Everything Rope Drop

[MuddyWaters]

Thank you - I didn't realize safari didn't start until official park opening. I've been reading mixed opinions about heading to FOP first. How long are people typically waiting if they head there first and is there a mob of people running to FOP?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you - I didn't realize safari didn't start until official park opening. I've been reading mixed opinions about heading to FOP first. How long are people typically waiting if they head there first and is there a mob of people running to FOP?

I don't know an exact number but I would guess probably less than most/all of the rest of the day.

My only experience is pre-covid but at Rope Drop we were lined up shoulder to shoulder all the way to the bathrooms in Asia near Lion King and it took us about 30 mins. I'm guessing it would be that or less now. Hopefully someone has actual wait times they can share with you.

 

[gharter]

Thank you - I didn't realize safari didn't start until official park opening. I've been reading mixed opinions about heading to FOP first. How long are people typically waiting if they head there first and is there a mob of people running to FOP?

It depends where you are in line to get through the entrance. There are a lot of people heading to FoP. If you are near the front, going to FoP makes sense. If there are a lot of people in front of you, it could be a long line.
Our last trip, one day we were near the front and headed to FoP, waited maybe 10 minutes. The next time we did went the opposite direction, did Dinosaur, then over to EE. Wasn't open yet. Walked over to safari and it was open ( unusual as this was 40 minutes before official opening). Then headed back to EE as it just opened 15 minutes before official opening and rode several times.
If you don't do FoP at RD (early) either watch wait times and see if they drop or do it end of the day.

 

[flowergleam1211]

Hello! I plan to rope drop at EPCOT one or two times next week. I have two questions:

1. Allears shows that the rides are closed at 11 AM. Do they then open soon after?

2. Are quick service dining spots open before 11 AM?

P.S. This is my first post! I grew up going to Disney World nearly every year. After more than a decade of not going, I am happy to return for the first time with my husband and children. =]

 

[gharter]

Currently, the park doesn't open until 11am. However, last month every park opened 45 minutes prior to official opening time and most rides were open at that time as well.
I would plan for EPCOT to open at 10:15. As I recall, TT was the only ride not open at 10:15, but they may have been having technical issues.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hello! I plan to rope drop at EPCOT one or two times next week. I have two questions:

1. Allears shows that the rides are closed at 11 AM. Do they then open soon after?

2. Are quick service dining spots open before 11 AM?

P.S. This is my first post! I grew up going to Disney World nearly every year. After more than a decade of not going, I am happy to return for the first time with my husband and children. =]

If you check out post 1 there is a list of rides at Epcot that may be open at rope drop. No guarantee but historically these are some that traditionally open at 10:15.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Hello! I plan to rope drop at EPCOT one or two times next week. I have two questions:

1. Allears shows that the rides are closed at 11 AM. Do they then open soon after?

2. Are quick service dining spots open before 11 AM?

P.S. This is my first post! I grew up going to Disney World nearly every year. After more than a decade of not going, I am happy to return for the first time with my husband and children. =]

Welcome to Disboards. I suspect the Allears data for 11:00 is a glitch. It has been listed that way for a while though. The Allears wait times data has had glitches in the past that lasted a while before being fixed. I remember for a while (over a week) they weren't listing times for Space Mountain and a few other rides at all.

Edit: Here are the wait times at Epcot from Saturday, including at 11:00: https://i2.wp.com/easywdw.com/reports16/epcot_before_storm.jpg

 

[flowergleam1211]

Welcome to Disboards. I suspect the Allears data for 11:00 is a glitch. It has been listed that way for a while though. The Allears wait times data has had glitches in the past that lasted a while before being fixed. I remember for a while (over a week) they weren't listing times for Space Mountain and a few other rides at all.

Tom, that is very helpful, thank you! What is the data source for the jpg file you shared?

 

[Tom_E_D]

Tom, that is very helpful, thank you! What is the data source for the jpg file you shared?

It comes from this article: https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/t...t-definitely-the-summer-at-walt-disney-world/

 

[Castlequeen5]

We are here in MK today. The park opened at 7:15 this morning and we were probably 20 people back in our line. We figured everyone would head to SDMT, so we were not going that direction.

We decided to go to PP, but it wasn’t open. Neither was IASW or HM. We went over to Splash and BTMR. They weren’t open either. So we walked back over to PP hoping it would be open. Nope! IASW had just opened. But I refuse to rope drop that, so we walked over to SDMT after all. The line had just opened as we walked up. The end of the line was at Little Mermaid, and it was listed as a 50 minute wait at 7:45. The wait was actually 25 minutes, and we were on at 8:06.

I don’t know if things are changing or today was an off morning. But nothing that we tried to ride, opened before 7:40.

 

[disney1474]

Have they been letting in guests before posted opening times?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Yes. 45 minutes to an hour early.

 

[disney1474]

Yes. 45 minutes to an hour early.

Is that for every park?

