What's better: Rope Drop or Late Hours?

[GatorChris]

For our week in October, it looks like DL is 8am to Midnight and then DCA 8am-10pm (except on stupid Oogie Party nights). I'm an either or person, good in mornings and I can stay up late. What do you think is the best time for hitting lots of attractions?

Is rope drop a good method, or have too many people figured that out?

Is staying after 9pm a good way to hit a lot of rides because families have left? (I'm think a night vibe is different, too)


And while I'm here, what's the process on World of Color? Used to, we'd get blue or yellow tickets over near Little Mermaid. Is that process back, or is there something else going on?

Thanks!!!!

 

[DLRExpert]

both, avoid afternoon.
Use the afternoon break to book Lightning Lane passes for the evening.
WOC Virtual Queue passes are distributed at 12pm.

 

[Pluto468]

I would say both! We rope dropped and got alot done, especially on our DCA morning. I love Disneyland in the morning. But we also had a really great time staying late because the crowds thinned out and the weather was nicer. I do think alot of people like to rope drop, but it's still worth it. If I had to pick only one I guess I'd rope drop. One thing about staying late is, depending on the time, you may have to contend with big bottleneck crowds at places like Main Street or ROA during the night time entertainment. Also that huge flood of people all leaving at the same time as you can be a drag.

 

[DontSpamMe]

I agree to do both, but we have been far more productive at closing hours vs opening hours.

 

[foolish_mortals]

I agree with everyone that said both.

But if I had to choose one I prefer late nights for atmosphere alone but things don’t really thin out until after the second Fantasmic @10:30 Late night also have some rides down, notably RotR, Indiana Jones likes to breakdown late at night too. But some late night favorites are Big Thunder since the effects are awesome at night and Jungle Cruise.

And yea you now have to use the app to get in the WOC virtual queue.

 

[Angel141925]

When we went last Nov/Dec. we didn’t have much luck with rope drop. We closed the park everyday and it was by far the best time for us. I would 1000% rather close the parks than open.

 

[Brandonius]

Do you want Rise, Space Mountain, or Peter Pan at DL? Then rope drops. Both will be long until the end of the night. DCA's lines don't really empty out by the end of the night either, they just get marginally shorter. But overall after I'd say 10:30 PM (You have to wait until the last 2 hours for the night to really take effect) the lines as a whole are shorter to walk on. The only exceptions are Space Rise (which is closed). Literally everything else? Walk on. Indy, Pirates, Smugglers Run, Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, Star Tours, Haunted Mansion - all walk on for like 45 mins to an hour. You just won't get the really big dogs knocked out at night with literally 0 waiting. Space mtn actually gets longer at the end of the night because of the age group that's staying in the park that late (teens and young adults). Rope drop also takes up a lot of time before the park is even open just waiting around, so also think about that.

 

[GatorChris]

When we went last Nov/Dec. we didn’t have much luck with rope drop. We closed the park everyday and it was by far the best time for us. I would 1000% rather close the parks than open.

This is what I was wondering about. Do I let my wife sleep in, use Genie+ to navigate the day, and then get an empty park (and cool night vibes) after 10pm. Might be a lot more fun that way.