Rope drop...how much 'time' are you really saving the family?

[PrinceOfPeace]

I've read the reasonings behind rope drop...but haven't really seen anyone mention the 'total time savings' rope drop gave you? Can anyone give me an idea how much arriving at rope drop actually saved you in time? Thanks!!

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

We arrived at MK 10 minutes after rope drop on our last trip. We headed right to Frontier land and walked onto Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. I can't remember what exactly we did after that, but we encountered short lines (20 minutes or less) for the next few hours. So we saved a good amount of time by arriving just after rope drop.

 

[22Tink]

Honestly, we never do rope drop. I prefer to arrive just after, as pp mentioned. The lines are still not bad, and you don't have the throngs of people to deal with trying to enter the park.

 

[poohfriend77]

I guess I don't think of it as "time saved," but rather "doing more" in the time we have.

For example, we got to AK for rope drop and went straight to EE. We rode 5 times, stopped for a drink, and made it to Dinosaur by 10am. Rode that twice. Then we still had FPs for Safari, Kali and EE again.

So I'd say we probably rode EE 4 extra times and Dinosaur once more than if we had arrived later in the day, spending the same amount of time in the park. We love to ride our favorites over and over, so it works for us. I know others want to do everything once and feel "done."

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

I guess I don't think of it as "time saved," but rather "doing more" in the time we have.

For example, we got to AK for rope drop and went straight to EE. We rode 5 times, stopped for a drink, and made it to Dinosaur by 10am. Rode that twice. Then we still had FPs for Safari, Kali and EE again.

So I'd say we probably rode EE 4 extra times and Dinosaur once more than if we had arrived later in the day, spending the same amount of time in the park. We love to ride our favorites over and over, so it works for us. I know others want to do everything once and feel "done."

What's EE? What will be the normal wait time? For example if EE is 20 min 20x4= 80 min saved. So doing more is also saving time correct? Lol. So getting there at rope drop versus an hr. Later actually saves you well over an hour? Correct? Lol....just trying to see if it's really worth it. As a mom it's hard to round up all my little ones in the morning!!!

 

[poohfriend77]

What's EE? What will be the normal wait time? For example if EE is 20 min 20x4= 80 min saved. So doing more is also saving time correct? Lol. So getting there at rope drop versus an hr. Later actually saves you well over an hour? Correct? Lol....just trying to see if it's really worth it. As a mom it's hard to round up all my little ones in the morning!!!

Sorry, EE is Expedition Everest. Wait time is often 20-40 min, sometimes up to 60 min, depending on day/time. Lines app says 35 min right now.

How many and how little are the kids? Honestly, it's probably not worth it if kids (or adults) are going to be cranky/melting down from not enough sleep! Or if they're too little to do the "big" rides anyway. Gotta keep everyone happy!

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

Sorry, EE is Expedition Everest. Wait time is often 20-40 min, sometimes up to 60 min, depending on day/time. Lines app says 35 min right now.

How many and how little are the kids? Honestly, it's probably not worth it if kids (or adults) are going to be cranky/melting down from not enough sleep! Or if they're too little to do the "big" rides anyway. Gotta keep everyone happy!

We have 3 kiddos....4,6,8 at time of travel and mornings are tough...even more so because we are Cali folk and the time change will be rough. I think we can manage the cranks and melts. We will be going in September (hopefully if all goes well)....would you still do rope drop? Thanks!!

 

[Caseheidi]

We are from Oregon, and TBH it is not worth it for rope drop most days for us. We keep our time clocks on Pacific coast time, and stay later at the parks with DD. that means we are moving around 9am (6 am to our bodies) and have no problem staying late until 11 pm (8 pm for us) at the park. It is what our little ones normal time is for sleeping, so she does better.

Having said this, the last few times we visited WDW, we stayed over two weeks. By the second week, we had naturally adjusted our time some, and did rope drop at MK and some early park breakfast ADR's. MK rope drop was so that we could see the show, which we totally enjoyed. And getting into the parks before Rope Drop for breakfast was great for the photos we got. So I say if it is difficult getting them moving and adjusted for time, just plan on staying later when the lines also can get shorter.

 

[msmama]

If I show up at rope drop or shortly after I can do most everything in adventure land and frontier land (we don't do roller coasters though did do splash last time) and make it clockwise as far as haunted mansion by lunch time (so about 7 rides/attractions plus snack and window shopping on 3 hours). That's counting maybe 1 FP.

On a day we went later - around noon. We did 4 rides (2 with FP, one standby, one was the train) in about 2 hours. We also had a snack and did a bit of window shopping.

Granted that 2nd day we probably could've done more but just did the few things we'd missed earlier in the week.

Rope drop, to me, is about the first two hours. It gets really busy around 12 I think. So yes getting there early will mean you have shorter lines generally. Doesn't mean it's the only way to go though.

