Slinky Dog Rope Drop is a Living Hell

[DisneyWishes14]

An alternative could be that they hand out special FPs for the riders choice that need to be used within the first 15 minutes after RD. As you clear security, they funnel you through a line where you choose to take one FP for whichever ride you want to ride. Once one ride is gone, say, SDD, you can grab a different one if you choose. Or, you can go to SDD and be the one of the first to ride after the 15 minutes (or so) buffer passes.

That way, those that get there first can get to the ride first and showing up last minute before RD hoping to run faster than everyone else, does not benefit you as much.

This goes completely against the 3 FP+ system WDW already has in place and, IMHO, they aren't going to hand out special RD FP+ without, somehow monetizing those FP+. In fact, they've already done this - it's called EMM.

WDW has already come up with multiple ways a guest can get FP+ to Tier 1 rides without ever having to do RD. 1) stay onsite (and the longer you stay onsite, the more chance you have of snagging the FP+, 2) do EMM, 3) do DAH, 4) book a tour. WDW is not going to hand out FP+ to guests above and beyond the system they already have in place. WDW wants us to spend money in order to up our chances of getting on these Tier 1 rides. For those who do not want to spend this money (or for those who decided to FP+ something else), unfortunately, this is what they face at RD. As the Disney mantra goes, "we cannot control guest behavior". As PP's have mentioned, RD'ing a recently opened, Tier 1 ride, is not a great idea.

OP, I'm sorry you had a bad experience. It sounds awful and I hope the rest of your day gets better. We witnessed this a little bit when we went to sign DS up for Jedi Training a few years ago. There just seem to be a lot of people out there that do not care if their actions negatively impact other people.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

This why we don't rope drop new attractions anymore. We FP or forget it. Not worth the stress...especially with a baby.

 

[Disxuni]

If it was designed to not go into a massive big area, before going back to a narrow passageway towards the icon of the park, but rather a passageway from the beginning to the end of the icon of the park, it would be easier to hold off the crowd. At least you could have potentially literally a rope (I know a long rope though) with dozens of CMs holding it and moving along towards the icon of the park, because honestly, that would be the only way to truly keep people from running and to keep whoever is at the front, at the front.

However, then once you're at the icon, it'd still have to be every man for themselves since it goes into so many different directions from that point.

The problem is everyone is trying to beat the crowd and most people will do anything in order to do that and not consider anyone else's feelings.

When it comes to the ridiculous wait time rides I just go later in the day and a few minutes before the park closes, or during whatever the big show at the park I hop on. By then, everyone is either heading out, or watching the show.

 

[Jcon]

I don't see how giving people FPs curbs the behavior. It's still a FP no matter what and for a ride of your choosing by your earlier comment. With or without a FP people still want to be on the ride before someone else. Human nature for the bulk of folks. Have you not seen people act the same when it comes to entering the FP line? I, personally that is, would see it as just an unequal thing.

I do agree that if you show up at RD you should be behind everyone else that was there before you but that should actually be the case whatever time you show up be that right at RD or 45mins before RD or 1hr before RD.

I'm not sure I explained my proposal clearly.

When you arrive and clear security, you receive a pass (I've been using FP because it's the easiest to explain) for one ride, which you choose that moment. Let's say it's SDD because that's the subject of the thread. CMs have 100 (I have no idea what the appropriate number would be) to hand out for that ride, then they have 100 for RnR or whatever. You get there after they are all handed out, then you can proceed to the standby line after RD.

It doesn't curb bad behaviour because you can't make people not act like poorly but it ensures that those that arrive early, get their rightful (I hate using this term but alas...) spot in line.

If you have FP for the first hour of the morning, of course, you can still use it.

 

[Orsino]

What they really ought to do is let people line up immediately after entering the park. Because of the whole "rope" business, it become utter chaos. If they let people walk (or "walk") from the tapstile to slinky dog and make them wait there the tapstile itself would meter people entering the park. I think they tried this with Toy Story was back when. I guess there is some reason Disney doesn't do this.

