Rope dropping worth it?

[muppets3d]

I rope dropped Magic Kingdom one time. I was staying at Wilderness Lodge and so rode the boat over to MK and made it to early entry, got to very close to the front of the crowd at the entrance to Fantasyland, and waited. When the rope dropped they announced that Space Mountain, Mine Train, and Peter Pan's Flight were all opening late. I don't recall when those rides opened, but it was well after the normal park opening time. I realize this was an anomaly, but rides opening late happens quite frequently, all things considered.

I will NEVER rope drop again, at least not with the intention of riding something first thing.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

I rope dropped Magic Kingdom one time. I was staying at Wilderness Lodge and so rode the boat over to MK and made it to early entry, got to very close to the front of the crowd at the entrance to Fantasyland, and waited. When the rope dropped they announced that Space Mountain, Mine Train, and Peter Pan's Flight were all opening late. I don't recall when those rides opened, but it was well after the normal park opening time. I realize this was an anomaly, but rides opening late happens quite frequently, all things considered.

I will NEVER rope drop again, at least not with the intention of riding something first thing.

Similar situation - we rope dropped HS from Boardwalk in hopes of riding Slinky Dog. We were one of the first through security and made our way quickly to SD - only to be told when we got there that the ride was going to be closed for a couple of hours. Why they didn’t tell us this at the entrance so we could have made a different plan is beyond me (also, I confirmed later CM did know prior to park opening). Bummer bc by that point all the other rides we would have rope dropped had lines. In the grand scheme of things, NBD but definitely changed my opinion of rope drop - you have to go in with low expectations and anything surpassing that is a gift.

 

[muppets3d]

Similar situation - we rope dropped HS from Boardwalk in hopes of riding Slinky Dog. We were one of the first through security and made our way quickly to SD - only to be told when we got there that the ride was going to be closed for a couple of hours. Why they didn’t tell us this at the entrance so we could have made a different plan is beyond me (also, I confirmed later CM did know prior to park opening). Bummer bc by that point all the other rides we would have rope dropped had lines. In the grand scheme of things, NBD but definitely changed my opinion of rope drop - you have to go in with low expectations and anything surpassing that is a gift.

The odds of all the E-ticket early entry rides at a park being closed is probably a rare event, but like I said - and like your experience bears out - it's fairly common for at least one of them to not open at rope drop. So yeah, keep it in mind.

 

[Sarah_e42]

For me, the best rope drop strategy is to avoid the biggest demand rides. At MK, don't try to go straight for 7D or Space Mountain- try Peter Pan or Buzz Lightyear.

These are rides that will have longer waits within the first couple hours, but almost no one going to them at rope drop.

This is a brilliant strategy. Thanks for the tip

 

[bakerworld]

We haven't rope dropped since the 90's but back then Disney let people in up to a rope barrier at the top of Main Street. If staying at a Disney resort there was a lane off to the right that you could move past the rope barrier into Fantasyland. Only Fantasyland rides were open for 30 minutes but it was a land out of the way and a way to get a start onto Space Mountain before the rope was actually dropped. Not sure if this still happens.

 

[jeankeri]

My question for you other rope drop veterans- what happened to the rope drop 'shows'at the parks?Thinking specifically about the train pulling up at MK and Rafiki 'waking up' the Tree of Life. Those I miss

 

[OP95]

I did rope drop once ar MK and it felt like it wasn’t worth it. Though going into the shops when everyone else rushed to the rides was great not having to deal with the mayhem. Then saw Mickey when the meet and greet first opened with minimal wait time.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

If the thrill rides are important it's almost imperative.
If popular IP rides are important it's almost imperative.
We blitz everything early so we can relax the rest of the day.
Not a fan of having to manipulate the ap constantly but we do do that too.

 

[supernova]

Thank you to all for this info. I wouldn’t mind getting there even earlier but it’d be hard to get our kids there that early without them being grumpy. We might have to try it in a few years when they are older. Well make the best of it!

Exactly. Why be one of 'those' parents who feel the need to force their kids to do things they'd rather not be doing? Leave your kids alone and let the trip be about them, not you. God knows this is no one's last trip to WDW. Do things when they make more sense.

