Rope Dropping FEA was a SUCCESS!!!

[elaine amj]

Using Rope Drop to ride Frozen Ever After in standby was a SUCCESS! The ride was 10x better than I expected!

Visited on Monday, Sept 26 (a lower crowd day I believe?). Was late leaving the hotel and got to Epcot about 8:25. Insane lines at the entrance (the whole front area was packed solid). I waited patiently in the line on the right edge, chatting with a sweet older couple who were a wee bit confused about opening. Felt so bad when I abruptly stopped midsentence, taking off full speed when I noticed the PPO breakfast lines on the far ride opened up to the public. I ended up about 5th from the front. By 8:35 or so, they opened the park and we all took off!! It wasn't quite the running of the bulls though as it is a looong walk and the crowds separated quickly with people running too. I kept up a brisk walk and it was still a walk on when I got there. When I got off, the line had built to a 15 min wait. It was soooo awesome I hopped back into line! So worth the effort! Plus, I had a FP for Soarin later and really had no need to rush anywhere at 9am.

I have done many mad dash Rope Drops...Toy Story back in its crazy days, 7 Dwarves during Christmas Week, MK RD a couple of days ago (hard to be ahead of the pack with the PPO guests already wandering around - was headed to 7DMT then heard a CM say it was down so changed course for Peter Pan)....this had the least jostling for position.

That said, it is a VERY long walk all the way back to Frozen. The CMs did not control us at all and some were running. If u walk slower or are further back in line at the entrance tapstiles, a 15-30 min line is likely (which is not bad IMO). If u want to do all 3 headliners (Soarin, Test Track, and Frozen) with only one FP and u cannot get the prized Frozen one, I would suggest RD Frozen, then walk back to do either Soarin or Test Track before lines get too intense (Soarin was about 20 mins or so when I got there closer to 9:30am).

The ride was totally worth it. I was blown away - immersive, impressive, and magical. Classic Disney dark ride at its best (note: it is dark in there so be prepared if your child is scared of the dark. No scary scenes though).

 

[pampam]

Thank you for a well written report. Now I have to figure out what PPO is.

 

[bigtony777]

Thanks for the update. I hope that it will be even easier coming from the world showcase entrance at the back of the park.

 

[pmaurer74]

Thank you for a well written report. Now I have to figure out what PPO is.

Pre Park Opening.

 

[chris4disney]

I'm curious how RD goes for those heading to FEA coming from Epcot's back entrance by France? Anyone have experience with that?

 

[Duck143]

What time can you head over to stand in line for FEA? Does World Showcase still open at 11am?

 

[WEDWDW]

What time can you head over to stand in line for FEA? Does World Showcase still open at 11am?

ALL of Norway and the QS and adjoining Merch Shop in France open with the Park.

 

[WEDWDW]

So they are no longer doing a second "rope drop" at the Mexico bridge with a "Frozen Family Of The Day"?

 

[elaine amj]

I'm curious how RD goes for those heading to FEA coming from Epcot's back entrance by France? Anyone have experience with that?

I saw some folks walking over from the back entrance. Very few though - so I imagine that just like the front, the distance spread out the crowds.

What time can you head over to stand in line for FEA? Does World Showcase still open at 11am?

It opens when the park opens. Officially at 9am but for my last few visits since 2014, Epcit has been opening early about 8:30-8:45. GET THERE EARLY. In March this year I arrived about 8:50am and hit a 20+ min line up at Test Track. Also, the Norway bakery and the France bakery all open when the park opens (so about 9am).

So they are no longer doing a second "rope drop" at the Mexico bridge with a "Frozen Family Of The Day"?

Not the day I was there. I was surprised as I had expected to be walked to the ride. Instead, it was a free for all and I had to maintain a very brisk pace all the way there. (Getting walked to the ride usually means I get to walk slower lol).

 

[SeeDisney]

thank you for sharing. I too HAVE to RD this one as no FPs were available. Appreciate the details. We will get to Epcot early and we are brisk walkers.

 

[KaptainK]

Does anyone know where the closest stroller parking is for the ride? Will needing to park the stroller and get the kids out put us at a big disadvantage for rope drop?

