Post FP+ Rope Drop Experiences at TSMM

[Disneylover99]

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.

Ugh....that is terrible.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I was at DHS the very first day it was FP+ only.

We got there at 7:45 (9 AM opening) because I am a crazy person and DH goes along with me. We were the first people in line at our tapstile. Our tier 1 FP+ was for RnRC, so we headed straight for TSMM. We were within the first 10 people to get on the ride (walked right on). By the time we got off, the wait was 25 min.

I would much rather wait for a park to open than to be standing in line WHILE the park is open (when I could be doing something else).

I think the only real way to guarantee the shortest wait possible is to get to the park really early and be among the first to enter the park (and thus, the ride itself).

 

[estherhead]

I'm making a little series of videos on Fastpass+ to put on my blog I'm not at all done and they aren't on my blog yet but I wanted to put this on here for you so you could see TSMM at Rope Drop. This is the week before Christmas. In March I would expect a few more crowds at rope drop but post FP+ Pixar Place 1st thing in the morning is a totally different experience than just two years ago when I was terrified my kindergartner would get crushed.

We quite easily could have ridden it twice with minimal lines, sadly we only rode once and tried RnR which was closed (and was closed a lot of the week.) Should have just ridden it a second time. Oh well. Learn from our mistake. Go at rope drop, ride twice. Then go to ToT and single rider line RnR.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ros74dG4Zdw

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

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.

My family is pretty competitive and we like to ride Toy Story several times to top each other's high scores. The best time I've found to do this is at night. I'd much rather ride 4 times in an hour vs. waiting an hour outside a closed gate just to ride once. Also, I find it much easier to let my kids stay up late than to make them get up early.

I like my strategy, it works very well. We've stopped trying to get out early, it just doesn't work for us.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We used both the RD + right before close strategies during our trip the week of December 14th and both worked well. RD is still a viable option because generally, FP+ users are trying to AVOID RD, so even if they have a FP+ for the first hour, they're typically not using them until the end of that hour. At RD, we waited less than 10 minutes for a ride, and we even did JTA signups first (though, in the interest of full disclosure, we were at H&V for breakfast and so were the first people to sign up for JTA, so there was no wait for that, and being inside the park already, we had a jump on the TSM RD crowd).

We also got into line 10 minutes before park closing, which was 8:00 that night. The wait was longer than at RD (20 ish minutes) but there were no FP+ returners to slow us down so the line moved quickly and constantly.

Between RD, FP+, and pre-close SB, we were able to ride TSM 3 times that day.