MK-June: What is your 1st ride after rope drop?

[ryanhuey]

Haven't been since 2013, first time using FP+ system...

TGP is telling me SDMT has a 43min wait at 9:10am (no EMH). I am guessing early breakfasters mostly go to that attraction first. Must be a lot of folks or it takes a long time to load. I am guessing SDMT is an early breakfast reservation or FP ride only. I got an 8:25am @BOG for one of our MK days and have a feeling we will be scarfing down food if I can't get an earlier reservation.

TGP is suggesting Space Mountain/Tomorrowland at Rope Drop. This is way contrary to old school planning. Is this right? Maybe everybody flocks toward SDMT instead of Tomorrowland now?

We used to almost always do FP runner and the rest to Dumbo/Fantasyland. We tried going to Frontierland first one time and we had to wait for a 2nd Rope Drop in Adventureland. If you go through Liberty Square is there a 2nd Rope Drop to get to Frontierland? Or is Frontierland even a good option for rope drop?

I had MK down pat. I read most of TG Mike's website and then learned a lot on top of that and learned a lot of tricks. I got to where I didn't need a written tour plan. For those of us that knew the system it was almost unfair to the vast majority that didn't do their homework. I guess Disney wanted to level the playing field for everyone. With the new FP+ and SDMT it looks like all the crowd tendencies have changed. I am a little worried we'll be like the rest of the zombie Disney tourists this time.

TG Mike would give us all kinds of cool secrets and tricks. TGP doesn't seem to have much and other free websites only have the most basic common sense stuff. If anyone knows of a subscription website like TG Mike please let me know.

Any information, suggestions, and tips are HIGHLY appreciated!

 

[Robo]

We used to almost always do FP runner and the rest to Dumbo/Fantasyland. We tried going to Frontierland first one time and we had to wait for a 2nd Rope Drop in Adventureland. If you go through Liberty Square is there a 2nd Rope Drop to get to Frontierland? Or is Frontierland even a good option for rope drop?

Frontierland opens with the regular MK park hours.
It is often virtually deserted for the first 1-2 hours of MK operation.
If you want to ride Splash and/or BTM multiple times, head there first.


TGM is no longer maintained by the owner.
It is severely dated and incomplete.

 

[nilla]

If I tell you, you're going to beat me to it!



j/k. We're planning on going right back to the 7DMT. I don't think the breakfast crowd gets any benefit when it comes to the morning rush, but I could be wrong.

Robo's 100% right about Frontierland. We rode BTMRR 4 straight times last year, then rode Splash Mountain standby, even though we had FPs for it. Then, we rode SM again, with the FPs.

We also were able to essentially walk on Peter Pan last year due to the Elsa and Anna rush.

 

[grecorj]

EasyWDW is great. Free.

 

[Candleshoe]

My plan on one of my days is Peter Pan first thing because I want to enjoy the new queue.
And because we're with first timers (the 11yo said he's not sure about fast coasters/rides either) we'll be doing Goofy and Dumbo and the rest. Did not get my morning SDMT so off to HM and BTMRR (fp, but if not needed we'll ride it twice!)
and so on.

SDMT will be after lunch for us with a FP.

Yes we have a morning breakfast at Crystal Palace but, I'm not hurrying us through because this is LITERALLY the first thing we'll do.

 

[dprincessmom]

We usually FP+ a couple of the Mountains (Space/Splash/Big Thunder) and try for 7DMT. If I FP+ Frontierland, we hit Adventureland or Tomorrowland first and knock those rides out before moving to Frontierland. Little wait all around and I save Fantasyland for late night/EMHs when I can.

 

[LaurenT]

This morning we went straight to Peter Pan so we could see the new queue without a wait. You can't see it with FP. Waited about 10 minutes which was just the right amount of time to appreciate the queue. It would have been a walk on if it were a true RD, but the park opened to onsite guests at 7 am and we were allowed in at 8 am.
As Robo said, Frontierland was still low waits when we got there - around 8:30. The whole park was reasonable until 10 and then became a madhouse. But this is Easter week (part two). Left the MK after the parade ... Lots are full and cars are parked everywhere! All over the grass areas and sides of the lots - it's the busiest I've ever seen it - and I still never waited more that 15 minutes for anything because I got there at rope drop, FP'd the right things and toured wisely....

