The guide to a successful rope drop!

[Andiphil43]

Hey y’all! My husband and I are heading to Disney in September for a ten year anniversary trip(staying on site) I’ve never been a successful rope dropper! So I’ve come to the best for advice! We are specifically rope dropping magic kingdom and animal kingdom. What’s the best transportation to get there? Drive, resort bus, Uber? How long before opening should we show up? Thanks! Can’t wait to read y’all’s tips and tricks!

 

[NothingClever]

"Rope dropping" seems a bit easier since COVID because all of the parks tend to open about 30 minutes earlier than the posted time for everyone (no more scanning magic bands to confirm you're at a Disney Resort and the ENTIRE parks are open, not just designated sections). I've also been super impressed with the way they've been able to quickly get everyone through the gates. On our last trip, the bus service was a bit confusing - I think a cast member told us that they only start running 30 minutes before park opening. I never tested the theory, but if that is true, a rideshare may be the best option if you are intent on being there at least 30 minutes before opening. Keep in mind, though, that a rideshare will drop you off at TTC for MK, so you'll end up taking either the monorail or a boat. At MK, everyone goes to Seven Dwarves, which leaves the rest of the park empty. At AK, the same can be said for Flight of Passage. So if you're content missing those rides, you can plow through a ton of rides in the span of 90 minutes.

 

[Gehrig1B]

If you want to be the first into MK make an early ADR at the Wave or make a mobile order at Contemporary , then walk to MK. Walkers will get in before all other means of arrival right now. We were in line 90 minutes before official opening. Some rideshare drivers will drop you at World Drive if you are denied entry into the Contemporary as well. For AK I would use a rideshare as well and try to time it to arrive an hour before park opening as that seems to be when most of the parking lots are opening and cars are allowed to enter.

At MK we were able to do Mine Train, then all 3 mountains first 90 minutes in the park and had HM, PoC, Jungle Cruise all done before 11:30 for a 9:00 scheduled opening.
We skipped Flight of Passage at rope drop and did Everest, Dinosaur, and Safari... FoP had a manageable wait time of 45 minutes by then, this was in January.

 

[tigger2002]

We are going in September also and expect what is going on now to be totally different. Hopefully back to normal.

 

[Rockbro]

First, congratulations on 10 years. That is not easy. I would suggest about an hour for both, but take into consideration the TTC for MK and monorail, and the walk for AK. Drive. Period.

 

[jsmla]

please delete

 

[jsmla]

For some reason I can’t get the links to work but I did a report on my December MK rope drop experience with pix. It begins with post #5799 page 290 of the Here Now & Just Back thread.

 

[Blondie58]

I have rope dropped twice. Once at MK for the Mine Train when it first opened and once to do the Frozen ride at EPCOT. No major planning. Just got up, showered got ready, had a quick snack, and went to the park about a half hour before open. No big deal. Both of these rope drops were in January and that may make a difference. Also we were on the monorail line. Note: We did not consider being at HS to get into a que for RotR as rope drop. We considered that mayhem but kinda fun. lol - seriously. (We put on our patience hats before we left.) We Ubered at about 5:30 a.m. but this process has been updated since.

 

[Andiphil43]

I’m going to go search for it! Definitely something I want to read about!

 

[Lumpy1106]

You want to be at the gate 1 hour before official opening - especially DHS. The have been opening the park and some of the rides a good 30-45 minutes early to dissipate the crowd at the front gate.

OK, so how do you do that? GOOD QUESTION!
Buses are limited, as is the seating on the bus. We shot for getting on a bus, Contemporary to DHS, 90 minutes before opening and it was not nearly early enough. There is really only 1 bus that makes it to the park before rope-drop and only 6 parties that get on that bus. If you are more than 6 parties deep in line, time to call a Lyft.

But why don't I just opt for the Lyft from the start and sleep in another hour? Another great question!
Again, to limit the crowd at the front gate, they are not opening the parking lots until about an hour before opening. If you are driving, plan on being in the line to get in the parking lot 90 minutes before opening - and bring a little patience. Lyft also gets stuck there, but gets you in a little quicker because they get in the drop-off line - you don't have to wait for people paying to park.
I haven't done rope-drop with the skyliner so I'll leave it to others to tell you how all that works. It is similarly limited though - I do know that.

 

[MIndy S]

If you are driving, plan on being in the line to get in the parking lot 90 minutes before opening - and bring a little patience

We were 75 minutes early to Epcot (9:45 for an 11am opening) yesterday and we were turned away and told to come back at 10:15. We came back at 10am, the 1 hour point, and they were holding cars at that point. Apparently you can be too early if driving. We still parked and got to the tapstiles before they started letting people in around 10:15.