 

[coachyo]

Looking for advice on best strategy to rope drop.
Arriving Saratoga Springs this Saturday, our group is 5 with 1 person who is in a wheelchair and cannot transfer. We have rented a wheelchair van and have handicapped parking permit.
When should we head out to get into parks as early as possible?
Do the parking lots have close up parking for handicapped vehicles?
should we think about parking at a Skyliner resort and get in from there or what other ideas for rope drop.
Thanksfor any thoughts and advice.
CoachYO

 

[wonderchica]

Looking for advice on best strategy to rope drop.
Arriving Saratoga Springs this Saturday, our group is 5 with 1 person who is in a wheelchair and cannot transfer. We have rented a wheelchair van and have handicapped parking permit.
When should we head out to get into parks as early as possible?
Do the parking lots have close up parking for handicapped vehicles?
should we think about parking at a Skyliner resort and get in from there or what other ideas for rope drop.
Thanksfor any thoughts and advice.
CoachYO

Can’t speak to your other questions, but currently you can’t park at a resort unless you are staying or eating there. You may want to check out the DISabilities board for more info on your questions about parking.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Is that for every park?

Yes

Looking for advice on best strategy to rope drop.
Arriving Saratoga Springs this Saturday, our group is 5 with 1 person who is in a wheelchair and cannot transfer. We have rented a wheelchair van and have handicapped parking permit.
When should we head out to get into parks as early as possible?
Do the parking lots have close up parking for handicapped vehicles?
should we think about parking at a Skyliner resort and get in from there or what other ideas for rope drop.
Thanksfor any thoughts and advice.
CoachYO

Post 1 contains a lot of great information.

Yes, there are closer spots dedicated to handicapped vehicles.

You may only park at a resort if you have a confirmed dining reservation. Security will want to see your confirmation at the gate. Also, that parking is only for a 2 hour period then vehicle would need to be moved to either your own resort or a park for extended parking.

 

[maggnanimouse]

Hello! I plan to rope drop at EPCOT one or two times next week. I have two questions:

1. Allears shows that the rides are closed at 11 AM. Do they then open soon after?

2. Are quick service dining spots open before 11 AM?

P.S. This is my first post! I grew up going to Disney World nearly every year. After more than a decade of not going, I am happy to return for the first time with my husband and children. =]

Last week, EPCOT was the only Rope Drop that I made it to before they started letting people in, though I can't remember what time it was exactly that they started to scan Magic Bands. Chalk that up to being so hyped. Like many, we headed straight to Soarin'. We waited probably 10 minutes to load on to the ride. We finished Soarin' and Living with the Land by official park open.

 

[lanejudy]

When should we head out to get into parks as early as possible?
Do the parking lots have close up parking for handicapped vehicles?

Vehicles are not allowed into the parking lots until approx. 45min./1 hr. before official opening. Arriving much earlier will get you sent around again.

If you have an official HA hangtag from home you should bring it for your rental. That will allow you access to the HA parking; closer but not always “close” (especially at MK). If you will not have a hangtag ask for “medical” parking - it will be the next closest. Or you can drop off some of your party and then swing back into the lot to park and meet up somewhere inside.

 

[Castlequeen5]

We are here at HS this morning. We got here around 8:10. The lines opened at 8:18 and we were maybe 50 people back in our line.

We went straight to ToT and walked right on. Then went next door to RR with a 5 minute wait. Last we walked over to MMRR at 8:54 with a 25 minute wait. So we got 3 big rides outta the way by 9:30!

 

[Sara W]

We were also at HS this morning. We left BWV at 7:43 and there was a decent line holding people for security. While sunscreening the kids to the side we noticed the line got very long behind us. Once past security we went to the far right side and waited some more. The let us scan bands at 8:15.
We headed straight to RNR and we were 2nd on the ride (behind the people in front of us to get into the park). We asked for the last rows. I think the entire car only had 4 rows filled at that point. It was strange being so quiet- no loud music when we walked in, we were the first countdown, no screaming on the ride. My son thought the whole experience was different. Basically walked on ToT after that. We decided to skip MMRR and head to Toy Story Mania. Our wait was 10-15min mostly moving. I think SDD was down this morning bc the wait was 90 min before park opening, and it was 20min shorter when we got off Midway Mania. At this point Midway Mania was all the way back to Joffery’s. We opted for coffee, donuts and Nom Nom cookie.

Walked to Batuu and killed some time before our boarding group was called. Someone posted a YouTube video on this thread a couple of weeks ago and I did t the optimization recs last night. I got group 34 this morning. We looked around the market but there really wasn’t much we were interested in buying.

Headed to lunch at Brown Derby. We were able to get in 10min before our reservation. My kids (9 and 11) had been hot and cranky- the dark, cool, quiet Brown Derby was exactly what we all needed. It was our first time eating here. Son loved the pho, both loved the bread service. The margarita flight was awesome, scallops and pork belly a wonderful combination, but the burger was the real winner. So glad my husband split that with me and I shared the salad. That burger and bacon jam will be in my memory for a long time.

Took the skyliner back to Epcot followed up by a big nap. Getting ready to head back in a bit.

There are still social distancing lines up in TSMM, the market in Batuu, and Rise. Plexiglass is still on Rise, but not much separation for any of the pre-show (except the dots you stand on before going into the last part). People behind us on ToT pulled down there masks in line and then quickly pulled them up as the line moved forward. Lots of people not wearing masks in bathroom. We’ve been keeping our masks on except when walking around, but kids have been wearing theirs since they are so used to wearing them. Like Universal, most kids are not wearing masks. I would say outdoor mask usage is 50/50. We’re just happy the hand sanitizer stations still work bc they were all empty at Universal.