Rope drop

[SaintsManiac]

Did you point out to your friend that she also essentially waited an hour?!

EXACTLY! That is what always gets me.

 

[siskaren]

Did you point out to your friend that she also essentially waited an hour?!

EXACTLY! That is what always gets me.

What you both seem to be missing though is that she only waited 15 minutes in line. If she had gotten there right when the park opened, she would've been behind all the people who were already there before rope drop and probably would have had to wait in line an hour, which would be 45 additional minutes of park time waiting in line.

 

[VACamm]

Because it can literally save you several hours of standing in line over the course of the day.

We can generally do 4 attractions in the first hour the park is open, 3 attractions in the second hour, and 2 per hour after that.

This exactly!

 

[SaintsManiac]

What you both seem to be missing though is that she only waited 15 minutes in line. If she had gotten there right when the park opened, she would've been behind all the people who were already there before rope drop and probably would have had to wait in line an hour, which would be 45 additional minutes of park time waiting in line.

It's ok for people to tour differently than you do. We got to HS at RD by accident and went straight to RnR. I tend to lead us away from the crowd if we get there early.

 

[Klayfish]

What you both seem to be missing though is that she only waited 15 minutes in line. If she had gotten there right when the park opened, she would've been behind all the people who were already there before rope drop and probably would have had to wait in line an hour, which would be 45 additional minutes of park time waiting in line.

You're right. In both cases, it's a total of one hour wait. Though I don't agree that if you get there right when the park opens the line is immediately one hour (7DMT being the only possible exception). However, I think it's just a matter of priority and preference. The person who showed up 45 minutes before the park opened can only get on one more ride than the person who shows up right at opening. It's a personal decision on whether that's worth it to you.

Now if you're comparing arriving 45 minutes before opening to arriving two hours after opening, then yeah, you'd get a lot more done at rope drop.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Did you point out to your friend that she also essentially waited an hour?!

That's the point. She waiting an hour for 1 ride. I rode it 4 times in an hour during a different part the day which felt was a much more efficient use of my time.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Space Mountain five times in an hour.

We hit Space 4 times in 35 minutes starting at 11:25 pm on our last visit. We also rode Tower 13 times in just under two hours (8-10 pm), but I still don't know why.

 

[siskaren]

That's the point. She waiting an hour for 1 ride. I rode it 4 times in an hour during a different part the day which felt was a much more efficient use of my time.

But she only waited 15 minutes of park operating time. If you rode it 4 time in one hour, then you spent about 15 minutes waiting for each ride as well.

 

[SuperTink]

I think there's an aggregate for waiting time the longer you wait to ride--and for any ride you ride. I don't have stats, but it makes sense to me.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

But she only waited 15 minutes of park operating time. If you rode it 4 time in one hour, then you spent about 15 minutes waiting for each ride as well.

That's true, but she didn't have the option of multiple rerides without an hour + wait. But I still consider pre-opening time as waiting time and 4 rides in an hour is more efficient than 1 ride in an hour.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

We hit Space 4 times in 35 minutes starting at 11:25 pm on our last visit. We also rode Tower 13 times in just under two hours (8-10 pm), but I still don't know why.

It's possible it may have been down immediately prior to your riding it. When they're resetting, lots of people leave queues. I hopped over to MK in August on a crowded day, after having used my first three Fastpasses at AK, and lucked into arriving at Space Mountain as it reopened. Standby was a walk-on, and I rerode three times by scheduling my 4th, 5th, and 6th Fastpasses as I was walking through the queue. As for Tower of Tower, I want your luck

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

It's possible it may have been down immediately prior to your riding it. When they're resetting, lots of people leave queues. I hopped over to MK in August on a crowded day, after having used my first three Fastpasses at AK, and lucked into arriving at Space Mountain as it reopened. Standby was a walk-on, and I rerode three times by scheduling my 4th, 5th, and 6th Fastpasses as I was walking through the queue. As for Tower of Tower, I want your luck

The wait time are intentionally inflated late at night to discourage riders. For Space, the posted time was 50 minutes but we rode 4 times in 35 minutes.

