Tell how much you got done doing rope drop

[Sarah K]

I'm going Christmas week and our two Magic Kingdom days we are planning rope drop. Both days we plan on going to the park opened at 7am for on site guests last year. My kids 3 and 6 are not into big rides so no 7DMT, Space or BTM for us. We are going to try for A&E fast pass for last day of our trip but even if we don't get it we are not running to the line first thing in the AM. Tell me about your rope drop experiences during a busy crowd time. How much were you able to get done?

 

[720L]

7DMT is not a big ride-I don't think it would scare them. I can't remember how much we get done but I'm sure you could do all the Fantasyland rides. After that do POTC or HM. By 11am it will start getting crazy.

 

[marinejjh]

We went to the rope drop all of our days at MK and rode 5 or 6 things in the first hour. I will advise you that the parks are busier on the magic hour days and we avoid those parks on those days. Most trip planning sites will tell you the same. I am not sure how they are on those days but lots more people mean longer lines.

 

[noahdove]

I have done RD in late August and mid May and all of those visits, we were able to do all of Fantasyland and character photos,
and we still had our fastpass to do those particular attractions, like HM

 

[kj2mom]

We went on 4th of July, the park opened at 8. We had a 12:20pm reservation at The Plaza which we arrived at exactly 12 for. Here is what we did before noon;

Peter Pan
It's A Small World
Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Buzz Lightyear
Tinkerbell Meet n Greet
Stitch's Great Escape
Carousel of Progress

 

[BLLB]

We had FP+ for 3 atrractions on each day. MK opened at 7:00 am.

This is our RD the Thursday before Easter of 2015: Space Mountain, Buzz (2x), IASW, 7DMT, Pooh, Little Mermaid, Dumbo, Tea Cups, Hall of Presidents, HM before 11:00am.

We returned to MK the next morning after breakfast at Poly: POC, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Philharmagic, Pooh, and Peter Pan before lunch.

The day we left, Saturday before Easter: Space Mountain (3x), Buzz (2x), Tea Cups, 7DMT, Splash Mountain (2x), BTMRR (2x), POC and Magic Carpets. We did this in 3 hours.

 

[wisblue]

If you are going at Christmas, the MK may have 7 AM EMH every day, so there is no way to avoid the higher crowds of EMH days if you want to go to the MK. But, having EMH every day also means that the crowds will be pretty much the same every day.

On Easter Sunday this year we did a 7 AM opening at MK and did: 7DMT, Space, Buzz, and PP in the first hour. We were exiting PP around 8 AM when the rest of the park opened and did Splash, BTMRR, POC, and JC (in that order) by about 9:30. My daughters then went to Main Street to get pictures with the Easter Bunny and some of the ladies in the colorful dresses who were going to appear in the short Easter Parade before the noon FOF parade. After that we went to HM and waited about 15 minutes (the posted wait was 30) and were done in plenty of time for our 11 AM lunch at LTT.

Given what we were able to do, if you skip the coasters and Splash Mountain, you will be able to do a lot of things in that first 4 hours. You would have a real chance to do everything you want in Fantasyland, plus JC, POC, HM, and Alladin all before lunch.

My suggestion would be to start with Peter Pan, since the line there builds fastest, and hit Winnie the Pooh, Buzz, and the Speedway early because they also get longer lines. If you want to do, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and HM, I would suggest getting to JC by 9 AM and then hitting the other 2.

7 AM EMH is one of our favorite things at WDW. It is great being able to move around the park without the crowds. By the time the crowds really build up you can slow down and move on to the things that don't get long waits.

 

[Julylady]

We did rope drop in July: Space Mountain, Buzz, Barnstormer (2), Winnie the Pooh, Little Mermaid, Tea Cups, and Dumbo in the first 90 minutes. We also wanted to do Peter Pan, but the line was 40 minutes by the time we made our way over. Our fast passes for that same day were for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, and Mine Train. We also did Small World, People mover, Tiki Birds, Monster's Inc., and Carousel of Progress with short or no waits. We had to come back another day for Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan and Haunted Mansion.

