Things learned from rope dropping

[FigmentSpark]

I'm totally a RD loyalist, but am I hearing that evenings are the new way to go? I guess it makes sense... people have ADRs for dinner and kids go to bed... could it be that closing down MK is a better idea than RD? We are not "sit in a prime spot for 2 hours to get a good view of the fireworks/parade" people, but if there were fireworks, my kids would want to see them, so no riding SM while the fireworks are on.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I'm totally a RD loyalist, but am I hearing that evenings are the new way to go? I guess it makes sense... people have ADRs for dinner and kids go to bed... could it be that closing down MK is a better idea than RD? We are not "sit in a prime spot for 2 hours to get a good view of the fireworks/parade" people, but if there were fireworks, my kids would want to see them, so no riding SM while the fireworks are on.

Trust me toddlers and kids are there at closing too.
As a child we were there until well after closing buying photos and souvenirs and I have plenty of pics of our car being one of the last in the lot.
Now a days of we drive we are far from the last in the lot with plenty of families with kids headed out of the parks at the same time as us.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I'm totally a RD loyalist, but am I hearing that evenings are the new way to go? I guess it makes sense... people have ADRs for dinner and kids go to bed... could it be that closing down MK is a better idea than RD? We are not "sit in a prime spot for 2 hours to get a good view of the fireworks/parade" people, but if there were fireworks, my kids would want to see them, so no riding SM while the fireworks are on.

Here’s an example of a 4 hour visit to MK from 8 pm to midnight. We did all of this without any Fast Passes. It happened to be a EMH morning so there was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park when we arrived.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[Delirium]

We do both rope drop and late night, functioning on 4-5 hours sleep a night during the trip. We essentially ride nothing between 11-6 without a FP. That timeframe in the park is spent in shows, eating meals, shopping, or if the schedule allows, a nice break at the resort.

We plan each park segment extensively, avoiding criss-crossing the park at all costs. One thing that allows us to operate this way is that we get hoppers and do longer trips (8-12 days), which allows us to FP almost everything we want (curse the tiering in place at Epcot).

For us, rope dropping is hitting the mid-level attractions because we have FPs for most of the major ones. We're perfectly content with riding an attraction once in a trip. If a repeat opportunity presents itself late at night, we'll take advantage of it. But, even the best rides lose some of the magic after 2-3 rides per trip.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We're perfectly content with riding an attraction once in a trip. If a repeat opportunity presents itself late at night, we'll take advantage of it. But, even the best rides lose some of the magic after 2-3 rides per trip.

My kids would feel like they were being punished if not allowed to ride their favorites over and over again. That’s when the short lines at night pay off.

They once did Tower of Terror 13 times in 2 hours just for the fun of it. I found a nice spot on a bench and watched them run by every 9-10 minutes.

On our last visit, we hit Space Mountain 4 times in 35 minutes. That’s a lot of walking in and out of that one.

 

[FigmentSpark]

My kids would feel like they were being punished if not allowed to ride their favorites over and over again. That’s when the short lines at night pay off.

They once did Tower of Terror 13 times in 2 hours just for the fun of it. I found a nice spot on a bench and watched them run by every 9-10 minutes.

On our last visit, we hit Space Mountain 4 times in 35 minutes. That’s a lot of walking in and out of that one.

What time of year was that trip?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

What time of year was that trip?

Early June. We prefer this time of year as the hours have been extended but the full summer crowds haven’t arrived yet.

No matter the time of year, we’re seeing that more guests are arriving earlier on the day. Time isn’t free, and the cost of an early arrival is generally an early departure.

That’s why these late night plans work so well as most guests have already left for the day. Combine this with Disney’s inflated wait times at night and you have a recipe for some very productive touring.

 

[Smbmoyers]

What we learned at MK is that the masses of people head towards Fantasy Land so we went toward frontier and adventure land. It is like we had the park to ourselves, well not really but it is easy on many rides with 5 minute waits.

This is what I do as well! Splash is our favorite and we often do splash, btmr, haunted mansion, and potc all before park open.

 

[mouthdoc]

We'll be in WDW this weekend. Planning to rope drop DHS to hit Slinky Dog Dash. Its an extra-magic hour morning, 8:00 a.m. What time would you recommend arriving at the gate? Do they let you on in like AK or do you line up at the turnstiles?

