Rope Drop or EMH/closing

[nezy]

I have read many times here on the DIS that being at the parks at rope drop is a great way to get on the key rides without lines. I have wanted to be there for rope drop but my family are lucky they would make it for noon-rope drop!! We are the ones in the park in the dark walking out when the CM's have their white Mickey gloves wavung good night.

Just wondering if those who do both RD and closing feel that one is better than other for most rides--less lines.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Late night is the best possible time to reride the headliners multiple times with little to no waiting. I've seen pictures of the rope drop crowds and I don't want any part of that.

The key to late night touring is realizing that the posted wait time are greatly exaggerated at night.

Examples from recent visits:

Toy Story 4 times in an hour. Posted wait was 70 minutes.

Test Track in 10 minutes. Posted wait was 40.

Peter Pan in 1 minute. Posted wait was 40.

Space Mtn 4 times in 35 minutes. Posted wait was 40.

7 Dwarfs in 5 minutes. Posted wait was 65.

Tower of Terror 13 times in 2 hours. Posted wait was 30.

I could go on and on....

 

[nezy]

Late night is the best possible time to reride the headliners multiple times with little to no waiting. I've seen pictures of the rope drop crowds and I don't want any part of that.

The key to late night touring is realizing that the posted wait time are greatly exaggerated at night.

Examples from recent visits:

Toy Story 4 times in an hour. Posted wait was 70 minutes.

Test Track in 10 minutes. Posted wait was 40.

Peter Pan in 1 minute. Posted wait was 40.

Space Mtn 4 times in 35 minutes. Posted wait was 40.

7 Dwarfs in 5 minutes. Posted wait was 65.

Tower of Terror 13 times in 2 hours. Posted wait was 30.

I could go on and on....

We hhVE FOUND THAT ALSO IN THE LATER HOURS ALTHOUGH 13 TIMRD ON tot IS AWESONE

 

[Jon84]

Rope drop is busier I think due to everyone getting their kids up early who would never make it late.

We did EMH to 3am in December and basically had areas of MK to ourselves after 1am.

 

[sallytigger]

On our trip this year the evening EMH were definitely better for shorter ride times than rope drop. We also tried morning EMH at each park, but were surprised to find so many rides closed at MK, and at Epcot and HS, the headliners were packed within a few minutes, even with the smaller crowd. I know you didn't ask about morning EMH, but we did decide on our next trip the best use would be night time EMH.

 

[Tomh]

I am going to agree with the others here, the last hour of evening EMH is a winner. However, I have managed to get quite a few rides in during the first two hours in a park as well, but not quite as good as evening EMH.

 

[ajwolfe]

Agree with all the others. Late night EMH has always been the best for us. We are just simply not rope drop people.

 

[sleepymouse]

I have read that evening EMH at EP and HS are not so great. Too few rides and too many people. Is this the case or are these EMHs worthwhile?

 

[nezy]

OP Here.
My children are older--not even children I guess 17, 18 and 20. So night time EMH has been the SOP. I doubt I could get them up for morning EMH--not even a thought.

I Haven't noticed the rides that are closed at the later hours as we usually are repeat riding the big ones--any roller coaster type thrill ride or toy story and buzz. Sometimes DD like thes speedway because that is the only time there is not a long line. Whey is there a long line on that ride? I find it boring. I want to drive without the rails--but understand why we are all on the tracks. I digress.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I'm surprised no rope droppers have offered up their point of view.

 

[ajwolfe]

I'm surprised no rope droppers have offered up their point of view.

Me too..Since that usually is the recommended advice on the Disboards.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Me too..Since that usually is the recommended advice on the Disboards.

That may be why a late night strategy works so well. More guests are arriving earlier an earlier then can't make it until close. I think that he parks are even less crowded at night since FP+.

 

[GatorMama]

We are RDers but if we COULD stay up, we would! Problem in our family is that we have two (now three) kids who wake up at 6:15 every day no matter what time we go to bed. And getting three hours of sleep in one night makes me stabby to even think about. (Said as I am laying down for a nap with my littlest one after a normal night of sleep LoL)

 

[Stitch808]

We love the late night EMH, but we also try to make it for rope drop. Most times we never make it to RD, but within that hour. Either way, the lines are better at the late EMH.

 

[slford00]

With late EMH you're basically eliminating everyone from the park who has small kids... which is like 90% of the people who go to Disney. For the majority with small kids, that's not an option, hence why rope drop is the Bible on here.

 

[dmc6469]

We plan on doing the RD our 1st day and the Kiss Goodnight on our 2nd day. My sister and cousin can't last all day in the parks like i can and there's no way we will be able to do them both on each day.

 

[MasterGracey84]

I've been a frequent user of rope drop AND late night closing times. Sigh... It seems I'm going to be in the minority here as I lean toward recommending rope drop for you. Consider being the first person to enter the theme park... You will have a guaranteed ZERO wait on your first attraction choice. You will most likely have a very short wait on your 2nd and 3rd attraction you select. So, you have just completed 3 attractions BEFORE FP+ is taken into consideration. You already have a huge advantage over the masses. The late night-ers have very valid points in this thread, but I must say that the first consideration you may want to consider is the time of year you are going to the parks. On max capacity attendance days, late nights may sometimes still have significant wait times. On lower capacity days, you will definitely be able to take advantage of later nights in the parks. I can't say this is 100% accurate, but this has worked best for me in my experiences. Good question and good discussions

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

With late EMH you're basically eliminating everyone from the park who has small kids... which is like 90% of the people who go to Disney. For the majority with small kids, that's not an option, hence why rope drop is the Bible on here.

This is not necessarily true. There are a lot more strollers in the parks at midnight than you would probably expect.

Even when they were little, I found it much easier to let my kids stay up late over making them get up early.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I've been a frequent user of rope drop AND late night closing times. Sigh... It seems I'm going to be in the minority here as I lean toward recommending rope drop for you. Consider being the first person to enter the theme park... You will have a guaranteed ZERO wait on your first attraction choice. You will most likely have a very short wait on your 2nd and 3rd attraction you select. So, you have just completed 3 attractions BEFORE FP+ is taken into consideration. You already have a huge advantage over the masses. The late night-ers have very valid points in this thread, but I must say that the first consideration you may want to consider is the time of year you are going to the parks. On max capacity attendance days, late nights may sometimes still have significant wait times. On lower capacity days, you will definitely be able to take advantage of later nights in the parks. I can't say this is 100% accurate, but this has worked best for me in my experiences. Good question and good discussions

Good info Gracey. This sounds like a good plan to ride everything once, but my gang likes to hit the headliners multiple times. Fortunately, park hours are extended on high capacity days which allows for some additional prime ride time.

A key is to simply have a plan that works for you and stick to it.

 

[GatorMama]

I'll add... We DO stay ALLLL NIGHT for MNSSHP but we feel it in a majorly bad way the next day. The last two years we were so tired we barely wanted to leave the couch. Which is why I don't have much planned at all for the day after our party this year. A pirate adventure for DS6 and dinner at Boma. That's all. I'll be recovering the rest of the day.