rope drop strategy with FP+ still works!

[lmbcdb]

I have been following many FP+ threads and discussions about rope drop and if it will still work in the summer. (many people were thinking that rope drop would become more crowded with the new FP+)

So I thought I would share our experiences this week. We are normally slow season people - this was our first trip where the crowd numbers were above a 4. (We were always rope drop people anyway)

It seemed to work for us! We went to MK three times this week, all on a easywdw recommended day.

Magic Kingdom Day 1, 6-17

We got to MK at 8:15 am, and we were about 20 people back from the front, with a great view of the opening show, which started at 8:40. We slowly walked with the crowd, through the castle (not too bad) and over to spend the morning in Fantasyland. Here's what we accomplished:

• Peter Pan (walk on)
• Winnie the Pooh (5 minutes) (got stuck on it for 10 m)
• Little Mermaid Undersea Adventure - walk on
• Barnstormer (wait was 10 m, but we used the FP they gave us when we got stuck on Pooh)
• Dumbo - waited through one cycle of the ride
• Mad Tea Party - 5 min
• Carrousel - 5 min
• It's a Small World - 5 min

Which brought us to 11:15, and we used our 11:05-11:35 FP for BOG lunch. Our food was excellent. In fact, DH said he could eat the ham sandwich every day. I had the roast beef, which had some excellent sauce on it. We all loved the theming.

Our afternoon FPs:
1:05 Belle (45 min SB wait)
2:20 Haunted Mansion (DD DH)
4:20 7DMT (90 min SB wait)
5:30 Anna & Elsa (me and DD) (180 min SB wait)

I tried to move up the later FPs after Belle, but of course there were none available for 7DMT and A&E. It was hot and crowded, and I wish our FPs could have been earlier so we could have left and spent the afternoon at the pool.

Magic Kingdom Day 2, 6-18

We slept in a little. It was a long hot day the day before. We got to MK at 10 am:
-rode Pirates as a walk on
-Tiki Room
-did Crystal Palace for brunch
-Pirate's League
-FP Pirates of Carribean at 1:00 with a SB 50 min wait
-FP Space Mtn at 2:00 (SB 50 min wait)
-Carousel of Progress (no wait),
-DS & DH Speedway - FP (50 min SB wait)
-me & DD met Ariel FP (50 min SB wait)
-Hall of Presidents - 5 min wait

Magic Kingdom Day 3, 6-20

Got to MK at 8:30. Got a spot under one of the trees and watched the opening show at 8:40. (so we were pretty far back)

We headed over to Adventureland and Frontierland for the morning.

-Jungle Cruise-walked on. 6 people on the boat total. She said we were her first cruise.
-Pirates - walked on
-Splash Mountain - walked on
-Swiss Treehouse-walked on.
-Aladdin's carpets - 5 min
-Pirates again - 5 min
-BTMRR - FP - 11:00
-lunch @ Columbia Harbor House - 11:15 - no line.

We then left to visit relatives, and DD and I came back for the evening.

-Haunted Mansion - FP (30 min SB wait)
-MSEP - sat in Frontierland with a Dole Whip. Found a spot 10 min before parade.
-Splash - FP (50 min SB wait)
-Wishes - had a hard time finding a spot because we got stuck on Splash!

So, if we come in June again, I will probably schedule our FPs for 11, 12 and 1. (squeezing in lunch between them) Then spend the afternoons at the pool. The afternoons were just too crowded for my liking. For example - one afternoon, they had to line CMs up and down the middle of the passageway between PP and IASW to get people to walk on the right and left. Not my cup of tea.

All in all a great trip so far. I'm glad I planned our mornings (used ridemax) and we went to rope drop...

 

[pampam]

Thanks for posting. We never go at that time of year, but I appreciated your input.

 

[Mrs Green]

Thank you so much for the detailed breakdown. Sounds like you are getting a lot accomplished and having fun! This gives me a lot of hope that my strategy for my 3 Mk days in august is a good one (ie arrive early, use fp at midday and then get out for a pool break). What was your experience at the other parks?

