If you plan to do extended hours, would you still rope drop?

[CATANDSAL1009]

I hope to do the extended hours at the theme parks when we go. My husband HATES rope dropping, whereas me and my kids are all ready to go, go, go! lol. But, it got me wondering whether we can avoid rope dropping if we plan to do extended hours. I'm thinking it may take the pressure off of rope dropping knowing that at night the crowds will be much less.

 

[Meglen]

It might help but if the evening extra hours are till 12am will your kids be fine? If your husband doesn't like rope drop he can always meet up with you and the littles later

 

[Sweettears]

Never do rope drop and have always had great success. You just need to make sure you do some planning and now days maximize Genie +.

wait times are certainly manageable towards park close. I think more so than at rope drop

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

If you have access to extended evening hours you'll likely find it better than rope drop imo.

 

[wiggy500]

Ideally I would either just start late that day or rope drop and then get a mid-day break. Though I have done the full, long day beginning to end before.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We found we toured very differently this trip now that Genie+ and Early Hours are in play. The majority of days we did not Rope drop (except for Epcot and DHS) and still got most everything done.

personally we could not do both RD and EEH (if we qualified for them) as those days would be far too long. We might make it happen once but our bodies would not allow us to continue at that pace and days following would be a struggle.

 

[ars0525]

If you & the kids want to go early why not go? Your husband can meet up with you guys when he gets there.

 

[Trinity88]

We have always been a rope drop family. But our next trip in August, we are going to try a different strategy. We are going to swim/shop during the day then hit the parks late afternoon/dinner time and stay until park close/extended hours. My kids are old enough that they can handle the late nights. But I don't think they would want to rope drop and do late nights, it would be a bit much.

 

[isabellea]

If the schedule stays Monday for EPCOT and Wednesday for MK, our plan is to do early hours until lunch using G+ as much as possible then go back to resort to eat and relax and return to the parks after dinner with some stacked G+ and ILL$ to stay until the end of extended evening hours. Our Tuesday would be a resort day and we are checking out on Thursday.

 

[serenitynow]

We love the excitement of strolling into an empty park and getting into fairly short lines for a few rides. I think this trip we will rope drop, ride a few rides, grab an early lunch and go back to the resort about 11:30am. Then swim, take a big nap and return to the parks around dinner time. Hopefully it will be a more relaxed trip then we have had in the past, staying as long as we can to hit everything before leaving the park for the day.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

at the same park? No

 

[Selket]

We are late night people usually so usually didn't rope drop. Our last trip the parks closed somewhat early and we didn't qualify for EEH. I think if the parks are open later (now or summer/spring break, etc.) I can see how getting Genie+ and stacking rides for after 3pm would be nice.

 

[Fastpassminus]

I USED to be a HARDCORE Rope Dropper but this past February I found that using Deluxe Extended Hours in combination with Genie Plus Stacking and ILL made MORE sense for my family than RDing. I found RD to be frustrating, and annoying. You wait in line to get in, and then sometimes the ride you want is down, everyone is running and it's hectic and the lines build so fast. I found it way less stressful to skip it, show up later with 2-3 LL/ ILLs stacked and stay as late as possible.

 

[HeiHei2018]

We have always been a rope drop family. But our next trip in August, we are going to try a different strategy. We are going to swim/shop during the day then hit the parks late afternoon/dinner time and stay until park close/extended hours. My kids are old enough that they can handle the late nights. But I don't think they would want to rope drop and do late nights, it would be a bit much.

Please report back on how you like that strategy. We are thinking of doing the same.

 

[gharter]

RD, then take time off during the middle of the day and return for extended hours.

 

[Bullseye]

Start early for rides, husband meets up with you, mid-afternoon break, go back for extended.

 

[Skallywag Steph]

I have thought about this strategy as well but then I start getting nervous that I'll only be able to stack 3 rides (7,11,1) before we get into the parks. Those who get earlier LL have the potential to get more rides done that way. I guess it's a gamble either way.

 

[snikki]

I wouldn’t RD those days. For a 9-10 day trip we only RD each park once at the beginning of the trip. The rest of the trip we sleep in, hit the pool and then go to the park early to mid afternoon and close it down.

 

[Fastpassminus]

I have thought about this strategy as well but then I start getting nervous that I'll only be able to stack 3 rides (7,11,1) before we get into the parks. Those who get earlier LL have the potential to get more rides done that way. I guess it's a gamble either way.

Yes- You will have your 3 and any ILLs you buy. So let's say 3-4 rides. But once you start scanning in, you are able to book a new one right away. So you will always have a few. Then when Deluxe Hours start you can position yourself near your LEAST popular must do and work your way to the MOST. What I did in MK was show up about 10 minutes before fireworks. Watch them from tomorrowland. Hop on people mover, CoP and Buzz ( all walk on) BEFORE ILL then we walked on SM-2xs in a row, Dumbo, waited 20mins for 7DMT and walked on IASW during Deluxe Hours. Then we got photopass on the way out. This was all without using Genie Plus that day! We could have shown up earlier and did all that plus 3-4 Genie Plus rides.

 

[MainMom]

Yes- You will have your 3 and any ILLs you buy. So let's say 3-4 rides. But once you start scanning in, you are able to book a new one right away. So you will always have a few. Then when Deluxe Hours start you can position yourself near your LEAST popular must do and work your way to the MOST. What I did in MK was show up about 10 minutes before fireworks. Watch them from tomorrowland. Hop on people mover, CoP and Buzz ( all walk on) BEFORE ILL then we walked on SM-2xs in a row, Dumbo, waited 20mins for 7DMT and walked on IASW during Deluxe Hours. Then we got photopass on the way out. This was all without using Genie Plus that day! We could have shown up earlier and did all that plus 3-4 Genie Plus rides.

I’m pretty sure you can only book a new if the ride you just scanned into is your most recently booked ride.