Rope drop strategy

[mickey+minnie91]

We will be in the park on June 15 and 16th with 6 adults and 1 year old. We wont have early entry to Disneyland on the 15th but plan on rope dropping. What is the best strategy for hitting the big rides. We will also need to rider switch as well. We have early entry for DCA on the 16th and what would be the best plan for that day? Since we are hotel guests at DLH, where should we enter and where is the area to by pass the crowd for rope drop?

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

We will be in the park on June 15 and 16th with 6 adults and 1 year old. We wont have early entry to Disneyland on the 15th but plan on rope dropping. What is the best strategy for hitting the big rides.

I stay off site so I don't have early entry. This is what I have been doing for many years.

7.15am Wait in line outside the gates in the Esplanade. Pick a gate , any gate and join the line
7.30am The gates open and all guests scan in
I then walk up Main Street to The Hub and pick a side.
The side you pick depends on what your focus is.
Disneyland is a locals park, and the best time for all rides is the hours from rope drop to about 11.30am.
Once 8am hits and the announcement and the ropes are dropped, the crowds clear fast from The Hub area.
Fantasyland is best to start at rope drop , as non of the rides have Lightning Lane and it gets hot and crowded and becomes a stroller park with screaming kids from lunch time onwards.
Rise of The Resistance, and the Mountain rides get the rope drop crowds and then stay high wait times all day.

We have early entry for DCA on the 16th and what would be the best plan for that day? Since we are hotel guests at DLH, where should we enter and where is the area to by pass the crowd for rope drop?

As you are DLH guests, you will enter at the security and bag check entrance at Downtown Disney and then walk through Downtown Disney to The Esplanade and the Main Gates of DCA.

Again, just join any line at any gate at DCA at 7.15am.
At 7.30am they will open the gates and scan all guests in.
All guests can enter onto Buena Vista Street and there will be rope barriers at the 3 roads off Carthy Circle, for Hollywood Land, Performance Corridor and Runway 30. CM's will check your tickets for early entry at the rope barriers.
Radiator Springs, Guardians of The Galaxy, Incredicoaster get the early entry and rope drop crowds. However, they are located in 3 different areas of the park.

I would strongly advise getting Lightning Lane passes, as it really maximizes your park time when you only have a 2 day visit.

 

[gcpantazis]

Nothing to add to Tink's strategy, confirming that if you start in Fantasyland at DLP you'll be able to hit several rides within the first hour. Do everything without a lightning lane!

Lightning lanes are overpowered at DLP, partially because they still use the old Genie+ style system for which there's tons of strategies online (stacking, rescheduling, etc). I'd also add that holding the max lanes you can over the course of the day randomly will grant you multi-ride passes. My fam of four went earlier in the year, and if the two less-adventurous riders didn't want do do anything that required a lane I'd book them on our rides anyway. We'd get to re-ride on their LLs if we wanted, and if the ride went down we'd get four multi-ride passes. The last day I went back solo after dinner and had 10 multi-ride passes, most of which were e-tickets so i could ride nearly anything i wanted.