How long will line be for ROtR at rope drop?

[Plan Man]

We have not been to Disneyworld since before pandemic. Star Wars wasnt open yet. We will be early at rope drop but hate waiting in lines longer than 45 minutes. Will we be able to act civilized and still be able to get to ROtR ride in a resonable time?

 

[CynBeth]

I would just pay for it. You could be waiting in the standby line for a long time and then the ride goes down which happens a lot it could be an hour or longer until it comes back up. They make the line break up so you would not have the same spot in line and then would have to wait again but if you buy it and you come for your reserved time and it is down you can come back whenever you want into the special line.

 

[Parkhopstacker]

Rope drop Rise is still a long wait. Best time to go is late in the evening for sure. Or just buy a LL.

 

[supernova]

It'll be as long as the number of people who got there ahead of you.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

If you’re interested in an alternate strategy, we recently rode Ride 3 times closer to park close. Wait times ranged from 5 to 20 minutes.

 

[teachmedis]

We walked on rise twice at rope drop on our last trip. One of those times we were second in line to tap in. The boards seem to use the term "rope drop" differently than I think of it. Are you at the front at opening? In my mind that's rope dropping. If you're at the back, that's arriving at park open which to me isn't the same thing. I'm also not getting a leisurely coffee.

 

[RoseGold]

ROTR goes down a lot. I pick MM instead, which is walk on.

 

[bobbiwoz]

So, if the question were “How long will the wait be at park opening for ROtR “ what would the answer be. We both use ECV’s, so we feel we can wait. We have 11:55 ADR at Brown Derby. Can we make our ADR if we get to park if we get to park during BCV entry time?

I will change the ADR if consensus is no. There is nothing else we have to do that day In Studios.

 

[gharter]

Unless you are near the front of the line, the line quickly builds to 60-80 minutes before the park officially opens.
When we were there, by the time the park opened, the line was nearly back to muppets and weaved back and forth under the tunnel

 

[farfaraway]

We arrived an hour before "park opening" scheduled time. The closer to park opening, the longer the line. We were able to walk on and ride no problem. We also went before park closing and waited maybe 20 minutes (posted 40 minutes) and enjoyed the quiet, and near empty park when we got off. I'd definitely go at park closing again.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We arrived an hour before "park opening" scheduled time. The closer to park opening, the longer the line. We were able to walk on and ride no problem. We also went before park closing and waited maybe 20 minutes (posted 40 minutes) and enjoyed the quiet, and near empty park when we got off. I'd definitely go at park closing again.

So is waiting an hour to walk on really a walkon, or is it an hour wait.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Rope drop Rise is still a long wait. Best time to go is late in the evening for sure. Or just buy a LL.

But, for off site, you can't buy until park open, correct? How long do the ILL last for RotR? Aren't they usually gone by park open?

 

[set88]

But, for off site, you can't buy until park open, correct? How long do the ILL last for RotR? Aren't they usually gone by park open?

Lately it would appear that they are lasting through park opening, so as long as you're ready to buy right around park opening, you should be able to get one. The average time they ran out over the last month was 10:10am (this is from data from thrill-data.com).

 

[farfaraway]

So is waiting an hour to walk on really a walkon, or is it an hour wait.

Actually the let us in 30 minute before the posted park opening time. SO, we waited 30 minutes at park opening and then walked on the ride.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

We have not been to Disneyworld since before pandemic. Star Wars wasnt open yet. We will be early at rope drop but hate waiting in lines longer than 45 minutes. Will we be able to act civilized and still be able to get to ROtR ride in a resonable time?

I have read that for RotR, they have been letting people ride sometimes before early morning hours even begin. So I guess the sooner you get there, the less you'll have to wait, but it also depends on when they start letting people on and whether the ride is operating properly.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

So is waiting an hour to walk on really a walkon, or is it an hour wait.

I've noticed in multiple threads that you seem to equate arriving early to the park as the same thing as waiting in line. Just so you know that most people do not calculate that as part of the wait because if the park is closed, you cannot actually do anything in the park, so therefore it's not counted against doing other things in the park. It would sort of be like suggesting that tailgating for a football game is useless because you are waiting for the game to start. It's possible to have an enjoyable experience before park opening and also be set up to have an even more enjoyable experience inside the park because you'll be in the front of the line. That's totally fine if you don't want to do that, but there's no reason to suggest it's wrong, either.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I've noticed in multiple threads that you seem to equate arriving early to the park as the same thing as waiting in line. Just so you know that most people do not calculate that as part of the wait because if the park is closed, you cannot actually do anything in the park, so therefore it's not counted against doing other things in the park. It would sort of be like suggesting that tailgating for a football game is useless because you are waiting for the game to start. It's possible to have an enjoyable experience before park opening and also be set up to have an even more enjoyable experience inside the park because you'll be in the front of the line. That's totally fine if you don't want to do that, but there's no reason to suggest it's wrong, either.

