How to start early but avoid RD chaos?

[orangecuse]

So we would like to start our day at each park relatively early, simply for the sake of being morning people (or rather, having a morning oriented toddler lol).

We don’t have any interest in any ride he can’t get on- so none of the major headliners really (except maybe FEA or PP- but we don’t have our hearts set on any specific rides).

Is there a way to get to the park to start early but avoid the chaos of running/pushing/mobs at the gate? My thought was maybe a nice slow breakfast ADR and arrive at say 9:15. I figure by then most of the RD crowd is in and we can have a less chaotic start?

I’m more focused on MK/AK as our Epcot days we will be starting via International Gateway and I’ve heard in general thats less chaotic even if doing RD.

(Also this is not meant to diss RD or people that do it, I’ve just heard some crowds are a little *too* enthused to get to FOP or SDMT. I’m sure most RD people aren’t doing pushing or shoving ext.).

 

[Haley R]

So we would like to start our day at each park relatively early, simply for the sake of being morning people (or rather, having a morning oriented toddler lol).

We don’t have any interest in any ride he can’t get on- so none of the major headliners really (except maybe FEA or PP- but we don’t have our hearts set on any specific rides).

Is there a way to get to the park to start early but avoid the chaos of running/pushing/mobs at the gate? My thought was maybe a nice slow breakfast ADR and arrive at say 9:15. I figure by then most of the RD crowd is in and we can have a less chaotic start?

I’m more focused on MK/AK as our Epcot days we will be starting via International Gateway and I’ve heard in general thats less chaotic even if doing RD.

(Also this is not meant to diss RD or people that do it, I’ve just heard some crowds are a little *too* enthused to get to FOP or SDMT. I’m sure most RD people aren’t doing pushing or shoving ext.).

I think doing a park breakfast would be a good idea to help ease into the morning without being right there for rd. For mk, I would say crystal palace, Cinderella’s royal table or bog. For ak, you could maybe do Tusker house

 

[mn51]

I think that is a good idea but I would probably make an earlier reservation. If the park opens at 9:00 and you have an earlier reservation, they let you in and you can have a peaceful walk to the restaurant. At least that is what we have found. The "rush" can sometimes depend on the time of the year. When we go in late August and early September, there are a good number of people at rope drop but it's not as crazy as when we have gone at some known busier times of the year. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Disneylover99]

Just so you know, it will still be quite busy at security check and the tapstyles for the first hour or so after the parks open, especially during busier times of the year. For me, being in those lines seems more chaotic, then being at the front of the pack at rope drop.

Since you are early morning people, I’d definitely recommend getting the earliest breakfast you can, inside the park you want to spend the day in. I think you’ll be able to avoid most of the chaos with this approach.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

The crowds are pretty easy to avoid after you get through security. At MK you can walk along Main Street and do anything you'd like there then make your way you the front of the castle. You can watch the welcome show. The majority of people will be going to 7DMT and will be lined up for it. Either pick a different land than Fantasyland (if one appeals too you). If you do want to go to Fantasyland first and ride something like Winnie the Pooh wait for the actors to clear the stage area and go through the castle. The 7DMT people will be out of the way in line.

At AK just arrive about 15 mins before park open. They will have walked the FOP mass toward Pandora already. You can walk peacefully toward Navi or other attractions. If you find more crowds than you're comfortable with, just hang back for a few and let them pass.

We've found that the RD crazy is really only in the large groups going to the biggest attractions. Most everything else is peaceful. I have cute pictures of DS when he was 2 splashing in puddles in Dinoland with Grandma on our first trip. No one else is around. I really enjoy that time of day in the parks so I'm not a fan of the early morning breakfast. But if your family would enjoy that it's definitely another option.

 

[goodeats]

Rope Drop isn't bad, it's just that the crowds all head for the headliners. There's a bottleneck of sorts at Space Mountain, 7DMT, PP, Soarin, etc. If you arrive before rope drop and head to a less popular ride you'll be golden. I think that will be my new strategy next trip and save my FP for the headliners later in the morning.

 

[KenHutch]

Rope Drop is always a bit busy but just do this. Go in the opposite direction., at AK when everyone runs for Pandora we are heading to Everest, KS and Kali. As virtually walk ons. Try to get a fast pass for Slinky Dog at Hollywood but go to ToT and Rock they will be almost a walk on.

 

[holden]

Early Morning Magic is an option too.

