Don’t Do This at Rope Drop - Peter Pan

[Matthew D.]

Having done my research just like most of you folks(Touring Plans, Max Ride, various forums), everything pointed me in the direction of marking Peter Pan off the list at rope drop. My mistake was that the entire universe has the same game plan as well.

Our first day was Monday(castle refurbishment had not yet started) myself, wife and 2 boys (3,5) had gotten to the very front of the line, directly in front of the rope, with a clear line of sight into the castle. Rope drop happens and bam....

It was an absolute frenzy, like the bull run in Spain. People running past with no consideration of young ones trying to keep from being joggled around. My wife and I hustled to get our strollers to the designated stroller area in front of the carousel in record time, but by then it was too late.... we might as well have entered the PP ride mid-day, as our wait was 45-50 minutes. The strollers had been our down fall!

So I believe on Tuesday, it was our Magic Morning, we changed the game plan. Got to front of crowd again, rope drop happens, we zoomed through the castle entrance, popped the boys out of the strollers, and sadly we did what we had observed others do the day before, I’m not proud of it but the primal instincts take over while your in the middle of the PP frenzy- we gave our strollers a good hard push right beyond the castle opening (yes, not the designated stroller area) and did a wind sprint that would have made Usain Bolt proud. Even then, the minor delay of the pop and push cost us.....we were rewarded with another 40 minute wait.

If you are an able bodied adult in a small party and are quick on your heels, you may succeed in getting that cherished 20 min PP wait. If you have young kids, my advice is skip the rope drop madness and save PP when it is convenient for you, keep an eye out for a semi-low wait time(35 min is usually the best you may get). And don’t squander your Magic Morning with PP, it will eat up most of that hour where you could otherwise be bumping off numerous other rides. Let me know what you folks think- has this been your experience as well or do you think I was unlucky enough to have been struck by lightning twice?

Thanks

 

[flyingenie]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll be in the same boat in a couple of weeks - interested to hear others' advice.

 

[motherof5]

We did rope drop and did Space Mountain twice, Buzz and winnie the pooh so your probably right that other rides will get you more bang for your buck!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

This is a great articulation of why I don’t recommend starting with Peter Pan.

I hope your trip went well otherwise!

 

[midnight star]

I've rope dropped that ride once, and that was enough for me lol. Too much energy to exert that early in the morning.

 

[DLRExpert]

Could have just had one person put the stroller in the proper area while others got in line. Then join them when you could as that line moves pretty slow to the loading area.

In most cases it's still better to skip Peter Pan and come back when waiting 30-40 minutes isn't a big deal.

ME.

 

[Geemo]

Having done my research just like most of you folks(Touring Plans, Max Ride, various forums), everything pointed me in the direction of marking Peter Pan off the list at rope drop. My mistake was that the entire universe has the same game plan as well.

Our first day was Monday(castle refurbishment had not yet started) myself, wife and 2 boys (3,5) had gotten to the very front of the line, directly in front of the rope, with a clear line of sight into the castle. Rope drop happens and bam....

It was an absolute frenzy, like the bull run in Spain. People running past with no consideration of young ones trying to keep from being joggled around. My wife and I hustled to get our strollers to the designated stroller area in front of the carousel in record time, but by then it was too late.... we might as well have entered the PP ride mid-day, as our wait was 45-50 minutes. The strollers had been our down fall!

So I believe on Tuesday, it was our Magic Morning, we changed the game plan. Got to front of crowd again, rope drop happens, we zoomed through the castle entrance, popped the boys out of the strollers, and sadly we did what we had observed others do the day before, I’m not proud of it but the primal instincts take over while your in the middle of the PP frenzy- we gave our strollers a good hard push right beyond the castle opening (yes, not the designated stroller area) and did a wind sprint that would have made Usain Bolt proud. Even then, the minor delay of the pop and push cost us.....we were rewarded with another 40 minute wait.

If you are an able bodied adult in a small party and are quick on your heels, you may succeed in getting that cherished 20 min PP wait. If you have young kids, my advice is skip the rope drop madness and save PP when it is convenient for you, keep an eye out for a semi-low wait time(35 min is usually the best you may get). And don’t squander your Magic Morning with PP, it will eat up most of that hour where you could otherwise be bumping off numerous other rides. Let me know what you folks think- has this been your experience as well or do you think I was unlucky enough to have been struck by lightning twice?

Thanks

I see you are a new member as of today.

PP is a real challenge any time of the day...
With the front of the castle closed for refurbishment, I'm sure the Mad-Dash is even worse.

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in the parks.

Again, Welcome
Geemo

 

[gottalovepluto]

Peter Pan at Rope Drop is a great way to start your day off horribly if you aren’t a Disneyland expert. Especially for parents who end up making choices they regret their children witnessed. Not being a parent that is an aspect that never even occurred to me but I can 100% see how fast that could happen given the crazy crap people pull to get that 20 min PP line. I’ll definitely be keeping this in mind for when people ask this in the future.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We did rope drop and did Space Mountain twice, Buzz and winnie the pooh so your probably right that other rides will get you more bang for your buck!