I understand all of that but time isn’t free, and I like to present options for those who, like us, may not be able to stay out from open to close.

For us, it wouldn’t be an efficient use of time to wait an hour outside of a locked gate for an attraction that we can do multiple times later in the day in less time.

I’ve been spreading this info here for over 15 years now and usually get good reactions from guests who had no idea about some of processes in place to discourage late riders.

The good news is that it still works any time a new headliner is added.

 

[teachmedis]

I understand all of that but time isn’t free, and I like to present options for those who, like us, may not be able to stay out from open to close.

For us, it wouldn’t be an efficient use of time to wait an hour outside of a locked gate for an attraction that we can do multiple times later in the day in less time.

I’ve been spreading this info here for over 15 years now and usually get good reactions from guests who had no idea about some of processes in place to discourage late riders.

The good news is that it still works any time a new headliner is added.

I think the point is neither timing option should be undervalued. We do both, and take afternoon breaks. I much prefer rope drop because I'm a morning person, and I love feeling accomplished at the start of my day. However, there is something to be said for hopping on rides before close, we traditionally do Seven Dwarfs, Slinky Dog, and FOP at closing--the coasters are beautiful at night and with FOP we love the night time walk out through Pandora. However, it's not without its own consequences if you're using Disney transportation. I have many memories of coming out of MK after the main crowd has left, the buses just ran the huge enslaught of people back to the resort and now you're waiting for their return and you're waiting dead tired from your magical day. So there are pros and cons to both options.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

I understand all of that but time isn’t free, and I like to present options for those who, like us, may not be able to stay out from open to close.

For us, it wouldn’t be an efficient use of time to wait an hour outside of a locked gate for an attraction that we can do multiple times later in the day in less time.

I’ve been spreading this info here for over 15 years now and usually get good reactions from guests who had no idea about some of processes in place to discourage late riders.

The good news is that it still works any time a new headliner is added.

The main point for these suggestions between rope drop and park close is that it's not an either/or proposition. Both strategies are useful for different types of people.

However, if people are banking on riding only at close, there's always a chance that the ride will be down, the weather will be bad and/or the lines will be longer. I feel that suggesting headliners always have short lines at park close, as well as suggesting you can always ride these rides multiple times at night, is a bit disingenuous.

Yes, I agree that at WDW, like all amusement parks, tries to get people closer to the park at close so they can clear the park. CMs have had long days and want to go home. I just hope people who enjoy riding rides late (I'm certainly one of them) realize this and don't try to jump in line past the actual closing time.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

The main point for these suggestions between rope drop and park close is that it's not an either/or proposition. Both strategies are useful for different types of people.

However, if people are banking on riding only at close, there's always a chance that the ride will be down, the weather will be bad and/or the lines will be longer. I feel that suggesting headliners always have short lines at park close, as well as suggesting you can always ride these rides multiple times at night, is a bit disingenuous.

Yes, I agree that at WDW, like all amusement parks, tries to get people closer to the park at close so they can clear the park. CMs have had long days and want to go home. I just hope people who enjoy riding rides late (I'm certainly one of them) realize this and don't try to jump in line past the actual closing time.

All the reasons given for not waiting for late rides is what makes a late night strategy work so well. Maybe we’re just lucky, but we go quite a bit and haven’t had it fail us yet. You just have to understand the crowd patterns and some of the line stacking processes in place during the evening hours.

I do feel bad when I see families turn away from an attraction with an 90 minute posted wait about an hour before closing time, knowing that in reality they would likely have time for 2 or 3 rides.

The Disney ride operators are very prompt to close the gates exactly at park closing time, so it’s really not possible to hop in a line after closing time.

One exception was at Tower of Terror back when the 2nd showing of Fantasmic played a half hour after park close. Tower would stay open 15-20 minutes after the published closing time, giving guest time for a couple more rides before heading to the show.