Hollywood Studios Rope Drop Strategy

[DaviVascaino]

Our experience yesterday morning- we had 2 people booking at 7. We got ROTR for 9:15 and Slinky for 11:15. I’ll use my kids for an example because they rope dropped TOT. They rode TOT, then 2 turns on RNRC (youngest did 3) and met us at Woodys at 8:30. We ate, went to our ROTR, did Frozen sing along, got an 11:30 TSM, did Slinky. then TSM and were headed out of park by12:30. We had done MFSR and MMRR one evening earlier in the week so we didn’t need to repeat those.

I will edit to add that our prior evening Slinky was posted 120 minute wait at park close. We got in a long line and did not move for 10 minutes, even the LL line was long and slow at that time. We gave up.

when you say two people booking, you mean two people logged in the same account?

 

[SmileEar2Ear]

Our experience yesterday morning- we had 2 people booking at 7. We got ROTR for 9:15 and Slinky for 11:15. I’ll use my kids for an example because they rope dropped TOT. They rode TOT, then 2 turns on RNRC (youngest did 3) and met us at Woodys at 8:30. We ate, went to our ROTR, did Frozen sing along, got an 11:30 TSM, did Slinky. then TSM and were headed out of park by12:30. We had done MFSR and MMRR one evening earlier in the week so we didn’t need to repeat those.

I will edit to add that our prior evening Slinky was posted 120 minute wait at park close. We got in a long line and did not move for 10 minutes, even the LL line was long and slow at that time. We gave up.

So they got ToT and RnRc x3 done in the first 30 minutes? This was going to be our strategy and I was just trying to see how successful we would be. Did they open right at the 8:00 early entry time or did they open earlier than that?

 

[flipflopmom]

So they got ToT and RnRc x3 done in the first 30 minutes? This was going to be our strategy and I was just trying to see how successful we would be. Did they open right at the 8:00 early entry time or did they open earlier than that?

Going through texts my daughter sent. At 7:56 they were in pre show for TOT, off at 8:04 in line forRNRC, off and back in line at 8:17 for round 2, off round 2 at 8:27. Youngest went back for round 3 then.

 

[TSM]

We were there 2 weeks ago and as we were in line to rope drop (early hours 8, park opening at 8:30) i changed my stategy. We got there early, like 7:15 because i kept reading that people were being let in earlier and that they were getting ROR done even before the 8 am early hours. Well, they didnt let us in so as we waited I decided to change plans. At 7 I purchased ROR and MMRR. My reason was that I didn't want the later slinky time to be after 10:30 and start the 2 hour rule. So we head to TOT, and its down, so we do RR, head to slinky after that and that only takes less than 15 minutes, do Toy story mania, then head to our 8:45 MMRR. As soon as I tap in I get smugglers run for right after. Then just picked rides that were next available and got RR, toy story mania, Alien saucers, and star tours right back to back. My best tip for every park is if you are rope dropping, get a LL for ealiest available and then use genie as much as possible early, then we would take a break when it was 1000 out and stack for the evening. Worked great!

 

[dsanner106]

This line of thinking is why those that are patient and wait until later in the day will find the shortest lines for Rise.

I agree that it may have trouble firing up in the morning and wouldn’t want to fight through those crowds anyway.

By waiting until later in the evening, we find that most guests have either already done it or have given up just based on the posted wait times.

Just a few weeks ago we rode twice in about an hour, and could have done a third trip but opted for Tower instead. We found it to be a very efficient use of time.

I have been considering this, and wonder what time is reasonable in the evening to head back to RoR and catch a shorter line? I also think the morning dash , which may still put you in a very long long, coupled with the frequent morning breakdowns kills that strategy.

 

[DLRExpert]

With Early Entry
7am: Get LL for Slinky then ILL for Rise
Arrive 30 minutes before EE starts.
- TOT, then RNRC. park about to open
- If line for Falcon is 30 minutes or less Falcon, if not Railway which should be 30 minute or less
- Then Toy Story Mania, then Star Tours
- Indy Stunt Show.

Without Early Entry rope drop
7am: Get LL for Slinky (give it a few seconds before you book to get later return time) then ILL for Rise
- Park opening... RNRC, then Toy Story Mania.
- LL Order after Slinky... Tower, Falcon, Railway.

