Is Rope Drop Necessary on a "5" Crowd Day at MK?

[freshstart19]

Hello! I leave in 2 days and my family is disagreeing on rope drop each day if I want to be in MK one evening. We've never done the parks at night since we get up early and follow the plans.I've already made a mistake by booking FPs at MK for Monday which is an crowd level 8 day but DD12 really wanted to start her trip at MK. Plus, I have a CRT reservation at 8:10. We'll be back in MK on Thursday which is "5" day and EMH day. Do I really need to be there on Thursday for rope drop? My BOG ADR is for 2:20. I've been trying to get that earlier but no luck. Have a 6:50 A&E FP+ so I need to go back to the park for that. If doing rope drop, I was planning on leaving the park at the 2:20 lunch and then return around 7:30 pm for our A&E meet. Problem is I can't get a second round of FPs because of the late one for A&E to enjoy the rides at night. Gosh, I'm rambling. This FP+ thing has me totally stressed out! It was easier following the plans before and picking up FPs as we go.

 

[wddub2015]

You really don't need to be there for rope drop on a 5 day. It of course would help if you want to ride things like 7DMT or PP without a FP and without waiting in line forever. I wouldn't stress over it if rope drop doesn't fit into your plans.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Thursday is not a recommended day at MK, so you are taking your chances if you skip rope drop.

 

[SM101]

It's also August, so it's going to be hot as blazes in the afternoon. RD, leave the park for lunch/pool, head back around 6, is usually a good strategy to beat the worst of the heat and crowds.

 

[wisblue]

It's hard to respond to your question without knowing what things you most want to do at MK.

I wouldn't say that being at MK at rope drop is "necessary, but there is no question that you will find shorter standby lines during the EMH hour and the first 1-2 hours after that than you will in the middle of the afternoon. But, I also think you are overreacting when you say that you won't be able to enjoy the rides at night. The park is open until 11 PM on Thursday, August 27, and if you stay until then you should find plenty of short lines, even at headliner attractions. You also have your other 2 FPs to use, and you didn't say what you intend to do with those.

I also think you are being too hard on yourself when you say you made a mistake by planning to go to MK on Monday because it has a crowd level 8. A lot of people, including us, like to go to the MK on our first full park day. If you have breakfast at CRT at 8:10 you should be done close to when the park opens at 9. My suggestion would be to do some of your favorite attractions for about 2-3 hours while standby lines are short to manageable, then have your 3 FPs set for late morning and early afternoon. That will get your trip off to a great start.

We also like to start each day at rope drop, take a break in the afternoon, and then return to a park in the late afternoon or early evening. This is especially true when the weather is very hot, as it almost certainly will be next Thursday.

 

[Yahweh]

It's also August, so it's going to be hot as blazes in the afternoon. RD, leave the park for lunch/pool, head back around 6, is usually a good strategy to beat the worst of the heat and crowds.

I think this is exactly right. I find MK unbearable on a hot crowded/semi crowded afternoon. I'd much rather take off to the Poly for lunch and spend some time either resort hopping or back to my own resort for downtime.

 

[freshstart19]

Thanks everyone. I don't have great FP selections for Monday, our first day. ADR for breakfast at CRT at 8:10. 9:40 Peter Pan's Flight; 10:50 FP for Cinderella and Raphunzel (got this before the CRT ADR opened up. Kept it because of Raphunzel though... maybe shouldn't do that...); ; 1:15 for 7DMT. The 3pm afternoon parade is a pain. Wish that was earlier. Planned on doing that on Monday and leave the park and not return that day. Perhaps we head straight to 7DMT not using our FP after the breakfast and before hitting PP?

FPs on Thursday; 10:25 Buzz Lightyear; 11:25 Splash Mountain; 2:20 BOG lunch (been trying to move that); 6:50 A&E.

