Rope Drop Strategy for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure with Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes

[DLRExpert]

If we went on WS and Guardians during EE, would we have time to get a good spot for RSR or do those two rides take up too much time? Where do the EE people wait to get a head start towards RSR?

You will more than likely cut it close with doing WS and then Guardians during EE before Racers.

Maters usually better second ride as it is a quick loader and close to Racers entrance.

Guardians better ride for after Racers especially if you are one of the first on Racers.

 

[DisneylandFan22]

You will more than likely cut it close with doing WS and then Guardians during EE before Racers.

Maters usually better second ride as it is a quick loader and close to Racers entrance.

Guardians better ride for after Racers especially if you are one of the first on Racers.

How are they handling lining up for RSR at EE?

 

[DLRExpert]

How are they handling lining up for RSR at EE?

Just head to the Racers entrance

 

[DLRExpert]

I didn’t check the app before we got in line for PP yesterday so I don’t know for sure whether it was down. However, today I did check and nothing was down but the same thing happened - PP had 15 min wait by 0743. But this time, we instead went straight to PP and got right on, then did dumbo, Alice, Snow White, toad, and then got on space right before 8. We didn’t try for RoR today (still down as of 0850). But if we did want to try for it, I think the only possible way to do the big 3 is PP first, then space, then get in line for RoR. More walking but PP gets too long too fast to not do it first. Maybe Matterhorn refurb has something to do with it?

Great insight.
Today 8/21 Pan was down during EE.
As mentioned in my original post the goal is to be at the EE Gate for Rise by 750am (or 10 minute before park opening).
So if you go Space then Pan, Pan then Space, or any other plan, if your goal is to ride Rise at park opening you should be at the gate by 750am.

For example, you get off of Space Mountain by 740am. You get to the entrance of Pan by 745am, and Pan shows a 10 minute wait. It is probably best to skip Pan and ride something like Toad, Snow, Pinocchio, that will probably have a walk on wait. You just want to make sure you are waiting at the Rise gate as close to 750am as you can.

Just note that it is common for Rise to be down at park opening.

I updated the original post to share more insight and information.

 

[msbatchelor5]

Would your Disneyland plan with EE change once Haunted Mansion Holiday opens?

 

[DLRExpert]

Would your Disneyland plan with EE change once Haunted Mansion Holiday opens?

If you are using LL for Mansion Holiday book when you are ready to ride.

 

[katyringo]

Do you think this pan could work?

We will have EE. I'd like to start with PP and fantasyland rides, and move on over to tomorrow land space mountain, etc. We then have a plaza inn breakfast reservation for 10:40. We have lightsaber building reservations for 12:45.. so I want to try and watch for Rise ILL from 1-2 ish and smugglers around that time too. Think that's a good plan? We will have genie + and planned to buy Rise.

 

[DLRExpert]

Do you think this pan could work?

We will have EE. I'd like to start with PP and fantasyland rides, and move on over to tomorrow land space mountain, etc. We then have a plaza inn breakfast reservation for 10:40. We have lightsaber building reservations for 12:45.. so I want to try and watch for Rise ILL from 1-2 ish and smugglers around that time too. Think that's a good plan? We will have genie + and planned to buy Rise.

MAKE SURE you get to the entrance by 7am.
They should be letting in just before 730am.
730am-755am: Follow this order. Pan, Alice, Dumbo, Toad (Toad may be pushing it). You can add Pin and Snow if time permits but your goal is to be heading to Tomorrowland by 755am. You want to be in line for Space Mountain just before the park opens.
Then after Space. Nemo Subs then jump over to Jungle Cruise, Indy, and Pirates.
If you still have time before breakfast, Splash before 10am

 

[Markonefive]

So what is the best plan for non-EE for next week (Aug 30-Sept 2), where we want to ensure we get the best rides in Fantasyland, plus the main attractions using LL? I'm inclined to just do as many as we can in Fantasyland (hoping not too many EE that day) in that 8 am to 9 pm hour (except Peter Pan), maybe BTMR without LL, Splash without LL, while starting to stack our LL for Galaxy's Edge and ILL later in the am, for other attractions. Maybe try to get Jungle Cruise and Pirates before lunch? LL for Indiana Jones later in the day, as well as Buzz, Autopia, maybe Space or Star Tours. Also trying to minimize too much back and forth through the park.