Arriving Late, recommend 2-4 hours after park opening
7am: Get LL for Slinky then ILL for Rise
LL Order Tower, Falcon, Railway or RNRC (use fiddle faddle)

 

[Richie248]

My experience back in May was as follows (this assumes early entry):
-Get to Studios about 45 min prior to early entry
-7am - secure Genie+ for Slink Dog (ended up with 11am) and LL for ROTR (11:30am)
-8:15ish (gates open) - beeline to TOT, held until 8:30am
-8:30 - Ride TOT, no preshow, off before 8:40
-8:40 - ROR, no pre-show, off by 8:50
-8:55 - Queue for MMRR (right before gates open for regular guests)
-9:10 - Done with MMRR, ride Star Tours, Muppets, Smugglers Single Rider (little to no wait)
-10:15am - Olga's Cantina/break
-11am - Slinky/pull Midway Mania Genie+ (12:30pm)
-11:30am - ROTR (lucky, flawless ride, little wait)
-Noon - Lunch at brown Derby
-1pm - Midway Mania (pull Genie+/start stacking for my evening at MK)
-1:30pm - Walk back to Swan Reserve

All in all a pretty successful morning.Getting to the front of the turnstiles allowed me to be (almost first) in line for TOT. Those extra minutes spent in the early AM were well worth it. Plan on trying the same strategy in August.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I read posts from one recent visitor who said that his family avoided DHS in the morning, and instead park hopped to that park for the second half of the day. How viable is that strategy if you want to stack LLs later in the day, and get in line for headliners before park close?

 

[coachk34]

6/28 (Tuesday) Strategy wise Hollywood was one of our best days. Everything worked great until the end of the day. No park hopping, Rope dropped, PM break, and closed the park. We left Fort Wilderness in car at 6:45. Arrived at Studios at 7:00 and secured SDD for a 9:05 AM return. Was 5th in line at our tap in point. Were allowed to tap in at 7:45. Walked straight back (no second rope drop) to ROR and walked on to ride.

ROR - SB with no wait
MFSR - SB with no wait
SDD - LL
Met Sully
FEA Sing along
Met Olaf
Indiana Jones
RnR - LL
Beauty and The Best
TOT - LL
Afternoon break for about 2.5 hours. Rode bus back to the Fort to leave car parked
TSMM - SB 40 minute wait
Star Tours - SB 10 minute wait
Walked around Galaxys Edge
MFSR - LL
MMRR - LL was down so converted to Multi Use Pass
TSMM - LL was down so converted to Multi Use Pass next day at Epcot (Used for Test Track)
SDD - LL (Multi Use Pass)
MMRR - SB (Reopened about 30 minutes before close, rode with no wait)

Was able to get LL for every major ride at Hollywood, but the key was being able to get my 2nd LL at 9:10 AM instead of 10:30. This kept me ahead all day. TSMM was the last LL we got and took a good 15 minutes of refreshing to get.

 

[state08]

Since I started this thread, seems I should probably follow up with what we actually ended up doing. This was for last Friday, 7/2.

- Right at 7am made 11:40am ILL for ROTR and 8:30am TOT LL
- Arrived via Skyliner around 7:15 for 8am EE
- About 20 people back at one of the far right tapstyles, entire area filled in by 7:30
- Started letting people in around 7:40, went straight to SDD where they were letting people queue
- SDD started running promptly at 8 and we were off the ride by 8:15
- Had planned to do MMRR next but it hadn't opened yet so we had to audible
- Considered starting to make our way over towards TOT for our LL and hopefully getting on RNRR, but TOT was down as well so we had a feeling we'd be getting an anytime LL for that
- Saw MFSR only had a 20 min wait so headed over there
- Walked right on MFSR at 8:25am, they weren't even grouping parties yet at this point
- As expected at 8:30 we received an anytime LL for TOT
- I re-booked TOT for 1:40 with our plan to use the anytime on RNRR
- Since TOT and MMRR were down, we already had done SDD and MFSR, and had a ILL for ROTR, we didn't have a ton of options at this point
- We're normally a go go go group in the mornings trying to knock out as much as we can in the 1st couple hours, but it was kind of nice to be able to take a breather
- The next hour-ish was spent getting PhotoPass pics with the Falcon, Cold Brew Black Cafs, and Ronto Wraps
- Got on RNRR using our anytime LL around 10:15 and booked a noon LL for TSM at 10:30 (2 hours since park open)
- Once again with MMRR sill down we had some time to kill so we watched the 11am Beauty and the Beast show
- Rode ROTR around 11:45am
- Rode TSM right after that
- Drinks at Baseline/Lunch at Backlot Express (get the Wookiee Cookie)
- Grabbed an immediate LL for Star Tours around 12:40
- TOT at 1:40
- MMRR was still down at this point and a storm was coming in so we ended our HS day around 3ish

Moral of the story: we were able to do every ride we wanted that was running in basically a little over half a day by rope dropping SDD and starting our LL as early as possible.

