Nitty Gritty MK Rope Drop Qs

[Hatbox]

Rope dropping MK for the very first time, but the magic word of this trip is "low-key". We want to take time to get Starbucks and shop and take in Main Street - and not get into position in the hub until just before the welcome show. I made a bunch of possible touring plans from there (most starting with Peter Pan), but they all hinge on a few rope dropping details I can't guess at:

- If I rope drop Peter Pan:

• If we are at the back of the pack for Peter Pan - does that defeat the purpose? Am I going to get a 30-40 minute wait anyway? (Touring Plans estimates a crowd level of 4 this day).
  
• Some people say the fastest route is through the castle. Some say it's over the Liberty Sq bridge. Thoughts?
  
• How does cast member walking work on the bridge? Is there a dedicated CM to guide guests to Peter Pan along the side path? Or do you just splinter off on your own?

- If I rope drop Pirates: I know it's unnecessary, but this sounds like the least nail-biting way to start the day (fewer people, no worries about the Peter Pan line, just carefree!).

• Are there cast members walking you to Pirates, too, or do they only do that for 7DMT and PP etc?
• We'd start with Pirates and then move on to Splash, assuming both would be walk-ons, and then HM. ....Is that totally nuts? Like, a foolish waste of time?

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

Rope dropping MK for the very first time, but the magic word of this trip is "low-key". We want to take time to get Starbucks and shop and take in Main Street - and not get into position in the hub until just before the welcome show. I made a bunch of possible touring plans from there (most starting with Peter Pan), but they all hinge on a few rope dropping details I can't guess at:

- If I rope drop Peter Pan:

• If we are at the back of the pack for Peter Pan - does that defeat the purpose? Am I going to get a 30-40 minute wait anyway? (Touring Plans estimates a crowd level of 4 this day).
  
• Some people say the fastest route is through the castle. Some say it's over the Liberty Sq bridge. Thoughts?
  
• How does cast member walking work on the bridge? Is there a dedicated CM to guide guests to Peter Pan along the side path? Or do you just splinter off on your own?

- If I rope drop Pirates: I know it's unnecessary, but this sounds like the least nail-biting way to start the day (fewer people, no worries about the Peter Pan line, just carefree!).

• Are there cast members walking you to Pirates, too, or do they only do that for 7DMT and PP etc?
• We'd start with Pirates and then move on to Splash, assuming both would be walk-ons, and then HM. ....Is that totally nuts? Like, a foolish waste of time?

I have never rope dropped Peter Pan, I always do Pirates. It's so nice. Cast Members walk you to Pirates and you get on so quick. After Pirates I did Big Thunder, Splash, back to Magic Carpets, then Jungle Cruise, and the Haunted Mansion, all with little to no wait.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Rope dropping MK for the very first time, but the magic word of this trip is "low-key". We want to take time to get Starbucks and shop and take in Main Street - and not get into position in the hub until just before the welcome show. I made a bunch of possible touring plans from there (most starting with Peter Pan), but they all hinge on a few rope dropping details I can't guess at:

- If I rope drop Peter Pan:

• If we are at the back of the pack for Peter Pan - does that defeat the purpose? Am I going to get a 30-40 minute wait anyway? (Touring Plans estimates a crowd level of 4 this day).
  
• Some people say the fastest route is through the castle. Some say it's over the Liberty Sq bridge. Thoughts?
  
• How does cast member walking work on the bridge? Is there a dedicated CM to guide guests to Peter Pan along the side path? Or do you just splinter off on your own?

- If I rope drop Pirates: I know it's unnecessary, but this sounds like the least nail-biting way to start the day (fewer people, no worries about the Peter Pan line, just carefree!).

• Are there cast members walking you to Pirates, too, or do they only do that for 7DMT and PP etc?
• We'd start with Pirates and then move on to Splash, assuming both would be walk-ons, and then HM. ....Is that totally nuts? Like, a foolish waste of time?

RE: PETER PAN - There are cast members that lead both lines around liberty square bridge and thru castle. It seems to me that they intentionally match their walking pace to arrive at the carousel at the same time. And you do not want to be at the back of the pack...The Peter Pan line grows RAPIDLY in the morning.

 

[Hatbox]

I have never rope dropped Peter Pan, I always do Pirates. It's so nice. Cast Members walk you to Pirates and you get on so quick. After Pirates I did Big Thunder, Splash, back to Magic Carpets, then Jungle Cruise, and the Haunted Mansion, all with little to no wait.