 

[rg35]

Rope drop isn't too bad now that they open up Main Street for waiting instead of the main gate. There's some jockeying for position but overall I think it's a lot better than it used to be when they were still doing the Welcome Show at the railroad station and everyone was crammed in that area and then forced to squeeze through the two small tunnels under the railroad tracks.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I would not plan to arrive right after RD as bag check will likely be long.
I'd arrive about 40 minutes prior to RD and then just hang back and go a different direction if you're not interested in where the masses are going like FOP or SDD.
Much better to be in the park prior to RD rather than arriving at the park during RD.
PP is the only attraction you're gonna want to "fight" for and with them now letting guests into MK up to the castle its not as much of a running of the bulls situation as it used to be with the opening show being at the train station.
I'd suggest you get close to the stage and then walk through the castle. People are relatively calm at MK.

 

[Disney Bubble Lover]

BOG PPO breakfast is our favorite way to avoid the rope drop chaos. We arrive around 7:30am so the security lines are not crazy yet and we’re in the PPO reservation line by 7:45am. We were allowed into the park shortly before the general crowd was allowed onto Main St so it was a pretty relaxing walk and we avoided the rope drop stampede.

We prefer BOG over CRT or Crystal Palace because it allows us enough time to not rush through the meal and miss characters and still be out in the park before rope drop. The location of BOG also has an advantage because you’re already in Fantasyland at park opening and not held in the hub with the majority of the incoming crowd. This would allow you to stay out of the path from the hub to SDMT at park opening and not experience the crazy rush with pushing/shoving.

After BOG breakfast you’re allowed to explore a significant portion of Fantasyland without the normal crowd. You’re also allowed to line up for Peter Pan’s flight before the park opens so you can be on that ride when the rope drop crowd arrives. We actually had enough time for one ride on SDMT and lined up for PP before park opening. This put us in a great position to hit up several non headliners with very short waits or you could explore areas of the park not around the headliners with lower crowds for awhile while the majority of rope drop crowds are in line for the popular rides.

 

[kniquy]

s there a way to get to the park to start early but avoid the chaos of running/pushing/mobs at the gate? My thought was maybe a nice slow breakfast ADR and arrive at say 9:15. I figure by then most of the RD crowd is in and we can have a less chaotic start?

If you head in the opposite direction of the hot attractions you should encounter a more relaxed walk to attractions.

You mentioned PPF. If you show up to the park at 9:15 and don't get to PPF until say 9:30 you will have about an hour wait. With this ride we have positioned ourselves by the liberty street bridge, while they are doing the opening show. Then hang a right going towards Columbia harbor house and head right to PPF. We were on and off the ride by 9:15. If you don't get a FP for this ride then this is the next best thing. After that head towards adventure land where you can ride Jungle cruise, Pirates and Aladdin to ride with pretty short waits. At this park the majority of people will be heading towards 7DMT and SM.

As for AK - your best direction would be to head to the Safari first. You still do want to get to the park for opening as the later you show up the lines do back up. After the safari would be good time to try and hit the first FoLK show, which i think is around 10am. After that use your FP for the other attractions you want to do.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

So we would like to start our day at each park relatively early, simply for the sake of being morning people (or rather, having a morning oriented toddler lol).

We don’t have any interest in any ride he can’t get on- so none of the major headliners really (except maybe FEA or PP- but we don’t have our hearts set on any specific rides).

Is there a way to get to the park to start early but avoid the chaos of running/pushing/mobs at the gate? My thought was maybe a nice slow breakfast ADR and arrive at say 9:15. I figure by then most of the RD crowd is in and we can have a less chaotic start?

I’m more focused on MK/AK as our Epcot days we will be starting via International Gateway and I’ve heard in general thats less chaotic even if doing RD.

(Also this is not meant to diss RD or people that do it, I’ve just heard some crowds are a little *too* enthused to get to FOP or SDMT. I’m sure most RD people aren’t doing pushing or shoving ext.).

Unless you are heading to the headliners, RD really isn't that bad. We just did RD at AK (by mistake, actually. We just happened to get up earlier than usual). As PP's have mentioned, the security line was fairly long (but still moved quickly) and the line for the tapstiles was long. We actually did head over to Pandora first as that's where our first FP+ was and didn't witness anyone pushing or shoving. Honestly, unless you take that left and head into Pandora, you will probably find very light crowds throughout the rest of AK. If you really don't want to enter at RD, perhaps have breakfast at Rainforest Cafe before you enter AK and then enter AK from the restaurant's back entrance.

At MK, you really shouldn't have a problem. We actually did RD there once and headed straight to Dumbo and Barnstomer - we were literally the only ones there.

 

[orangecuse]

Ah this is all such great insight! Thanks y’all!

 

[Tink_83]

BOG PPO breakfast is our favorite way to avoid the rope drop chaos. We arrive around 7:30am so the security lines are not crazy yet and we’re in the PPO reservation line by 7:45am. We were allowed into the park shortly before the general crowd was allowed onto Main St so it was a pretty relaxing walk and we avoided the rope drop stampede.