 

[catsinawindow]

Since I started this thread, seems I should probably follow up with what we actually ended up doing. This was for last Friday, 7/2.

- Right at 7am made 11:40am ILL for ROTR and 8:30am TOT LL
- Arrived via Skyliner around 7:15 for 8am EE
- About 20 people back at one of the far right tapstyles, entire area filled in by 7:30
- Started letting people in around 7:40, went straight to SDD where they were letting people queue
- SDD started running promptly at 8 and we were off the ride by 8:15
- Had planned to do MMRR next but it hadn't opened yet so we had to audible
- Considered starting to make our way over towards TOT for our LL and hopefully getting on RNRR, but TOT was down as well so we had a feeling we'd be getting an anytime LL for that
- Saw MFSR only had a 20 min wait so headed over there
- Walked right on MFSR at 8:25am, they weren't even grouping parties yet at this point
- As expected at 8:30 we received an anytime LL for TOT
- I re-booked TOT for 1:40 with our plan to use the anytime on RNRR
- Since TOT and MMRR were down, we already had done SDD and MFSR, and had a ILL for ROTR, we didn't have a ton of options at this point
- We're normally a go go go group in the mornings trying to knock out as much as we can in the 1st couple hours, but it was kind of nice to be able to take a breather
- The next hour-ish was spent getting PhotoPass pics with the Falcon, Cold Brew Black Cafs, and Ronto Wraps
- Got on RNRR using our anytime LL around 10:15 and booked a noon LL for TSM at 10:30 (2 hours since park open)
- Once again with MMRR sill down we had some time to kill so we watched the 11am Beauty and the Beast show
- Rode ROTR around 11:45am
- Rode TSM right after that
- Drinks at Baseline/Lunch at Backlot Express (get the Wookiee Cookie)
- Grabbed an immediate LL for Star Tours around 12:40
- TOT at 1:40
- MMRR was still down at this point and a storm was coming in so we ended our HS day around 3ish

Moral of the story: we were able to do every ride we wanted that was running in basically a little over half a day by rope dropping SDD and starting our LL as early as possible.

Thanks for typing all this out, it's nice to see what a "real life" rope-drop at HS may look like! Regarding MMRR not being open, is it generally not open for rope-drop or was it just broken that morning? We currently have MMRR planned for our first rope-drop ride based on our family makeup & what everyone wants to ride, but might need to rethink this if it won't be open or is frequently down in the morning!

 

[state08]

Thanks for typing all this out, it's nice to see what a "real life" rope-drop at HS may look like! Regarding MMRR not being open, is it generally not open for rope-drop or was it just broken that morning? We currently have MMRR planned for our first rope-drop ride based on our family makeup & what everyone wants to ride, but might need to rethink this if it won't be open or is frequently down in the morning!

From my pre-trip research, I didn't see any indication its a common occurrence and it should be open for early entry most mornings.

 

[s204]

Do you guys recommend walking over from Dolphin/Swan or taking an Uber to arrive at 7:00am-7:15a for EE rope drop?

 

[cjlong88]

Do you guys recommend walking over from Dolphin/Swan or taking an Uber to arrive at 7:00am-7:15a for EE rope drop?

If it were me, I would definitely walk. You will have much greater control on your arrival time.

 

[NavyDad]

I read posts from one recent visitor who said that his family avoided DHS in the morning, and instead park hopped to that park for the second half of the day. How viable is that strategy if you want to stack LLs later in the day, and get in line for headliners before park close?

We did that two days over Spring Break. We started our days at Epcot and hopped to DHS. Using Genie Plus and $ILL we had so many rides stacked at DHS for afternoon and evening it was almost too many. If we didn't pay for $ILL we could have easily jumped into the regular line for Rise at the end of the day but by that point we were tired out and ready to go.

 

[NavyDad]

Do you guys recommend walking over from Dolphin/Swan or taking an Uber to arrive at 7:00am-7:15a for EE rope drop?

Walk for sure

 

[Scalemaster34]

Or take the Friendship Boat... but walking is usually faster.