Early Entry Rope Drop for ROTR

[heathsf]

Hi What is Rope Drop during EE like for ROTR these days? Does the line still start before official EE time? Any recent experiences or strategy suggestions?

 

[ghtx]

We did EE rope drop at DHS a couple of months ago, but we didn't head to ROTR (we bought a ILL for that for later in the day). We went straight to Smuggler's Run, and were on and off it with no wait, finished before the official EE opening time!

I am guessing that most EE people head to ROTR, but if you are early enough I wouldn't expect a wait of more than 30 minutes.

 

[subtchr]

Unfortunately, RotR often has a delayed opening, due to operational issues. But people still enter the queue, to be the first on when it does start operation.

In my experience the last few months, they tend to open the gates for HS about 15 minutes before Early Entry starts.

 

[Ermise]

We were there a couple of weeks ago and rope dropped Tower of Terror at early entry. Rockin' Rollercoaster was down or we would have done both. We went to MMRR after which was a walk on, then Rise and were in line just before 8am when the park opened for everyone. The wait was 30 minutes.

 

[gharter]

My experience is if you plan to RD for ROTR, get ther 30-45 minutes before EE. That should put you under a 30 minute wait for Rise. As others mentioned, a delayed opening is not uncommon. Within about 15 minutes of EE, the line will be close to muppets. At least it was our last 2 trips last fall.

 

[Lesverts]

Just did DHS and in comparison to November 2022 and other parks:

They now do the resort check before you scan into the park
You scan in about 15 minutes before opening
DHS was the only park that held you right until the start of EE

 

[glocon]

How often is Rise not running for EE?
Maybe 50% of the time?

Trying to make a plan for next month.
We will only have one day at HS and haven’t seen GE yet (that’s the main reason for our HS day).

I’d like to RD for EE and spend majority of morning in GE. First to ride both rides, then share a breakfast Ronto wrap, then explore the stores and try the milk and popcorn.
And eat at docking bay 7 for an early lunch.

Then hit up the rest of the park.

Then buy an ILL$ for Rise and get a G+ to ride both rides again in the evening before hitting up Oga’s before F!

that rise is up and running on our one day at HS.

 

[Wood Nymph]

How often is Rise not running for EE?
Maybe 50% of the time?

Rise wasn't running the morning we decided to rope drop it. The ride was closed when we got there. They told us they had to reboot the system and had no idea when it would be running. They wouldn't let anyone into the line. So, we stood in an unofficial line the guests had made. Many people bailed out and left the line, but we decided to stick it out. They ended up opening the ride just before 9am and we were one of the first ones to ride it. The disadvantage to this was that a lot of our other favorite rides had long lines by then.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Given how often the ride is late to open, RDing here is a real crap shoot. Of all the rides, I'd say this one is probably the best use of ILL money just based on the unreliability.

That said, if you had two HS days, you could try to save the cash and RD on day one. If it opens on time, great! If not, you can suck it up and buy ILL your second day...

 

[glocon]

Given how often the ride is late to open, RDing here is a real crap shoot. Of all the rides, I'd say this one is probably the best use of ILL money just based on the unreliability.

That said, if you had two HS days, you could try to save the cash and RD on day one. If it opens on time, great! If not, you can suck it up and buy ILL your second day...

Unfortunately we only have the one day.
And we plan on the ILL$ and G+, but we’re hoping for two rides.
And definitely want to see F! Since haven’t gone to that in about 20 years or so, so end of night for Rise is out.

If rise is down, is pivoting to MF a good option? Then getting into line for Rise?
Or will the park be open for regular hours by then and the line super long?

 

[scrappinginontario]

It really will depend how long Rise is down. It’s extremely temperamental so when it’s closed at park open there’s no guarantee when it will open. That changes often.

 

[glocon]

Well, Rise is open for EE today anyway!

 

[glocon]

But ToT and RnR aren’t .