Can't stay till 11pm on Thursday because DD25 is arriving at hotel around 9 or 9:30 to join us on our cruise which begins on Friday. Haven't seen her in a few months so don't want to get to hotel and find her asleep!!

Why is Thursday not a recommended MK day? It's a lower crowd level than Monday. I need to get the two MK days figured out so I can get passed this. My brain is fried:-(

 

[sharonabe]

Why is Thursday not a recommended MK day? It's a lower crowd level than Monday. I need to get the two MK days figured out so I can get passed this. My brain is fried:-(

Because Thursday is a EARLY EMH day. From 8 until about 10, you will have low, low crowds. Around 10 or 10:30 the crowds will start to build and by 11, that 5 crowd level will feel like much more than that. For whatever reason, people staying onsite see that early EMH is for them and they go to that park even if they don't make the early hour, and that park ends up more crowded than normal.

You're not staying late that night, so you probably do need to make rope drop. I think I would try to stay through the day. Your 2:20 lunch will give you a good, air conditioned break. After lunch, hit Mickey's Philharmagic and the The Presidents for a little more air con. That should refresh you enough to make it through your FP+ with A&E, and then you can head back to your resort for dinner and an evening swim.

 

[freshstart19]

I guess hitting A&E first thing without a FP would waste too much times away from other attractions. We just saw them together in Disneyland last summer but DD12 wants to see them again!!!

 

[Lucius Best]

Why is Thursday not a recommended MK day? It's a lower crowd level than Monday. I need to get the two MK days figured out so I can get passed this. My brain is fried:-(

Ditto what previous poster said. That just means that MK is not recommended on that particular day, compared to other parks, the theory is that MK will be more crowded that Thursday than the other parks, mostly due to morning EMH. And according to easywdw, Monday is a 5 and Thursday is a 3?

With two days at MK, and given those FP+ times and ADRs, this is what I would do. Since you can't stay late Thursday, I would try to stay late Monday for Wishes. If doing that, might make sense to do midday pool break Monday, and then do Thursday straight through? And if Thursday is morning EMH, you'd want to be there at rope drop to take advantage of it.

Monday: CRT breakfast 8:10am, note that it is unlikely you'll be finished before rope drop, which actually happens closer to 8:45am. At rope drop, vast majority of crowd is going to 7DMT. After breakfast I would head in opposite direction, to Splash/Thunder (or Space/Buzz). Work way back to use your PP FP at end of window 10:40am. After 7DMT FP, you can get 4th FP at kiosk. Wing it for afternoon (lunch, parade, pool). Personally I would skip the parade, take a pool break, come back after 5pm with 4th FP in hand, stay for Wishes.

Thursday: 7DMT at rope drop, then PP, then morning do everything else in Fantasyland before heading towards Buzz then over towards Splash. BOG 2:20pm and A&E 6:50pm are awkward times. Maybe Tom Sawyer Island after Splash, before lunch? Can spend hot busy afternoon doing indoor stuff (Philharmagic, Presidents, Laugh Floor, CoP). Or pool break between BOG and A&E, or monorail break? Another option would be to go to A&E at rope drop. Then you could change your A&E FP to something else from 9-10am, and then start getting additional FPs at kiosks after riding Splash.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I guess hitting A&E first thing without a FP would waste too much times away from other attractions. We just saw them together in Disneyland last summer but DD12 wants to see them again!!!

Can't you see them on your cruise? Or is it not DCL?

 

[Geoff_M]

We were at MK this week when EasyWDW had it at a "6", and the park was still plenty busy after 11 AM with long waits in the usual lines.

 

[Emagine]

Which makes me wonder, what is the definition of a 5 and how are these numbers determined? I have heard that 5-6 are considered to be very crowded by some. I am always baffled at the numbers.