 

[DLRExpert]

So what is the best plan for non-EE for next week (Aug 30-Sept 2), where we want to ensure we get the best rides in Fantasyland, plus the main attractions using LL? I'm inclined to just do as many as we can in Fantasyland (hoping not too many EE that day) in that 8 am to 9 pm hour (except Peter Pan), maybe BTMR without LL, Splash without LL, while starting to stack our LL for Galaxy's Edge and ILL later in the am, for other attractions. Maybe try to get Jungle Cruise and Pirates before lunch? LL for Indiana Jones later in the day, as well as Buzz, Autopia, maybe Space or Star Tours. Also trying to minimize too much back and forth through the park.

From my first post on this thread...

Fantasyland Plan (without Early Entry)
730am: Arrive at the main entrance to Disneyland.
Note: It takes about 20-30 minutes to get from Disney parking areas to the main entrance (Disney parking areas open an hour before park opening).
730am: They will start to let guests into Main Street at this time. The goal is get as close to the rope as you can. There is a left, middle, and right of the hub rope area. I usually choose the Tomorrowland side as the Frontierland side can be crowded due to guests going to Rise of the Resistance.
Note: While at Rope Drop purchase your Genie+, but keep an eye out for a return time for Rise of the Resistance after 11am.
8am-815am: Once the rope drops walk to the right side of the castle and follow the path towards the Matterhorn but stay to your left and ride Alice in Wonderland first.
815am-835am: Second ride will be Dumbo, then Mr. Toad, finally choose between Snow White or Pinocchio. GOAL is to be out of Fantasyland before 835am.
835am-945am: Ride the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, then Haunted Mansion(If it is Mansion Holiday season, go to Mansion first and then Pirates OR if you only have interest in experiencing MH once just book and use LL when ready to ride).
Note: Book your first LL, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, you are looking for a return time after 10am.
945am-1015am: Ride Splash Mountain without LL. Ride Winnie the Pooh.
After 10am you are going to use the LL for Falcon, and then ILL for Rise. Mix in Lightning Lane attractions with non-LL attractions.
REMEMBER get your next LL as soon as you scan your current LL ticket. You can use your LL 5 minutes before and up 15 minute after your posted return time.

 

[Jack_Burton]

I posted this in a hotel thread earlier and I think it might belong over here but I can post it elsewhere if advised. Apologize in advance for all the questions. We're doing our first family Disney vacation over this upcoming Labor Day wknd. I've been putting off a Disney trip for 14 years but 4 kids later and our oldest already aging out with his high school attitude, time is not on our side.

We're staying at the GC and trying to figure out how to maximize EE along with rope drop/LL/ILL with a daily plan/strategy. We'll have Genie+ but I still don't think I know the difference between LL and ILL. They seem one in the same just that ILL cost extra for each use? Also, had a few questions or looking for some sort of ballpark plan/itinerary to start with since we're not familiar with the layout of the parks.

The kids are all huge Star Wars and Marvel fans so we wanted to knock those out for sure along with the main "must dos" on our short trip. We have 3 park days with hopper tix, Fri/Sat/Sun (9/2-9/4). The current plan is to start at DL on Fri, CA on Sat and DL on Sunday going back and forth.

On Friday, does it make sense to use EE and knock out a couple of the big rides in Tomorrowland (Space Mountain & Star Tours) and still have enough time to get over to the Galaxy's Edge entrance via Fantasyland to get ahead of the rope drop crowd? I've had others tell us we wouldn't have time to knock out a couple of rides before we needed to be over there and to just start there but I feel like we're wasting our EE if we go straight to GE when we can still use Genie+ for ROTR and Smugglers. The additional "must dos" at DL we've been advised are Space Mountain, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder, Its a Small World, Pirates and Haunted Mansion. We're open to any other suggestions as well but that's just the common ones mentioned. We also signed up for light saber/droid building along with an Oga's reservation.

For our day starting in CA on Sat, original plan was to use EE and head straight to GOTG, Web Slingers and/or RSR. Idea was head straight to Web Slingers or GOTG to get a couple of rides in with EE and then use ILL for RSR? I also read on other threads suggesting instead to head straight to RSR to knock that out. Wasn't sure about the CA "must dos" along with the Marvel ones other than Incredicoaster and Grizzly maybe? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I think our original plan with the day selection was that Galaxy's Edge and the other main DL rides wouldn't be as crowded on a Friday morning, especially with EE but I think I can switch our CA start day to Fri if that makes more sense but I assume Saturday at Galaxy's Edge and all of DL would be much more crowded. Seems we have less rides we'll do at CA as well, so maybe Saturday will be fine.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[DLRExpert]

I posted this in a hotel thread earlier and I think it might belong over here but I can post it elsewhere if advised. Apologize in advance for all the questions. We're doing our first family Disney vacation over this upcoming Labor Day wknd. I've been putting off a Disney trip for 14 years but 4 kids later and our oldest already aging out with his high school attitude, time is not on our side.