 

[Rob Huff]

On our last two DHS mornings, ROTR was down for the first few hours of the day. I appreciate that morning is still the best time to do ROTR on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but I wouldn't otherwise plan to do ROTR in the morning. It's just too risky and you lose your shot to be near the front of another valuable line in a park full of long waits.

 

[puffkin]

We were there last week (Sunday 8/6). Entered the park for EE about 8:40 and headed towards ROTR. We waited about 35 minutes. Then did Smugglers run with a 30 min standby wait before heading back to Star Tours (walk on). We then did Muppets before we could start booking Genie+ (I was holding an afternoon Slinky Dog time). If crowds remain low, you shouldn’t have an issue with standby right now.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Unfortunately we only have the one day.
And we plan on the ILL$ and G+, but we’re hoping for two rides.
And definitely want to see F! Since haven’t gone to that in about 20 years or so, so end of night for Rise is out.

If rise is down, is pivoting to MF a good option? Then getting into line for Rise?
Or will the park be open for regular hours by then and the line super long?

You may not be open to an alternate strategy, but we rode Rise 3 times during the last 80 minutes of operation on our most recent visit. The longest wait was 20 minutes. The posted wait was 80 minutes for the first 2 rides then up to 90 minutes right at closing time when it was a virtual walkon.

We find this option much more efficient than showing up early and hoping that it’s open.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You may not be open to an alternate strategy, but we rode Rise 3 times during the last 80 minutes of operation on our most recent visit. The longest wait was 20 minutes. The posted wait was 80 minutes for the first 2 rides then up to 90 minutes right at closing time when it was a virtual walkon.

We find this option much more efficient than showing up early and hoping that it’s open.

It can be a good option but comes with the risk of the ride being down at the end of the night.

We tried waiting to ride at the end of the night and it came with 50% success. One night it was open and we waited about 35 mins - posted wait was 75 mins I believe. Another night the ride was down for the evening so we couldn’t ride.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

It can be a good option but comes with the risk of the ride being down at the end of the night.

We tried waiting to ride at the end of the night and it came with 50% success. One night it was open and we waited about 35 mins - posted wait was 75 mins I believe. Another night the ride was down for the evening so we couldn’t ride.

That’s just a chance I’m willing to take. We’ve been doing this for a long time, and the only time we’ve ever been shut out of a ride at closing time was Dudley Do Right over at Universal several years ago. Someone had jumped out of a boat and shut the whole thing down.

Universal made things right and gave us passes to return another day. I may rethink our strategy if a late night breakdown were to ever occur to us at Disney.

I still feel that these attractions are far more likely to not fire up in the morning.

 

[ghtx]

Unfortunately we only have the one day.
And we plan on the ILL$ and G+, but we’re hoping for two rides.
And definitely want to see F! Since haven’t gone to that in about 20 years or so, so end of night for Rise is out.

If rise is down, is pivoting to MF a good option? Then getting into line for Rise?
Or will the park be open for regular hours by then and the line super long?

This seems like a good strategy - you have the ILL$ for Rise, so can ride it at least once, but if it's operating at RD you can ride it then also.

If it's down when you get there at RD, I think you should immediately abandon plans to ride it and move to MFSR or something else, and only ride Rise with the ILL$. It could open again in a few minutes, or it could be hours.

(I say this as someone who once waited two hours in a non-moving queue for Velocicoaster hoping it would re-open before having to jump ship to make a lunch reservation!)

 

[glocon]

This seems like a good strategy - you have the ILL$ for Rise, so can ride it at least once, but if it's operating at RD you can ride it then also.

If it's down when you get there at RD, I think you should immediately abandon plans to ride it and move to MFSR or something else, and only ride Rise with the ILL$. It could open again in a few minutes, or it could be hours.

(I say this as someone who once waited two hours in a non-moving queue for Velocicoaster hoping it would re-open before having to jump ship to make a lunch reservation!)

I think this will be the plan.
So excited!!!!