Epcot Rope Drop

[TeacherDL]

We will rope drop Epcot on June on June 8th (family of five). We love Test Track and we are anxious to ride the new Soarin...but we have also not done the new Frozen ride. What is the best way to ride all three of these with the tiered system?

 

[AFwifelife]

Willing to do single rider on TT? If not (or if it isn't possible), I would RD FEA, get a FP for TT (goes down a lot, gives you an anytime FP for it), and get a 4th FP for Soarin later in the day.

 

[Eccle]

We FPed TT because it goes down so much. At rope drop we did Joy and Sadness and Baymax, then had planned to do Soarin but the wait had got too long, I think if we had gone straight there it would have been fine. Test Track went down so we got anytime FPs, I picked up more TT FPs and we used those on Soarin, then I managed to get 4th FPs for FEA (for 8 of us). Additional fast passes just didn't seem to be coming up for us for Soarin

 

[DrFacilier]

Willing to do single rider on TT? If not (or if it isn't possible), I would RD FEA, get a FP for TT (goes down a lot, gives you an anytime FP for it), and get a 4th FP for Soarin later in the day.

Agreed. Soarin' 4th passes have been a lot easier to come by since they added another theater.

 

[meagarunt22]

We have successfully rope dropped soarin, then straight to test track, with a FP to FEA in the afternoon. I wouldnt recommend rope dropping FEA unless you are entering from the international gateway because the amount of super fast walking to get back there, and then to walk back to future world afterward since world showcase isn't open yet, will kill a bunch of energy right off the bat.

 

[nkereina]

Agreed. Soarin' 4th passes have been a lot easier to come by since they added another theater.

If this is true, then my strategy would be RD Test Track, FP FEA, and 4th FP for Soarin. In the past, we have RD Soarin, single rider TT, FP FEA. But FEA went down on our FP day so we ended up having to rope drop it and I agree with PP that its a lot of walking to get there from the main gate. And anyone with an Akershus pre-park opening breakfast is in front of you. We waited about 25-30 minutes at rope drop.

 

[LizzyS]

We FPed TT because it goes down so much. At rope drop we did Joy and Sadness and Baymax, then had planned to do Soarin but the wait had got too long, I think if we had gone straight there it would have been fine. Test Track went down so we got anytime FPs, I picked up more TT FPs and we used those on Soarin, then I managed to get 4th FPs for FEA (for 8 of us). Additional fast passes just didn't seem to be coming up for us for Soarin

I'm planning on us doing Soarin' at rope drop on Sunday, so I hope that works out well. I have never waited longer for a ride than the Soarin' at Disneyland, tbh, though I think WDW has more theaters?

 

[WaterLinds]

Touring Plans did a test run of all the various strategies a few weeks ago, if you search YouTube you should be able to find it. However, TT was down a long time the day they tested, so no one got to ride it.

They initially recommended FEA for FPs, but said with the frequency of TT being down it might be worth doing that too. FEA had shorter waits for a stretch after RD when we were there than either of the other two, I assume because of the walk over there. It would have been doable as a second ride that day but then you have to walk make to FW to do anything else before 11.

We did TT then Soarin, with FEA FPs for midday, and it did work but the Soarin line moved very slowly. Posted at 20 minutes but took closer to 35. Nearly missed our ADR at GG.

 

[Average Joes]

We RD TT then right to Soaring. We could not do single rider. It was maybe 20 minutes for each. We timed FEA FP for when we would probably be in the area per touring plans. I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked. I just looked and it was a 5/10 day last year.

 

[DrFacilier]

If this is true, then my strategy would be RD Test Track, FP FEA, and 4th FP for Soarin. In the past, we have RD Soarin, single rider TT, FP FEA. But FEA went down on our FP day so we ended up having to rope drop it and I agree with PP that its a lot of walking to get there from the main gate. And anyone with an Akershus pre-park opening breakfast is in front of you. We waited about 25-30 minutes at rope drop.

RD Test Track, FP FEA, and 4th FP for Soarin is what we did in October and are planning again in August. Booked Akershus for lunch and did FEA FP right after so it worked great. I was agreeing earlier that TT breaks down a lot and Soarin 4th FPs seem to be the easiest to score of the 3 tier 1s but I haven't tried RDing FEA.

TPs just did a video of where the guys tested which ride to ride first

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

RD Soarin, TT single rider, FP FEA

 

[crayon3448]

I wold FP either TT or FEA, the one you absolutely can't miss and rope drop the other. We went for a two day trip with the plan to RD TT and it was down. It threw off my whole touring strategy.

