Slinky Dog Rope Drop is a Living Hell

[SL6827]

Rope drop being a living hell is what has steered me to book a ppo breakfast at the Garden Grill and EMM at the Magic Kingdom. Extra $500 in Disney's pockets. They are gonna keep rope drop like it is.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Slinky stats from yesterday:

The posted wait was up to 95 minutes just 8 minutes after the park opened.

It was down to 25 minutes about 40 minutes before the park closed.

This is just another example where rope drop was the busiest time of the day for this attraction.

 

[DisneyFive]

I just need to rant. We were the good guys. We showed up at 7:45 for a 9am park opem. We were literally the first in line at the turnstiles. Right at the front of the rope drop crowd. We started walking when they said to and then the chaos began. People were running all around us, shoving the side of the stroller with my baby in it, cutting between me and my husband with the other stroller so I had to slow down to find him. Now we are at the end of a 90 minute line, hundreds if people in front of us when we have already waited 90 minutes. I want to cry. People are awful. I thought rope drop cast members were supposed to make people walk.

Reminds me of the days when there was no FP+ and everyone was doing the same thing for Toy Story Mania at HS, and Soarin at Epcot. Ah, the good 'ol days.

Dan

 

[Praying Colonel]

Slinky stats from yesterday:

The posted wait was up to 95 minutes just 8 minutes after the park opened.

It was down to 25 minutes about 40 minutes before the park closed.

This is just another example where rips drop was the busiest time of the day for this attraction.

I'd be interested to know whether this was actual wait time or posted wait time. I've been at attractions 10-15 minutes after park opening and seen outrageously inflated wait times. For example, I RD'd Soarin a few years ago and came out to see the posted wait time at 300 minutes. I asked the CM whether that was accurate and he said with a wink, "Well, it may be a little off."

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Well, there’s a 59 min actual wait time report data point at 9:42am on Touring Plans (posted wait of 90 mins at that moment). Seems more or less consistent with OP’s actual time.

There’s also a 32 minute actual wait time report at 6:42pm, just for some AM/PM comparison. I think there might have been some PM showers yesterday also, so just clarity. Park closed at 8pm.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I just need to rant. We were the good guys. We showed up at 7:45 for a 9am park opem. We were literally the first in line at the turnstiles. Right at the front of the rope drop crowd. We started walking when they said to and then the chaos began. People were running all around us, shoving the side of the stroller with my baby in it, cutting between me and my husband with the other stroller so I had to slow down to find him. Now we are at the end of a 90 minute line, hundreds if people in front of us when we have already waited 90 minutes. I want to cry. People are awful. I thought rope drop cast members were supposed to make people walk.

I saw this chaos first hand last Tuesday leaving TSL EMM. In was true madness. I wouldn't recommend RDing SDD to anyone at all right now. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

I'm so sorry. I just don't understand why people feel the need to run. I mean, you're going to get there -- why do you have to run and be rude to others int he process? It's ridiculous.

I always say that the most difficult part of any Disney vacation is dealing with other people. They can be awful.

I think it's just human nature for people who have planned and planned and spent and spent for that moment, and they just lose it. We did both HS and MK EMM this week and people even ran to SDD and 7DMT for those with the irony being 20 minutes intoto EMM both rides are walk ons. I see these people and try to think to myself "Self don't be judgey here they probably are on a once of a lifetime trip and don't come multiple times lie a lot of us do. And they've made getting on this one ride the pinnacle of their trip" But yeah I still silently judge : )

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

So is all this madness just for SDD, or TSL in general? I have FP for SDD so was planning to head for TSMM followed by AS2. But all these stories are making me rethink that plan.

 

[Brett Wyman]

So is all this madness just for SDD, or TSL in general? I have FP for SDD so was planning to head for TSMM followed by AS2. But all these stories are making me rethink that plan.

Really just SDD. But the waits do jump pretty quick for the other two rides as people see the SDD line and give up and decide to do on of the other two. The Buzz lines and Woody/Jessie lines fill up quickly too. But NOTHING like SDD. That line boggles the mind.

 

[monkyby87]

So is all this madness just for SDD, or TSL in general? I have FP for SDD so was planning to head for TSMM followed by AS2. But all these stories are making me rethink that plan.

A bit of both, but mostly SDD. If you have a FP+ for SDD you can likely do the Saucers and TSMM without much issue and not long waits, if you do get to them at rope drop. Most of the wait will be for SDD. But, even if you aren't trying to rope drop SDD specifically, everyone will be heading towards TSL, so you'll still encounter the madness.
A big issue with HS is that there just isn't much more going at HS aside from TSL. Since there aren't an abundance of rides right now in HS, TSL is the natural place for people to want to go. It contains TSMM which has always been popular, plus two new Toy Story rides. Aside from that, there isn't much HS has to offer for everyone at Rope Drop that people would want to go to. It's not like MK where you have several alternative rides to go on.

