Rope Drop Strategy for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure with Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes

[DLRExpert]

Best to line up there right at 7:30 AM or do you think you could ride PP then SM and still get there in time to be towards the front?

EE is not that busy. I say as long as you get to that area a few minutes before park opening you should be fine.

 

[Jrog92]

Rise EE update after talking with Plaid CM and Casey Jr CM.
There is a"rope drop" entrance to GE and Rise over by Casey Jr.

You don't have to line up near the Frontierlland entrance.

Which means you should be able to get to Rise first.

How is it faster? Isn't it just as far to Rise as the Frontierland entrance? Also, aren't you blocked from getting into Fantasyland until rope drop?

 

[DLRExpert]

How is it faster? Isn't it just as far to Rise as the Frontierland entrance? Also, aren't you blocked from getting into Fantasyland until rope drop?

EE means Early Entry. Fantasyland is open during EE.

 

[Jrog92]

EE means Early Entry. Fantasyland is open during EE.

Thank you, totally missed that!

 

[mjmcnns]

Just wondering what the rational of the time advice on these two items si?

Note: Book your first LL, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, you are looking for a return time after 10am.
Note: REMEMBER to keep an eye on that Rise of the Resistance ILL return time, again you want a return time after 11am.

 

[Blue32]

I assume the advice of trying to RD Peter Pan is now obsolete? Has anyone tried to do Pan first (without access to EE) now that EE has started again and at DL every morning? Just wondering what kind of a wait would be expected in doing it first and if we would be better off putting it off until later in the day or the evening....

 

[goofy1954]

I assume the advice of trying to RD Peter Pan is now obsolete? Has anyone tried to do Pan first (without access to EE) now that EE has started again and at DL every morning? Just wondering what kind of a wait would be expected in doing it first and if we would be better off putting it off until later in the day or the evening....

I saw a recent video for early entry that showed no lines at any of the Fantasyland dark rides. The early entry numbers seem pretty small, so I'd be surprised if most of the on-property guests aren't pretty much done with PP by the time regular rope-droppers get there.
Does anyone have more firsthand experience from last week?

 

[Blue32]

I saw a recent video for early entry that showed no lines at any of the Fantasyland dark rides. The early entry numbers seem pretty small, so I'd be surprised if most of the on-property guests aren't pretty much done with PP by the time regular rope-droppers get there.
Does anyone have more firsthand experience from last week?

I thought this might be the case, but I also considered that PP might be the exception.

 

[DLRExpert]

Just wondering what the rational of the time advice on these two items si?

Note: Book your first LL, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, you are looking for a return time after 10am.
Note: REMEMBER to keep an eye on that Rise of the Resistance ILL return time, again you want a return time after 11am.

You can choose anytime you like. My rational was trying to be near the areas you will be at during that time.

Fantasyland pretty much completed within the first 45 minutes or park opening.

Adventureland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Critter Country, and Galaxy's Edge attractions call all be completed by or just after lunch time if planned correctly.

Early afternoon for Tomorrowland or take a break back at the hotel and come back for Tomorrowland in the evening.

 

[DLRExpert]

I assume the advice of trying to RD Peter Pan is now obsolete? Has anyone tried to do Pan first (without access to EE) now that EE has started again and at DL every morning? Just wondering what kind of a wait would be expected in doing it first and if we would be better off putting it off until later in the day or the evening....

Originally covered on post #172 and shared on the original post.
UPDATE 8/10 Disneyland
The amount of EE guests at all attractions is quite low at the official park opening.
So if you are not a EE guest and you are close to the rope, you should be able to still get on Pan rather quickly.
Same goes with a non-EE guest and Space Mountain as the first attraction.

If non-EE guests are far back from rope (like image below) then follow the plans listed.

 

[Jaina]

Originally covered on post #172 and shared on the original post.
UPDATE 8/10 Disneyland
The amount of EE guests at all attractions is quite low at the official park opening.
So if you are not a EE guest and you are close to the rope, you should be able to still get on Pan rather quickly.
Same goes with a non-EE guest and Space Mountain as the first attraction.

If non-EE guests are far back from rope then follow the plans listed.

I found the same thing when I rope dropped Disneyland (front of the center crowd) Sunday and California Adventure Monday (back-ish of the Hollywood crowd). I got on PP (with purposeful walking) within 11 minutes and on Guardians just as quick if not more quickly than I would have with a normal rope drop. Part of this is that the line/ride was already up and running, and sometimes that causes some delay. I was still happy with both rope drop mornings, personally. It wasn't a problem for me that people were already in the park, since lines were still super low. Maybe even better, since many had gotten those rides (fantasyland, etc.) out of the way already.

