Starting to question the point of rope dropping....

[tentaguasu]

Rope dropping is always touted as *the* way to minimize your waits. Get in early, hit a headliner or two, and you're ahead of the game all day.

But really?

I was looking at wait time trends on thrill-data.com (pretty cool FWIW), and with very few exceptions, everything is busy in the morning, lightening up in the evening. So sure, if you're right at the front of the rope drop line and charge to your attraction, you'll be ahead.

But wouldn't it be almost as good to just flip the script? That is, saunter in around 10:00 a.m. and do the less congested rides (hello Tiki Room) during the heaviest time and then move on to the headliners mid to late afternoon. This is particularly pertinent for me because I'm trying to decide between a room with early entry privileges (Doubletree) and an offsite without it. I'm sure the early entry will help, but still.

Rope drop enthusiasts - what am I missing?

 

[JZCubed]

Rope dropping is always touted as *the* way to minimize your waits. Get in early, hit a headliner or two, and you're ahead of the game all day.

But really?

I was looking at wait time trends on thrill-data.com (pretty cool FWIW), and with very few exceptions, everything is busy in the morning, lightening up in the evening. So sure, if you're right at the front of the rope drop line and charge to your attraction, you'll be ahead.

But wouldn't it be almost as good to just flip the script? That is, saunter in around 10:00 a.m. and do the less congested rides (hello Tiki Room) during the heaviest time and then move on to the headliners mid to late afternoon. This is particularly pertinent for me because I'm trying to decide between a room with early entry privileges (Doubletree) and an offsite without it. I'm sure the early entry will help, but still.

Rope drop enthusiasts - what am I missing?

I won't speak to on-site versus off-site.....

1.) Rope Drop & 2.) Park Close - are two strategies for maximizing the number of rides in a given time.

What is not clear, however, is whether Genie+ & IA$ (to access Lightning Lanes, which replaces Fast Pass system) will result in a similar strategic advantage at Rope Drop. Similarly, until Genie+ & IA$ are active, there is no data to crunch.

But you don't seem to be missing anything.

If you are at the front of Rope Drop, you can save time by going directly to the headliner. However, if you are in the back of Rope Drop, you are likely to save more time by riding the less congested rides first.

There are many websites that discuss touring strategies.

Touring Plans & EasyWDW are places I'd look for 'professional' advice.

 

[SheSingsAlong]

Granted, I'm not the most experienced, but rope dropping was *awesome* during the pandemic rules. No waiting at the bridges around the hub, you just got in and went where you wanted. We once rode SDD twice in a row AND got on MMRR all within an hour of walking into HS at rope drop. Now that the rope drop process has returned to the pre-pandemic model, I would tend to agree with you. Unless you haul @$$ to be at the very front of the pack (and this requires a non-zero amount of luck), then you're not gain much at all. If you and your crew can handle staying at the parks later, then I think there's nothing wrong with skipping the madness of rope-drop.

 

[skippytx]

What data are you looking at? I haven't looked at the data, but I can tell you rope dropping allows us to get 2 to 3 major rides out of the way in the first hour of park opening. Wait times for rides are often overstated in the morning and at park close than actual wait times.

We rope drop MK and usually head left, and hit BTM, Splash, and either Pirates or HM in the first hour no problem. We save the shows like Tiki and Country Bears for the afternoon when its hot and crowds are highest.

We like to take a mid day break from the parks, so we hit rope drop, leave around 2-3, and then head back to MK around 6 or so and shut it down.

Everyone tours the parks differently. If you don't want to deal with rope drop, thats ok. There's no right or wrong way to do things.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

If I RD at MK and head to Adventureland, we can ride everything there within an hour of being there.

When it comes to theme parks I'm a morning person and love being in the parks in the morning. it's cooler out, crowds aren't nuts yet, and my 11th cup of coffee is going strong still.

 

[tentaguasu]

What data are you looking at?

Here: https://www.thrill-data.com/waits/a...nniumfalconsmugglersrun/2021/07/01/2021/07/31

That's an example. I'm guessing it's pulled from posted Disney times, so it certainly could be off if/when Disney is manipulating wait times. Still....

 

[Solo2987]

Rope dropping still works, as does being there late, especially in Hollywood Studios. Honestly, the main reason I bought into DVC was the ability to rope drop, nap in the middle of the day, and come back for some late night shorter lines. It is true that some lines do get long quickly in the morning, but they're still better than most of the day, from what I've seen in recent trips.

I do grant that was anecdotal, but I believe most ride times data streams will bear it out...

 

[Robo]

There are fewer guests in the park at rope drop than there will be at, say, 2 hours after rope drop.
That's good enough for me.

 

[LiteBrite]

That first hour or two is still golden. Get in there, get as many rides as possible done, or even just enjoy the less crowded, happier atmosphere (and the less hot temperatures if it's summer), and then get out. Have a meal, a rest and/or a swim, then come back for the dwindling lines of the late afternoon and close the park out. It's a winning combination.

