To Rope Drop or Not

[MEC004]

I keep reading how people rope drop. Do any not? I was debating whether to wait an hour to let the crowds diminish while entering the park. What are the pluses and minuses?

 

[Robo]

I keep reading how people rope drop. Do any not?\

Thousands do not.

Many on this board and other Disney boards DO rope drop, as that gives them the advantage of experiencing the activities of the parks before the thousands of guests who DON'T rope drop arrive later.

But, many guests who prefer to "sleep-in" on vacation use other strategies.

I will say that with the current shorter hours, it can certainly make sense to be in a park for as long as it is open.

 

[WillAustin]

I keep reading how people rope drop. Do any not? I was debating whether to wait an hour to let the crowds diminish while entering the park. What are the pluses and minuses?

You get to ride more rides if you are there early. Crowds get larger later in the morning. It's entirely possible to walk on several rides at park opening before the lines get long. Downside is you have to be up early. It's a good way to guarantee shorter lines.

 

[runjulesrun]

We were just there last weekend and we feel like we would have missed out on some attractions if we had not been there early. Just getting there for scheduled park opening is like getting there late. We were in each park 30-45 minutes before scheduled opening and had 1-2 headliners done by the time the parks officially opened. There were some days that we left mid-day to relax at the resort for a couple hours and then we went back for the end of the day at the park. The first couple hours and the last couple hours tend to be the least crowded. Just know that there are exceptions to that though (I'm looking at you Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway).

 

[lorileahb]

I keep reading how people rope drop. Do any not? I was debating whether to wait an hour to let the crowds diminish while entering the park. What are the pluses and minuses?

We rope dropped Magic Kingdom (rode Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain by 830 on 8 am park opening day) and Animal Kingdom (rode Flights of Passage and Navi River Journey by 7:30 a.m. on 7 a.m. park opening) - then were able to ride the other rides before lines got long (other waits were walk-ons up to about 20 mins).

Epcot - we had a late night the day before, so we opted to sleep in and go later (weekday). Still managed walk-ons and low waits - except Test Track was about a 20-25 min wait. BUT, we missed Frozen. We could have ridden it, but it never dipped below 50 mins and we didn't want to wait that long. If we had rope dropped, we would have rope dropped frozen.

Didn't go to HS, so no feedback there.

If your goal is to ride all of the big rides and potentially ride others with shorter wait times, rope drop is extremely helpful. If you go with just a few things on your To Do list and more enjoy the atmosphere, it's not as important.

Have fun!

 

[scrappinginontario]

When you rope drop it's easy to knock out 4 or 5 headliners within the first couple of hours the park is open. Note: Parks are often opening 45 mins before scheduled opening so I consider that to be when to start counting.

 

[Tormania]

LOL, most people DO NOT rope drop, thus why it's so beneficial for those that do. And the earlier it opens even better IMHO, cause that means even fewer folks will get up to be there then.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I keep reading how people rope drop. Do any not? I was debating whether to wait an hour to let the crowds diminish while entering the park. What are the pluses and minuses?

If you are solely looking for a less crowded entrance gate you can arrive anytime around scheduled opening time or after and be okay. By that time, those who got there early and waited out front will be in the park.

if you are looking for reduced crowds in the park, waiting is not a smart idea.

 

[yulilin3]

Rope drop. I visit the parks often and those first 2 hours are golden.
The most busiest day of the year December 25th, I rope dropped. Can't remember if iy was 6 or 7. Was done with all the attractions in fsland and SM and Buzz in that first hour

 

[Spencer Wright]

Due to shorter hours I reccomend rope drop.

I always do anyway as it allows you to get on at least a few attractions with little or no wait. It seems with shorter hours more people are doing rope drop!

 

[RanDIZ]

With no FP, it’s almost necessary to rope drop to hit some top tier rides. I’ve always done it and can’t imagine not doing it.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

I was there last week & the only park that had a crowded entrance was HS. Every other park we were able to walk right in with no problems (& no crowds).