 

[freshstart19]

Thank you so much for the suggestions. Wouldn't want to do Splash early in the morning. Like the Space and buzz idea; DH is only one doing Space! DH doesn't want to stay for Wishes. Booked Kona Café for dinner one night to watch fireworks from beach. Have partially convinced him to do some of the rides I heard were cool at night. BTMRR, Splash, Jungle Cruise and 7DMT. Perhaps, staying later on Monday will work if we take a break. Tuesday is a lighter Epcot day with dinner at Poly to hang on beach during fireworks. Wed is AK/HS. Thurs back to MK. Friday cruise begins.

I'll have to rework the touring plans and will post to sanity check things later today. Thanks.

 

[ciera321]

We ALWAYS do RD, no matter the crowd level. You'll just get that much more done....

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

You need to be in the parks either early or late if you want to enjoy the headliners with little to no wait. Rope drop is nice if you want to ride them once and then get out before the crowds start to grow. Late night is better if you want to ride them multiple times after the majority of the crowd leaves.

Days with an EMH morning can become incredibly crowded by late morning/early afternoon. But we've found that those early morning guest will eventually tire out and head back to the resorts. Late night can be very peaceful after an EMH morning if you're willing to stay in the park after the masses head home.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Here's an example from earlier this summer of what we were able to accomplish between 8 pm and midnight without FP+ on a crowd level 8 day that happened to be a morning EMH. It sounds like you'll be returning for A&E at 7:30 so you may be able to see comparable results. We found bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park that evening as we were arriving:

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Hello! I leave in 2 days and my family is disagreeing on rope drop each day if I want to be in MK one evening. We've never done the parks at night since we get up early and follow the plans.I've already made a mistake by booking FPs at MK for Monday which is an crowd level 8 day but DD12 really wanted to start her trip at MK. Plus, I have a CRT reservation at 8:10. We'll be back in MK on Thursday which is "5" day and EMH day. Do I really need to be there on Thursday for rope drop? My BOG ADR is for 2:20. I've been trying to get that earlier but no luck. Have a 6:50 A&E FP+ so I need to go back to the park for that. If doing rope drop, I was planning on leaving the park at the 2:20 lunch and then return around 7:30 pm for our A&E meet. Problem is I can't get a second round of FPs because of the late one for A&E to enjoy the rides at night. Gosh, I'm rambling. This FP+ thing has me totally stressed out! It was easier following the plans before and picking up FPs as we go.

At this late point, even though what you have may be a bit sub optimal, if you have a good touring plan, that will get you through. You don't have to optimize every single thing. If you don't want to hit rope drop, just know that you're either going to have a long wait or need a fast pass for several of the headliners and plan around that accordingly.

 

[tlmadden73]

I am going on Thursday as well and only because I plan on trying to take advantage of the EMH (8:00 AM)

I've seen some crowd plans say the crowds could be a "3" to a "5" . . I just think Disney is much busier than it used to be ..so I just expect the worse and plan for it. I suspect it will be somewhat crowded by lunch and I want to get there early to take advantage of the EMH perk and to be there in the relatively COOLER part of the day.

My plan is to hit Tomorrowland and FantasyLand attractions in the first two hours then use our fast passes for attractions we chose from 9:30 to lunch (including Mine Train and princess visit (NOT A&E .. that was not available even at 63 days out). After lunch at BOG I hope to just get 4th,(and more) Fast Passes for the rest of the day for minor attractions (that are toddler friendly). We hope to take an afternoon break somewhere depending on the weather .... Since we have three kids 4 and under we simply don't know how late we can make it. We'd love to stay for the night stuff, but that all starts so late in the summer.


I would think if you aren't going to take advantage of the EMH ... then you shouldn't be going to that park that day. But since you already booked it, I guess you should try and do the Rope Drop thing that day ...

 

[freshstart19]

Thanks for the additional replies. We've always done rope drop and never the evenings so I was trying to come up with a plan. I was just able to change my BOG lunch from 2:20 to 12:40. Woo Hoo!! I'll have a sit down with my family tonight and plan again!!