We went to WDW from June 4 (Wed) to June 9, and rope drop has definitely changed a bit. (caveat: when I say "changed," I mean since the last time we went, which was about six years ago, so higher crowds overall may play a part)
But, they aren't so bad that you can't get multiple rides in before lines get prohibitive. In every one of the parks, we managed to get a handful of rides in each morning, with no waits over 10 minutes. By about 11am, lines started to get pretty hairy for most attractions, 40mins+, and at that point we started using our FP+ selections interspersed with less popular rides. Aside from one day (Epcot) we always left the park by 1-2pm, and returned in the evening.
The crowds were kinda nuts, and much worse than I remembered, but they were completely manageable, with very few exceptions. The exceptions, for us, would be the biggest of the headliners. We had bad luck at rope drop with those, and I think maybe they're no longer a good call first thing in the morning--everyone is heading over there. A couple of examples:
(1) On our Hollywood Studios day, we had an 8:15 Star Wars breakfast at the SciFi. We finished up right around 9am and headed out to hit the first ride. Because we had used our Tier 1 FP+ for TSMM, we headed to RNRR--thinking we would knock it out first. We got to that area of the park at about 5-10 minutes after 9am, and it was a complete no-go. The line for RNRR was winding out of the RNRR area, past ToT, past a half block of shops--nearly all the way to the Planet Hollywood Store.
Now, in retrospect, I think that the ride must have been shut down, or maybe it doesn't open up and let the line move until a few more minutes after park opening, but on that day we took one look and just turned around. But--and this is the important part--we just went to ride other things. Though we didn't have a FP+ scheduled until after 11am, we were able to ride the GMR, Star Tours, and a couple others with almost no waits. Not our original plan, but it was fine. We knocked out our FP+ reservations before lunch, took a break, then came back at night. And, after Fantasmic, we walked straight on RNRR.
(2) On our Magic Kingdom day (a Sunday, when it was the MOST unrecommended park and the highest crowds were projected), we were a little less lucky, but still surprised overall. We started with a Crystal Palace breakfast at 8:05 (see a pattern here?), and were aiming to get out by 8:45 to go line up at the castle rope. Having that early of a reservation, it's not difficult, and there's no need to rush. Our goal was the 7DMT, for which we didn't have a FP+. (We'd already ridden it once on our arrival night, courtesy of FP+, but everyone was really jazzed to ride it again--such a great ride).
Well, nothing went according to plan. The park opened early, and we didn't beat the crowds, so by the time we hit Mine Train, the posted wait time was over 90 minutes. Now, here's the deal, though--it was closed, and that may have been why the line was so long. People were willing to line up and wait indefinitely (which is bad for them, because that ride stayed closed for the majority of the day, as far as I could tell--we never saw it open).
But, as with the Studios, we just rearranged our plan. We hit Peter Pan with no wait, then Haunted Mansion in less than 10 minutes, then walked down to BTMRR. Shockingly, it was now almost 10am, and the waits on BTMRR and Splash were both under 20 minutes. Splash was posted as 5 minutes, BTMRR was posted as 15. We did Splash first, but by the time we got out, BTMRR was posted at 30. We had a FP+ for later, anyway, so we skipped it (20 minute lines are pretty much our threshold). Instead, we walked over to Pirates and found a 15 minute queue--at ~10:30am.
So, the moral of the story is, yep, rope drop is crazier than it used to be. And some rides are just a really bad idea at that time of day, in my experience. But, rope drop is not dead, at least not for us. We enjoy our afternoon breaks, and flexibility allows for plenty to do, regardless of where everyone else chooses to line up. And those rides that should be avoided at rope drop? FP+ them or catch them late at night (late nights are still great in the parks, as far as I can tell). Even Mine Train would have probably been attainable in under 20 minutes if we'd gone back to the park that night (and the ride was open), but it was the end of our week, and we were too worn out to make it till 2am.
Sorry if that's too much detail.
