But it is just one ride. Let's say the park opens at 8am. Person A shows up at the gates at 7:15am. Person B shows up right at 8:00am. The gates open at 8:00am sharp. Person A is at the front of the line and gets in and goes right to the ride of their choice. They walk to it, get on, ride it and get off. It's now probably 8:10am, maybe 8:15am, give or take. By that time, person B is now through the tap point and in the park, just like person A. So it really is just one ride if we're talking about showing up 45-60 minutes early vs. showing up right when the gates open.
Yes, if you're talking about showing up far after park open, it's more than one ride. But as I've said before, IMO, if you are good with the FP+ system you can get as much done as the rope drop person even if you show up at 11:00am.
If you're an early riser by nature, then absolutely it makes sense. When our kids were little they never slept late, so we did rope drop often (but always aimed to be there right at park open, never too much before). Now that they like to sleep some, it's definitely not for us anymore, especially with FP+ being as good as it is.