I'm not typically a rope dropper. However, last week I was visiting with a friend who had never been to WDW before. She wanted to see & do as much as possible. I told her we would need to rope drop and stay until park close, so that's exactly what we did. She even said to me several times during the trip it was amazing how much we were able to get done (with little waits) by getting there early. For example, at MK we were able to do BTMRR, Pirates, Splash, HM, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Dumbo, and the teacups with little to no wait all by 11am. At HS we were able to get on MMRR within ~10 minutes of going through temperature check.

There are SO MANY people who don't rope drop. That's why those that do can get so much done.

 

[gharter]

We try and always rope drop. If we want to ride the most popular ride in the park, we get there early to be toward the front of the crowd. If we are planning to ride the other rides, we still get there before the park opens, but not as worried about being up front. By being there at RD, we can easily ride 5-8 rides in the first 1-2 hours. At AK, we rode EE 6 times in a row and only had to change seats if we wanted a different seat or another guest wanted our seat.

 

[Handykapper]

I find it very beneficial to do Rope Drops.

 

[Finiamh]

I will just answer with my experience as of my trip last week.

They are letting people in about 30min before park official opening. For example. I walked into Magic Kingdom at 8:45am with a 9am opening and I walked onto Space Mountain, Big Thunder and circled around to about a 3minute wait for Pirates by then. With everyone's attention on Mine Train, you get the staples to yourself for a short bit.


I did the same for EPCOT with Soarin and Animal Kingdom for Flight of Passage. They let people line up but didn't open the attractions until official park opening. The wait was still under 10-15min minutes all said and done.

 

[DSLRuser]

in "normal" times...we never rope drop. But during COVID and shortened hours, we roped dropped all 3 mornings in September and it was great. Will do it again for 2 mornings mid December.

 

[Pookie9922]

I don't have any recent experience but I would think the current circumstances would make it even more valuable!

We went in November 2018 and utilized every rope drop except for our 2nd day at MK. I would say being at the entrance 30-45 minutes early saved us at least 2-3 hrs of waiting on the backend. For example - We roped dropped Slinky Dog fairly shortly after it opened because we couldn't get a FP for it - we got to the entrance 40 minutes before opening (maybe 5th back in line), we were in the park 20 minutes before opening, waited less than 10 minutes for the ride - so we were off it before the park was supposed to open and when we exited the ride, the line was already at 1.5 hrs. And then we walked on Alien Saucers which also had a wait immediately afterwards. I think we had a FP for Toy Story Mania, so we knocked out that entire area in 15 minutes. Without FP+ in play right now, I think rope dropping is even more essential!

Our trip was supposed to be a once and done trip, so I wanted to make sure I got the most out of the trip and didn't leave disappointed I missed something. If you go more often, getting up early might not be worth it as much.

 

[bakerworld]

We haven't accomplished rope drop in years - LOL. DH likes to sleep in as he's on vacation (HA! he sleeps in every weekend.) We stopped being 'commando' too many years ago to count. We usually do 4 rides with a beverage break between ride 3 and 4. No use wearing out the park. We also only do the parks we can walk, with the exception being AK but when we stay there we usually don't do the parks at all.

 

[yulilin3]

We haven't accomplished rope drop in years - LOL. DH likes to sleep in as he's on vacation (HA! he sleeps in every weekend.) We stopped being 'commando' too many years ago to count. We usually do 4 rides with a beverage break between ride 3 and 4. No use wearing out the park. We also only do the parks we can walk, with the exception being AK but when we stay there we usually don't do the parks at all.

Right now rope dropping works great for your touring style, get there early and do the 3 priority rides with minimal wait and then tour the park at a leisurely pace while everyone is in longer queues

 

[Torrep]

Just came back from a 5 day trip. Rope drop daily. At HS was able to Mickey and Minnie and Slinky before the park opened. At MK was always first 10 for 7 Dwarf. Rode 7 and then rode Big Thunder and splash multiple times by 10am.