Rope drop success and difficulties

[Kathlita]

I tried to use rope drop to knock off one ride in each park, with varying degrees of success. While waiting for members of our party, we watched the Jungle Cruise line go from 10 minutes to 30 in a matter of minutes. Another day, our bus was late and we arrived at MK a little after 9. Peter Pan was already a 50 minute wait, so we skipped it. We made it Epcot before 9, but the Test Track line was already long. We took advantage of the single rider line for that one, which was a walk-on. (But you don't get to design your own vehicle.) Tower of Terror worked great with rope-drop, members of our party were able to ride it twice in a row. The rest of us went directly to TSM and had about a 20-30 minute wait. We arrived at Pandora at 8:00 and walked right on the NRJ. When people stopped moving down the path, we realized that was a line for FOP and went around them on the left.

This was the first week in March. Crowd predictions were fairly low, but inaccurate. So many people!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Stupid crowd calculators! Hate those things. We were there March 10, MK only, it was insane but in retrospect I think a lot of the crowds are caused by understaffed rides/attractions. I digress, we've had some RD fails, most notably last August at AK and FoP. We arrived a little after 8:30am on a 9am open day and the posted wait time was 4 hours- HAHAHA- heck no. We walked over to Navi and rode that with a 20 min wait. We've RD MK too many times to count and have always had good luck with getting on our planned rides. Our Feb 2017 visit was a 7DMT fail, RD Fantasyland and by the time we walked back to mine train, it was a two hour wait. Well, we made the best of it and rode everything else in Fantasyland and ended up getting on closer to park closing. We've had more successes than failures, thankfully.

 

[pitpat]

We were there the week of March 4 and did not find it crowded at all until the weekend of the 10th. Waiting for your party or buses being late are not the best examples of how well it can go. We have rope dropped Adventureland multiple times when there are less than 20 people waiting for the rope. Sometimes they even have to hold the JC boat to wait for more passengers.

If you're trying to RD Peter Pan or 7DMT or Test Track, you need to be there earlier and have a plan.

 

[Kathlita]

We were there the week of March 4 and did not find it crowded at all until the weekend of the 10th. Waiting for your party or buses being late are not the best examples of how well it can go. We have rope dropped Adventureland multiple times when there are less than 20 people waiting for the rope. Sometimes they even have to hold the JC boat to wait for more passengers.

If you're trying to RD Peter Pan or 7DMT or Test Track, you need to be there earlier and have a plan.

That's my point, be there early or it doesn't work. We would have been fine for those two rides, had we been on time. Honestly, though, they didn't have a lot of drivers at JC. That may have been the real problem.

TP had a crowd prediction for AK at 4, adjusted it to 7 the next day. Not crowded? I'm from Iowa. I like to see the sidewalk in front of me!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We were there the week of March 4 and did not find it crowded at all until the weekend of the 10th. Waiting for your party or buses being late are not the best examples of how well it can go. We have rope dropped Adventureland multiple times when there are less than 20 people waiting for the rope. Sometimes they even have to hold the JC boat to wait for more passengers.

If you're trying to RD Peter Pan or 7DMT or Test Track, you need to be there earlier and have a plan.

RD anywhere in MK other than Fantasyland is a great great alternative. We RD Splash Mountain a few years back and within 15 minutes time we rode it twice, it was great, and then hit BTMR twice too. I love RD!!

 

[PSUGuy]

For years now we do Space Mtn, Buzz and People Mover at RD and they're behind us by 9:30. We walk on Safari, Soarin' and TSMM with little or no wait depending on how well we're positioned at RD.

Bill From PA

 

[disneylover102]

I thought you could design your own vechile in the SR line for TT? Last time we went, we saw the computers to design your own vechile in the SR line but didn’t stop to use them because we didn’t care enough.

 

[MorpethMiss]

We go right in the thick of crazy Spring Break crowds each year, because that is the only time we can travel to Disney. 3 years in a row, we have successfully rope dropped Test Track, Soarin, the Mine Train, Big Thunder, Flight of Passage, Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror every time. The trick is, though, you have to arrive at the park no less than 45 minutes before park open. When it's really busy, it doesn't hurt to get there an hour ahead of time. It may seem like a lot to wait an hour for the park to open, but if you are there early enough you can easily walk onto 2 or 3 rides within that first hour. Plus there is something to be said for how nice the park is before crowds hit. And you need a plan, as someone has said above. you can use your MDE app to follow wait time trends ahead of time to let you know how quickly different rides fill up.

