Define "rope drop" please

[Surgie2]

I know what drop drop is. So this seems like it should be obvious, but what does rope drop mean in terms of time needed to arrive at a park? If a park has a 9:00 opening, does rope drop mean to be through security by 8:30? Or earlier? Or it depends on the park?

We are staying at Poly and planning to do rope drop at each park except HS which will have a later arrival for us.

 

[CAS239]

Idk what drop drop is.

Rope drop is simply when the park is opened.

To successfully do rope drop sufficiently I'd recommend getting to the front gate around 45 min prior to opening

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Our rope drop procedure is as follows:

Leave room (Pop Century) 70 minutes before park opening. And we use Disney transportation.

 

[BrianL]

Rope Drop does mean when they open the park, i.e. "drop" the ropes that they hold you at at the entrances to the various lands, and, yes if you want to be at the front of the pack then be there early. I like about an hour, but 45 minutes is usually sufficient.

 

[Klayfish]

Yes, I guess by technical definition rope drop is when the park officially opens. I think the common definition here on the board is showing up 45-60 minutes before that.

My definition of rope drop is 9:00am park opening = showing up at 9:01am...at the earliest. I get up at 4am in my regular life. Sleep is too valuable for me to show up extra early just for one additional ride. I'm an old man now, I need my rest...

 

[cdnjason]

Sleep is too valuable for me to show up extra early just for one additional ride.

So true. I never understand why people will wait 45-60 minutes at the park entrance to "beat the lines." They just wait longer outside the park for their first ride.

 

[DizDad513]

So true. I never understand why people will wait 45-60 minutes at the park entrance to "beat the lines." They just wait longer outside the park for their first ride.

I arrive 45-60 minutes before park opening (or more) because I want to WIN at rope drop ! My family goes along with me but there is just something about being there with the first few people that morning. It's a bright new day ! I realize you're waiting so you don't have to wait in line but I don't care about that, there is something psychologically different with waiting for a park to open versus waiting in a queue for a ride....

 

[edk35]

Most parks open before the official park opening time by 10-15 min . We always try and arrive 20-30 min before the unofficial opening.

 

[Klayfish]

I arrive 45-60 minutes before park opening (or more) because I want to WIN at rope drop ! My family goes along with me but there is just something about being there with the first few people that morning. It's a bright new day ! I realize you're waiting so you don't have to wait in line but I don't care about that, there is something psychologically different with waiting for a park to open versus waiting in a queue for a ride....

Nothing wrong with that, I can definitely see the excitement in walking right up to a ride as soon as the park opens and hopping on. In the past, we've shown up as early as 20 minutes before park opening, but never have done 45+. However, over the past several years we've just decided it wasn't for us. The only park we show up before the ropes actually drop are the water parks...that's because they often don't open until 10am. We show up at 9:50-9:55am...the crowd is still quite small. Since they have no FP+, getting there right at park open is very advantageous. Our only limitation in the first hour is how fast we can climb the steps to get back to the top of the slides...

 

[DizDad513]

Nothing wrong with that, I can definitely see the excitement in walking right up to a ride as soon as the park opens and hopping on. In the past, we've shown up as early as 20 minutes before park opening, but never have done 45+. However, over the past several years we've just decided it wasn't for us. The only park we show up before the ropes actually drop are the water parks...that's because they often don't open until 10am. We show up at 9:50-9:55am...the crowd is still quite small. Since they have no FP+, getting there right at park open is very advantageous. Our only limitation in the first hour is how fast we can climb the steps to get back to the top of the slides...

Yea you used to have to be at rope drop to scoop up your paper fast passes as well, now with FP+ that isn't a requirement.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

For us, we usually do some from of "rope drop," but our exact timing depends on the park and what we want to do. Earliest arrive is Jedi sign-ups (at tapstiles an hour before official opening). Latest would be AK if we are not heading to Pandora or Epcot if we are heading to Soarin' first (arrive at tapstiles just a few minutes before official opening, so we might not wait at all at the internal ropes).

We have two young kids (third will arrive before our next trip) and use a double stroller, so we can camp out early. The kids can eat breakfast in the stroller, or run around a bit, or hit the bathrooms, and we've still got our spot saved. That's easier than waiting in a ride line.

