from about the wharf and I had no chance of beating or even merging with it. Followed in as the tail and the line backed up down the street next to Flo’s.

Ended up climbing into the ride vehicle at 0838 which still isn’t bad. I think a side effect of no FPs for RSR is that a lot more ppl are rope dropping. So just have to adjust expectations. The days of doing RSR back to back in the morning while pulling a FP are over.

 

[JJ2017]

If we choose not to rope drop RSR at DCA, what is our next best strategy on where to head to? We are most interested in RSR, Guardians, Incredicoaster, TSMM and Soarin.

We also need to get DAS - should we rope drop City Hall instead and have that ready?

 

[twitch]

If we choose not to rope drop RSR at DCA, what is our next best strategy on where to head to? We are most interested in RSR, Guardians, Incredicoaster, TSMM and Soarin.

We also need to get DAS - should we rope drop City Hall instead and have that ready?

I’ve been watching Soarin, and it seems to stay fairly reasonable throughout the day. I would probably either do Guardians or go for TSMM+Incredicoaster. Whether or not you pull a WS virtual queue (and what time it is) may help you decide between those two choices.

 

[RunnerMom71]

I would do Guardians then head to TSMM, Incredicoaster and then probably TSMM again. Then Soarin - then check on the wait for RSR (watch the return times throughout the day)

Honestly when we hit RSR at rope drop we were far from the first people there (although we were at the front of the rope). It was not a bad wait at all.

Then you'll probably need some caffeine after all that! Longest line in the parks for us was for any of the starbucks locations...

 

[RedVines2001]

If we choose not to rope drop RSR at DCA, what is our next best strategy on where to head to? We are most interested in RSR, Guardians, Incredicoaster, TSMM and Soarin.

We also need to get DAS - should we rope drop City Hall instead and have that ready?

Based on what I saw yesterday I would say Guardians then Incredicoaster then TSMM. All those rides had low wait times compared to RSR and that order just goes by proximity to rope drop. I’m sure others with more experience will chime in.

 

[poptart90]

You can enter for rope drop via the GCH entrance: just turn left at Grizzly River Run and que up at the rope at Buena Vista / soarin' area!

You can also que up near Pixar Pier, go through the wharf area and under the arch to RSR: but this is a slightly longer than queing at Buena Vista Street area

So do I understand correctly that the GCH DCA entrance now opens prior to park opening to allow hotel guests to join the rope drop queues? I don’t remember that from before. And if yes, do you then have the option to go to Carthay Circle or near Pixar Pier to wait for rope drop? Thanks!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...
We also need to get DAS - should we rope drop City Hall instead and have that ready?

You can request DAS at City Hall (DL), Chamber of Commerce (DCA), and at the Information Kiosks located throughout both parks (look for the CMs wearing plaid).

 

[Meriweather]

So do I understand correctly that the GCH DCA entrance now opens prior to park opening to allow hotel guests to join the rope drop queues? I don’t remember that from before. And if yes, do you then have the option to go to Carthay Circle or near Pixar Pier to wait for rope drop? Thanks!

It's been that way before Covid. The rope is across the street by Ariel's

 

[poptart90]

It's been that way before Covid. The rope is across the street by Ariel's

Can you also choose to go line up with everyone else at the hub? Or is the line by Ariel's the only option for hotel guests?

 

[DisneyKidds]

We did DCA on Friday. Didn’t manage to get there for rope drop. Maybe it had something to do with traveling with my wife and adult daughter, maybe it didn’t….but I digress. We arrived maybe 15 minutes after opening. Rope drop RSR or WS was out. We went straight to Guardians, in and out in 15 minutes or so. From there we did single rider on RSR, in and out in 15 minutes or so. Starbucks, then Soarin. You guessed it, 15 minutes or so. Lucky Fortune (food/booze), then TSMM, in and out in 20 minutes or so. Single rider IncrediCoaster with no wait. I think we did Mermaid and a few other small things with minimal wait after that. Wish we could have done single rider WS, but I got bad info from a cast member when they told me they didn’t have it. All in all it was a good day!

 

[Meriweather]

Can you also choose to go line up with everyone else at the hub? Or is the line by Ariel's the only option for hotel guests?

You can go around to the main entry and line up there where they are holding people