EMH (a.m.) OR Rope Drop - Worth it?

[Easto]

In 2016 when we went to WDW we did Rope drop each park day and were able to get a lot done in that first 1-2 hours.

Looking at the MDE Wait Times it seems like Rope Drop wait times are pretty significant for those big rides: Test Track,Slinky, TofF, RNRC, FOP, 7 Dwarfs, etc.

Is Rope Drop becoming a normal thing for most people going to the parks now? Doesn’t appear to give the same advantage that it did years ago

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

It’s not that it’s becoming a “normal” thing, if it was, waits wouldn’t go from 5 minutes in the morning to 50 in the afternoon for BTM, they’d stay more consistent. The thing is is that there a lot of people who don’t get FP for some big rides, so they rush to rope drop these. Before these big rides came, people were more spread out, but now the majority of people rush to the big rides, so it seems like there’s more people. Actually, there’s not more people, at least relative to the amout of people who go to the park, it’s just that a ton of them are going to the same ride/rides.

 

[gharter]

As mentioned, there are a limited number of FPs for the popular rides. If you don't have a FP, the line can be very long, very quickly.
Often, people will try to RD for these popular rides hoping to get there before the line is too long.
Compared to a few years ago, at HS and AK, the crowd at the gates even 30 minutes before opening is much larger than it used to be. Partly, because there are just more people at WDW most of the time. And partly becasue they couldn't get a FP for a ride they wanted. We've done that for FoP. Arrived 60 minutes early. When we got off the ride at 9 (official opening was 9), the wait time was already 90 minutes and growing.
So, I do believe there are more people showing up for RD, but also condensed into fewer (the popular) rides so the lines are longer and grow quickly.
If its an EMH morning and you don't get there early, the lines for the popular rides will be extremely long before the official park opening time.