 

[Jeff_G]

We just got back and found this to be the best strategy as well. The parks were nice for the first hour or so. We rode many of the main attractions as walk-ons and had our FP scheduled for the afternoon when lines were long. We never did get a 4th FP as most selections were out by the time my third FP was used.

When everyone else went to the 7MD ride to wait 2+ hours we went onto the other attractions with small wait times.

***Vent***

We too found the parks just jammed packed in the afternoons, almost to the point of not being able to walk. We found the crowd during and after wishes to be unbearable, we decided to skip wished on the last day in MK. It just want worth dealing with the shoving and pushing and obscured views from dozens of Ipads being held up in the air.

***Vent Over***

 

[Aliceacc]

So, if we come in June again, I will probably schedule our FPs for 11, 12 and 1. (squeezing in lunch between them) Then spend the afternoons at the pool. The afternoons were just too crowded for my liking.

Thanks so much for posting; you just made my day. That's exactly what we have planned

Enjoy the rest of your vacation!!!

 

[lmbcdb]

Thank you so much for the detailed breakdown. Sounds like you are getting a lot accomplished and having fun! This gives me a lot of hope that my strategy for my 3 Mk days in august is a good one (ie arrive early, use fp at midday and then get out for a pool break). What was your experience at the other parks?

At EPCOT, we didn't use rope drop but got there right at park opening. We went two days, and used our FPs in the morning to get in Soarin' and Test Track. We then spent the afternoons in World Showcase.

AK is a half day for us - so we slept in today and are headed in this afternoon to FP FOTLK, EE, and Kali.

We haven't done HS yet, but I caught the glitch and changed our GMR, so we have FPs for RnR, ToT and TSMM. We will still head in for rope drop, so I'll let you know.

 

[WiscMomof2]

I completely agree about RD and FP+. We were at Epcot by 8:30 this past Thursday and they opened the park about 10min early. We walked on TT and by the time we got off the line was almost back to Innoventions.. Walked on Mission Space, back on TT with FP, The Land walk on, Soarin FP (lucky enough to also take advantage of the Tier changes) 15 minute wait for Nemo, on to WS, Maelstrom FP, and got a 4th for SE for on our way out for the day. Things couldn't have gone smoother!

 

[emilymad]

We are here now and I completely agree. We did rope drop at MK and got tons done before our FP+ started at 10am. We didn't wait for anything and I didn't think the crowds were too bad.

We did AK today at RD. They started letting people in at about 8:50. We did the safari twice with no waiting.

 

[jrjankowski8]

In my mind, FP+ wouldn't necessarily screw up rope drop. I think it would be quite the opposite. In the past the extreme FP- people had to go early to maximize rides. Now they don't because you have 3 from the get go.

Also the reason parks are less crowded in the AM in the past is because the general public didn't go early. FP+ gives that same group just as little or even less incentive to go to the parks early. Sure you can select FP+ for the morning but why do that if you have the option to do the same ride mid day or at night?

 

[Radiorox]

Rope Drop is the way to go even when it's not crowded. I've been in early September = Very low crowds and we were inside Frontierland by 9am (they let us in MK at 8:45ish) and rode BTMRR 10 times before 10 am which was a hoot, the CMs were cheering us on.

Then we did Jungle Cruise, Aladdin, Pirates, Splash, and Tiki all with little to no wait. Had lunch, went on a few more attractions (Space with a FP) and headed back to the resort as the weather started getting nasty.

Low or High season, I like to take a swim break in the afternoon and head back for the nighttime stuff. Which means I like to get a ton of things in before we leave to swim.

I am a passholder living 3-4 hours away and still I can't get the rope drop fever out of me.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

I have been following many FP+ threads and discussions about rope drop and if it will still work in the summer. (many people were thinking that rope drop would become more crowded with the new FP+)

So I thought I would share our experiences this week. We are normally slow season people - this was our first trip where the crowd numbers were above a 4. (We were always rope drop people anyway)

It seemed to work for us! We went to MK three times this week, all on a easywdw recommended day.