 

[DLRExpert]

Update 8/16
Adding Disneyland Super EE Plan to first post, Includes plan to ride Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Rise of the Resistance.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I just returned from Disneyland. My family did EE on Saturday - Monday (August 13 - August 15). The crowds are minimal. So non-resort guests that are RD are not going to experience a heavy crowd when the park fully opens to all.

At DL, our family headed to Fantasyland and were able to ride just about every attraction within the 30 minutes. We also snagged a photopass picture in front of the castle with basically no crowds walking past us. I thought that was pretty awesome too because its just my family and the castle. One thing I would note about EE and Fantasyland. There is a pretty sizable group waiting next to Red Rose Tavern to enter through that gate and go to GE or Frontierland. So, if your trying to use EE as a head start to GE and do RISE or MFSR, then be aware that you may want to start to queue there after a few Fantasyland rides to get to the front of that holding gate. I didn't try to do this, but I'm thinking that if you were able to be one of the first people in the park for EE, you could walk-on to PPF and ALICE and still be able one of the first folks queued at the Red Rose Tavern for GE.

At DCA, our family did Soarin' and then the kids did Incredicoaster. That's all we were able to get too, because the length of the rides are so much longer in DCA you just don't get as many attractions in. My family did Webslingers on Friday afternoon, and my family liked the attractions but didn't love the attraction so we went to Soarin. No one was at Soarin and so therefore I am guessing that what little crowds were using EE were at WEB.

Everyone (EE folks and non-EE folks) queue at the tapstiles/gates. I cannot stress this enough. You should get to the security like you would be rope dropping the parks. Get there early and get to the front of the queues. If you do this, you can maximize your time in the park with very low crowds. Although it still seemingly makes more sense to me that EE guests have specific gates to queue and enter, I felt like Disney did a pretty good job of funneling the resort guests towards the locations where your reservations can be checked for EE. While walking to the CMs for EE check-in, I had my Disneyland App open with our reservation information and my families names of four people. I just told the CM that this was my family and they waived us through. I don't recall showing a room key and I only showed my app information.

May the force be with you.

 

[squirrels17]

Another data point for EE: was in the park at 0728, went straight to space and got right on, then went straight to Peter Pan and waiting >15 min in line, still in line as of 0800. I don’t think it’s possible to do the big 3 today (space, pan, RoR).

 

[cinder-ellah]

oops, sorry if this is posted in the wrong place. Feel free to delete is necessary .
Last week Thurs 8/11 with EE we walked with purpose to PP. My 15 yr old GD was 1st inline and I was 2nd. That was a fun exhilarating way to start the day ! By the time we got off the ride the line was starting to fill in but on the app still said 5 min wait. Side note we've been fortunate to meet up with WonkaKid last Dec and do a true RD for PP. Now that took my breath away. So fun ! Back to EE .... after PP we went to ST, Buzz, Nemo. Nemo did extend our time past 8am. SM was temporarily closed. On Buzz I actually had a nano second of being 10th place, not really all that much of high score. By the time I pushed the button to register my low, low 111,116 10th place score, I got out scored by 118,100, lol. All in all it was great fun. We got those rides accomplished by 8am. After RD watching the app in the 8am hour Fantasyland rides seemed steady at 5 min waits, PP went to 20 - 40 minutes.

 

[DLRExpert]

Update 8/19
EE has changed Rope Drop Location at DCA.

Still have the Rope Drop locations near the Carthay Circle and Hollywoodland.
The rope drop area near the Little Mermaid is no more and now closer to Buena Vista St. leading towards Soarin and Grizzly River.
View attachment 695331

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Another data point for EE: was in the park at 0728, went straight to space and got right on, then went straight to Peter Pan and waiting >15 min in line, still in line as of 0800. I don’t think it’s possible to do the big 3 today (space, pan, RoR).

What if you did it in reverse- PP, SM, and then queue at the gate for Rise?

 

[DLRExpert]

What if you did it in reverse- PP, SM, and then queue at the gate for Rise?

15 minutes is pretty long for PP during EE. I am assuming it was down earlier or other attractions were down during that time.

 

[crazycatlady]

If we went on WS and Guardians during EE, would we have time to get a good spot for RSR or do those two rides take up too much time? Where do the EE people wait to get a head start towards RSR?

 

[squirrels17]

15 minutes is pretty long for PP during EE. I am assuming it was down earlier or other attractions were down during that time.

I didn’t check the app before we got in line for PP yesterday so I don’t know for sure whether it was down. However, today I did check and nothing was down but the same thing happened - PP had 15 min wait by 0743. But this time, we instead went straight to PP and got right on, then did dumbo, Alice, Snow White, toad, and then got on space right before 8. We didn’t try for RoR today (still down as of 0850). But if we did want to try for it, I think the only possible way to do the big 3 is PP first, then space, then get in line for RoR. More walking but PP gets too long too fast to not do it first. Maybe Matterhorn refurb has something to do with it?