Hollywood Studios rope drop

[MeganS721]

Can anyone tell me about rope drop at Hollywood Studios? Do the lines build quickly? We only have three park days this trip so we need to split AK and HS. I'm trying to decide which park to rope drop. We were originally going to do HS in the afternoon/evening because we wanted to see Fantasmic. Now I'm thinking if we do AK in the afternoon, we should be able to get FP for the three rides we want to do there (EE, KS, and Dinosaur), then we can always come back for Fantasmic. At HS we want to do Rock N Rollercoaster, Toy Story, and Star Tours. How much can I get done in the morning without FP at HS? Thank you!

 

[davkata]

When is your trip and are can you use single rider (not sure if you're travelling with little ones)? But I can tell you we have gone (DD and I) the last 3 years during the verrry busy President's week. We always rope dropped the EMH park and hit many rides multiple times in about 2-3 hours. At DHS we headed straight for Toy Story, rode it, then to Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster (more than once, using single rider). We were done and used some time for Great Movie Ride if I'm remembering correctly, before heading out to walk over to Beaches N Cream for late breakfast/early lunch at 11:30 where they weren't even open yet we had so much time to spare. Even during a very busy week those EMH really work in your favor. We also used FP on other days for those rides later in the day after going to whatever park had EMH. We only ever buy park hoppers, to that works in our favor too. As for AK, if you go there at rope drop (as we did also on it's EMH days) you can easily ride Everest 4, 5 even 6 times or until you are sick of it over and over as walk on or single rider. Line is so short they don't open single rider right away. We rode it twice before single rider opened. Most of our family thinks we are crazy for the way we "hit the parks" but we pack in all we can and maximize the time by doing Rope Drop, EMH, taking a few hour mid day pool/resort/nap break, then FP another park later in the day until park close. Some days we even hit a third or fourth park depending on park hours during our stay. Have fun!

 

[MeganS721]

When is your trip and are can you use single rider (not sure if you're travelling with little ones)? But I can tell you we have gone (DD and I) the last 3 years during the verrry busy President's week. We always rope dropped the EMH park and hit many rides multiple times in about 2-3 hours. At DHS we headed straight for Toy Story, rode it, then to Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster (more than once, using single rider). We were done and used some time for Great Movie Ride if I'm remembering correctly, before heading out to walk over to Beaches N Cream for late breakfast/early lunch at 11:30 where they weren't even open yet we had so much time to spare. Even during a very busy week those EMH really work in your favor. We also used FP on other days for those rides later in the day after going to whatever park had EMH. We only ever buy park hoppers, to that works in our favor too. As for AK, if you go there at rope drop (as we did also on it's EMH days) you can easily ride Everest 4, 5 even 6 times or until you are sick of it over and over as walk on or single rider. Line is so short they don't open single rider right away. We rode it twice before single rider opened. Most of our family thinks we are crazy for the way we "hit the parks" but we pack in all we can and maximize the time by doing Rope Drop, EMH, taking a few hour mid day pool/resort/nap break, then FP another park later in the day until park close. Some days we even hit a third or fourth park depending on park hours during our stay. Have fun!

We are going in April, weekend after Easter. It's just my husband and I, so we could use single rider but would prefer to ride together. It sounds like if we do either in the morning we will be good and should be able to ride what we want. The day we have open for AK/HS doesn't have EMH. I was afraid if we did HS in the afternoon/ evening we wouldn't have enough stuff to fill our time until Fantasmic, but I'm thinking we will be fine because we are going to have to waiting for some rides. Thanks for the help!

 

[momto2js]

I agree with your reasoning for doing HS first and then getting FP's for the headliners at AK. I think that is a solid plan.

 

[davkata]

We are going in April, weekend after Easter. It's just my husband and I, so we could use single rider but would prefer to ride together. It sounds like if we do either in the morning we will be good and should be able to ride what we want. The day we have open for AK/HS doesn't have EMH. I was afraid if we did HS in the afternoon/ evening we wouldn't have enough stuff to fill our time until Fantasmic, but I'm thinking we will be fine because we are going to have to waiting for some rides. Thanks for the help!

Whichever park you decide to do in the morning, definitely FP the other for the afternoon. And even without EMH, if you go right at RD, you should still have the same outcome for wait times. As for single rider, maybe ride once together before the lines form, then again in single rider. If you decide to do DHS as the later park, you can also try to set up your FP's by backing into whatever the Fantasmic show time is, making the most of your time that way. Best of both worlds!