MM rope drop back fired today!

[IBLarsen]

Have been in the parks since Saturday evening, and used our MM for DL this morning. We were about 15 minutes before rope drop by the time we got thru a very slow security line. Went straight to Peter Pan, and waited 35 min. Next we walked by Matterhorn which was wrapped passed the '45 minutes from here' sign post. So we went to Nemo, which said 20 minute wait....was about 40. Then went to Autopia, which said 20 min, and was 40 minutes. Then back to Matterhorn for a 30 min wait. The apps were not accurate in waits during this hour. At. all. I noticed that in the afternoon that the waits had dropped and stayed fairly consistent, all quite a bit lower than they had been during the first 2 hours! (Matterhorn, Autopia, Nemo, all lower the rest of day, even Peter Pan was lower than it had been right off). Space, and splash (in the very hot afternoon were always long...per the norm. I was a bit shocked, as I'm a dedicated rope drop person, and today just did not fit what I expected. We aren't local and only visit yearly for the last several years, so maybe this isn't all that unusual, it just is so different from my past experience.
Our rope drop on Sunday morning (non mm day) was much better, but Sunday was the slowest day we've had so far this trip. Don't get me wrong, we are having a blast, and came prepared for full summer crowds, crazy heat and all

 

[smartlabelprint]

What time did the park open today?

 

[DizneeRailFan62]

Have been in the parks since Saturday evening, and used our MM for DL this morning. We were about 15 minutes before rope drop by the time we got thru a very slow security line. Went straight to Peter Pan, and waited 35 min. Next we walked by Matterhorn which was wrapped passed the '45 minutes from here' sign post. So we went to Nemo, which said 20 minute wait....was about 40. Then went to Autopia, which said 20 min, and was 40 minutes. Then back to Matterhorn for a 30 min wait. The apps were not accurate in waits during this hour. At. all. I noticed that in the afternoon that the waits had dropped and stayed fairly consistent, all quite a bit lower than they had been during the first 2 hours! (Matterhorn, Autopia, Nemo, all lower the rest of day, even Peter Pan was lower than it had been right off). Space, and splash (in the very hot afternoon were always long...per the norm. I was a bit shocked, as I'm a dedicated rope drop person, and today just did not fit what I expected. We aren't local and only visit yearly for the last several years, so maybe this isn't all that unusual, it just is so different from my past experience.
Our rope drop on Sunday morning (non mm day) was much better, but Sunday was the slowest day we've had so far this trip. Don't get me wrong, we are having a blast, and came prepared for full summer crowds, crazy heat and all

The problem that I found with the EMH and MM is that with limited rides open and a higher volume of guests attending it is like a max attendance day, so you may get a break on one ride in that hour before the the majority of the guests get in the park. Trufully, the only time the EMH/MM was any use to me was when I was lining up to get the candy cane in DL during Christmas, before CDA started making them!

 

[SuperRob]

The "rule" prevails. When a park has extra hours of any kind, go to a different park. We're skipping our Magic Morning and going to DCA instead that day.

 

[IBLarsen]

The "rule" prevails. When a park has extra hours of any kind, go to a different park. We're skipping our Magic Morning and going to DCA instead that day.

In WDW we follow that rule to avoid the EMH, but we've never had this issue in DLR. we may have just lucked out in the past, but I think I will do exactly as you are planning for the next trip and go to DCA on an MM morning. Hopefully this will help others in their planning as well I've also noticed that in WDW rope drop in general is more advantageous than it is here during busy times.

 

[IBLarsen]

What time did the park open today?

9:00am regular open. I was thinking that may have also contributed to the higher crowds at 8:00. With the later start times this week, I was hopeful that meant lower crowds, it's feeling quite packed really. the back to school rush maybe?

 

[SuperRob]

In WDW we follow that rule to avoid the EMH, but we've never had this issue in DLR. we may have just lucked out in the past, but I think I will do exactly as you are planning for the next trip and go to DCA on an MM morning. Hopefully this will help others in their planning as well I've also noticed that in WDW rope drop in general is more advantageous than it is here during busy times.

DL is running with much higher attendance numbers for those early hours now. Last time I was there (a couple years ago), I was shocked at just how many people were there for the early hour / magic mornings. I think the "secret" is out. And since ALL of those people are effectively herded to the same handful of rides, it's a crap shoot whether it really saves you any time.