 

[dachsie]

I tried t

Sorry, “Your Mileage May Vary.” Just slang for “your experience may be different” since it involves a lot of variables.. crowd levels, time, rope drop/ride opening procedures on any given day, etc.

Other than Buzz and Jungle being on opposite sides of the park, seems doable to me. We sometimes criss-cross the park in inefficient ways at rope drop just to hit certain things.

It may make more sense to do something like PotC and JC if you’re looking to be in the same area.

I tried to get a Buzz FP for the morn but couldn't make it work - I have a 9,10 and 11 FP. My 10 is PoTC and 11 is HM

 

[Kathlita]

My most recent RD experience was in early March. While we waited for the rest of our party, the Jungle Cruise line went from 10 minutes to 40. In like 5 minutes. RD actually means an hour before RD if you want to ride Peter Pan or Test Track. Park opening did not cut it. For Navi River, actual RD was fine. Unlike previous trips, where we felt we had the park to ourselves the first hour, everything filled up fast.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

RD actually means an hour before RD if you want to ride Peter Pan or Test Track.

On a recent visit, we hit Peter Pan right after the fireworks. The posted wait was 40 minutes but there were only about 10 people in line and the actual wait was about 1 minute.

On another evening, the posted wait at Test Track at about 8 pm was again 40 minutes but we were on in 10.

I can’t imagine lining up an hour early when there are much more efficient options available.

Mornings are much too busy for us.

 

[tex1989]

Have not been at a rope drop in many years! We are on vacation and early mornings and racing to rides is not on my vacation list of things to do. Of course we are a little older, without kids, have AP's and go two to three times a year. We take our time use FP+, later nights, and refresh. Get the must do's via FP+ and wing the rest. Everyone has to do what they think is best for them and their families,

 

[Moliphino]

Mornings are so much cooler, temp wise, and you get through security and the tapstiles really quickly and when all the other rides would usually be filling up, you are already done with all of Pandora, and on to whatever else you'd like to ride, or like me, ready to park hop to a non-EMH park and then to an early lunch. But yes, if you not a morning person I don't think rope drop is for you. I'm not a night owl, so I'd never get into line right before park close either.

It's definitely a matter of preference. When I was a kid my parents would make us rope drop morning EMH and I was always so miserably tired. Now I sleep until 8 everyday and make good use of fastpass+. And we usually go in December, so heat is not an issue most of the time.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We'll be in WDW this weekend. Planning to rope drop DHS to hit Slinky Dog Dash. Its an extra-magic hour morning, 8:00 a.m. What time would you recommend arriving at the gate? Do they let you on in like AK or do you line up at the turnstiles?

I would think 7:30

 

[jenPSU]

I would think 7:30

We'll be in WDW this weekend. Planning to rope drop DHS to hit Slinky Dog Dash. Its an extra-magic hour morning, 8:00 a.m. What time would you recommend arriving at the gate? Do they let you on in like AK or do you line up at the turnstiles?

I did RD in DHS back in February (no Toy Story Land yet). They opened the gates about 15 minutes early on a non-EHS day and we headed to sign up for Jedi training. We were one of the first there so we finished quickly and then were able to join our family who who were still waiting at a “rope” to get back to the TSM area. They opened that right at park opening. Not sure if that’s still the case these days.

 

[MrsMama]

I just rope dropped PP on Friday with my 4 year old (walking) and my 6 month old strapped into a baby carrier. We certainly weren’t going quickly, and it was only a 5 minute wait when we got there.

We were able to ride PP and Buzz twice in the time it took my husband and older son to ride Space.

 

[rally]

Quoth the Owl "Nevermore!"

That's just funny dude!

 

[Davey Jones II]

How is TSMM at rope drop these days? Is it easy to get into, since everyone dashes for Slinky Dog Dash? How about FEA at Epcot?

 

[Daisy1940]

Here’s an example of a 4 hour visit to MK from 8 pm to midnight. We did all of this without any Fast Passes. It happened to be a EMH morning so there was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park when we arrived.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

This is awesome and I will be so excited when my kids can do this, but they are 11months and 3 years old, by park open they've been awake for 2 1/2 hours, late nights would never work for us right now. Not wishing their childhood away but sleeping in and doing the parks at night will be nice one day.