We're staying at the GC and trying to figure out how to maximize EE along with rope drop/LL/ILL with a daily plan/strategy. We'll have Genie+ but I still don't think I know the difference between LL and ILL. They seem one in the same just that ILL cost extra for each use? Also, had a few questions or looking for some sort of ballpark plan/itinerary to start with since we're not familiar with the layout of the parks.

The kids are all huge Star Wars and Marvel fans so we wanted to knock those out for sure along with the main "must dos" on our short trip. We have 3 park days with hopper tix, Fri/Sat/Sun (9/2-9/4). The current plan is to start at DL on Fri, CA on Sat and DL on Sunday going back and forth.

On Friday, does it make sense to use EE and knock out a couple of the big rides in Tomorrowland (Space Mountain & Star Tours) and still have enough time to get over to the Galaxy's Edge entrance via Fantasyland to get ahead of the rope drop crowd? I've had others tell us we wouldn't have time to knock out a couple of rides before we needed to be over there and to just start there but I feel like we're wasting our EE if we go straight to GE when we can still use Genie+ for ROTR and Smugglers. The additional "must dos" at DL we've been advised are Space Mountain, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder, Its a Small World, Pirates and Haunted Mansion. We're open to any other suggestions as well but that's just the common ones mentioned. We also signed up for light saber/droid building along with an Oga's reservation.

For our day starting in CA on Sat, original plan was to use EE and head straight to GOTG, Web Slingers and/or RSR. Idea was head straight to Web Slingers or GOTG to get a couple of rides in with EE and then use ILL for RSR? I also read on other threads suggesting instead to head straight to RSR to knock that out. Wasn't sure about the CA "must dos" along with the Marvel ones other than Incredicoaster and Grizzly maybe? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I think our original plan with the day selection was that Galaxy's Edge and the other main DL rides wouldn't be as crowded on a Friday morning, especially with EE but I think I can switch our CA start day to Fri if that makes more sense but I assume Saturday at Galaxy's Edge and all of DL would be much more crowded. Seems we have less rides we'll do at CA as well, so maybe Saturday will be fine.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Make sure you get to the park entrances by 7am, no later than 710am.

Disneyland
Time your LL for Falcon, ILL for Rise, and reservations to happen all around the same time. It can be kind of a drag to walk back and forth to GE throughout the day.
Based on your must do's I would skip Star Tours during EE. The line is usually short for most of the day and you will have LL on top of that.
Space is fine as your EE attraction, depending on time maybe add Buzz or Astro Orbiter before park opening. At park opening I would do Thunder first, then Indy, then Mansion Holiday, and Pirates

Take a noon break back at hotel (nap, pool, swim, eat) and come back to park at night. Collect LLs while back at the hotel so you can use them back in the park at night.

When you come back you can focus most of your time in Tomorrowland.

DCA
WS first (in my opinion not worth the ILL cost), then depending on time you can do Mater's (Guardians will take too long), but you want to be in line for Racers 5-10 minutes before official park opening. After Racers then go to Guardians. Your GOAL is to be heading towards Pixar Pier by 835am.
Then Pixar Pier order is... Toy Story, grab LL for Incredicoaster, Pal Around, Inside Out, Goofy, then whatever else in PP until your Incredicoaster LL is about to expire, Then use LL for Incredicoaster, ride Mermaid next LL Soarin, then LL for Grizzly .
Park all but done, take break, collect LLs for DL for when you park hop later.

 

[Jack_Burton]

Make sure you get to the park entrances by 7am, no later than 710am.

Disneyland
Time your LL for Falcon, ILL for Rise, and reservations to happen all around the same time. It can be kind of a drag to walk back and forth to GE throughout the day.
Based on your must do's I would skip Star Tours during EE. The line is usually short for most of the day and you will have LL on top of that.
Space is fine as your EE attraction, depending on time maybe add Buzz or Astro Orbiter before park opening. At park opening I would do Thunder first, then Indy, then Mansion Holiday, and Pirates

Take a noon break back at hotel (nap, pool, swim, eat) and come back to park at night. Collect LLs while back at the hotel so you can use them back in the park at night.

When you come back you can focus most of your time in Tomorrowland.

DCA
WS first (in my opinion not worth the ILL cost), then depending on time you can do Mater's (Guardians will take too long), but you want to be in line for Racers 5-10 minutes before official park opening. After Racers then go to Guardians. Your GOAL is to be heading towards Pixar Pier by 835am.
Then Pixar Pier order is... Toy Story, grab LL for Incredicoaster, Pal Around, Inside Out, Goofy, then whatever else in PP until your Incredicoaster LL is about to expire, Then use LL for Incredicoaster, ride Mermaid next LL Soarin, then LL for Grizzly .
Park all but done, take break, collect LLs for DL for when you park hop later.