 

[iheartglaciers]

I'm curious how RD goes for those heading to FEA coming from Epcot's back entrance by France? Anyone have experience with that?

I'm curious about this too since I'll be staying at the Swan... is the quickest way to go left through UK to Norway?

 

[elaine amj]

Does anyone know where the closest stroller parking is for the ride? Will needing to park the stroller and get the kids out put us at a big disadvantage for rope drop?

At least on the day I went, this would not have been a problem whatsoever. The long walk meant parties were very spread out. Like I mentioned, no jostling for position. The extra minute to park your stroller would not make much of a difference at all. Now when I have rope dropped 7DMT - that extra minute made a crazy difference!

thank you for sharing. I too HAVE to RD this one as no FPs were available. Appreciate the details. We will get to Epcot early and we are brisk walkers.

I would recommend getting to Epcot by 8/8:15am. I got there late at 8:25am (just missed the Epcot bus when I made it to the bus stop!) and it meant keeping a watchful eye on the entrance tapstiles for pre-park open breakfasts. (I still feel a bit guilty about how rude I was to the sweet couple I was talking to when I took off mid-sentence to get to the tapstile when it opened!). It would have been completely un-stressful if I had got there early enough to be near the front of the regular entrance tapstiles.

I should also add that I was solo for this - making it much easier to move through the crowds so your mileage may vary.

 

[robinb]

Visited on Monday, Sept 26 (a lower crowd day I believe?). Was late leaving the hotel and got to Epcot about 8:25. Insane lines at the entrance (the whole front area was packed solid). I waited patiently in the line on the right edge, chatting with a sweet older couple who were a wee bit confused about opening. Felt so bad when I abruptly stopped midsentence, taking off full speed when I noticed the PPO breakfast lines on the far ride opened up to the public.

So, the hint is to stay to the far right and hop into the PPO breakfast lines as soon as they open?

 

[elaine amj]

So, the hint is to stay to the far right and hop into the PPO breakfast lines as soon as they open?

If you get there a little later (like I did), that's exactly it! I was ALL the way at the back of the line (by that point the lines had filled just about all available space). So I stayed in the line as far right as possible, keeping a watchful eye on the tapstiles. The instant people started moving over to the PPO tapstiles, I took off at a brisk pace to switch to those new lines. Worked like a charm!

 

[WEDWDW]

I'm curious about this too since I'll be staying at the Swan... is the quickest way to go left through UK to Norway?

At Rope Drop,you'll HAVE to go that way.

(There are ropes between France and Morocco and between Norway and China until 11:00 AM.)

 

[WDWRook]

We did it for rope drop as well. Entered line at 9:10 and were thru in 30 min. Not bad as the line was constantly moving.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

I just hope I get a fast pass for FEA.

 

[bigtony777]

So, the hint is to stay to the far right and hop into the PPO breakfast lines as soon as they open?

It depends on the park, but you always want to be the line closest to the breakfast reservation line. They will normally open that line to the everyone about 5 minutes before opening the park.

 

[elaine amj]

For Magic Kingdom Rope Drop, I actually also arrived late (about 8:35am for 9am open). MK had already opened their tapstiles and folks were gathered in front of the train station. It was Sunday 9/25, a very low crowd day so I strolled trough bag check and the tapstiles and easily walked through the crowds to position myself near the entrance, and yet still far enough back to watch the Welcome Show). There was a crowd, but it was very loosely packed.

I had absolutely no problems moving through the crowd after rope drop to get belly up to the rope as we were walked up to Fantasyland (except for one rather rude woman giving me a shove at one point).

The trick in MK though (which I had not heard of before and didn't do), is to enter the shops on Main St as soon as possible. The rest of us were stuck at walking speed behind the CMs. A young couple entered the shops on the left, brisked walked through, and were able to bypass the rest of us...mingling with the PPO guests who were already wandering around.

I definitely was at a big disadvantage for 7DMT even though I was belly up to the rope. Thankfully, a CM finally mentioned (after we were already deep in Fantasyland), that the Mine Train was down so I did a sharp u-turn and headed to Peter Pan for a 2-3 min wait.

Note: I was also solo for RD so could likely move quicker.