Magic Kingdom Day 1, 6-17

We got to MK at 8:15 am, and we were about 20 people back from the front, with a great view of the opening show, which started at 8:40. We slowly walked with the crowd, through the castle (not too bad) and over to spend the morning in Fantasyland. Here's what we accomplished:

• Peter Pan (walk on)
• Winnie the Pooh (5 minutes) (got stuck on it for 10 m)
• Little Mermaid Undersea Adventure - walk on
• Barnstormer (wait was 10 m, but we used the FP they gave us when we got stuck on Pooh)
• Dumbo - waited through one cycle of the ride
• Mad Tea Party - 5 min
• Carrousel - 5 min
• It's a Small World - 5 min

Which brought us to 11:15, and we used our 11:05-11:35 FP for BOG lunch. Our food was excellent. In fact, DH said he could eat the ham sandwich every day. I had the roast beef, which had some excellent sauce on it. We all loved the theming.

Our afternoon FPs:
1:05 Belle (45 min SB wait)
2:20 Haunted Mansion (DD DH)
4:20 7DMT (90 min SB wait)
5:30 Anna & Elsa (me and DD) (180 min SB wait)

I tried to move up the later FPs after Belle, but of course there were none available for 7DMT and A&E. It was hot and crowded, and I wish our FPs could have been earlier so we could have left and spent the afternoon at the pool.

Magic Kingdom Day 2, 6-18

We slept in a little. It was a long hot day the day before. We got to MK at 10 am:
-rode Pirates as a walk on
-Tiki Room
-did Crystal Palace for brunch
-Pirate's League
-FP Pirates of Carribean at 1:00 with a SB 50 min wait
-FP Space Mtn at 2:00 (SB 50 min wait)
-Carousel of Progress (no wait),
-DS & DH Speedway - FP (50 min SB wait)
-me & DD met Ariel FP (50 min SB wait)
-Hall of Presidents - 5 min wait

Magic Kingdom Day 3, 6-20

Got to MK at 8:30. Got a spot under one of the trees and watched the opening show at 8:40. (so we were pretty far back)

We headed over to Adventureland and Frontierland for the morning.

-Jungle Cruise-walked on. 6 people on the boat total. She said we were her first cruise.
-Pirates - walked on
-Splash Mountain - walked on
-Swiss Treehouse-walked on.
-Aladdin's carpets - 5 min
-Pirates again - 5 min
-BTMRR - FP - 11:00
-lunch @ Columbia Harbor House - 11:15 - no line.

We then left to visit relatives, and DD and I came back for the evening.

-Haunted Mansion - FP (30 min SB wait)
-MSEP - sat in Frontierland with a Dole Whip. Found a spot 10 min before parade.
-Splash - FP (50 min SB wait)
-Wishes - had a hard time finding a spot because we got stuck on Splash!

So, if we come in June again, I will probably schedule our FPs for 11, 12 and 1. (squeezing in lunch between them) Then spend the afternoons at the pool. The afternoons were just too crowded for my liking. For example - one afternoon, they had to line CMs up and down the middle of the passageway between PP and IASW to get people to walk on the right and left. Not my cup of tea.

All in all a great trip so far. I'm glad I planned our mornings (used ridemax) and we went to rope drop...

~Yay! I'm so glad, you're having a fabulous time at WDW!

~LOL, I have never once believed or made those kind of bizarre predictions -- I've always thought they were complete & utter nonsense!

~Anyway, thanks so much for this well written & detailed update! Not only is this info beyond helpful -- it also provides some reassurance for those of us with upcoming trips -- not that I *ever* doubted Disney, lol!

~After reading this, I'm more excited than ever to return to Disney World!!!

 

[lmbcdb]

OP here. We did rope strop at Hollywood Studios Sunday but use a different strategy. We did two of our FPs in the morning. It was also a easywdw recommended day. We got there at 8:30 and they started letting people in at 8:50. We went to Jedi Trainng sign ups first, and waited about 5 minutes. Then we walked on Star Tours. Then headed for Great Movie Ride, where there was a 15 minute wait. We then had FPs for RnR and ToT. We did those early, as we wanted to do shows in the afternoon. The FPs were still helpful, though. We got to RnR at 10:15 and the standby line was 70 min. We did ToT next, where the wait was 45 minutes.

