Post FP+ Rope Drop Experiences at TSMM

[ekatiel]

I posted a similar thread that was more general about a week ago. I am making our personalized touring plans online for our March trip and noticing that the program is giving me waits at rope drop of 20-30 minutes for more popular rides. We are used to fighting rope drop crowds and are usually among the first couple of dozen people on rides in the mornings, so these 20-30 minute waits are concerning to me. So, I'd love to hear from people who have been at TSMM at rope drop in the recent months. Were you forced to wait in line while droves of FP+ people went ahead of you or were you let onto the ride with a minimal wait because you were one of the first in the standby line? Thanks for your input!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I had a co-worker recently telling me about her trip to Disney World. They seemed to be pretty good planners and tried to maximize their time the best they could.

She was very excited to tell me about her experience riding Midway Mania without a Fast Pass. The got up really early, got to the gates about 45 minutes before they opened and waited in a pretty large crowd. Then they hurried as fast as they could to the ride and the wait was *only* 15 minutes. By the time they got off the line was almost an long. There were people all over the place.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that her true wait time was over an hour. 45 mins at the gate plus whatever time it took to hurry to the attraction plus 15 mins in line.

I rode the same ride 4 times in about the same time period late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

 

[LSUfan4444]

If you want to hit it at rope drop you want to be pretty far up at the front when the park opens. A couple weeks ago I got there about 8:05 and was the first person in line at one of the mickey readers (was doing this for Jedi Training and we wanted a very early show).

When they had the paper FPs, it would pull some people to that, then some would enter the queue, now everyone enters the queue so yes it does back up faster. Depending on where you are at in the line to get in the park, how direct you are in your walk there, dropping off a stroller, it can be anywhere from a walk on to 15/20 minutes.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We haven't been very recently (last trip was in May) but have been a few times with FP+.

Often DHS opens early (around 15 minutes) so if you are towards the front you have a major advantage - first there is nobody on the ride and secondly there are no FP+ being used at that time (as the FP+ times don't start until the official opening time)

We once got there so quickly that they didn't have enough people to fill the cars so they let us each ride (3 of us) on our own side - so we didn't have to compete with each other for points on a single screen.

We are quick we've even been the first ones on the ride a couple of times.

If you are there at RD and close to the turnstiles (and you walk quickly) you can easily ride TSM as a walk on.

 

[dwbrewster]

I posted a similar thread that was more general about a week ago. I am making our personalized touring plans online for our March trip and noticing that the program is giving me waits at rope drop of 20-30 minutes for more popular rides. We are used to fighting rope drop crowds and are usually among the first couple of dozen people on rides in the mornings, so these 20-30 minute waits are concerning to me. So, I'd love to hear from people who have been at TSMM at rope drop in the recent months. Were you forced to wait in line while droves of FP+ people went ahead of you or were you let onto the ride with a minimal wait because you were one of the first in the standby line? Thanks for your input!

I did TSMM at rope drop about 2 weeks ago now and were near the front of the pack. We waited about 15 minutes to get on the ride, when we were done it was posted at a 90 minute wait...oy!

As someone said they do allow you in usually about 15 minutes prior to the listed RD.

 

[Disneylover99]

I rode the same ride 4 times in about the same time period late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

I know ride wait times are often inflated at the end of the night, but you can't always count on this depending on the day/time of year you go.

 

[Disneylover99]

Were you forced to wait in line while droves of FP+ people went ahead of you or were you let onto the ride with a minimal wait because you were one of the first in the standby line?

I would imagine if you've got a FP for TSMM from 9-10am and you're there for rope drop, then you would ride standby first and then use your FP to ride a second time.

So you probably won't notice a ton of people using FP right away, if you arrive at TSMM quickly.

 

[mggeary]

Worth it to hustle at RD to TSMM with a large group including ages of 4 and 3 (in double stroller) and 3 monther (in frontpack). In the past we have always walked right on even after parking the double stroller. We plan to be in line by 8:15am towards the front. Seems like more of a hastle now, suppose we could just ride once with FP+.

Maybe I'll sit out with the little one in frontpack and see if they will give me a child swap.

Any advice?

 

[Disneylover99]

Worth it to hustle at RD to TSMM with a large group including ages of 4 and 3 (in double stroller) and 3 monther (in frontpack). In the past we have always walked right on even after parking the double stroller. We plan to be in line by 8:15am towards the front. Seems like more of a hastle now, suppose we could just ride once with FP+.

Maybe I'll sit out with the little one in frontpack and see if they will give me a child swap.

Any advice?

I've gone to rope drop a few times for TSMM and I find it very stressful. I would try to get a FP if that is possible.

If they do start letting you in 15 minutes early as people arrive, then that's good. The crowds are staggered and it's not too bad. Last summer they held everyone at the stage for the Frozen show until 9am. Then it was survival of the fittest when the crowds were released.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Maybe I'll sit out with the little one in frontpack and see if they will give me a child swap.

They're not available on TSM.

 

[WillAustin]

Be at the front of rope drop and stay near the front so you walk right onto the ride. Get back in line, even if it says 90 minutes (it won't be that long).

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I know ride wait times are often inflated at the end of the night, but you can't always count on this depending on the day/time of year you go.

