SDMT Rope Drop or ILL?

[DisneyMama811]

headed to the world in January the week following MLK Jr day. Our first park day is Jan 17th, the Tuesday after MLK day... will the parks still be super crowded?(we don't have this holiday in Canada so I don't know much about it) Epcot will have Festival of Arts going on...does that draw crowds away from other parks?

our first park day is Magic Kingdom, SDMT is high on our list, should we plan to rope drop this OR should I just buy ILL? we are staying on site so we do have advantage of extra magic hours but also kind of wanted to see Park opening ceremony as our kids have never been to WDW (DH and I haven't been since 2011) we have a second MK day planned at the end of our trip, with BBB reservations at 9am, should we prioritize SDMT the first day and catch the opening show on the 2nd MK day?

 

[holden]

I think the majority of the crowd will run for SDMT. I'd buy the ILL if it's that important to you and rope drop another ride like SM, BTMRR, etc.

MK is crowded every day of the year. It will feel especially crowded at rope drop since everyone is squished together and walking together.

 

[set88]

I think the ideal time for SDMT is last thing at the end of the night.

If that's not a possibility, I would do the ILL. We faced the same thing on our trip and I decided I wanted a less hectic morning than doing the SDMT rush. We did Peter Pan instead with a 20 minute wait - that was with arriving shortly before the start of early entry. We would have had to arrive much earlier to make SDMT work with a minimal wait.

You might like this article, it was a big influence on my decision not to rope drop SDMT and I don't regret it. SDMT is also the cheapest ILL, I think it was $10 per person. I thought it was worth it to get to ride with no wait in the middle of the day.

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/ride-guide-seven-dwarfs-mine-train-magic-kingdom/

 

[Miffy]

@DisneyMama811: Just to let you know, only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open for early theme park entry, which is what I believe you mean by rope drop, since you'll be staying onsite. So BTMRR, for example, doesn't open until the official park opening time, which is a half hour after that.

I've RD'd MK a few times in the last year and a half and my experience is that unless you're at the very front of the line--which means getting there at least 45 minutes before early theme park entry starts--and also either running or walking like crazy, by the time you get to SDMT or PPF, the lines are already 30, 40, 50 minutes long...or more.

So, really, if you count the amount of time you waited in line to be let in plus the length of the line when you get there, it's a long wait. If you can afford the ILL$ for SDMT, get it. It'll make life much easier for you on your MK day.

If you can swing it, you might want to purchase G+ for that day as well. MK is the one park where it is super helpful.

As for the crowd level, it's impossible to predict. WDW has been very crowded since its reopening. I haven't yet been at a low-crowd-level time, even times that weren't crowded in the past.

And have a great trip!

 

[gharter]

Our last trip, we did 7DMT as ILL$. We did EE and were able to do SM, Buzz and over by the bridge to go to Frontierland before the park opened.

 

[DisneyMama811]

you can afford the ILL$ for SDMT, get it. It'll make life much easier for you on your MK day.

haha at this point it's less about can we afford it and more can it save my sanity. I've already resigned myself to spending a billion dollars thanks for the advice! we'll definitely buy ILL

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Our go-to strategy for 7D is to wait until close to closing time when the line is at its shortest. We were able to ride twice in less than 20 minutes on our last visit this summer.

Just keep in mind that posted wait times are intentionally inflated at night to discourage late riders.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

headed to the world in January the week following MLK Jr day. Our first park day is Jan 17th, the Tuesday after MLK day... will the parks still be super crowded?(we don't have this holiday in Canada so I don't know much about it) Epcot will have Festival of Arts going on...does that draw crowds away from other parks?

our first park day is Magic Kingdom, SDMT is high on our list, should we plan to rope drop this OR should I just buy ILL? we are staying on site so we do have advantage of extra magic hours but also kind of wanted to see Park opening ceremony as our kids have never been to WDW (DH and I haven't been since 2011) we have a second MK day planned at the end of our trip, with BBB reservations at 9am, should we prioritize SDMT the first day and catch the opening show on the 2nd MK day?

The Festival of the Arts starts on January 13. EPCOT will be very crowded on the weekends because of the festival. Based on what I've read, the crowds for the festival are usually less during the week. Which basically means, no, it isn't drawing people to EPCOT and away from the other parks during the week. Also the locals will go to EPCOT for the festival on Thursday nights, Friday nights and both SAT/SUN.

 

[MickeyMice]

haha at this point it's less about can we afford it and more can it save my sanity. I've already resigned myself to spending a billion dollars thanks for the advice! we'll definitely buy ILL

i would def try to rope drop 7DMT and if you're towards the front of the RD crowd you should get it. if it's looking rough, switch gears to peter pan - you can just buy the 7DMT ILL at that point. either way you are in a good spot to hit haunted mansion, BTMRR or splash mtn once the whole park is open (although i feel like 1 or 2 of those is always late to get running).

i would avoid space mountain at rope drop because you're just too far away from other stuff (but it's not a terrible second stop after 7DMT either). most importantly pay attention to wait times and what rides are actually running early to make good use of those first couple hours.

