Arriving before parks open to minimise the wait for popular rides

[Randomsoulshine]

Another thing as an avid rope dropper: That hour before park opens is cooler. Much cooler in terms of temp. And we sit not stand. I take a breakfast in my pack and we often eat while we wait in the cool shade. If you have a Fp for say Space and Splash you can hit other rides as a walk on. We rode Big Thunder three times no wait at all. And if you rope drop and by that I mean front of the rope drop (we get there an hour before park opens) you walk on a ride and since waits build throughout the day if you wait that time for a big ride after park opens, time is passing and wait times all over park are building more and more. Also the earlier you get through three fast passes the easier it is to get additional ones. You don’t have to rope drop but for knocking out a big number of rides before say 2pm it can’t be beat. My favorite thing is to rope drop and be at a park an hour before it opens. Then ride several things little to no wait. Start fast passes at say 10/10:30. Bump up fast passes when I finish one. And be working on fourth fast pass by noon. Which I often schedule to start right after lunch. But we have also enjoyed showing up at a park at 3pm. It’s just a different experience and I let my teens know we probably wouldn’t ride quite as much. We planned fast passes and indoor shows like CBJ or ETR for the hot part of day. Also remember you can try a mix of strategies in a given trip. We rope dropped twice this past trip and did 3pm- close two other days.

 

[Alesia]

Just to clarify when I said half an hour later I meant turning up 10-15 minutes before park open rather than an hour before park open - so still rope dropping but from the back of the queue so I don’t have to wait an hour early in the morning outside the park.

Lines for headliners will already be over an hour by the time you get in.

 

[sharonabe]

Every other trip rope dropping worked for me but this was the first time I was introduced to rope dropping meaning arriving a hour before park open and I’m not sure I find that really counts as less waiting.

The opening of FoP changed rope drop for AK and then Disney followed the practice of letting folks in before scheduled opening when SDD opened. SGE is another game changer and who knows how that's going to go. When Tron is finished in MK, I predict they will also be leading people back to it well before scheduled opening. The Guardians of the Galaxy ride at EP will probably do the same.

While you're not really waiting less for THAT ONE ride, as you've seen from all the other posts, waiting that time BEFORE the park opens means you are waiting less for other rides once that one is done.

If you really want to sleep in, there is another option and that is to save those headliners for the end of the day. Get in line just before closing and you'll be able to ride. Just keep an eye on the after hours events as they may close the line for those a little earlier to allow the paying after hour guests access to what they've paid extra to do.

 

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

We do not rope drop popular rides. Ever. We rope drop and head away from wherever everyone else is going. Those first 1-2 hours are magic. We also don’t have to worry about being in the front of the pack with this plan. Arriving 20-30 minutes before official park opening has always been sufficient for us.

This is interesting and it’s something I’ve never thought of doing. Some of my favorite experiences at Disney parks happen when a park is seemingly empty. Usually that’s at the end of a day. Like walking around Epcot’s WS at the end of the 2 hour EMH. After visiting WDW several times now I may just have to try your strategy. It’s just so hard to do though knowing I won’t be able to ride the big rides if I go elsewhere early. I’m one of those people who won’t wait more than 30 min for a ride.

I just want to add this for the people who are planning their first trip to DW or have only been once or twice..... Disney is so much more than just rides. If you are just going for rides you might as well go to six flags or some other park. Rides are fun and enhance the experience but memories are made doing the other stuff Disney has to offer.

 

[DisLiss]

We are big fans of going where everyone else is NOT going. So when we rope drop...we avoid the areas that are currently most popular. We either get a FP for the popular ride(s) ahead of time, OR we wait until late in the day, and then try looking for FPs again, or if the stand-by line gets short enough, we hop in the stand-by line without a FP.

That lets us really enjoy the first hour or two in whatever less popular area we chose at RD. Then when the park starts getting really busy and ride lines start getting crazy..we go eat lunch. It's too early for lunch in the minds of folks who just arrived, so we get to have lunch when it's more peaceful too. And we just basically keep on like that. When everyone else decides they are ready for lunch, we're back at the attractions. Then we eat dinner early as well. We just find that RD sets us up to move along our day one step ahead of the schedules of most of the guests, which makes life a bit less chaotic...or you know, as less chaotic as it can be!

 

[Randomsoulshine]

We are big fans of going where everyone else is NOT going. So when we rope drop...we avoid the areas that are currently most popular. We either get a FP for the popular ride(s) ahead of time, OR we wait until late in the day, and then try looking for FPs again, or if the stand-by line gets short enough, we hop in the stand-by line without a FP.

That lets us really enjoy the first hour or two in whatever less popular area we chose at RD. Then when the park starts getting really busy and ride lines start getting crazy..we go eat lunch. It's too early for lunch in the minds of folks who just arrived, so we get to have lunch when it's more peaceful too. And we just basically keep on like that. When everyone else decides they are ready for lunch, we're back at the attractions. Then we eat dinner early as well. We just find that RD sets us up to move along our day one step ahead of the schedules of most of the guests, which makes life a bit less chaotic...or you know, as less chaotic as it can be!

So true about early lunch! We had such a nice early lunch as soon as Thunder Falls Terrace opened in IOA. Nobody else was there. We are always ready for lunch by 11:00 because we eat breakfast sometimes at 7:00.

 

[DadofChristaSonofRay]

The idea behind getting there an hour early is that you do not waste valuable park time waiting in line. Tickets are expensive! If you're off Slinky within 10 minutes of park open you are headed to the next ride while the people who showed up AT park open are waiting an hour. Time = money.

It's not for everyone, but the few times I have done it have been well worth it.

ETA: my tip would be get the FP for the big headliners, show up 20 minutes before park open and head elsewhere while the masses run to the big ride.

I agree with Saints. 20 minutes before park opening works real well if you fast-pass the e-ticket rides you are going to have maybe a five minute wait for anything else. This would be especially true for MK and Epcot. Galaxy's Edge at Studios may throw a kink in everything at Studios especially if they change the Fastpass Tiers there to what is currently rumored.