Park Strategies?

[HoneyMooner]

What is Rope Drop and Fastpass and how do they work? Sorry for all the newbie questions.

 

[The Sweetness]

Heres what I remember... Rope drop is what they do first thing in the morning to open each park (or section of MK).

Fast Pass is away to try to avoid huge lines. If a ride you want to go on has a fast pass kiosk near it (I think the screen will offer the attraction(s) available at that FP kiosk. You use each persons ticket that you want a pass for. You choose using the touch screen a different time to come back to the ride, and at that time, you use the fast pass line, usually waiting much less time.

This is what I remember. Ive been countless times, but it has been 5 years since my last trip to WDW. Read some good guide books, and keep your eyes on this site. these peeps are experts, no kidding

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Each park has some kind of show to open them up. The MK has the best and you are held back at the ropes at the train station. Once the show is over and Mickey opens the park the ropes are dropped. In other parks you can get closer to the attractions and have to wait for the rope to drop before proceeding. At the Studios you can get to about half a block before the Tower of Terror and Rock 'N Roller Coaster and then have to wait. Once the rope is dropped people take off.

For Fast Passes, the popular attractions (like Tower and Rock N Rollercoaster) have machines to the side that distribute Fast Passes. The overhead clock tells you when the return time is for the Fast Passes. Early in the day the return time will be close but later on it can be several or many hours. For Tower of Terror when we arrive at opening my DS (younger and faster ) runs to the FP machine while I walk quickly to meet him. We then get on stand-by, which is only a few minutes at opening. When we finish riding the Fast Pass window might be opened but if the stand-by is still short we get on and save the Fast Passes for later. This way we can ride three three times in a short period of time. You are only allowed one Fast Pass per person at a time. There is a time on the botom of the ticket that tells you when you can get another Fast Pass. With the FP you go through a separate line where they check your FP and will take them later. It saves a lot of time. Keep reading great tips about using Fast Passes on these great boards.