 

[hsmamato2]

so does MM work any better for an earlier park opening time? I as gonna try a MM, but will avoid if it backfires

 

[smartlabelprint]

so does MM work any better for an earlier park opening time? I as gonna try a MM, but will avoid if it backfires

From what I gather if mm is at 7 it can be pretty good.

Ever since hotel guests have been added its new pointless for us to go to mm since we come in winter with park open at 10, mm at 9.

 

[IBLarsen]

so does MM work any better for an earlier park opening time? I as gonna try a MM, but will avoid if it backfires

In retrospect, I really wish we would have just lined up extra early for dca opening rather than use our mm. Security is taking forever to get thru and on days that don't have MM are the days that dca does have the EMH for hotel guests, so by skipping MM we wouldn't have hotel guests in front of us.

 

[bumbershoot]

The "rule" prevails. When a park has extra hours of any kind, go to a different park. We're skipping our Magic Morning and going to DCA instead that day.

That's my plan for WDW but not for DLR.

But you do have to be in line much earlier than 15 min before RD.

 

[jammyjam25]

If lines for the popular MM rides (Peter, Matterhorn, Alice, etc.) are busy we just tend to head to the other FL rides (Dumbo, Mr. Toad's) that we know are likely to get longer lines as the day goes on. We've never experienced lines like you're describing though!

 

[GatorChris]

We've never done a MM. First, because we can't get up an extra hour early. Second, our years at WDW taught us to go opposite of that park on that day. But when you go online for DL planning or hit a youtube DL hack video, they all say be there at rope drop. And since we're all listening now, it makes it crowded fast. In theory.

 

[Kirbie]

The problem that I found with the EMH and MM is that with limited rides open

Is there a list of the rides that are open? Either here or on the Disneyland website? I was planning on hitting MM next Thursday as well.

 

[jennilouwho]

We had the exact same problem last Tuesday for MM. It took 35 minutes for Peter Pan and we got there 30 minutes before rope drop and then another 30 for Mr. Toad. I have never accomplished so little in a MM before. I do think the 9:00 open time doesn't help and Space Mountain doesn't open until 10 on Tuesdays, for whatever reason I can't understand, so that didn't eat up some of the crowds. I wondered if Thursday MM would have been better with Space being open for it?

 

[the donut]

We always do MM, but the 7am MM is always better than the 8am one. If you're not first in one of the lines at Disneyland and have more than a 10 minute wait at Peter Pan, you should skip right to Alice or Dumbo. It's the only way to stay ahead of the crowd. A decent part of the crowd has their order of rides pretty much set so skipping Peter Pan can buy you some shorter line times. If you spend more than 20 minutes in the PP line, you've lost most of your MM.

It varies which rides are open, but generally for Disneyland:

PP
Alice
Astro Orbiter
Buzz Lightyear
Monorail
Snow White
Star Tours
Dumbo
Nemo
Hyperspace Mountain
Carousel
Tea Party
matterhorn
Mr. Toad's
Pinocchio

 

[rentayenta]

We find the 7 am MM to be awesome but 8 am, not so much. Its still good and we can experience a lot.

 

[Agent 86]

I had the same issue for a 7am Magic Morning in May 2016. We were at the actual "rope" when it dropped, yet by the time we briskly walked to Peter Pan, it somehow already had a 40 minute wait. By the time we finished Peter Pan, Matterhorn had a long line as well (which we joined because we wanted to ride it). I was a bit disappointed after reading reports about people doing every ride in Fantasy Land in the first hour. But, I'm happy that I got to ride Peter Pan and Matterhorn.

 

[IBLarsen]

That's my plan for WDW but not for DLR.

But you do have to be in line much earlier than 15 min before RD.

We tried to be earlier.... Security had very little operating and all very slow, thought for sure we would be at gates 30 min early. Alas, it was a learning experience and just hoping to pass along for others planning

 

[NJlauren]

Question, I'm going and staying on site, I was planning on using the early mornings, but now I'm debating....parks open at 10am wed and Thursday and 9am Friday.

I think for DCA on Wednesday entering early would still be good right? Then the question is DL on Thursday do I do the MM? I was thinking yes and skipping PP....

Any opinions? This is in 2 weeks