I don't set alarms or anything. We are just up.

 

[monorailsilver]

I don't know if it saves us time, but I a. Sure it does because we have been able to get on a few rides plus fast passes (old paper kind) with in the hour.

But we go in the summer so getting a head start on the heat is priceless. Then we return to nap for a few hours and return to the park at around 5.

 

[xipotec]

1. Everyone should see the opening ceremony once
2. You could be picked as family as the day!!
3. Rope drop has alot of other benefits!
The Main street Welcome!
Character meets with almost no waits!
No lines for most rides for the first hour!


Do it once!!! You will love it! The excitement is papable!

 

[quagmire0]

If you have a subscription to touringplans.com, you can run scenarios through their custom touring plan planner. Results are going to vary, obviously based on a few factors: 1. How busy the park is that day, 2. What rides you want to ride on, 3. If you were able to score fast passes for that ride.

Rides like 7DMT, PPF, and TSM, have outrageous wait times if you don't jump on them immediately. But it's also a cascading effect, because if you knock out those high demand/slow loading rides first, you then are ready to ride more rides while all those people are waiting in the hell lines of the rides you've already done.

 

[HerbivoreMom]

I think it all depends on your plans and goals. We did rope drop in order to meet the Frozen princesses at Disneyland when they were new to the park. It was the only way we would have had a chance to meet them. So it was totally worth it to get in right at rope drop. But I think that if you don't have any "must-have" experiences on your list then it doesn't matter when you arrive.

 

[kiramay]

We rope drop almost every day, but we don't stay late. The morning rides save us hours of waiting later on.

One MK day on our last December trip:
Prepark BOG breakfast
7 dwarfs, the BOG breakfast got us 1 ride before the RD crowd arrived
At 9 am started at:
-thunder mountain 3x, (waited 5 minutes, average later was 60, saved 165 minutes)
-splash 2x, (10 minutes each, probably got to 40, so saved 60 minutes)
-haunted mansion, (10 minutes? Maybe saved 30-50 minutes)
small world, (10 minute wait, later it was long)
tea cups
Barnstormer,
dumbo,
buzz,
people mover 2x (and a 25 min stall),
PP Fastpass
Winnie 2x, (Fastpasses)
barnstormer,
7 Dwarfs FP
(kids 4x tea cups),
train ride around the park
Left by 4 pm for dinner at Chef Mickeys

So 19 rides in 7 hours.

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

We will do rope drop! Especially for MK. The downside is we are staying off property and the days we go are magic morning days. Don't know how that works?

 

[vratiana]

If you are staying off-site, I would rearrange my plans to not visit the park that has Extra Magic Hours in the morning, if at all possible.
We are also going in September and it can be incredibly hot in September, so we like to get as much done as possible in the morning so we can take it easy if it's gets too hot later.

 

[Shanti]

Honestly, we never do rope drop. I prefer to arrive just after, as pp mentioned. The lines are still not bad, and you don't have the throngs of people to deal with trying to enter the park.

The problem with missing rope drop at MK is that you also miss their welcome show at the entrance. Everyone should see that at least once.

The first hour after rope drop, in particular, is the easiest of the day (sans EMH) in terms of getting on rides quickly. We love being there for rope drop or getting a good pre-park opening ADR, then walking on to some of our favorite rides.

 

[22Tink]

The problem with missing rope drop at MK is that you also miss their welcome show at the entrance. Everyone should see that at least once.

The first hour after rope drop, in particular, is the easiest of the day (sans EMH) in terms of getting on rides quickly. We love being there for rope drop or getting a good pre-park opening ADR, then walking on to some of our favorite rides.

I'm sure the show is awesome! Our last visit we did have a pre park opening ADR at MK and loved it, although we struggled with the early time. We're from western Canada and the 3 hour time change kills me! I'd rather get there a little later and stay later at night. It's just what works best for us.

 

[Lupeix]

Arriving early at the park does save tons of time in terms of lines. Even if you do not do a lot of the big rides, you can fit in a lot between 9-11. Last time we went DS was 4, and we were done with all his must dos at fantasyland by then, and rode 7DMT first thing with only a 20 minute wait and no FP+.
We come from WA, so the early morning thing is a problem. So I use the first 3 days to actually go see the fireworks (which otherwise will be too late) . After 4 days of so my DS wakes up at his usual early time and we go early to MK

 

[Candycane83]

I'm sure the show is awesome! Our last visit we did have a pre park opening ADR at MK and loved it, although we struggled with the early time. We're from western Canada and the 3 hour time change kills me! I'd rather get there a little later and stay later at night. It's just what works best for us.

This! I plan to try rope drop only once early in the trip just to see the welcome show.