 

[b52hbuff]

RD Test Track, FP FEA, and 4th FP for Soarin is what we did in October and are planning again in August. Booked Akershus for lunch and did FEA FP right after so it worked great. I was agreeing earlier that TT breaks down a lot and Soarin 4th FPs seem to be the easiest to score of the 3 tier 1s but I haven't tried RDing FEA.

TPs just did a video of where the guys tested which ride to ride first

You beat me to the TP video. One cool thing about it was how they turned lemons into lemonade. When TT broke, it provided them an opportunity to comment about how a TT FP is useful because when/if TT breaks down, it becomes a multi-experience FP.

Here is another TP video you might find useful.

 

[baozi]

I once rope dropped FEA (entering from international gateway). Not a lot of people use that entrance, so the "rope drop" experience is very different. I arrived at the gate around 8:50 (9:00 opening), entered the gate immediately (no queue), was held for several minutes and walked to FEA. It was nearly a walk on.

 

[DrFacilier]

You beat me to the TP video. One cool thing about it was how they turned lemons into lemonade. When TT broke, it provided them an opportunity to comment about how a TT FP is useful because when/if TT breaks down, it becomes a multi-experience FP.

Here is another TP video you might find useful.

. Thanks! I love Brian’s videos and we used this one to plan our Epcot day in October. It worked out really well!

 

[SwanVT2]

We have never gotten to ride TT in all our visits because it is always down! This time my plan (entering from international gateway) is FEA at rope drop, the we have Soarin FP for mid-morning. After this ride, I will try to either get over to TT if the standby is not too long or book a FP for TT later in the day after lunch. Fingers crossed we finally get to ride it. My DD has seen the Youtube video of it and really wants to ride it!!

 

[ChristineOH]

We have never gotten to ride TT in all our visits because it is always down! This time my plan (entering from international gateway) is FEA at rope drop, the we have Soarin FP for mid-morning. After this ride, I will try to either get over to TT if the standby is not too long or book a FP for TT later in the day after lunch. Fingers crossed we finally get to ride it. My DD has seen the Youtube video of it and really wants to ride it!!

We love TT, but it definitely can be tricky. It seems to go down for random things, plus it doesn't run in the rain. And some times of year it rains. A lot.

Your plan will likely work just fine, but I would suggest making a change and pre-booking your tier one for Test Track and look for Soarin' as a 4th.

If you have a FP for Test Track when it goes down, you can use your TT FP any time that day if it comes back up. If you have a FP for Soarin' and Test Track goes down, it'll be harder to get a 4th for TT. It's just better insurance that you will get to ride TT.

Plus, Soarin' is easier to get as a 4th FP, and it often has reasonable waits in the evening. In fact, last June I went there around 7:40 pm with my 4th FP, and there literally was no standby line. The point where standby people and FP people were being merged was where the "line" started.

 

[SwanVT2]

We love TT, but it definitely can be tricky. It seems to go down for random things, plus it doesn't run in the rain. And some times of year it rains. A lot.

Your plan will likely work just fine, but I would suggest making a change and pre-booking your tier one for Test Track and look for Soarin' as a 4th.

If you have a FP for Test Track when it goes down, you can use your TT FP any time that day if it comes back up. If you have a FP for Soarin' and Test Track goes down, it'll be harder to get a 4th for TT. It's just better insurance that you will get to ride TT.

Plus, Soarin' is easier to get as a 4th FP, and it often has reasonable waits in the evening. In fact, last June I went there around 7:40 pm with my 4th FP, and there literally was no standby line. The point where standby people and FP people were being merged was where the "line" started.

The problem is we have a 5 year old and by 6 at the latest will probably be grabbing dinner and heading back to the hotel. DD loves soarin

 

[b52hbuff]

We have never gotten to ride TT in all our visits because it is always down! This time my plan (entering from international gateway) is FEA at rope drop, the we have Soarin FP for mid-morning. After this ride, I will try to either get over to TT if the standby is not too long or book a FP for TT later in the day after lunch. Fingers crossed we finally get to ride it. My DD has seen the Youtube video of it and really wants to ride it!!

As a Disneyland veteran rope dropper, I find transportation to be a complicating factor to making WDW rope drops. At Disneyland, we can stay "offsite" and just walk to the parks. During our Christmas trip, it was great to experience WDW transportation first hand so that I could narrow down the variety of transportation options into the one or two that got us to rope drops.

...so having said this, how are you getting to International Gateway? Which resort are you staying at? Are you walking or taking the boat to get there? Are there any other resorts you can walk to?

 

[shocker]

So tell me about FEA at rope drop? It opens at the same time as future world? Other countries are closed and you have the options of walking in for FEA and then right back out because everything else is (could) still be closed when you walk out?