BOOM! I love it. And I imagine the crowd headed that way is small enough that it doesn't matter where you start from? I can watch the show from the central hub and not queue up at the Adventureland bridge?

 

[Hatbox]

RE: PETER PAN - There are cast members that lead both lines around liberty square bridge and thru castle. It seems to me that they intentionally match their walking pace to arrive at the carousel at the same time. And you do not want to be at the back of the pack...The Peter Pan line grows RAPIDLY in the morning.

Awesome - thanks, that's really helpful. I'd rather spend the morning traipsing Main St than nervously eyeing up the crowd in the hub. So I'm thinking no RDing PPF. Yet, the sense of adventure...!

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

BOOM! I love it. And I imagine the crowd headed that way is small enough that it doesn't matter where you start from? I can watch the show from the central hub and not queue up at the Adventureland bridge?

I'm not quite sure...I skipped the welcome show and was right at the front. But I imagine it's a much smaller crowd than rope drop for PP or 7DMT. You should still be okay!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Awesome - thanks, that's really helpful. I'd rather spend the morning traipsing Main St than nervously eyeing up the crowd in the hub. So I'm thinking no RDing PPF. Yet, the sense of adventure...!

Back in Late January we RDed PPF. We went to the left ramp through the castle at about 8:30 and just hung out (we showed up around 8 and explored the stores on Main St. for half an hour). We were a couple layers away from the rope. We had a nice view of the welcome show and only waited about 5 minutes for PPF since we were very close to the front of the pack. But I can also understand why you might want to avoid that whole experience too.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Rope dropping MK for the very first time, but the magic word of this trip is "low-key". We want to take time to get Starbucks and shop and take in Main Street - and not get into position in the hub until just before the welcome show. I made a bunch of possible touring plans from there (most starting with Peter Pan), but they all hinge on a few rope dropping details I can't guess at:

- If I rope drop Peter Pan:

• If we are at the back of the pack for Peter Pan - does that defeat the purpose? Am I going to get a 30-40 minute wait anyway? (Touring Plans estimates a crowd level of 4 this day).
  
• Some people say the fastest route is through the castle. Some say it's over the Liberty Sq bridge. Thoughts?
  
• How does cast member walking work on the bridge? Is there a dedicated CM to guide guests to Peter Pan along the side path? Or do you just splinter off on your own?

- If I rope drop Pirates: I know it's unnecessary, but this sounds like the least nail-biting way to start the day (fewer people, no worries about the Peter Pan line, just carefree!).

• Are there cast members walking you to Pirates, too, or do they only do that for 7DMT and PP etc?
• We'd start with Pirates and then move on to Splash, assuming both would be walk-ons, and then HM. ....Is that totally nuts? Like, a foolish waste of time?

If possible get your starbucks else where and not on main street, that location is insane in the mornings, I have been at MK on low crowd days and busy days and arrived to RD and the line is out of the front door.

We do RD Peter Pan and 7DMT when we go to MK since we usually get FP+ for other attractions and sometimes we get FP+ for PP and 7DMT for later in the day or trip- to ride it again, yes we're crazy! I would say you need to really just play it by ear for PP and 7DMT and really don't pay to much mind to the crowd calendars online as they can be way off. What date/day of the week will you be going to MK?? We go through the hub and through the bridge, I think through the castle would be faster but I've never been able to get through there post show. I've never been walked up to PP by a CM but I suppose on lower crowd days that's possible. Our experiences have been that once the show ends, the lands open and it's a free for all, you know stroller wheel hits to your ankles and mad dash!!

If you do RP Pirates it will likely be less crazy- we've done Pirates at RD and then went and did BTMR right after and only waited for BTMR maybe 10 min but our experience there has been less chaotic than fantasyland. I would envision that if you do pirates first and try splash you wouldn't have too crazy of a wait.

 

[Hatbox]

What date/day of the week will you be going to MK?? I've never been walked up to PP by a CM but I suppose on lower crowd days that's possible. Our experiences have been that once the show ends, the lands open and it's a free for all, you know stroller wheel hits to your ankles and mad dash!!

