Rope Drop scheduling

[CaryHaven]

We've never been to RD per se. We've had pre-park opening reservations, but never just been standing out there for 45 minutes waiting for the park to open, and maybe never will. I just don't want to wait out with small children in the hot sun with a mob of people ready to jump as soon as the gate opens. That being said, we're going to be there waiting for five or ten minutes before the park opens, and I need an opinion on which direction I should go. Typically, we ride Peter Pan first and kind of do FantasyLand before our FastPasses kick in. On this day in late September, the park opens at nine, and there's a MNSSHP that night (so hoping maybe the crowds will be lower). If we are in FL by 9:15 or so, and our first FP isn't till noon in Frontierland, should I go ahead and do Peter Pan and Fairytale Hall (not A&E) and then just hit up all the little rides in FL while waiting for FP time, or could I do PP (and possibly princesses) and then run to Buzz and Space Mountain and the Speedway to get them out of the way? I could take out the princesses if necessary. Just don't know what the line will be like for all of those at that time. PP is a priority, but we don't have a fastpass for it. So that's why I wasn't going straight over to Tomorrowland to start with. I think by the time I finish with Tomorrowland, the line for PP would be too long.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Josh's thoughts here might be of help.

http://www.easywdw.com/cheatsheets/mk_cheatsheet_v3.pdf

 

[Delirium]

If PP is a priority, there are usually only two times to effectively ride it without a FP. First thing in the morning or about 11:30 PM on a day when the park closes at midnight. Since you are going on a party day, that takes out the late night option, so you'll want to do first thing. The good news about PP is it is a short ride, so once you get off and head to Tomorrowland, the times will not yet have peaked there.

 

[Rosebud123]

Why don't you plan on arriving at 8:30? Although you'd still be near the back of the RD "pack," you'd only have to wait 10-15 minutes for the opening show and then the park would be open. That would probably get you to PP by 9:00 yet you wouldn't have to fight any crowds.

 

[Hootch]

We were there at the end of May. It was Memorial Day week so fairly crowded.

We do get to the parks early and use the time to eat and apply sunscreen. At the MK we stake out a good position to watch the pre-opening show rather than standing right at the entrance. There are a couple of trees that block the sun around that time. We headed straight to PP going through Liberty Square. We had little wait.

 

[nat8199]

My goal for the days we do RD is to be walking up as they open the gates. This is for MK and AK. Maybe 5 min early or 5 min late.

 

[CaryHaven]

Josh's thoughts here might be of help.

http://www.easywdw.com/cheatsheets/mk_cheatsheet_v3.pdf

Thank you!

 

[CaryHaven]

Why don't you plan on arriving at 8:30? Although you'd still be near the back of the RD "pack," you'd only have to wait 10-15 minutes for the opening show and then the park would be open. That would probably get you to PP by 9:00 yet you wouldn't have to fight any crowds.

Excellent point. We might try that and see how it goes. We've never seen the opening show, and I kind of want to see it at least once.

 

[CaryHaven]

We were there at the end of May. It was Memorial Day week so fairly crowded.

We do get to the parks early and use the time to eat and apply sunscreen. At the MK we stake out a good position to watch the pre-opening show rather than standing right at the entrance. There are a couple of trees that block the sun around that time. We headed straight to PP going through Liberty Square. We had little wait.

You know, I honestly never thought of that. I assumed it was skin to skin people with no room to move, much less eat/apply sunscreen. Since we already stand outside the car and do this, that would work out great. Where do you stand for the show/shade? Do you go through Liberty Square because it's less crowded?

 

[Emily Gilmore]

Why don't you plan on arriving at 8:30? Although you'd still be near the back of the RD "pack," you'd only have to wait 10-15 minutes for the opening show and then the park would be open. That would probably get you to PP by 9:00 yet you wouldn't have to fight any crowds.

This is what we did in mid-July last summer and it wasn't bad at all. Didn't feel super crowded, we got to see the show, and still got to ride Splash, Space & Big Thunder in the first hour we were there.

 

[crystay10]

On our last trip, we were able to time it a couple of days so that we were exiting the resort monorail as the opening show ended. It was January, so low crowds, but we did not have the rope drop wait (or crowd) and we walked on everything (PP, Pooh, Ariel) and saw a couple of characters with no wait in the first hour or so. It worked great for us!

 

[Rosebud123]

Excellent point. We might try that and see how it goes. We've never seen the opening show, and I kind of want to see it at least once.

I don't cry easily, and I'm not that moved by Disney "magic" but the MK opening show makes my cry every single time!!! It's awesome.

 

[constanze]

PP is our first ride at MK every time we vacation at WDW. We always hit rope drop, about 30 minutes before scheduled park opening, (so usually about a 15 minute wait) and we never have a problem walking directly on the ride. And that is during busy summer months.

 

[bbjunkie]

P

We were there at the end of May. It was Memorial Day week so fairly crowded.

We do get to the parks early and use the time to eat and apply sunscreen. At the MK we stake out a good position to watch the pre-opening show rather than standing right at the entrance. There are a couple of trees that block the sun around that time. We headed straight to PP going through Liberty Square. We had little wait.

Just a little heads-up:

If you are at EMH rope drop you will no be able to walk through Liberty Square. Early EMH hours are only for Tommorwland and Fantasyland. There will be CMs at ropes blocking Adventureland and Liberty Square/Fronteirland.

 

[Kathryn777]

I agree , I have 3 kids and love the wait for rope drop to get organized. Restrooms, water refills, sunscreen, re packing the stroller after the security check, the time flies by.