 

[BrianL]

I thought you could design your own vechile in the SR line for TT? Last time we went, we saw the computers to design your own vechile in the SR line but didn’t stop to use them because we didn’t care enough.

You can pick from a few pre-made vehicles, but it is not the full experience. If you want to use Single Rider and do a car, go in through the exit and there are stations there. Once the car is on your Magic Band or ticket card, you can use it for all subsequent rides.

 

[scrappinginontario]

When we plan on Rope Dropping, we arrive at the gate we want to rope drop a minimum of 45 mins if not more, before park opening. Allows time for security check, going through kiosks and getting part way into a park prior to the actual 'rope drop'.

Many think 'rope drop' means arriving at a park within minutes before it will open and that's just too late.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

I was able to successfully rope drop MK twice and it was amazing. We rode Pirates, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise, Thunder Mountain, and Splash...all essentially walk on. Granted, I was walking like a bat out of hell and we got there around an hour before opening lol, but it was so worth it.

 

[mamamelody2]

Yep, I think MANY people think rope-dropping a park means being through the gate at 9 AM or a few minutes before on a 9 AM opening day.
UM, no. Not if you want to hit the most popular rides first. You need to be there more like 45 minutes early.
If you're fine hitting anything else but FoP first for AK or Adventureland for MK, closer to actual opening time is fine.

 

[Max and Ruby]

What about EMH? Do they open earlier than posted as well?

So for an 8 am EMH with regular park opening being 9, should I be there 45 minutes before 8 am or even earlier?

Considering we have tweens now, we might do some early mornings and some park closures so we don’t burn out.

 

[cuteinnocent]

Epcot got there early and was in the Frozen line before opening time. It wasn't moving. Opening came and it wasn't moving. Basically I guess something was wrong with it and it didn't start moving for a while, maybe 20 min? Then there was still a line to get on. So I think when I got off the ride, the park was opened for almost an hour. If I knew that was how it was I would have went to basically every other ride and finished within that time. Ugh!!

 

[Delirium]

We do rope drop at MK a little differently. We rope drop multiple mid-priority rides before the lines build (things like buzz, the speedway, pirates, haunted mansion, etc.) and do 2 days of FPs to get the through six high-priority rides (mine train, space, peter pan, splash, big thunder, and jungle cruise). We're not ones that have to ride something multiple times a trip, so that approach works well for us.

 

[Ensusieasm]

What about EMH? Do they open earlier than posted as well?

So for an 8 am EMH with regular park opening being 9, should I be there 45 minutes before 8 am or even earlier?

Considering we have tweens now, we might do some early mornings and some park closures so we don’t burn out.

At 8am EMH at AK in late January they let us through the tapstiles at about 7:15, held us back at the bridge into Pandora until about 7:30 when the FoP and Na’vi rides opened. I walked off the ride at 8:10. At that time the wait time for FoP was three hours.

 

[Max and Ruby]

At 8am EMH at AK in late January they let us through the tapstiles at about 7:15, held us back at the bridge into Pandora until about 7:30 when the FoP and Na’vi rides opened. I walked off the ride at 8:10. At that time the wait time for FoP was three hours.

Thanks, that was what I was afraid of... might have to re think plans . Might avoid all EMH!

 

[Kathlita]

We do rope drop at MK a little differently. We rope drop multiple mid-priority rides before the lines build (things like buzz, the speedway, pirates, haunted mansion, etc.) and do 2 days of FPs to get the through six high-priority rides (mine train, space, peter pan, splash, big thunder, and jungle cruise). We're not ones that have to ride something multiple times a trip, so that approach works well for us.

That was kind of our plan, but I didn't realize Peter Pan was such a big deal. Otherwise, splitting the park in half worked well.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Thanks, that was what I was afraid of... might have to re think plans . Might avoid all EMH!

But It’s really worth it to get that extra hour of cooler morning park time and actually finish the awesomest Disney ride so quickly! It’s going to be the same time table for a regular 9am opening. Just everything moves up an hour. On a 9am opening, I walked off FoP at exactly 9am, and again the FoP wait time was already 3 hours. Once you get FoP out of the way it’s awsome that for at least the next hour there will be hardly any wait at all for most rides in other areas of the park.

 

[TinkTank01]

We do rope drop at MK a little differently. We rope drop multiple mid-priority rides before the lines build (things like buzz, the speedway, pirates, haunted mansion, etc.) and do 2 days of FPs to get the through six high-priority rides (mine train, space, peter pan, splash, big thunder, and jungle cruise). We're not ones that have to ride something multiple times a trip, so that approach works well for us.

That approach makes a lot of sense!