We then did lunch, the Jedi Training show, and Star Tours again. ( still a walk on & DD6 was the rebel spy both times we rode!) We then built light sabers and meandered to TSMM for our FPs at 2:50. We then got a 4th FP for Little Mermaid for 5 minutes away. Which was a good thing. There was quite a line. We probably would have had to wait through two shows.

We then went back to the kiosk and got a FP for Lights Motors Action. Not sure how that helped us, but we got in a got a seat halfway up.

 

[Steveromo]

Great Post! Very informative and detailed! I never knew that the attractions would be so empty in the mornings this time of year. We plan our trips on off-peak seasons to try to avoid the crowds and heat as best as possible. We will be there mid-September. I too plan to hit our park-of-choice as early as possible each day, take a pool break mid-day, and hit another park at night. Not sure how to use FP+ however. Do we FP our desired rides in the AM and try to kiosk FP additional rides later? Or do we save FP for the more crowded evening park? Sounds like we may not need to FP in the AM. I have one follow-up. Saw a post from WiscMomof2 that mentioned FP for TT and Soarin' the same day. I thought that you could only choose one of those. Any changes in the system recently? Having trouble locating a list of the tiers (saw it on this forum in another post, but can't find an official list on Disney site.). Thanks for any tips!!!

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Really appreciate the breakdown here and you have me reconsidering our plan of attack. We are gonna be there in late August and my MK plan now was RD every day, ADR lunch around noon, back to BLT by 1 for a nap for my 3yo and pool for the other adults. Back to the park by 3:30 for a FP ride then, one in the 4:30 hour, ADR around 5:30 FP ride at 6:30, ride Standby till Wishes.

Now I'm thinking RD till lunch, FP rides in 11, 12, 1pm hours. Back to hotel for a longer break. Get a later ADR and return then 6:30ish.

 

[cattywampus]

Thank you lmbcdb! Super helpful info!

 

[tanyaandallie]

Question about RD at MK now that the show is at 8:40. Are they opening the park immediately after the show? Or do they do the show and then people wait til 9? We have early am adr at CP and trying to figure out what to expect. In the past we were in and out before the crowds but that will not happen if they are letting people in pre-9am.

 

[itchin2go]

In my mind, FP+ wouldn't necessarily screw up rope drop. I think it would be quite the opposite. In the past the extreme FP- people had to go early to maximize rides. Now they don't because you have 3 from the get go.

Yes, but some people have reported that FP+ has changed rope drop for the worse. I think the prevailing theory is that FP+ has increased demand for "lesser'' attractions. So people book fastpasses for these lesser attractions, and that makes the standby lines longer. The result is that some things that used to be "walk-on" or have always had low stand-by times, now have longer standby times. Since rope drop strategy depends on low standby waits, it could be affected negatively.

I'm glad to hear OP's report. I was worried that the glory days of rope drop ease were gone!

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, but some people have reported that FP+ has changed rope drop for the worse. I think the prevailing theory is that FP+ has increased demand for "lesser'' attractions. So people book fastpasses for these lesser attractions, and that makes the standby lines longer. The result is that some things that used to be "walk-on" or have always had low stand-by times, now have longer standby times. Since rope drop strategy depends on low standby waits, it could be affected negatively.

I'm glad to hear OP's report. I was worried that the glory days of rope drop ease were gone!

Another part of that theory is that if you want to repeat any headliners, the only way to reliably do that with a short wait is to be at rope drop.

Also add in that FP return times now start AT park open instead of later (maybe 40 minutes later before?)

Thankfully though, substantially changing rope drop turnout would require a wholesale change in human nature. So I still remain hopeful it won't be changing all that much.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Thanks! Any further details on what you are doing in the evenings? We always hop to another park after our long afternoon break.

 

[wmoon]

We are here just now and I think rope drop is still fine. We had a great time doing rope drop at MK, splash, thunder, pirates all 5 mins and haunted mansion 10mins, we then started using our fp.
Animal kingdom was fine as well. Can't really comment on Epcot as we haven't been in early yet and we keep getting distracted by cheese and ham croissants in the French Bakery!
Hollywood studios, Ds did the first Jedi training so can't say what the rides were like first thing either.