Or maybe they could set up a Slinky Dog Queue in the rope drop area, then lead the line rather than a glob of chaos to the ride when they are ready.

Or they should set up multiple ropes to release guests in smaller bursts. (This might be necessary for other reasons too. There is a reason NYPD locks people into individual pens during New Years Eve in Times Square. People die from stuff like this).

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

What they really ought to do is let people line up immediately after entering the park. Because of the whole "rope" business, it become utter chaos. If they let people walk (or "walk") from the tapstile to slinky dog and make them wait there the tapstile itself would meter people entering the park.

I was just about to make this same comment. The crux of the problem is essentially having a holding cell of people before the "rope" that have to all converge into a single line. Allowing people to get through security and immediately proceed to a queue would alleviate a lot of the chaos.

 

[Malestrom Troll]

I'm not sure I explained my proposal clearly.

When you arrive and clear security, you receive a pass (I've been using FP because it's the easiest to explain) for one ride, which you choose that moment. Let's say it's SDD because that's the subject of the thread. CMs have 100 (I have no idea what the appropriate number would be) to hand out for that ride, then they have 100 for RnR or whatever. You get there after they are all handed out, then you can proceed to the standby line after RD.

It doesn't curb bad behaviour because you can't make people not act like poorly but it ensures that those that arrive early, get their rightful (I hate using this term but alas...) spot in line.

If you have FP for the first hour of the morning, of course, you can still use it.

If you limit the FP for RD, then you will have people come even earlier to the point that there will be a huge line waiting for the parking lot to open and people fighting for the first bus at resorts.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm not sure I explained my proposal clearly.

When you arrive and clear security, you receive a pass (I've been using FP because it's the easiest to explain) for one ride, which you choose that moment. Let's say it's SDD because that's the subject of the thread. CMs have 100 (I have no idea what the appropriate number would be) to hand out for that ride, then they have 100 for RnR or whatever. You get there after they are all handed out, then you can proceed to the standby line after RD.

It doesn't curb bad behaviour because you can't make people not act like poorly but it ensures that those that arrive early, get their rightful (I hate using this term but alas...) spot in line.

If you have FP for the first hour of the morning, of course, you can still use it.

No I understood what you meant. I don't see how giving out a FP for any ride in the morning just because you showed up before X time is fair at all. Back with Legacy FP that's sorta how it ended up with more in-demand rides running out of FPs a lot sooner than others. What you're wanting is to go back to that even if you're only talking about RD aspect.

It's like Black Friday madness really is what you're wanting where you are given a voucher for something. No one absolutely no one wants to be the person who misses out on that voucher by being the unlucky person next in the line and the vouchers are all gone.

Even if you sub out the term FP effectively that's what your giving out. I just see a lot more disgruntled people that way.

If your goal is just that you ensure people who show up are in one line one after another in said one line so that you're just going with the order in which you got there there's a lot easier way of doing that then giving out FPs or a voucher. But again just my opinion.

 

[ScubaCat]

I think using FP+ could be the way to go with this. It's the same thing they do for people who camp out for hours outside best buy or any other store before black friday or a limited release, etc. They hand out tickets a couple of hours in advance so that when they open, the chaos doesn't preclude those who waited the longest from getting what they waited for.

Really, any potential remedy only creates a different problem. For instance, if you give out an earlybird FP, a paper ticket, or even have a separate queue, people will only arrive EARLIER to get to that. If you let people into the park to queue up early, that's comparable to just opening the park earlier, so you effectively nullify the solution by creating a different problem.

What I don't get is why you'd wait 75 minutes to not wait in line. But I guess if you hit the popular thing first, other stuff will be quieter for a while so maybe that's the advantage there.

First world problems......

