DHS Rope Drop Strategy: Slinky Dog, then Rise?

[tom1944]

Is the safest thing to do select slinky dog right at 7am on genie+

 

[lentesta]

Is the safest thing to do select slinky dog right at 7am on genie+

Probably yes.

 

[Didi8367]

You all are awesome. Thank you so much for all the tips!

 

[Didi8367]

@Didi8367 The issue with rope-dropping Rise is downtime. In 2023, Rise was down around 40% of days at rope drop. Those are terrible odds, and it's the least-reliable ride in Walt Disney World.

If it's in your budget, you might consider purchasing ILL for Rise. That simplifies your rope-drop strategy and removes most of the risk around waiting in line for a ride (potentially multiple times) that isn't working.

Earlier this year I gave students at Wake Forest University the downtime data and average waits at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. And I asked them this question:

If you didn't know whether a ride was going to be running at rope drop, which two attractions would you choose to visit during Early Theme Park Entry in order to save the most time in line?​

​

I like the question because it deals with expected value: the amount of time you'd save if the ride is running, and the probabilty it's running.

Here's what the students came up with for Hollywood Studios:

View attachment 866385

The class was BEM 392: Seminar in Mathematical Business Analysis.

Not using Genie+, the most effective sequence of attractions in DHS seems to start with these attractions, in this order, according to our testing this year. It assumes you're at the very front of the rope-drop crowd for Slinky:

1. Slinky Dog Dash
2. Toy Story Mania
3. Runaway Railway
4. Tower of Terror
5. Star Tours
6. Smugglers Run (likely the longest wait in this set of attractions)
7. Alien Swirling Saucers

Slinky and Railway often open slighly earlier than the rest of the park as well, so that helps.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster hasn't been open during our testing. But if you're going in July, it may not be open during your trip anyway.

Let me know if none of this makes sense.

This is amazing. Thank you!