 

[Average Joes]

A few months ago the strategy on touring plans was to RD PP and then 7D. The reasoning was that 7D was down a lot in AM. I ignored that advice and 7D was down at RD. Later that day we waited 2 hrs instead of the posted 40 due to more issues. 2hrs in line in August after criss crossing the park to use Genie+ makes one rather hate 7D. Yes to buying LL for us if we go back.

 

[Juventus]

i would def try to rope drop 7DMT and if you're towards the front of the RD crowd you should get it. if it's looking rough, switch gears to peter pan - you can just buy the 7DMT ILL at that point. either way you are in a good spot to hit haunted mansion, BTMRR or splash mtn once the whole park is open (although i feel like 1 or 2 of those is always late to get running).

i would avoid space mountain at rope drop because you're just too far away from other stuff (but it's not a terrible second stop after 7DMT either). most importantly pay attention to wait times and what rides are actually running early to make good use of those first couple hours.

Has anyone had any experience dropping Space first then high tailing it to where there hold you for regular rope drop time between Peter Pan and haunted mansion in order to head to thunder mountain?

 

[MickeyMice]

A few months ago the strategy on touring plans was to RD PP and then 7D. The reasoning was that 7D was down a lot in AM. I ignored that advice and 7D was down at RD. Later that day we waited 2 hrs instead of the posted 40 due to more issues. 2hrs in line in August after criss crossing the park to use Genie+ makes one rather hate 7D. Yes to buying LL for us if we go back.

if you're trying to RD 7DMT and it's down, you can pivot to PPF pretty easily. but i don't think i'd ever double back to 7DMT after another ride.

if i didn't get it at rope drop, i would pay for it, stay close if it goes down to hop on it, or hope for the best at park close.

Has anyone had any experience dropping Space first then high tailing it to where there hold you for regular rope drop time between Peter Pan and haunted mansion in order to head to thunder mountain?

i feel like big thunder is down quite often at park open, but if both mountains are running as expected, don't see why you couldn't pull it off. i don't think it's the most efficient approach, but if those are your top 2...

 

[Juventus]

if you're trying to RD 7DMT and it's down, you can pivot to PPF pretty easily. but i don't think i'd ever double back to 7DMT after another ride.

if i didn't get it at rope drop, i would pay for it, stay close if it goes down to hop on it, or hope for the best at park close.

i feel like big thunder is down quite often at park open, but if both mountains are running as expected, don't see why you couldn't pull it off. i don't think it's the most efficient approach, but if those are your top 2...

Ya my thinking is, as we will be there all day and have been many times before, the rides that I would want to re ride the most are Space and Thunder. Everything else I am fine with doing once, and with Genie+ and the ILL$ for 7DMR that should be possible.

Its a lot of walking though.

 

[Shellyred8]

Our go-to strategy for 7D is to wait until close to closing time when the line is at its shortest. We were able to ride twice in less than 20 minutes on our last visit this summer.

Just keep in mind that posted wait times are intentionally inflated at night to discourage late riders.

This is our strategy too.

 

[musicguy856]

Our go-to strategy for 7D is to wait until close to closing time when the line is at its shortest. We were able to ride twice in less than 20 minutes on our last visit this summer.

Just keep in mind that posted wait times are intentionally inflated at night to discourage late riders.

And sometimes sections of the queue you can't see from the entrance will be blocked off at some attractions. For example one night ToT had the wrap around courtyard section closed off at park closing and the line bypassed that area.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

And sometimes sections of the queue you can't see from the entrance will be blocked off at some attractions. For example one night ToT had the wrap around courtyard section closed off at park closing and the line bypassed that area.

Yes, that’s intentional and it’s called Line Stacking. We first read about this in the 1998 Unofficial Guide so it’s nothing new either. The goal is to make the line appear longer than it really is. This combined with an artificially inflated wait time urges guest to head toward the gift shops and eventually the exits.

We’ve used a late night strategy for 7D for years, and our longest wait ever was 20 minutes during opening week in 2014. The posted wait is usually 50–100 minutes.

On our last visit to Tower of Terror, the posted wait was 80 with an actual wait of 10. This was in early summer when only one elevator bank was operating.

 

[Beachmom0317]

I personally have had a great experience buying an ILL for SDMT and then knocking out 2-3 rides at RD (Peter Pan, Pooh, etc)

 

[Lumpy1106]

We rope-drop Jungle Cruise. That line is awful once it builds and the G+ line fills up. From there you are in a good position to ride Pirates, Splash, BTMRR, etc. We did RD for 7DMT once, then never again. It didn't save us as much time as we had hoped and we missed getting a short wait on practically everything else.

 

[marryfrmtx]

Great advice in this thread. I am taking my 2 grandsons in January. One age 4 and the other age 5. SDMT is high on their list of things to do. I will definitely be buying ILL. Like the OP said nothing like spending a billion dollars to keep your sanity.