 

[srauseo]

We did Rope Drop in mid-August and it was amazing how much we were able to get done. Examples:
MK (EMH at 8) - Pooh, Tea Cups, Barnstormer, Dumbo, Peter Pan, niece met A&E with FP, Haunted Mansion, Little Mermaid, Small World, Enchanted Tales, Carousel - and checked in early for our 11:30 lunch reservation at Crystal Palace. We even had time to sit down and enjoy Sleepy Hollow waffles while my niece did the meet 'n greet.
AK (regular opening at 9) - Safari, Everest, and all of Dinoland. Got to Flame Tree and staked out a nice table by the water and were in line when they opened at 11.
EPCOT (EMH at 8) - Soarin, the Land, snack break, Nemo, aquarium time, Turtle Talk, Imagination, Captain EO. Strolled into World Showcase when it opened at 11. And this included getting sidetracked with a trip to first aid for my nephew's ear infection.

 

[caroline1851]

DS and I went in June (crowd calendar said 8).
MK- Arrived at 8:15 for a 9am opening day. we had a 1pm adr and this is what we did between that time:
Peter Pan, 7dmt , voyage of little mermaid, Stitch, Buzz (twice), TTA, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of Car, had 2 snack breaks and were overall taking our time and not rushing. We probably could've done more if we wanted to like other stuff in Fantasyland and maybe BTMR, but I knew we had a fp for BTMRR later and for Splash.
EPC- arrived 8:15 for 9am opening day. We did Soarin, Nemo, Sum of all THrills, Test Track, the coca cola tasting thing, checked out the fish/aquarium area, ate CS lunch and left at noon.
DHS-arrived 8;15 for 9am opening. We did RRC, TOT, TSMM, Star Tours, whatever that area is that's about walt Disney's dream, muppets then had lunch at noon at Pizza planet.

 

[phoebusII]

We went last Christmas. Our first MK day was December 23. We headed straight to 7DMT, following the crowd on the right side of the train station, which goes by the tea cups, and only had a 10 minute wait. After that, we rode Pooh, PP, Small World, and had a few minutes at the Tangled bathrooms. When the rest of the park opened at 8:00, we went to Haunted Mansion, Jingle Cruise, and PoC. The family was promised breakfast and coffee at Starbucks if they cooperated with my rope drop plan. By 9:30 we were eating breakfast at a little table outside the Plaza and then took a few minutes to gawk at the Xmas decorations on Main Street, watch the trolley show and take pictures in front of the castle. Then we went on 7DMT, Splash, BTMRR all with FP+, and managed to fit in Country Bears and Tom Sawyer Island between those rides. Lunch was at 12:30 at BOG. I was happy with how much we were able to accomplish.

The second MK day was December 27. We headed to Tomorrowland. Some of us rode Space Mountain twice, some rode Buzz three times, before we all met up again. Then we all went on Buzz another two times. I can't remember where we went after that. You can get a lot done at rope drop, even during Christmas week. The crowds started rolling in around 10:00.

If you don't want to ride the big rides, you should be able to get a lot of rides done. If your kids want to see Fantasyland first, which they probably do at their ages, I would head to Peter Pan first, then Pooh, and then whatever other rides they want to see.

We also managed to see A&E at 12:30 a.m. one evening, with only a 10 minute wait. The sign said it was a 30 minute wait, but we chanced it and were pleasantly surprised. Also, Talking Mickey and Tinkerbell had 10-15 minute waits around midnight. Your kids may not last that long, as they are young, but its an option if you don't have FP+ for those meet and greets.

 

[Jfsag123]

7am EMH over spring break in March: Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, meet Ariel, Little Mermaid, Barnstormer, Dumbo, Silly Sideshow characters, Teacups x3, all with zero wait. I have pictures of my kids watching the opening show with a wide open space around them. It was not even fully light outside and it was amazing.

On a non-EMH 8am open day: Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Big Thunder, Splash, all done with no lines within the first hour of opening.

 

[lovndisney12]

7 AM EMH rope drop Christmas week works great! I can't remember what all we rode but do remember Pirates being dead and being allowed to just stay on the boar and ride again and this was the day after Christmas. I also remember being able to ride Space Mt. a couple of times as well as Buzz.

On another note, unless your kids love the dark - no matter how much your kids love Stitch - I do not suggest Stitch's Great Escape even if there is no line. It may be tempting but very boring and can be scary to little kids.

 

[Aurora0427]

We always get a lot done at RD- we try and group by land. Last year we rode everything in fantasyland in an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I agree with starting at PP bc the people who don't head straight for A&E or 7DMT head to PP.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Last Saturday @ MK (a 9 day per TP.com), in the 1st hour we did Peter Pan, Splash and BTMRR twice. We were also able to do 7DMT twice before RD thanks to an 8 AM ADR @ BOG. But sometimes that doesn't work out.