 

[cakebaker]

So is all this madness just for SDD, or TSL in general? I have FP for SDD so was planning to head for TSMM followed by AS2. But all these stories are making me rethink that plan.

That’s what we did in October. We were at rope drop and didn’t worry at all about how fast we moved. We walked on to AS2 twice, then moved to TSMM, again a walk on. We ate BF at Woodys, signed up for JTA, rode
RRC ( no wait), stopped for face painting then headed back to TSL to use our FP. We didn’t find it stressful at all since we weren’t trying to stay up with the mob and people passing us was no big deal.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

That’s what we did in October. We were at rope drop and didn’t worry at all about how fast we moved. We walked on to AS2 twice, then moved to TSMM, again a walk on. We ate BF at Woodys, signed up for JTA, rode
RRC ( no wait), stopped for face painting then headed back to TSL to use our FP.

That sounds awesome, thanks for sharing I was wondering if we should do TSMM or AS2 first. Been on TSMM many times, so it's not as high of a priority, but I've heard the line for that builds faster than AS2.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I'd be interested to know whether this was actual wait time or posted wait time. I've been at attractions 10-15 minutes after park opening and seen outrageously inflated wait times. For example, I RD'd Soarin a few years ago and came out to see the posted wait time at 300 minutes. I asked the CM whether that was accurate and he said with a wink, "Well, it may be a little off."

Those were the posted wait times. I don't know about the morning, but if the evening wait was posted at 25 the actual wait was likely 10 or less.

 

[cakebaker]

That sounds awesome, thanks for sharing I was wondering if we should do TSMM or AS2 first. Been on TSMM many times, so it's not as high of a priority, but I've heard the line for that builds faster than AS2.

It probably does since people see it first, but it took us no longer than it takes to walk thru the queue. There was a line, but it wasn’t backed up at all. I don’t know what the crowd levels were mid October, but it was busy.

 

[Magical2017]

The running would stop if Disney had security pulling people out of the crowd that run. All they would have to do is stop them and have a 2 minute talk with them and soon enough, people would realize it will make rope drop totally worthless if they run.

And make sure that during that two minute talk, plenty of people get ahead of them so they have to stand in line!

 

[mmm551]

I guess I have lucked out.. both times we rope dropped Slinky Dog (Once in early July, once in October on a weekend) we waited about 45 minutes to get on the ride. Was able to walk onto TSM right after, and then waited another 25 minutes for Aliens both times.

 

[wisblue]

We did rope drops at DAK last Friday and DHS the next day and both were crazy. One of the daughters who was with me had never done Slinky, and we couldn't get a FP for FOP, so we just sucked it up and dealt with the madness and accepted the fact that hundreds of people who started behind us would end up ahead of us even though we walk purposefully but without trying to run around the edges and elbow ahead of people. It's frustrating, but we still got on both rides shortly after 9 AM. I did say to my daughters, though, that I'm never doing that again for any ride that I've done before. I am going to be a prime candidate for whatever high priced special package they have for Galaxy's Edge.

When I go through these mobs I can't help but think about how much worse it would be if the paper FP system with distribution at the ride was still in place. At least with FP+ there are several thousand people who have no need or desire to join the mob.

Maybe it's my imagination, but I think more people are arriving well before the official opening than they did even 2 or 3 years ago. My theory is that FP+ has forced otherwise oblivious people to think a little about how they're going to approach a park and they realize that arriving early has its advantages, especially if you can get a FP for the most popular attraction and do other things first.

I am old enough to remember when Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Test Track, Soarin, and Toy Story Mania were the hot new attractions. The rope drop dashes to those were all pretty crazy, but nothing like SDD and FOP are now.

 

[mamamelody2]

I feel like all it would take is for somebody to throw a punch and it could turn into a melee resulting in multiple injuries. Scary!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Maybe it's my imagination, but I think more people are arriving well before the official opening.

It’s not your imagination. Those guests will tire out and leave early, resulting in even shorter lines in the evening hours.

 

[wisblue]

It’s not your imagination. Those guests will tire out and leave early, resulting in even shorter lines in the evening hours.

At my age I tire out in the evening hours whether I do rope drop or not.

That’s why we like to take breaks in the middle of the day and then return in the evening (often to a different park) with FPs in hand.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

It’s not your imagination. Those guests will tire out and leave early, resulting in even shorter lines in the evening hours.

Not all of us - some of us go hang at the pool for a few hours and come back at night - best of both worlds!