 

[ScubaCat]

If you limit the FP for RD then you will have people come even earlier to the point that there will be a huge line waiting for the parking lot to open and people fighting for the first bus at resorts.

It's like Black Friday madness really is what you're wanting where you are given a voucher for something. No one absolutely no one wants to be the person who misses out on that voucher by being the unlucky person next in the line and the vouchers are all gone.

For the record, I typed out the previous post BEFORE I read either of these. And I am not psychic! (I think?! ) Crazy.

 

[StarSeven7]

OP, I feel your pain! We had a very similar experience when we rope dropped SDD on an EMH morning a month ago! We wanted to rope drop it even though we had a FP for later in the day, because we only had one day at HS, it was our first time experiencing Toy Story Land, and we really wanted to ride it twice that day. Our kids wanted to watch Fantasmic so going at the end of the night was not an option. We didn't have anyone shove us, but we were just behind the front row of people while being held on Hollywood Blvd. and we walked SUPER quickly back to SDD but hundreds of people ran in front of us. It was pretty frustrating! We've rope dropped 7DMT a number of times and never had the same experience. I think the issue with SDD is that you have to walk across the entire park as this huge mob. With 7DMT, you're actually only walking a very small way from where you're held. Also, people are able to go around some of the buildings on Hollywood Blvd. and come in from the side and essentially create a second "rope" line, and you have to converge with this HUGE wall of people right in the middle of the park right before you get to the archways. I think cutting off that second area would be very helpful in controlling the crowd!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

Yep, this is why I would never do rope drop - not worth the hassle. I'd rather wait and get in line at the end of the night.

 

[PamNC]

I know Star Wars is coming and it's going to be amazing - BUT I have to say I wouldn't waste my time right now going to Hollywood Studios. Haven't been to Toy Story Land. I don't have kids, which of course means nothing because you can certainly enjoy it kidless, and to me and from what I've seen Toy Story Land looks kinda' cheap like just a step or two above carnival style. The only thing I like to experience there at this point is TOT, RNR, Fantastmic, and that's it - not really worth a ticket. I used to love this park and I'm hoping once everything is finished I'll feel that way again. I liked Great Movie Ride but it was quite outdated, I've seen Indiana Jones so many times I don't dislike it but don't feel the need to repeat it every trip or even every 3 trips. Not interested in Voyage of the Little Mermaid any longer. I do like the Beauty and the Beast stage show but it's not a must do for me. Muppets - totally over it. I miss the streetmosphere actors and the old hollywood vibe... I just feel like this part is in the middle of an identity crisis.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Not that it matters, but the late guest yesterday would have also been riding in the rain, FWIW.

A quick flip through the past week of TP data shows higher last hour wait times that still make your point, but the 18 min data point yesterday is a bit of an anomaly.

Coasters slide a little faster when the tracks are wet. I’ll take that over a 3 hour wait.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I know Star Wars is coming and it's going to be amazing - BUT I have to say I wouldn't waste my time right now going to Hollywood Studios. Haven't been to Toy Story Land. I don't have kids, which of course means nothing because you can certainly enjoy it kidless, and to me and from what I've seen Toy Story Land looks kinda' cheap like just a step or two above carnival style. The only thing I like to experience there at this point is TOT, RNR, Fantastmic, and that's it - not really worth a ticket. I used to love this park and I'm hoping once everything is finished I'll feel that way again. I liked Great Movie Ride but it was quite outdated, I've seen Indiana Jones so many times I don't dislike it but don't feel the need to repeat it every trip or even every 3 trips. Not interested in Voyage of the Little Mermaid any longer. I do like the Beauty and the Beast stage show but it's not a must do for me. Muppets - totally over it. I miss the streetmosphere actors and the old hollywood vibe... I just feel like this part is in the middle of an identity crisis.