This is great, thank you. So you're saying pick something for EE and then head over to Thunder, Indy, etc..around park opening and don't bother with GE rides till after lunch? Or were you saying during EE or while knocking out Thunder, Indy, etc.., go ahead and make LL/ILL reservations for Falcon and Rise and head there after?

I probably should have mentioned my kids ages were 7, 9, 13, 14 and they love all Pixar stuff, not just marvel/star wars. I wasn't sure if they were too old for some of the "younger kid" rides outside of what I listed but that's good to know if you think they'll be fine for Toy Story, Buzz, etc..

 

[DLRExpert]

This is great, thank you. So you're saying pick something for EE and then head over to Thunder, Indy, etc..around park opening and don't bother with GE rides till after lunch? Or were you saying during EE or while knocking out Thunder, Indy, etc.., go ahead and make LL/ILL reservations for Falcon and Rise and head there after?

I probably should have mentioned my kids ages were 7, 9, 13, 14 and they love all Pixar stuff, not just marvel/star wars. I wasn't sure if they were too old for some of the "younger kid" rides outside of what I listed but that's good to know if you think they'll be fine for Toy Story, Buzz, etc..

Not mentioned was the the idea of FISHING for the Multiple Experience Pass. That is what I would do first and not book a LL until I absolutely have to.

I usually book my LL and ILL for Falcon and Rise for a return time around 11am-12pm. However, you should try to book around the time of your reservations in Galaxy's Edge.

Most people like the Buzz and TSMM attractions because there is some competition in it.

 

[RealJulsie]

This is all such helpful information. Question… I keep seeing people say to arrive at the turnstiles to the parks by 7-7:10 for early entry (if park opens at 8). Don’t the security gates from the Disney hotels to downtown Disney open at 7, so realistically it’s not possible to get to the turnstiles by 7? We’re going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel and I’m trying to figure out what time we should get to security.

 

[DLRExpert]

This is all such helpful information. Question… I keep seeing people say to arrive at the turnstiles to the parks by 7-7:10 for early entry (if park opens at 8). Don’t the security gates from the Disney hotels to downtown Disney open at 7, so realistically it’s not possible to get to the turnstiles by 7? We’re going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel and I’m trying to figure out what time we should get to security.

In some instances the security gates for the hotels open just before 7am. It is more about getting to and through security fast. If EE is important and you want to get the most out of it, you will need to to be one of the first at the entrance gates.

 

[RealJulsie]

In some instances the security gates for the hotels open just before 7am. It is more about getting to and through security fast. If EE is important and you want to get the most out of it, you will need to to be one of the first at the entrance gates.

Thank you!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Just completed first DL trip. Had a great time!!

Rope drop stsrategy that worked amazingly well for us at DCA was Soarin’ followed by Pixar Pier as most headed towards Cars or Avengers.

In 75 mins we did:
- Soarin
- Incredicoaster x 2 (LL)
- Toy Story Mania x 2
- pal-a-around (swinging)
- Silly Swings
- Jumpin Jellyfish

 

[Markonefive]

Just completed first DL trip. Had a great time!!

Rope drop stsrategy that worked amazingly well for us at DCA was Soarin’ followed by Pixar Pier as most headed towards Cars or Avengers.

In 75 mins we did:
- Soarin
- Incredicoaster x 2 (LL)
- Toy Story Mania x 2
- pal-a-around (swinging)
- Silly Swings
- Jumpin Jellyfish

Well played. Sounds like you didn't have to use Lightning Lane. Our plan next Tuesday is go right to TSM, followed by Incredicoaster and Pixar Pal non-swinging, a few runs on Grizzly and then use LL for Soarin. A few other attractions, mid day break, Animation Academy and Avengers in PM (no one cares about web slingers in our group), and try to time Cars Land for nighttime with ILL followed b WoC.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Well played. Sounds like you didn't have to use Lightning Lane. Our plan next Tuesday is go right to TSM, followed by Incredicoaster and Pixar Pal non-swinging, a few runs on Grizzly and then use LL for Soarin. A few other attractions, mid day break, Animation Academy and Avengers in PM (no one cares about web slingers in our group), and try to time Cars Land for nighttime with ILL followed b WoC.

Not sure about the members of your party but if they’re eligible, single rider worked wonderfully for us for Web Slingers and Radiator Spring Racers.

The first time we ride Racers we waited almost 90 mins in the standby line. The single that joined us waited 10!! We rode it 4 more times during our trip waiting 10 mins or less each time even though standby queue was 90ish mins each time!!