How important is rope drop?

[arielmomma]

While I agree with the others that you can get a lot accomplished if you get up for rope drop, I must admit that my family very rarely has ever made it to them and we have never had trouble doing all of the things we want to do so long as we aren't there at a super busy time of year.

My children are 2 & 5 and we are not die hard, push ourselves, kind of people. We tend to ride certain rides - Pirates of the Caribean, Buzz Lightyear, Its a Small World - at least 5 or 6 times in a day and we are unwilling to wait more than 15 minutes or so.

Like I say, unless you have a very strick touring plan, you don't have to make it to rope drop and you can still do all of the things that your 3yo will love (possibly a dozen times!)

So, if can make it to rope drop, than it would be beneficial, but when you are going, you will still have a great time even if you don't. Just be flexible!

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

I wish this were true. We are going the first week of Feb. and there is no free dining I saw this post and I got my hopes up for a second.

DH and I will have to come back 9 or 10 months later cause they offer this deal in the late summer and fall. I want to try DDP so bad but it seems like a ton of food and we are more CS people than TS. Sorry off topic!!

It's not Free Dining, but here are some other discounts offer through February 2010 (info obtained from MouseSavers.com):
Disney Rewards Visa cardholders can take advantage of a 40% discount at Walt Disney World Moderate, Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts,
valid most nights 1/1/10-2/11/10.

Anyone can now purchase a fantastic buy 4, get 7 or buy 5, get 7 vacation package
offer valid for stays November 1 - December 24, 2009 and January 3 - March 27, 2010.

Maybe, y'all could take advantage of one of the other discounts out there? There's always some kind of discount out there that no one should be paying rack rate for rooms or full price for parks tickets anymore. This site is great to search for WDW, DLR, DCL and Universal discounts and off-property hotel discounts.

The MouseSavers.com website also has links for off-site restaurant discounts/coupons and the Orlando Entertainment Book full of discount coupons. If you stay off-site this may be VERY helpful too.

Also, Annual Passholders and DVC Members get dining discounts at certain locations at WDW and DLR. If you are either one these, make sure to take FULL advantage of this perk. The $$$$$ can add up! Usually, the discount pays for the tip. Every bit helps while at WDW!

Have a magical trip!

Jennifer

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I admit, I'm a uber-planner. However, I am not THAT bad. DH should be so thankful. He complains now about all my ADRs and "tentative" Touring Plans for our upcoming November/December trip. However, he doesn't complain too much when we get to ride Expedition Everest over and over again without getting off and Toy Story Mania three times in one day!

Jennifer

I'm not saying mornings aren'ta good opoprtunity, but without actually being at rope drop, we've been able to do the same thing. One night I'll never forget, I was ableto ride BTMRR many times ina row. I lost track after 14. So rope drop and uber planning is not teh tonly way to do it. I do admit I know a lot about WDW - but that's not quite the same as having a fixed plan.

Do you have children? The OP said her DH isn't a morning person. I have yet to meet a 3 year old who likes to sleep in! My youngest are now 6, and will actually sleep until 7:30! However, I've found that the younger they are, the earlier they wake.

Wel...I'm not sure what to say...I come from a family of folks who are just not morning people. We just are that way. School and work have forced us to adapt at times, but overall - most of my siblings have found careers so that they DON't have to get up that early. The kids in my extended family are mostly the same way. They are happiest staying up until 10 or 11 at night and sleeping later. We have all learned NOT to wake my sister up inthe morning. Famously my great aunt needed VERY little sleep. She lived to be in her 90's, and never slept more than about 5 1/2 - 6 hours per night. Even when she was in a nursing home at the end she was not a sleeper! The nursing home didn't quite know how to handle her!

 

[DisneyFanSince71]

Thanks to you all for your various feedback. Not to highjack the thread but... I am going in 11/14-11/21 with twin 4 year olds and really have thought a great deal about rope drop. The kicker for me is that my DS still needs a rest mid day if he is not going to be a nightmare at 6pm so the mid afternoon break at the townhouse is critical. In order to make that work it seems rope drop is the best plan. So, keep the advice coming - its very helpful!

We have 3 teens now, but when they were younger we would go to a nice dark hall, sit in the back and let my kids have a sleep. Kids don't always need a long nap, just one to take the edge off. I always do rope drop, but it generally means that I have to be up early to get doughnuts, juice etc.

 

[mnrose]

Seriously. It makes a HUGE difference in how many rides you can do, and how long you wait in line.

By being at rope drop all 7 days of our trip last week, we managed to get selected to be either First Family or Family of the Day or otherwise participate in the opening ceremonies 4 out of 7 days. You get amazing perks with these things, not to mention that my children have some awesome memories. You miss rope drop, you miss any chance for these sorts of perks.

We stayed at Emerald Island, and our longest commute to any park was (of course) MK. With that exception, we left our house at 7:45 or so each day and were IN LINE no later than 8:00. Easy peasy. And, we could easily take a mid-day break to recoup if we wanted to. For us, it definitely works to be rope drop people.

 

[photobob]

you can do more in the first 2-1/2 to 3 hours than you can the entire rest of the day. To me, that's invaluable. Only you can decide how important that is to you.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[bosox2001]

I agree with most others that you should take advantage of rope drop at least a few days because you'll be able to hit the most popular rides with much shorter waits. However, I think you can compromise with you're DH and not do RD every day as there are many other rides that will have short lines all day long. You don't have to overplan (like I do ) but have that short list of popular rides in mind on you're RD mornings.

Last thing, my family hit RD almost every day on our trip to avoid long lines with DD4 and DS2. Some days we got to the park 30 minutes early to line up, as I've seen recommended, but some days we arrived 10 minutes after RD and we found little difference in the wait times. For us, being able to sleep in 30-40 minutes more or taking more time for breakfast was worth it. When you think about you can really tack that 30 minutes waiting out front time onto you're 5 minute first ride wait anyway. The only exception to that rule I would say is TSM - which is always insane - for good reason

Would you all agree that 30 min is a good rule of thumb for arriving at the park? Any earlier or later at a particular park?

 

[caroline1851]

It's completely necessary if your goal is to decrease the time you spend waiting in line. My dh is COMPLETELY not a morning person (works 2nd shift so typically sleeps until at least 9am everyday). He fought the idea at the beginning but even admitted it was completely worth it to get up early.

 

[mom2my2gr8kids]

Totally agree! We are hitting rope drop next week!!!!!

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I definitely say to do roper drop, even though I am NOT a morning person and would rather HAVE a vacation then work @ it. But the mornings we didn't get up early we paid the price and had a hard time getting on things we wanted to do. We will definitely do as many rope drops as possible this time!

 

[Scott M]

I suppose that I'm in the minority, but I advise you to NOT do rope drops. Relax and take your time...You're on vacation!!!

Unless you're all excited and are awake early anyway, do not set an alarm and force yourselves to be at any particular place at any particular time.

Trust me, if your spouse or children are at all resistant to being somewhere early, you'll be sorry later.

Believe me, I would love to be at each and every rope drop myself. But my wife is not a morning person and my 5 year old son is, well a 5 year old son. So we compromise and do not do any rope drops.

I enjoy my Disney vacation so much more by assuring that my family remains content.