 

[ryanhuey]

Cool stuff...

EasyWDW is definitely great and I can't believe its free. I'm just looking for current secrets/tricks not know by the general public since TGM is so outdated.

What is the best way to go to Frontierland at rope drop? We're definitely doing that one day.

I like the Peter Pan option, I was actually thinking that as well.

 

[chelseabun76]

I was so happy to have gotten a fp+ for 7D on each of our MK days, otherwise we wouldn't have ridden it at all, the wait was just not something we were willing to give up an hour or more of park time for. Rope drop we never tried, instead we hit up Frontierland and rode all of those rides 2 and 3 times each before heading over to use our fp+ in Fantasyland after lunch!

 

[Bkk40in2011]

Thanks for the info. I just changed my FP+ ressies based on your Frontierland thoughts. Hopefully it will work.

 

[ryanhuey]

Thanks for all the help

 

[Mrs. Max Goof]

We are planning on heading for 7D first thing, mostly because we're staying off-property and aren't counting on getting a FP+ reservation 30 days out.

 

[ryanhuey]

Bring your track shoes. From what I have been reading the wait time is an hour+ almost immediately. The good thing is you'll have plenty of time to catch your breath before you have to get on the ride

 

[nilla]

Bring your track shoes. From what I have been reading the wait time is an hour+ almost immediately. The good thing is you'll have plenty of time to catch your breath before you have to get on the ride

Is that the posted or actual wait time? I remember seeing 3 hours for E&A last year first thing in the morning, and had a very hard time believing that was the actual wait for people entering the line there.

Track shoes aren't as necessary anymore, I'd say, since you can't get past the line of CMs walking back through the park at opening. I could be wrong about that, though.

 

[pigletgirl]

Is that the posted or actual wait time? I remember seeing 3 hours for E&A last year first thing in the morning, and had a very hard time believing that was the actual wait for people entering the line there.

Track shoes aren't as necessary anymore, I'd say, since you can't get past the line of CMs walking back through the park at opening. I could be wrong about that, though.

That is true about the CM's. There is no reason to rush.

 

[Mrs. Max Goof]

Bring your track shoes. From what I have been reading the wait time is an hour+ almost immediately. The good thing is you'll have plenty of time to catch your breath before you have to get on the ride

Interesting...I would have thought that the hoards of families running for Elsa and Anna would have made that number a bit lower.

Would we be better off waiting until the very end of the day versus the beginning of the day? We'd hate to waste that prime first hour in the park waiting in line. MK doesn't close until midnight the day we're there...it couldn't be that busy past 11pm with no Extra Magic Hours, right?

 

[lroger01]

I understand your desire for "secret" tips like TGM provided. Unfortunately with the new Fast Pass+ system there aren't really any tricks like he provided for getting ahead - and yes, we all miss being able to use fast passes after the scheduled time!

The biggest thing is throughly understanding the new fast pass system. Look for the Mesaboy's FP tips thread for learning how to use it best. For example, you don't have to keep the times Disney assigns you. Or, if a fast passed ride ends up have a reasonable wait, you can change it to something else as long as it hasn't been used yet. Or, using your FPs in the first hour or two of park opening (if your there at park opening) is a waste. Save them for later when standby lines are long, and so on.

 

[ryanhuey]

Yes, I am struggling with the strategy of using FPs later in the day. I see its a common theme. It goes against what I've learned, but then again most people don't like my military style of touring WDW anyway. The best trick I learned from TG Mike was how to maximize FP use. I took that and learned a few other tricks. My goal was to always get into double digits FP counts every day and walk onto most major attractions 2 or 3 times on top of that. I am thinking this may not be possible with the new system. Still, I bet there are some common "traps" the majority of Disney tourists fall into. If I can figure those out I can not only avoid them but use them to my advantage. Of course this being my first time on FP+ I'll probably find those traps by falling into them . Especially since TG Mike isn't there to help me avoid them. I do get the whole changing the times trick, though, that it seems most don't know about or don't take the time to do. I learned that lesson already at 1:05 AM this morning when making FP+ selections. I was like, why the heck do I only get 4 options?!?!? (it was late and I was tired)