 

[JCornell]

The whole reason these different strategies work is that there are different types of people. Personally, we never rope drop. Vacation to us means taking it easy and getting there when we get there. Of course, we've also been going for years and nothing is the end of the world if we miss it. But our strategy only works out for us as well as it does because there are rope drop people and end of the day people so our mid-day isn't as bad as it might otherwise be. It's also highly variable based on the season.

 

[Tyler's Dad]

If I RD at MK and head to Adventureland, we can ride everything there within an hour of being there.

When it comes to theme parks I'm a morning person and love being in the parks in the morning. it's cooler out, crowds aren't nuts yet, and my 11th cup of coffee is going strong still.

That's funny, because we are the complete opposite. We absolutely love the parks after dark and hate waking up early on vacation. It's why both models work and there definitely isn't a wrong answer. I'm sure there are mornings at parks where you just can't get on everything you hoped, because it's more busy than normal. I can say there are nights where we get on less rides too, since there just wasn't the same amount of people that left early.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Everyone tours differently, but we did RD with the old FP system because you had to get to the parks early to get decent FP's. Then when FP+ came along we totally changed our touring and it was 100 times better. We much rather close the parks and then sleep in a bit in the mornings than to constantly get up very early. We noticed that when we got back home we no longer felt exhausted and needed a vacation from our vacation We also do not like going back to the resort in the middle of the day and then close the parks, it made for a very long day and we were a lot more tired that way. But with the new system, it looks like RD will be the better way again, because you will need to get up early to get your Genie rides

 

[Tyler's Dad]

Everyone tours differently, but we did RD with the old FP system because you had to get to the parks early to get decent FP's. Then when FP+ came along we totally changed our touring and it was 100 times better. We much rather close the parks and then sleep in a bit in the mornings than to constantly get up very early. We noticed that when we got back home we no longer felt exhausted and needed a vacation from our vacation We also do not like going back to the resort in the middle of the day and then close the parks, it made for a very long day and we were a lot more tired that way. But with the new system, it looks like RD will be the better way again, because you will need to get up early to get your Genie rides

I would say try it the old way first and see how you like it. We are sleep in people and I have a feeling I will get more through Genie+ than I did with FP+.

 

[gharter]

Agree with doing RD as we can get at least 2-3 major rides in before the park gets crowded. And then, most are headed to the attractions that we've already done.
Per OP question - we have had success with short waits for SDD and FoP at closing time.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I would say try it the old way first and see how you like it. We are sleep in people and I have a feeling I will get more through Genie+ than I did with FP+.

I know for us it is really going to be hard to beat FP+. We always got FP's for the rides we wanted and the best part was that I could control the times, spread them out or keep them closer together etc. It was great to be able to plan you days in advance. But with Genie it's next available with very little control. Oh I forgot to mention that it was also free

 

[teachmedis]

Well it all depends on how you rope drop. My family treats rope dropping like an Olympic event and we are never more than two or 3 rows back in the holding areas. I can do three rides (more at Magic Kingdom) before Disney gets their wait times even close to accurate. If you're at the back of that pack that I'm in front of, you'll have a wait. But my first ride--always a headliner, is always a walk on.
It helps that we are morning people, the term "rope drop" is joked with a lot in my house, if we get to a store before it opens, my kids will say, well mom looks like we're rope dropping Hobby Lobby.

 

[mamaofsix]

Remember that "rope drop" is not getting there when the park officially opens. Currently, and for the past number of years, each park often opens 30-60 minutes before the official posted time. So, when you read the wait times online, you are seeing the wait times AFTER people have been in the park riding for nearly an hour. By true rope dropping, you are getting several rides in with little to no wait at all - which is not usually the case in the evening.

Once the new 30 minute head-start for onsite guests are offered, this will change the data. Being an onsite guest will be an even greater advantage in the morning.

 

[Apiary]

I don’t think it’s really worth it anymore. At least not this week. Crowds have been slower in the late afternoon.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

To each his own. We never rope dropped prepandemic. It’s not our style, and my family has trouble getting around quickly in the am. We’ve been twice post pandemic and did rope drop most days because of the shortened hours overall. But we much prefer closing the parks. I love to look of it all lit up and crowds really thin out after fireworks and shows are over and I like knowing when I get into that last line 5 minutes to park close that I’m going to get to ride that headliner that I’ve been holding off on all day.

 

[snikki]

Disney wait times are often manipulated.

I enjoy RD. We don’t do it everyday of the trip but I do love a quieter park in the morning. We get a lot done in those first two hours. It is beneficial.

I also love late nights with less people too. Nighttime vibes in the parks are very different than morning. And you can get lower wait times, especially during the nighttime shows.

We mix it up since we go on longer trips.