Slinky Dog Rope Drop is a Living Hell

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is why I do rope drop, and get there early. Yeah, I stand in line for a half hour before opening, but that standing in line is when no one else is coming in the park making other lines longer. In my eyes, it helps me get more done. But, I also don't go to the longest wait rides (SDD, 7D/PP, FOP). If I were going to ride one of the newest or the really long wait rides, I'd get in line close to closing, I do think that's a better strategy. However, we've tried getting in lines for things like TOT, MS, TT, BTMRR about a half hour (give or take) before closing and thats all we could ride. I can get 2/3 rides done in the first half hour of posted opening, so I can accomplish more early rather than later (based on my experience, everyones will vary).

I don't remember if it was really only when they had evening EMH at AK but I believe FOP was terrible lines just before close. That's not the case now from what I understand but it was right when it opened. I remember it catching a lot of people off guard thinking that the evening would be a good time to ride it.

 

[pens4821]

Actually, it wouldn't be that hard, for the newest rides in the park, the standby line should begin OUTSIDE the turnstiles until a reasonable amount of time after park opening. Then people have to walk the length of that queue to get to the attraction.

I don't think this would work (could get too long especially for something like Star Wars/people going through taps trying to cut through the line to the other rides are my major concerns), but having lines does make sense. I think the below quote makes more sense. I don't go to DL, but that seems like something DW should look into for quite a few of their rides. Its much more fair, but more importantly also much safer.

This may have been mentioned but I'm surprised they don't do something like they do in California Adventure at Disneyland. Was there this past summer and the gates were open earlier than the park. When you got in they stopped you at certain places but had lines for the popular rides (guardians, racers) and people just stood in an orderly line and walked in an orderly line. Since you were already waiting in a line it was understood that no one would run ahead and there was no big mob. Seems like a great thing to implement at DHS.

 

[MomOTwins]

OP here at the end of a very long day. I am overwhelmed by all the kind words; I certainly did not expect 7 pages of responses to my little rant! There have been a lot of questions so I will do my best to answer them.

As to the “why rope drop” question, several reasons: (1) my work schedule did not permit me to plan this vacation more than a couple of weeks ahead so FP was not an option (I did check daily for openings), and EMM was sold out; (2) we only have 4 park days and Fantasmic is our very favorite nightime entertainment and a big family tradition, and I didn’t want to make the kids choose between their favorite show and SDD; (3) it was scheduled to be (and in fact was) melt-your-patootie-off hot today and I knew my kids could handle a 75 minute wait in the cool morning time but not in the scorching heat later in the day; and (4) my kids have seen ad after ad featuring SDD on disney junior channel and BEGGED me to let them go on it, so given the rest of the factors, rope drop seemed like the surest bet.

We have not done rope drop before but I saw one happen at MK for 7DMT at the end of our EMM yesterday and it seemed quite slow and orderly. It was nothing like that at HS today. Today was a stampede.

The wait was actually less than 90 minutes, closer to an hour, thank goodness. But still made me feel like a failure because I had told my kids that if they waited patiently at the rope (they did) they wouldn't have to wait very long again at the ride. I did not need/expect to be first in line, but I thought being at the front of the pack would mean a pretty short wait. A CM held up a sign that said “90 minutes from this point” which is what prompted me to write this post, but that must have been an estimate because it did move faster.

I am a pretty brisk walker but wary of hitting others with the stroller, so when others cut in front of us my default is to fall back rather than slam into them, which of course prompts more people to cut ahead. The biggest issue by far though is that once the park opened up at the end of the initial street, the crowd “widened” as people further back swarmed around the sides and sprinted to get ahead. I think moving the rope drop further ahead to the narrower path to toy story land would help with this considerably.

I actually ran into another family on ToT later that day that was next to us at the start of rope drop and also had a stroller. They too fell hundreds of people behind, and it sounds like it was worse for them—someone actually vaulted/catapaulted off of their stroller to get ahead. Thank goodness their kids weren’t hurt.

