Rope drop advantage up in smoke?

[Meglen]

woops.. oh well everyone laugh at me i can take it

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Oh, I don't think most folks could do ToT that many times! Wow!
We re-ride too, but most often BTMRR if we are doing more than 2 re-rides.

Oh, and MIB (at US), but I can only do that one so many times in a row. All that spinning.

Oh, when was it? Last year, or the year before....the summer hours were terrible. Now they keep having Halloween parties earlier and earlier. Ugh! Halloween in August? soon, they'll add Christmas parties that early. Ugh!


Still, I'm impressed.

This was a couple of years ago. The park was open until 10 with Fantasmic at 9 and 10:30. They often keep ToT open 10 or 15 minutes past the standard closing time when a late Fantasmic performance is on tap. They had just enough time to make it through the 12th and 13th rides then we headed into the amphitheater just before showtime.

Our most productive outing last year was at MK, where we found a rare day that had EMH morning and was also open until midnight. As mentioned earlier, we hopped in about 8 pm to find bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park.

The challenge that night was to see how much we could do in 4 hours without getting any FPs.

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.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

That's a 5 yard penalty. Replay the down.

 

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

Are they exactly the same? If I were going to be at the parks when GE opened I’d either avoid both or go to both, personally. I say “go”.

They are supposed to exactly the same. One difference is Disneyland will have 3 entrances while Disney World will have 2. So if everything else is indeed identical then I don’t see why I’d spend extra time trying to get into Disney Worlds GE. It’s probably going to have massive wait times to just get in the land. If I can get in with minimal wait of course I’ll check it out. But that is very unlikely

 

[Klayfish]

woops.. oh well everyone laugh at me i can take it

For the record, I agree with your comments. We're offsite people too.

 

[soniam]

They are supposed to exactly the same. One difference is Disneyland will have 3 entrances while Disney World will have 2. So if everything else is indeed identical then I don’t see why I’d spend extra time trying to get into Disney Worlds GE. It’s probably going to have massive wait times to just get in the land. If I can get in with minimal wait of course I’ll check it out. But that is very unlikely

What if Smuggler's Run is down at DLR during your entire reservation window? If it has problems like Flight of Passage, it could be down for 4 hours. There might be other things that have too long a wait or are also down, like the frozen milk slushy machine. It might be nice to consider a backup plan that would allow you to go to SWGE at DHS if your DLR time doesn't work out. If DLR does work out, then you could just not do it at DHS.

 

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

What if Smuggler's Run is down at DLR during your entire reservation window? If it has problems like Flight of Passage, it could be down for 4 hours. There might be other things that have too long a wait or are also down, like the frozen milk slushy machine. It might be nice to consider a backup plan that would allow you to go to SWGE at DHS if your DLR time doesn't work out. If DLR does work out, then you could just not do it at DHS.

Well yea, of course if I’m not able to do all the thing I wanted for whatever reason I’ll probably try a little harder to get into GE at WDW. But I’ll have all summer to experience GE at Disneyland. I’m sure I’ll be able to do it all at some point there even with the massive crowds

 

[Davey Jones II]

I'm thinking with EMH so very early, and having it every day, that it won't be packed every day. As another poster said, the top 3 headliners will already have long waits on most days, but 2nd tier FP attractions will still be light.

Otherwise it depends a little on what you mean by, 'little point" in making rope drop.

If you mean, there's little point in getting all crazy stressed to be first-at-rope-drop-crazy, then yes. I'm someone who recalls when the 2 frozen princesses were initially in Epcot, and every RD= a running of the bulls kind of Frozen Frenzy.

Ah, I like how you used my zig zag expression! (I'm honored that it has become part of the lexicon!)

If, on the other hand, you will be using the near-rope drop to take advantage of generally low crowds, then it may well still hold a good deal of value, but I think as always- crowds will vary from week to week and day to day. Some RD will be of more value than others.

Gosh, I think it was 2 years ago, we went to a MK EMH RD that was useless. Too few rides were open for the crowd level. This year's RD on an EMH day was much better.

I think I'll add though...I don't know that leaving As soon as EMH ends in the best practice. Generally, I'd say it is better to hop around noon. You see, hopping itself = lost park time. Hopping HS - Epcot is no big deal, but more or less all other hops, cost a fair chunk of time. the park crowds peak around 11:30-about4pm. In my humble opinion, if one is hopping during low-ish crowd hours then they are are missing out on the low-ish crowds. I think hopping around 12:30/after using one's 3rd FP (or thereabouts) is a better bet in most cases, especially given how FP+ works.

Though HS to Epcot is an exception, especially given the extreme early EMH of HS. Not only do you have to be up that early- what do you do for breakfast? You'd kinda have to do the granola bar on-the-go thing, then have a 2nd breakfast or very early lunch.