We prefer BOG over CRT or Crystal Palace because it allows us enough time to not rush through the meal and miss characters and still be out in the park before rope drop. The location of BOG also has an advantage because you’re already in Fantasyland at park opening and not held in the hub with the majority of the incoming crowd. This would allow you to stay out of the path from the hub to SDMT at park opening and not experience the crazy rush with pushing/shoving.

After BOG breakfast you’re allowed to explore a significant portion of Fantasyland without the normal crowd. You’re also allowed to line up for Peter Pan’s flight before the park opens so you can be on that ride when the rope drop crowd arrives. We actually had enough time for one ride on SDMT and lined up for PP before park opening. This put us in a great position to hit up several non headliners with very short waits or you could explore areas of the park not around the headliners with lower crowds for awhile while the majority of rope drop crowds are in line for the popular rides.

How do you get to the MK for your PPO at BOG? I have one at 8:05 and I’m trying to figure out if I should just drive my car and park for the Mk or if there is anothe / better transport option... I’m coming from AoA that morning...

 

[fla4fun]

How do you get to the MK for your PPO at BOG? I have one at 8:05 and I’m trying to figure out if I should just drive my car and park for the Mk or if there is anothe / better transport option... I’m coming from AoA that morning...

They run buses early because of PPO guests. Just make sure you allow enough time to get there. For an 8:00 ADR, I would plan on being at the bus stop between 6:30 and 6:45, in case you have to wait for a second bus or have a delay at bag check.

 

[arminnie]

I’d get up early, have breakfast at one of the monorail resorts (probably the Wave at the Contemporary), and then head over to MK.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Go the opposite way. We also don't arrive an hour early. 5-10 minutes is our max. Sometimes we arrive just as they open the gates. We try to RD each park once then the rest of the trip is sleep in/late park arrival days.

At MK we usually head to Splash and BTMRR or Space.
AK we head to EE.
DHS we head to RnRC.
Epcot we head to Soarin IF we RD. We usually just do FP at Epcot and arrive late each time. There's not much to ride there.

 

[Disney Bubble Lover]

How do you get to the MK for your PPO at BOG? I have one at 8:05 and I’m trying to figure out if I should just drive my car and park for the Mk or if there is anothe / better transport option... I’m coming from AoA that morning...

The buses start running around 6:30am I believe so you should be able to take a Disney bus from AoA without a problem. We stayed onsite without a rental car for both our trips (2016 & 2018) and never had a problem getting to PPO reservations at MK and HS with plenty of time to spare using Disney transportation.

Also as an FYI, all BOG reservations for any time slot prior to 9am are allowed into the restaurant for immediate seating as soon as the restaurant opens at 8am. I would suggest ordering online or through the app in advance. If you don’t preorder you’ll have to wait in line for the kiosks to place your order and pay but if you order in advance you just check in and head straight into the dining room to find a table

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I was going to write a reply, then I realized that @PrincessWithABlaster pretty much said exactly what I wanted to say!

I figured I could still give you a good example of a recent rope drop that was very relaxing. It was 1/20/19, the Sunday of MLK weekend (so fairly busy), and MK had a 9AM start with no EMH. Touring Plans has rated it as a "9" day. We probably got there a little after 8am. It was just DH and I - we were staying at the CR and the kids decided to stay back for a bit (we had done a couple of late nights) so we arranged to go into the park for a bit, then my DH was going to go back and meet them to walk back for our first FP. I only say all of this because we could have done more rides, but once my DH left, I did stuff like shop on Main Street and listen to the Dapper Dans since I knew my kids would be ride focused!

Anyway, we wandered around Main Street for a while, then we went up to the hub for the Castle Show. We hung back toward the Adventureland entrance, but still watched the show. We went to Adventureland and Frontierland and did BTMR, PoC, and JC, which were essentially walk-ons. Magic Carpets and Splash were also walk-ons, but we didn't choose to ride them (we had a FP for Splash for later, too cool at that point!). Very pleasant and uncrowded, took our time...we could have done more but headed back to the hub so DH could head back to CR since our first FP was for 9:50am.

But generally I agree with the other suggestions that people have made about RD destinations - if you want to skip the headliner at RD, it can be lovely. I remember fondly before my kids discovered how fun EE was, we'd rope drop AK and my DH would take them to Dinoland and I'd go to EE and ride over and over again, then we'd meet at KS and that would still have minimal waits! I don't think we've rope dropped AK since Pandora has opened, but I feel fairly certain from reading reports that I would not head to FOP (although I've had good luck there at the end of the night)...