At Toy Story, the posted wait was 70 minutes but the line attendant admitted that the actual wait was closer to 15. We rode 4 times in an hour.

Knowing how the system works makes multiple rerides much easier. We read about Line Stacking and other line manipulation techniques that Disney uses in the 1999 Unofficial Guide so this is nothing new.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

The wait time are intentionally inflated late at night to discourage riders. For Space, the posted time was 50 minutes but we rode 4 times in 35 minutes.

At Toy Story, the posted wait was 70 minutes but the line attendant admitted that the actual wait was closer to 15. We rode 4 times in an hour.

Knowing how the system works makes multiple rerides much easier. We read about Line Stacking and other line manipulation techniques that Disney uses in the 1999 Unofficial Guide so this is nothing new.

Sorry, missed the 11:25pm. That makes sense now.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I think either RD or close the park are equivalent options. It's what works better for you. My husband and I are night owl so who have been forced i to a morning schedule by having kids. They're up at 6 anyway, might as well rope drop. But you can bet when we have teenager so we'll be with the midnight crowd.

 

[Cbtexan04]

Since they rope drop at the castle now, is there any benefit of doing breakfast at BoG or CRT before park opening?

 

[ArielSRL]

Last year, in June, I had planned rope drop most every day. However, my dad really dragged his you-know-what and we never, not once, made rope drop. While we were waiting on him, I got to see how much all the other people in my Disney June FB group got accomplished in the first couple of hours. On top of that, it was a lot cooler in the early hours.

We WILL be doing rope drop this year. I am also leaving my dad at home....lol.

 

[mco65]

There are pros and cons i suppose.. i think you can ride a lot with little wait early in the AM or late at night.. but there are no guarantees that late at night will be as slow as rope drop, and vice versa.. its a crap shoot no matter what!

I am an early riser so for me getting up early is normal...
IMO, Rope Drop is a must.. especially during peak seasons..
WE can ride 7DMT, Buzz, Space Mtn within one hour of rope drop.. then if we have FPs to one or 2, we can hit 'em again or we can FP SPlash or THunder..
Rope drop makes riding more rides more often not only easier, but often POSSIBLE...
If maximizing rides is not your thing, then i could see where Rope Drop would not be a necessity..

 

[carlymcqueen]

I believe rope drop is super important because it's a way for my family to squeeze an extra long-line ride into they day without a FP+. In DHS, we get onto RNR without a wait and in MK we get right on Peter Pan. It's really helpful if you want to hit the a big ride without the wait and still have FP's for the rest of the day!!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I am uber planning this trip because I do not know when we will ever get back. I did tell my family I am planning some free days these will be days that we take the slower pace. However, for the agreement of that my family is giving me the rope drops I plan because yes we can clear 3-6 rides easy in the first 2 hours. I try and stick to one land or area at a time so say you do fantasy land in the am. you could go from ride to ride, and in Disney land emh hour we got most of, fantasy land knocked out. I do not know if it will happen in wdw, but I can hope.

 

[nat8199]

The wait time are intentionally inflated late at night to discourage riders. For Space, the posted time was 50 minutes but we rode 4 times in 35 minutes.

At Toy Story, the posted wait was 70 minutes but the line attendant admitted that the actual wait was closer to 15. We rode 4 times in an hour.

Knowing how the system works makes multiple rerides much easier. We read about Line Stacking and other line manipulation techniques that Disney uses in the 1999 Unofficial Guide so this is nothing new.

I dream of the day I can take advantage of late nights instead of rope drop. Maybe if we do an adults only trip. As it is, my kids have never in their lives slepts past 7am. Ever. Their usual wake up is between 5:30am and 6:30am. No matter how late they stay up, no matter where we are, no matter how much I bribe them. We RD because there is nothing else to do when you have been up since 6 and already had breakfast.