It was a very busy day. I am a bit shell shocked and definitely will not be repeating rope drop. Normally if we can’t get a FP (in advance or via refresh) we don’t try to ride a headliner. SDD was just something my kids wanted so much. And they did have fun riding it so all was not lost!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

In October 2017 it had been open for approximately 3 yrs 3-4 months (depending on when in October as it opened at the very end of May 2014).

Your larger point is still there but given that it was the new ride in a while and nothing has come along since then I get the furor over it. Tron should take some of the edge off (though maybe not all given what type of ride Tron is compared to 7DMT).

We were thre around the first of June 2014 just days after 7D opened.

We heard that the standby line exceeded 5 hours during the afternoon, but we were able to ride twice in less than 30 minutes by waiting until a half hour before close to jump in line.

Even the most popular attractions have shorter lines in the evening.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We were thre around the first of June 2014 just days after 7D opened.

We heard that the standby line exceeded 5 hours during the afternoon, but we were able to ride twice in less than 30 minutes by waiting until a half hour before close to jump in line.

Even the most popular attractions have shorter lines in the evening.

I think FOP was the exception to that right after it first opened but yeah in general that can be the case. Back in 2011 that was the only time we got to ride TSMM as it was like a constant 75min wait and the paper FPs were always gone by the time we got there. 5mins before close and there was absolutely no wait.

 

[mshanson3121]

I'm late to the party - but given this scenario, do any here intentionally avoid rope drop, to avoid tbe crush?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I think FOP was the exception to that right after it first opened but yeah in general that can be the case. Back in 2011 that was the only time we got to ride TSMM as it was like a constant 75min wait and the paper FPs were always gone by the time we got there. 5mins before close and there was absolutely no wait.

My kids love TSM and like to ride it multiple times.

Even at the height of it’s popularity, you could still ride 4 times back to back over the last hour of operation.

Your wrist does get tired though if you’re not careful.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My kids love TSM and like to ride it multiple times.

Even at the height of it’s popularity, you could still ride 4 times back to back over the last hour of operation.

Your wrist does get tired though if you’re not careful.

Our last trip was during Irma and the crowds were nil. We rode TSMM so many times can't even remember back to back. It's a total workout IMO

 

[g-dad66]

The title of this thread caught my attention, and I'm glad to hear that the outcome was not as dismal as it might have been.

Really appreciate you taking the time to report back. Your "rant" is worth its weight in gold in helping a lot of us folks decide what approach to take regarding the hardest-to-get-FP attractions.

OP here at the end of a very long day. I am overwhelmed by all the kind words; I certainly did not expect 7 pages of responses to my little rant! There have been a lot of questions so I will do my best to answer them.

As to the “why rope drop” question, several reasons: (1) my work schedule did not permit me to plan this vacation more than a couple of weeks ahead so FP was not an option (I did check daily for openings), and EMM was sold out; (2) we only have 4 park days and Fantasmic is our very favorite nightime entertainment and a big family tradition, and I didn’t want to make the kids choose between their favorite show and SDD; (3) it was scheduled to be (and in fact was) melt-your-patootie-off hot today and I knew my kids could handle a 75 minute wait in the cool morning time but not in the scorching heat later in the day; and (4) my kids have seen ad after ad featuring SDD on disney junior channel and BEGGED me to let them go on it, so given the rest of the factors, rope drop seemed like the surest bet.

We have not done rope drop before but I saw one happen at MK for 7DMT at the end of our EMM yesterday and it seemed quite slow and orderly. It was nothing like that at HS today. Today was a stampede.

The wait was actually less than 90 minutes, closer to an hour, thank goodness. But still made me feel like a failure because I had told my kids that if they waited patiently at the rope (they did) they wouldn't have to wait very long again at the ride. I did not need/expect to be first in line, but I thought being at the front of the pack would mean a pretty short wait. A CM held up a sign that said “90 minutes from this point” which is what prompted me to write this post, but that must have been an estimate because it did move faster.