 

[wisblue]

So true. I never understand why people will wait 45-60 minutes at the park entrance to "beat the lines." They just wait longer outside the park for their first ride.

You don't have to be there 45-60 minutes before opening to get the rope drop advantage. If you arrive 30 minutes before you can generally be in the first wave of guests to the park's most popular attractions. If you just arrive at opening you will be caught up in longer lines at security and the turnstiles, and waits at some attractions will already be building by the time you get there. So the 30 minutes or so spent before the park's official open pay off not just on the first ride but in shorter lines for a few others before the masses arrive.

But, like many other things, it's a matter of taste and style. The fact that a lot of people can't or don't want to arrive early is what makes it attractive to a lot of others.

 

[cdnjason]

You don't have to be there 45-60 minutes before opening to get the rope drop advantage. If you arrive 30 minutes before you can generally be in the first wave of guests to the park's most popular attractions. If you just arrive at opening you will be caught up in longer lines at security and the turnstiles, and waits at some attractions will already be building by the time you get there. So the 30 minutes or so spent before the park's official open pay off not just on the first ride but in shorter lines for a few others before the masses arrive.

But, like many other things, it's a matter of taste and style. The fact that a lot of people can't or don't want to arrive early is what makes it attractive to a lot of others.

I agree. Everyone has different preferences and priorities.

 

[PlainJane]

So true. I never understand why people will wait 45-60 minutes at the park entrance to "beat the lines." They just wait longer outside the park for their first ride.

This is generally my view on it as well. I'm more in the 5-10 minutes before opening camp. If we get there at opening or a few minutes after, that isn't a huge deal either. I'll wait an additional 5-10 minutes to almost walk-on to an E-ticket attraction, but waiting the time I would have spent in the line at the front gate does not make a lot of sense to me under normal circumstances.

For us, we usually do some from of "rope drop," but our exact timing depends on the park and what we want to do. Earliest arrive is Jedi sign-ups (at tapstiles an hour before official opening). Latest would be AK if we are not heading to Pandora or Epcot if we are heading to Soarin' first (arrive at tapstiles just a few minutes before official opening, so we might not wait at all at the internal ropes).

We have two young kids (third will arrive before our next trip) and use a double stroller, so we can camp out early. The kids can eat breakfast in the stroller, or run around a bit, or hit the bathrooms, and we've still got our spot saved. That's easier than waiting in a ride line.

This makes sense. Being able to wait with the kids in the stroller would be much easier.

 

[Surgie2]

I want to WIN at rope drop

This is so me! But with grandkids 1-5 not sure it's doable every day, even from the Poly. But parents willing...we"ll make a try of it one morning early in the trip while the excitement is high and see how it goes.

 

[Klayfish]

So the 30 minutes or so spent before the park's official open pay off not just on the first ride but in shorter lines for a few others before the masses arrive.

I completely agree it's all about everyone's individual style and the fact that most people don't want to show up early is what makes it attractive, but I don't know there's a ton of advantage after the first ride. For us, there's a "sweet spot" of when to show up. Let's say it's a 9am park open. Rope drop person shows up at 8:15 or even 8:30am. We show up at 9am. Yes, we're in the back of the line of people who are showing up at park open. At least in our experience, even during 4th of July and Xmas, the entrance/security lines aren't that bad. The early bird is through the tap point at 9:00am sharp. We're through the tap point at 9:15am, perhaps a few minutes sooner if we pick the right line. So in the 15 minutes extra in the park the early bird had, I'm sure they can get one ride done. But after that, we're now both in the parks doing the same thing.

However, if I wait until 9:45am to show up, then in our experience the standby for everything starts getting long and all advantage is lost. So for us, if we want to do a "rope drop", the sweet spot is right at park open.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

So true. I never understand why people will wait 45-60 minutes at the park entrance to "beat the lines." They just wait longer outside the park for their first ride.

But its sort of like a domino effect. You get to the 1st ride early, therefore getting to the 2nd ride early and so on earlier than those who sleep in and in exchange you get to do more in 1 day. It definitely takes strategy but if you work it out right, its worth going early.