Another option I like in the very warm months, is to take advantage of the extreme EMH, then take a mid-day siesta. Though there's often those pesky late afternoon storms to consider.

If you decide to book your FPs for the EMH park, then hop around midday, can you still get a good selection of useful FPs for your second park of the day? By the time early afternoon rolls around, we tend to find very slim pickings, at least at the MK.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

We have a trip mid-November. Hoping it goes back to normal hours, but don't think it will. Problem for my trip, we are from CA. The time zone shift will make it too rough to hit rope drop. Cant imagine waking up at 2am our time to hit 6am FL time fro rope drop

 

[disneygirlsng]

If you decide to book your FPs for the EMH park, then hop around midday, can you still get a good selection of useful FPs for your second park of the day? By the time early afternoon rolls around, we tend to find very slim pickings, at least at the MK.

MK is generally very easy for me to get FPs in, by far the easiest of all the parks. I can usually get just about anything I want until about 5-6pm, then things start getting a little harder, but still a good amount of selection. I've gotten rides like Space and Big Thunder up until 8 or 9pm a few times.

 

[Andrea Simmons]

NO, it isn't a good strategy to book FP early in the day! DO NOT pick early FP times!

I disagree. I always book FPs in the mornings so my afternoons are free. I don't like to be tied for a complete day. I'm not in perfect health and like flexibility in the afternoons and evenings.

 

[Andrea Simmons]

We have a trip mid-November. Hoping it goes back to normal hours, but don't think it will. Problem for my trip, we are from CA. The time zone shift will make it too rough to hit rope drop. Cant imagine waking up at 2am our time to hit 6am FL time fro rope drop

Imagine how those of us who live overseas feel! At least you're in the same country.

 

[peteykirch]

It doesn't help the situation that the Disney Springs Hotel Area Non-Disney Hotels now get the benefits of EMH.

I'm shocked that they haven't figured out a tier system where Deluxe Resorts/DVC get in at 6AM, Moderates at 7AM, Values 8AM, and everyone else at 9AM. Or just make it that the Deluxe Resort/DVC/AP Holders get EMH and everyone else is out of luck.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I disagree. I always book FPs in the mornings so my afternoons are free. I don't like to be tied for a complete day. I'm not in perfect health and like flexibility in the afternoons and evenings.

I'm pretty sure the post you replied to, that part was a joke. Said in jest so more early FPs are available.

 

[Imamom2]

I think WDW is testing the opening times to see how they can manage the changes over the next year. If you are on property and planned on rope drop then EMH is the way to go. I would plan for a midday break - again the advantage of staying on property - and just make the most of the extra hours available. Planning a trip in the next 12 months means being flexible, following the updates everyone shares, and working with the hours. Park hopping is even more important now, too. I think those of us who follow these boards are lucky to have such an incredible resource and I appreciate all that everyone shares. Those of you visiting in August and September thanks in advance for keeping us posted!

 

[ErinAlb]

Imagine how those of us who live overseas feel! At least you're in the same country.

Yeah ... but I'd rather be waking up at what feels like 10 a.m. to make a noon-equivalent park opening (time zone adjustment for most of western Europe & central Africa), or better yet, waking up at what feels like 9 a.m. to make an 11 a.m.-equivalent park opening (time zone adjustment for UK & western Africa). Those both sound more vacationy than making park openings that feel like 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. (California time).

Wouldn't want to be from Asia, though! Hopefully anyone traveling that far has a long enough trip here to adjust to the time zone!

 

[cindyfan]

Lots of great things everyone has pointed out!!!!
My thoughts/opinions....
Agree with many..... it's still too early (7am!) for most people with kids on vacation! You will see alot of people still following the regular hours.
With 3 parks doing EMH.... the crowds will be spread out! So take your pick! I think the only park that WILL be crazy crowded is DHS.
Not all attractions are open for EMH. So rope-dropping at the regular park hours gives you the same advantage as everyone else. Look at some strategies using that as a guide!
We used to avoid the park with the early EMH as we really did not see it as an advantage for only one hour.... so this evens things out for us.

We are simply looking at it as the EMH time is the actual park opening... therefore we are just planning our days however we want. So for us.... it is now a NON-issue.

 

[ArielSRL]

I hadn't even considered that, but good point! Hmmm...
I'm still trying to come up with a tentative itinerary for our 8/29-9/7 trip and having a terrible time! LOL.

You and me both. We are 8/30-9/2 for Labor Day. Fortunately its our 5th trip this year so no pressure but I really am just not sure how to even plan. I *think* we want to walk through SWGE just to say we did but I don't see us getting there at 6am. I made some dining reservations for Epcot and Kona and Toledo (we are CSR). Also had booked MK EMM but that was cancelled so they offered us a free meal at CP via a gift card but not sure I want to keep that. I normally do not have these issues with planning.