I am a pretty brisk walker but wary of hitting others with the stroller, so when others cut in front of us my default is to fall back rather than slam into them, which of course prompts more people to cut ahead. The biggest issue by far though is that once the park opened up at the end of the initial street, the crowd “widened” as people further back swarmed around the sides and sprinted to get ahead. I think moving the rope drop further ahead to the narrower path to toy story land would help with this considerably.

I actually ran into another family on ToT later that day that was next to us at the start of rope drop and also had a stroller. They too fell hundreds of people behind, and it sounds like it was worse for them—someone actually vaulted/catapaulted off of their stroller to get ahead. Thank goodness their kids weren’t hurt.

It was a very busy day. I am a bit shell shocked and definitely will not be repeating rope drop. Normally if we can’t get a FP (in advance or via refresh) we don’t try to ride a headliner. SDD was just something my kids wanted so much. And they did have fun riding it so all was not lost!

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I'm late to the party - but given this scenario, do any here intentionally avoid rope drop, to avoid tbe crush?

We always avoid rope drop with the exception of PPO ADR at Epcot. Our girls love Akershus so we try to book breakfast at least once a trip and jump right on FEA with no wait. Other than that, we take our time in the mornings arriving at the parks around 10:00 am. We always get to do everything we want at a leisurely pace but we also purchase the CL FP+ which makes it a little easier. But for us, the rides are not the most important part of the vacation. Taking our time and enjoying just being at WDW is more important than rushing to ride any ride even FOP or SDD.

 

[Disneylover99]

I'm late to the party - but given this scenario, do any here intentionally avoid rope drop, to avoid tbe crush?

Nope. I don’t avoid it, but I don’t and won’t rope drop the most popular rides. I won’t head to Toystory Land, Fantasyland or Pandora first thing that’s for sure.

 

[Gussie Granger 1969]

People can be awful. While we waited for PP, there was a woman and a man in front of us waiting at rope drop. By the time we got to PP they were behind us and she looked upset. I asked her if she wanted to go ahead of us and she snapped at me and said no. I offered. I would never intentionally cut in front of someone.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

The thing that annoys me about this is that Disney does know how to makes things better and definite tries. Sometimes. Then they seem to throw their hands up, and say 'let them run.'. I talked to a CM a couple years ago while at the stop point before 50's PT waiting for JTA sign up. She said that the wait there was just to keep the crazies from running. She said it helped a lot. Was it perfect, no. But stopping people on the walk to Pandora multiple times and on the way to 7DMT seems to at least help it not be a total stampede.

Also, Universal ropes off most of the walk all the way back to WWoHP every morning for early entry. It's probably longer than the walks to either Pandora or TSL. Their reason for doing it is to keep people out of other areas of the park but it probably helps crowd control quite a bit too. And would definitely help at Disney.

Also we went to the HP castle projections the second day they were done at Thanksgiving time two years ago. It was a complete mess and it felt a little scary at times. People were pushing and it's the only time I've ever been hit by a stroller and it was fine repeatedly (every time I stopped with the crowd). This year we went again and Uni totally stepped up their game. They had ropes and a process for moving people, and they really made it a much more coordinated, safe, and pleasant experience (although still totally wall to wall people). They learned from the mistakes of the previous year and fixed then.

Disney could make the situation better. They chose not to which to me is not right. Appealing to people's better nature is unfortunately not going to work for the subset of people who are running. Disney owes it to it's guests to do better. They are setting up the situation that is allowing people to run. They need to fix it.

 

[DVCcurious]

We were there last week and did SDD RD Thursday. We arrived at 7:45. It was truly awful. At least with 7D there is only one line, with SDD there is the main entrance but we merged at the courtyard with two groups on the left and one on the right.

The walk from where they start to let you go on Main Street to the queue is too long. There’s too much time for people in the back to run and shove their way up front.