Park hoppers, if one can afford them, are perfect for this sort of feeling

 

[snappy]

I know Star Wars is coming and it's going to be amazing - BUT I have to say I wouldn't waste my time right now going to Hollywood Studios. Haven't been to Toy Story Land. I don't have kids, which of course means nothing because you can certainly enjoy it kidless, and to me and from what I've seen Toy Story Land looks kinda' cheap like just a step or two above carnival style. The only thing I like to experience there at this point is TOT, RNR, Fantastmic, and that's it - not really worth a ticket. I used to love this park and I'm hoping once everything is finished I'll feel that way again. I liked Great Movie Ride but it was quite outdated, I've seen Indiana Jones so many times I don't dislike it but don't feel the need to repeat it every trip or even every 3 trips. Not interested in Voyage of the Little Mermaid any longer. I do like the Beauty and the Beast stage show but it's not a must do for me. Muppets - totally over it. I miss the streetmosphere actors and the old hollywood vibe... I just feel like this part is in the middle of an identity crisis.

I agree that toy story land has a carnival style feel. Reminds me of Dino Land.

 

[ScubaCat]

I know Star Wars is coming and it's going to be amazing - BUT I have to say I wouldn't waste my time right now going to Hollywood Studios. Haven't been to Toy Story Land. I don't have kids, which of course means nothing because you can certainly enjoy it kidless, and to me and from what I've seen Toy Story Land looks kinda' cheap like just a step or two above carnival style. The only thing I like to experience there at this point is TOT, RNR, Fantastmic, and that's it - not really worth a ticket. I used to love this park and I'm hoping once everything is finished I'll feel that way again. I liked Great Movie Ride but it was quite outdated, I've seen Indiana Jones so many times I don't dislike it but don't feel the need to repeat it every trip or even every 3 trips. Not interested in Voyage of the Little Mermaid any longer. I do like the Beauty and the Beast stage show but it's not a must do for me. Muppets - totally over it. I miss the streetmosphere actors and the old hollywood vibe... I just feel like this part is in the middle of an identity crisis.

Your impression is accurate. We went in the fall since we had someone with us who'd never been. While TSL is nice and we enjoyed it, it's definitely just a 1-2 hour experience. I'd only check it out if I had a park hopper or AP and didn't mind just dropping into DHS for a few hours and then moving on. But to each her/his own!

 

[PamNC]

Park hoppers, if one can afford them, are perfect for this sort of feeling

absolutely. in and out of DHS for sure and then back one night for Fantasmic. I'm done. I'm honestly not that excited about Star Wars because I'm not a huge Star Wars fan. But I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt

 

[piper28]

I was just about to make this same comment. The crux of the problem is essentially having a holding cell of people before the "rope" that have to all converge into a single line. Allowing people to get through security and immediately proceed to a queue would alleviate a lot of the chaos.

This is probably the closest thing they could do, but the problem would still be at some point they'd have to have a time when the entrance opens, because they're not going to leave it overnight. Making it earlier relieves some of the pressure, but you'll still get people that will show up and wait for that opening time. They'd also need more staff reporting earlier, because even if things aren't open yet, if you have more of the park open to where people can get to it, you're going to need more staff in place.

The reality is I'm not sure there really is a great way to deal with it, but they'll probably need to find something at some point, the only real question is whether they come up with something before or after someone gets trampled.

 

[cakebaker]

Our absolute last option would be to do a popular ride at rope drop, in fact we just don’t. We use rope drop to ride things people aren’t acting like a crazy mob to get to. There are options to avoid this. You don’t have to use rope drop. Ride later in the evening, get a FP, EMM, DAH’s. Not once in all our trips have we ever used rope drop to ride the newer rides and we never had to skip them. There are times we haven’t gotten a FP when our window opened, but always manage to pick them up eventually.

When we were at HS in October, we headto TSL, but to ride alien and TSMM, not SDD. The CM’s dis a great job of controlling the crowd, but it is intense. Since we weren’t headed to SDD, we just let those who wanted to, pass us. If they’ve relaxed on that, they need to fix it.