Absolutely. Star Tours, Matterhorn, Alice, all the other dark rides. You can do so much other stuff in that time!

 

[Matthew D.]

Could have just had one person put the stroller in the proper area while others got in line. Then join them when you could as that line moves pretty slow to the loading area.

In most cases it's still better to skip Peter Pan and come back when waiting 30-40 minutes isn't a big deal.

ME.

Tried that on our last day. By the time my wife got back to the line, we were so far ahead of her in the line, that it was awkward for her and seemed rude to those in line, having her make her way back to us. Rolled eyes and a comment or two, really wasn’t worth it in the end.

 

[Matthew D.]

I see you are a new member as of today.

PP is a real challenge any time of the day...
With the front of the castle closed for refurbishment, I'm sure the Mad-Dash is even worse.

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in the parks.

Again, Welcome
Geemo

Thanks for the welcome. I’m not much of a thread post person but if I can help others avoid the same PP mistake, I feel they will have a more fruitful start to their morning. Truly, it is a consistent, frenzied dash- not sure why most resources recommend to do it first.

 

[sherilaine]

I’m confused. I’ve never had rope drop at magic morning. It’s just been off you go right at the hour. Is this new? Normal?

 

[Matthew D.]

I’m confused. I’ve never had rope drop at magic morning. It’s just been off you go right at the hour. Is this new? Normal?

You may be correct. My recollection of the dates and the corresponding rope drop vs “off you go” may be askew. This is certainly the case for rope drop on non-MM. Regardless of this technicality, I assure you this was an experience I would not recommend for most families. If you’re a twenty something with sharp elbows, you’re better equipped to handle the horde at PP.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Having done my research just like most of you folks(Touring Plans, Max Ride, various forums), everything pointed me in the direction of marking Peter Pan off the list at rope drop. My mistake was that the entire universe has the same game plan as well...

Actually, on this board, many DLR vets don't recommend doing PP at rope drop for the exact reasons you experienced! Welcome to this board and I'm glad to hear that you survived your RD and PP adventure to tell the tale!

This is a great articulation of why I don’t recommend starting with Peter Pan...

Bingo!

... In most cases it's still better to skip Peter Pan and come back when waiting 30-40 minutes isn't a big deal...

Yes, many people advise to do other rides in FL and TL -- getting as much done as possible (and you can get quite a bit done in a MM with good planning) -- then come back to PP much later when you can relax in the line, enjoy a snack, and chill while waiting. You'll still wait, but at least it won't be nearly as stressful.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Yes, many people advise to do other rides in FL and TL -- getting as much done as possible (and you can get quite a bit done in a MM with good planning) -- then come back to PP much later when you can relax in the line, enjoy a snack, and chill while waiting. You'll still wait, but at least it won't be nearly as stressful.

yep totally agree with this. Im a solo visitor. Last June it was almost 8.30am when I was walking down Main street, rope drop would have been 8am. I stopped for a coffee in Starbucks, then went to Pirates which was a walk on and THEN went to Peter Pan. I think I had maybe around 20 minute, as all the rope droppers had gone and the next wave hadnt arrived yet

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm sorry you experienced this OP. Some people just focus too much on getting there first and common sense goes out the window. We never start with PP, but instead enjoy the other dark rides and low crowds in Fantasyland. We watch the app all day and if we see a wait of 30 minutes or less, we do PP. If we don't, we skip it. It's so much better to get a bunch of things done in that important first hour of the day than to shave a few minutes off the PP wait.

We were there at rope drop on a cold rainy day in late November last year and crowds were low, but the PP line was still backed up like normal that morning.

 

[Betty_Baylor99]

I’m so sorry that happened to you. Rope drop brings out the worst in some grown adults. Because PP is a slow loading ride, I know that is not the ride I want to eat up time waiting for. Our strategy has always been to ride other surrounding rides first and come back when a 30 min wait isn’t a big deal (after my kids are sick of running around and would welcome just waiting).

 

[Brett Wyman]

As a WDW veteran that sounds miserable (First DL trip coming up this May). Why do they not add fast passes? Is it simply an infrastructure issue?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

As a WDW veteran that sounds miserable (First DL trip coming up this May). Why do they not add fast passes? Is it simply an infrastructure issue?

Correct, it is an infrastructure issue -- there is no room for FP machines by the ride and there is no room for a FP line. However, as pointed out above, there is no need for PP to be a miserable experience for anyone. Just skip it at RD. Let other guests stampede for the line up and enjoy other rides yourself. There is usually another time (or several other times) during the day for a better opportunity to ride PP. And now with the DLR app, it is much easier to keep an eye on the wait time throughout the day.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Correct, it is an infrastructure issue -- there is no room for FP machines by the ride and there is no room for a FP line. However, as pointed out above, there is no need for PP to be a miserable experience for anyone. Just skip it at RD. Let other guests stampede for the line up and enjoy other rides yourself. There is usually another time (or several other times) during the day for a better opportunity to ride PP. And now with the DLR app, it is much easier to keep an eye on the wait time throughout the day.

We've ridden it plenty at WDW and would skip it (even with the differences) this time but my sister in law is meeting us in Anaheim from Australia and its a must ride for her.