I asked a CM why they don’t let people fill the queue as they arrive and they were just like “this is how we do it”. Like when we got there at 7:45 we should have been let directly into the SDD queue.

We also waited twice mid day Thursday and at close for 4 rides total. I’d highly recommend skipping RD and riding mid day even with our 2 hour wait. It was MUCH less stressful than RD.

SDD RD is truly hell that should be avoided. Someone will get hurt before Disney changes (like the alligator).

At Epcot we were up front and our kids went up and did this whole “we promise not to run” thing. Then when they let us go like 10,000 adults (exaggeration) ran past us. But we walked to TT and still got on with no wait.

I tried not to let this bother me since we paid like $10,000 for the week vacation (flights, tickets, hotel, dog and cat boarding at home). But it does piss me off Disney allows this to happen.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Disney needs more cast members! I remember cast members literally "holding the rope" and walking ahead of the throng to keep people from stampeding. Does this not happen at all anymore? Could Disney be held responsible for stampeding accidents if they didn't have adequate crowd control? It's ironic that Disney can bring out the best or the worst in people. Thankfully we have rarely encountered the worst, and when it happened, like line cutters-cast members made them go back.

 

[Mome Rath]

There is an in-uniform security guard on the way to FoP at rope drop most days I've been to AK, it really does seem to help keep people from stampeding.

Glad to read the ultimate wait was a bit less than the 90 min they showed!

 

[mom2rtk]

That’s basically what it is. Just saying I’m sure it’s obvious to everyone no matter what they do they won’t win. I wouldn’t look at DISNEY I’d look and question people’s manners before that. It’s more insane to me that people act like this than Disney trying to match the number of guests trying to get in

Crowd control is what Disney does. They can do better. That doesn't mean they have to match CMs in a one to one ratio. It doesn't mean they have to make it perfect. It means they can and should do better.

 

[mom2rtk]

The thing that annoys me about this is that Disney does know how to makes things better and definite tries. Sometimes. Then they seem to throw their hands up, and say 'let them run.'. I talked to a CM a couple years ago while at the stop point before 50's PT waiting for JTA sign up. She said that the wait there was just to keep the crazies from running. She said it helped a lot. Was it perfect, no. But stopping people on the walk to Pandora multiple times and on the way to 7DMT seems to at least help it not be a total stampede.

Also, Universal ropes off most of the walk all the way back to WWoHP every morning for early entry. It's probably longer than the walks to either Pandora or TSL. Their reason for doing it is to keep people out of other areas of the park but it probably helps crowd control quite a bit too. And would definitely help at Disney.

Also we went to the HP castle projections the second day they were done at Thanksgiving time two years ago. It was a complete mess and it felt a little scary at times. People were pushing and it's the only time I've ever been hit by a stroller and it was fine repeatedly (every time I stopped with the crowd). This year we went again and Uni totally stepped up their game. They had ropes and a process for moving people, and they really made it a much more coordinated, safe, and pleasant experience (although still totally wall to wall people). They learned from the mistakes of the previous year and fixed then.

Disney could make the situation better. They chose not to which to me is not right. Appealing to people's better nature is unfortunately not going to work for the subset of people who are running. Disney owes it to it's guests to do better. They are setting up the situation that is allowing people to run. They need to fix it.

 

[Peppeperoni]

Crowd control is what Disney does. They can do better. That doesn't mean they have to match CMs in a one to one ratio. It doesn't mean they have to make it perfect. It means they can and should do better.

True I’m sure they can. I just think PEOPLE can do better. I’m just looking at it in a different light. People are rude pushy and care about themselves. That’s the change I’d rather see personally ( though I know that’s far fetched )

 

[mom2rtk]

True I’m sure they can. I just think PEOPLE can do better. I’m just looking at it in a different light. People are rude pushy and care about themselves. That’s the change I’d rather see personally ( though I know that’s far fetched )

It's an admirable goal. But it's out of your, my and Disney's control. All Disney can do is control their response to the bad behavior.