 

[sfabs94]

We tend not to rope drop. But it can be practical to get everything done

 

[tinkerjo]

Last trip we rope dropped Fantasyland in MK cause we had a 2 year old in tow. Since we didnt have to be first in line, we got some great pictures in from of the castle with nobody in the picture. We rode Dumbo, barnstormer, little mermaid in that first 1/2 hr and was 2nd in line to meet princesses. At 9:15 we rode IASW and went strait to HM (13min wait) while not headliners, we got a crap ton done in the first hour or so. While other parks aren’t as productive, we are able to get one headliner in and in line before something else before park opening. We usually left the resort about an hour before early opening and found that got us there in Plenty of time

 

[SL6827]

Waiting for Disney to find a way to monetize rope dropping.

 

[marmentrout85]

I'm a huge proponent of rope-dropping of any theme/amusement park. Never-rope dropped Magic Kingdom, but was very surprised how much of a head start it gave me at both Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

I remember one day at Epcot in particular. I was able to ride Remy's, Frozen, Test Track (single rider line), Soarin, Spaceship Earth, and Cosmic Rewind twice (Virtual Queue and Individual Lightning Lane) by 11:30am, so basically 3 hours. I didn't even have Genie+. It was a slower day in September right after Labor Day in 2022 but was still surprised of how efficient my morning was.

 

[Minsc]

For years, our formula was: 1. Rope Drop 2. Save FP's for midday and early/mid afternoon 3. Stay late. This process worked really well for us. We were able to get a lot done during the first couple of hours, use our FP's during busier hours, and then take advantage of the declining population in the waning hours. We tried to arrive an hour before and stay approximately an hour after "close".

This process served us amazingly well during the paper FP era, the FP+ era, and (with some minor tweaks) the Genie+ era. So we are a big fan of rope dropping. When the kids were younger, we would still rope drop and then go back to the resort after lunch and let the kids nap, then head back to the park with our FP's scheduled for afternoon and stay late. The kids actually really adapted to this style and much preferred it once they learned it helped them enjoy lower wait times.

We've travelled with friends who were not compatible with either early morning, late evening, or the combination of both. So... it doesn't work for everyone, but if you can and are willing to make it work for you, my anecdotal view is that it is very worth it.

 

[jeankeri]

There is truth in what Tour Guide Mike installed in my brain years ago- while you are on vacation, never forget that you are on a very expensive one. At Disney.And the best way to enjoy the most experiences with the least amount of stress is to get up early and have a plan. Because not only will you be ahead of everyone who is 'on vacation' and sleeping in, you will also have a heads up on everyone with no idea of where attractions are located or the best order to ride.
The only complaint I have about rope drop are the morning 'shows' they used to have at park entrances to officially 'open' the parks.

 

[bdrex28]

We haven't rope dropped since the 90's but back then Disney let people in up to a rope barrier at the top of Main Street. If staying at a Disney resort there was a lane off to the right that you could move past the rope barrier into Fantasyland. Only Fantasyland rides were open for 30 minutes but it was a land out of the way and a way to get a start onto Space Mountain before the rope was actually dropped. Not sure if this still happens.

I don't think they do this anymore but we would book breakfast reservations within the park prior to park opening. We'd eat and already be inside the park.

I haven't really seen that lately.

I recall being practically the first people in Epcot as we had an opening ADR for Akershus.

 

[NickC]

We used to RD everyday. That was before they let everyone into the hub area. We would get there 90 minutes early, people would pile up until there was no more room and then they held people behind security. So, when they opened, one group would walk in while another group was in line to tap into the park.
The way it is now, we don't really bother. We still get there before it opens, because we are already awake, but not 90 minutes early. The new system doesn't give nearly as much time as it used to.
btw, the MK train station welcome show is a HUGE loss.

 

[DisneyFive]

With FP+, and now LLMP, allowing you to prebook attractions,we will go back to NOT rope dropping. Our kids are 17-23 years old now so it works way better for us to get our sleep and stay out later.

We tend to get the parks 30 minutes or so after park open and start riding our pre booked rides and then start grabbing more LL’s. Now, this assumes you are willing to pay for LLMP. We’ve found that we can ride everything we want with proper use of the latest skip the line service. The really big rides (FOP, ROTR) we do closer to park close and just do standby.

Every time we’ve gotten to the parks really early we end up waiting about an hour for the first ride anyway. So sure we get a mega headliner checked off our list, and maybe another good headliner but for us it’s not worth the toll on us the rest of the day.