We're going the last Sunday in August. It's my husband's second trip and he ha-aaated it the first time. So I'm trying to change his mind this time by not being a total commando, not jamming in every attraction, and taking more time for Signature dinners and relaxed exploring. (But behind the scenes I'm of course planning every minute like a freak so that I can do everything *I* want to do while acting like there's not a stopwatch running in my head).

 

[pitpat]

We're going the last Sunday in August. It's my husband's second trip and he ha-aaated it the first time. So I'm trying to change his mind this time by not being a total commando, not jamming in every attraction, and taking more time for Signature dinners and relaxed exploring. (But behind the scenes I'm of course planning every minute like a freak so that I can do everything *I* want to do while acting like there's not a stopwatch running in my head).

Rope dropping Adventure/Frontierland is a nice, low key way to start your day.

 

[rg35]

On our trips we typically do not RD Peter Pan, but we always have at least 2 MK days, so there's a lot of flexibility for us.

Fast-passing peter pan is the most Timesaving way to ride it, but the standby queue is pretty great if you do decide to RD it.

 

[disneyvoice]

I agree with @TheSouthernBelle about rethinking Starbucks. I feel like the Starbucks in every park is seriously crazy first thing. Every time I hit Starbucks right way there are always tons of "no-shows" when their drinks are finally ready because people get tired of waiting.

 

[Hatbox]

Rope dropping peter pan is the most Timesaving way to ride it, but the standby queue is pretty great if you do decide to RD it.

I would love to see the new queue. Do FP+ returners see it at all?

In trying to streamline the day and free up as much flex time as possible, there's a bunch of major attractions I'm not planning to do (we both agreed we don't need to do BTMR or 7DMT again unless there happens to be a short wait at park closing (we haven't done either at night before)). Therefore, I'm not worried about using up a FP on this - it's just, what more magical way to start an MK day than riding PPF first-thing?! But the RD stress might be a different kind of magic than we're looking for this time. (But it still calls to me!)

If it were up to him, we'd just do Philharmagic and Space Mountain and go home.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I would love to see the new queue. Do FP+ returners see it at all?

In trying to streamline the day and free up as much flex time as possible, there's a bunch of major attractions I'm not planning to do (we both agreed we don't need to do BTMR or 7DMT again unless there happens to be a short wait at park closing (we haven't done either at night before)). Therefore, I'm not worried about using up a FP on this - it's just, what more magical way to start an MK day than riding PPF first-thing?! But the RD stress might be a different kind of magic than we're looking for this time. (But it still calls to me!)

If it were up to him, we'd just do Philharmagic and Space Mountain and go home.

FP+ does not see the new queue...they come in on the side and immediately board the ride. If you do the RD like I said and get up to the rope by the castle no later than 8:30, plan to eat some breakfast like snacks for 20 minutes you'll be fine. There was no pushing, running, stroller ramming or anything. The CMs led us up through the castle and then there was some brisk walking to PPF. We got to see the whole queue (in a somewhat quick fashion) and only waited about 5 minutes for the ride.

 

[joyjoy]

If it were up to him, we'd just do Philharmagic and Space Mountain and go home.

 

[Hatbox]

I agree with @TheSouthernBelle about rethinking Starbucks. I feel like the Starbucks in every park is seriously crazy first thing. Every time I hit Starbucks right way there are always tons of "no-shows" when their drinks are finally ready because people get tired of waiting.

I think Starbucks might be more non-negotiable than anything on my touring plan.
I assume they don't use Starbucks mobile ordering?

 

[DizneyMommy]

You might need a subscription to see it, but on TP if you navigate to the ride you can actually see the hour by hour line prediction for specific rides for a specific date in the future. I wouldn’t take it as gospel, but it would show if a ride usually gets busy immediately or doesn’t tend to build until later. It has been very helpful in putting our FP plan together!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I think Starbucks might be more non-negotiable than anything on my touring plan.
I assume they don't use Starbucks mobile ordering?

No, they don’t (unfortunately).

You can beat/manage the Starbucks rush by being there when they open Main Street 7:45-8AMish. If you get there much after that.... well, that line is SCARY!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

BTW OP, I assume your morning is a 9AM park opening?

 

[Hatbox]

BTW OP, I assume your morning is a 9AM park opening?

(Oh yeah, that's kind of important, isn't it?) Yes, it's a 9 AM right now, but there's an Early Morning Magic event, too. That shouldn't effect things too much, right?