You can always count on lines being at their shortest during the last hour or so of operation. At DHS, the absolute best time for multiple re-rides on TSMM is while Fantasmic is being presented.

The posted wait time exaggeration also helps keep the line shorter. During our latest visit last summer (before the Frozen shows started) the posted wait at 9 pm was 75 minutes, but the actual wait was 15 or less. That's how we hit the ride 4x in an hour.

I find this to be a much more efficient use of my time than trying to arrive before opening.

 

[DisneyJade]

You can always count on lines being at their shortest during the last hour or so of operation. At DHS, the absolute best time for multiple re-rides on TSMM is while Fantasmic is being presented.

The posted wait time exaggeration also helps keep the line shorter. During our latest visit last summer (before the Frozen shows started) the posted wait at 9 pm was 75 minutes, but the actual wait was 15 or less. That's how we hit the ride 4x in an hour.

I find this to be a much more efficient use of my time than trying to arrive before opening.

Does this work during shortened winter hours? We are going next week, and DHS closes at 7pm. I would imagine more people stay until close with those hours, and the last-hour strategy probably doesn't apply.

 

[mggeary]

They're not available on TSM.

Not true, we got one last yr with a sleeping 2yr old in stroller we didn't want wake up.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Does this work during shortened winter hours? We are going next week, and DHS closes at 7pm. I would imagine more people stay until close with those hours, and the last-hour strategy probably doesn't apply.

The last hour strategy will always work at DHS, with the exception of Star Wars weekends and other special events like Frozen.

Next week, the park closes early at 7 pm with a single presentation of Fantasmic at 7. The vast majority of guests will attend the show with many lining up an hour early for seating.

That leaves the rides wide open for the last hour of operation. Have fun.

 

[tlh]

We were just at Disney the last 13 days. We arrived at HS an hour or close as possible to an hour before opening on extra magic hour mornings. We were at the front to get in and got on in the first 30 or so people by walking fast (we do not go crazy and run ). We walk fast and go straight there. We got off and rode it again one morning ( which made us unable to do RRC abbreviation? ), and we waited 30-40 minutes for the second ride. We tried to go down to RRC after the second TSM ride, but the wait was 90 minutes. So we went to ToT, and we rode it a couple of times.

 

[Disneylover99]

You can always count on lines being at their shortest during the last hour or so of operation.

Like I said, it depends on the time of year you go. I just got back and standby wait times were two to three hours throughout the day. So, maybe the actual wait at closing was only an hour. That's still not a line I want to be in.

At least if you are there at rope drop, anytime during the year, busy or slow, your results should be the same.

 

[redsbe]

I had a co-worker recently telling me about her trip to Disney World. They seemed to be pretty good planners and tried to maximize their time the best they could.

She was very excited to tell me about her experience riding Midway Mania without a Fast Pass. The got up really early, got to the gates about 45 minutes before they opened and waited in a pretty large crowd. Then they hurried as fast as they could to the ride and the wait was *only* 15 minutes. By the time they got off the line was almost an long. There were people all over the place.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that her true wait time was over an hour. 45 mins at the gate plus whatever time it took to hurry to the attraction plus 15 mins in line.

I rode the same ride 4 times in about the same time period late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

Time spent at the gate prior to RD is not the same as the same length of time spent in line during park hours, plus RD time is not just saving at one ride as it can save time in many other morning rides/attractions especially at MK where several popular rides can be done in 90 minutes after RD compared to 3-4 total hours waiting on the bust park days.

Late evening are also an option, if park is open and crowds are lower (I have seen 90 minute waits at MK mountains during late evening hours) and also possible that late hours are not managable for all visitors. For many people including with kids early hours at RD are better option then late evening hours.

 

[davkata]

I know this is an "exception" but this is what happened to us when we tried to RD TSMM last February. It was the last day of our trip, we got there in plenty of time at the front of the RD line. Park opening was for 9 am. Well, the Magic Band readers were all down (clue #1 to problem ahead!) and the CM's had to check in all guests via ipads. When we finally got in and made our way to TSMM there was a short posted wait maybe 20-30 mins. so we took a chance and got in the line (we had a FP+ for RNRC for later in the morning as well as a ADR at 50's Primetime for 11:30). The line did not move at all or ever for over an hour and a half. Turns out since everyone knew FP+ was down, many dishonest folks were just saying they had FP and were being allowed in the line. So, SB was 2-3 times longer than it should have been. If you know the queue in there, it is tough to get out once you are in. We missed our RNRC FP+ but they honored it AND the new one I was able to make while we were in line. (Because FP was down, it somehow allowed me to change our original time, but didn't delete our old one.) We made it to the ADR with little time to spare! NOT the norm, I know, but it was our experience.

 

[Disneylover99]

Time spent at the gate prior to RD is not the same as the same length of time spent in line during park hours, plus RD time is not just saving at one ride as it can save time in many other morning rides/attractions especially at MK where several popular rides can be done in 90 minutes after RD compared to 3-4 total hours waiting on the bust park days.

Totally agree.

Waiting in line at rope drop is when we eat our breakfast (we usually get breakfast sandwiches from our resort food court), apply sunblock, get maps and discuss our plans for the day. It's time well spent.