Rope Drop Strategy for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure with Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes

[jhlmendez]

Hello. We (myself, DW, DD) are getting ready for our DLR trip later this week and I was hoping to pick the massive brains on here for suggestions for the trip but specifically for our first day. We are scheduled to land at SNA this Thursday (1/12/23) around 10:00am so I am hoping we can get to the park by noon. With an 8:00PM close time, that gives us about 8 hours of park time on day 1. We will have another full day at DL on Friday (1/13/23) and will be heading to DCA on Saturday. We have Genie+ pre-purchased for all days.

We plan to do ILL for RotR on Friday (when my sister arrives w/ her family) but I would like to try and ride on Thursday as well. Aside from that, our priorities for day 1 are rides (especially thrill rides), food, and some shopping. With just about 8 hours of park time, we decided to skip the sit down meal so I already cancelled our lunch reservations for 1/12/23.

Given the late arrival time and priorities, I was hoping for suggestions on how to tackle Disneyland when arriving that late on a day when it is scheduled to close so early as well as any other wisdom anyone wants to share? Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Also, does anyone think that the 100th anniversary celebrations scheduled to start later that month could help keep the crowds a bit lighter than they might usually be over that holiday wknd?

Thank You!

 

[lifebybethany]

I'm planning to rope drop Guardians at California Adventure because RS will be closed while we're there - anybody know which way is faster at rope drop of either along Hollywood Blvd or through Avenger's Campus?

 

[goofy1954]

I think the consensus is Hollywood Boulevard.

 

[ironband74]

Hello. We (myself, DW, DD) are getting ready for our DLR trip later this week and I was hoping to pick the massive brains on here for suggestions for the trip but specifically for our first day. We are scheduled to land at SNA this Thursday (1/12/23) around 10:00am so I am hoping we can get to the park by noon. With an 8:00PM close time, that gives us about 8 hours of park time on day 1. We will have another full day at DL on Friday (1/13/23) and will be heading to DCA on Saturday. We have Genie+ pre-purchased for all days.

We plan to do ILL for RotR on Friday (when my sister arrives w/ her family) but I would like to try and ride on Thursday as well. Aside from that, our priorities for day 1 are rides (especially thrill rides), food, and some shopping. With just about 8 hours of park time, we decided to skip the sit down meal so I already cancelled our lunch reservations for 1/12/23.

Given the late arrival time and priorities, I was hoping for suggestions on how to tackle Disneyland when arriving that late on a day when it is scheduled to close so early as well as any other wisdom anyone wants to share? Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Also, does anyone think that the 100th anniversary celebrations scheduled to start later that month could help keep the crowds a bit lighter than they might usually be over that holiday wknd?

Thank You!

I'm sure you are on the plane right now. Hope you are having a good flight.

Arriving at noon is rough. If you are getting Genie+ for the day, you should be able to ride the big rides at Disneyland without any issue though - you've got 8 hours. If you are using Genie+, I would probably start with Tomorrowland and get a LL for Space Mountain, then grab some lunch/do some shopping and see if you can Modify it to a closer time. Just be wary that your fingers aren't faster than your brain and don't accidentally send it to a later time. Once you are done eating/shopping, if you haven't gotten it modified to a time that is coming up soon, ride something standby (Matterhorn/Star Tours/Big Thunder)? and keep working the modification. If you have modified it to a time (remember that you can scan in 5 minutes before your time) that is soon, obviously go do it. Remember that once you scan in to your LL, you can pick another one. Rinse and repeat and work your way across to Galaxy's edge, have dinner at some point along the way.

If you are not getting Genie + today, you'll probably still make it on most of the big ones, you'll just have to wait longer.

For Rise, I'd say try to hop in line shortly before close at 8pm. It's a crapshoot because if it goes down you won't be riding today, but if it is up and running well that queue will clear pretty fast. After 8pm they are likely to have few to no lightning lanes returning, so they can just burn through the standby queue. When we went last week (much busier than this week) we hopped into Rise at 8:45pm (rise was scheduled to close at 9pm) and the wait time was supposedly 105 minutes, but we were in and out in less than an hour. Worst case is that it shuts down and you have an earlier night and can try again tomorrow.

Good luck on all counts, and have a great time!

 

[senoragilbert]

...and qualify for DAS at WDW so assuming we would qualify here too. Can we book DAS in advance like WDW?

We are headed there just before you, 2/25-28! We also have DAS at WDW and I am hoping we will qualify at DL; I have been hearing that the process is the same but it's harder to qualify for some reason.

Here is the link for the DAS advance planning: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/disability-access-service/plan/

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[jhlmendez]

I'm sure you are on the plane right now. Hope you are having a good flight.

Arriving at noon is rough. If you are getting Genie+ for the day, you should be able to ride the big rides at Disneyland without any issue though - you've got 8 hours. If you are using Genie+, I would probably start with Tomorrowland and get a LL for Space Mountain, then grab some lunch/do some shopping and see if you can Modify it to a closer time. Just be wary that your fingers aren't faster than your brain and don't accidentally send it to a later time. Once you are done eating/shopping, if you haven't gotten it modified to a time that is coming up soon, ride something standby (Matterhorn/Star Tours/Big Thunder)? and keep working the modification. If you have modified it to a time (remember that you can scan in 5 minutes before your time) that is soon, obviously go do it. Remember that once you scan in to your LL, you can pick another one. Rinse and repeat and work your way across to Galaxy's edge, have dinner at some point along the way.

If you are not getting Genie + today, you'll probably still make it on most of the big ones, you'll just have to wait longer.

For Rise, I'd say try to hop in line shortly before close at 8pm. It's a crapshoot because if it goes down you won't be riding today, but if it is up and running well that queue will clear pretty fast. After 8pm they are likely to have few to no lightning lanes returning, so they can just burn through the standby queue. When we went last week (much busier than this week) we hopped into Rise at 8:45pm (rise was scheduled to close at 9pm) and the wait time was supposedly 105 minutes, but we were in and out in less than an hour. Worst case is that it shuts down and you have an earlier night and can try again tomorrow.

Good luck on all counts, and have a great time!

Thanks for the advice. It came in handy. We had a great time. The parks were not very busy during our stay. I have a feeling that the upcoming anniversary deflated crowds a bit. The rain on Saturday took care of crowds on our DCA day though it did kill any chance we had to ride Radiator Springs Racers and meet some characters, the main disappointment from the entire trip. We did get to ride Guardians like 5 times though and Incredicoaster twice before it closed for the day. Disneyland was a treat on both days. We rode all our top rides at least twice.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

Random question: how do they confirm early entry eligibility? One of our days when we are staying at GCH, we are being joined by a local couple. We’ll have 6 of us altogether but only 4 hotel guests technically. Just wondering if they’d let our whole party in or if we just have to tell the other couple to meet us after early entry.

If they just check one member of the group or ask for hotel key, then shouldn’t be an issue but if they go person by person then it wouldn’t work.

 

[Chereya]

Random question: how do they confirm early entry eligibility? One of our days when we are staying at GCH, we are being joined by a local couple. We’ll have 6 of us altogether but only 4 hotel guests technically. Just wondering if they’d let our whole party in or if we just have to tell the other couple to meet us after early entry.

If they just check one member of the group or ask for hotel key, then shouldn’t be an issue but if they go person by person then it wouldn’t work.

On the Disneyland side, you have to show your hotel key card to get past the rope drop at the end of main street. It's over on the right hand side near Plaza Inn on the way to Tomorrowland and there are a few cast members checking that each person is holding up a key card (maybe not little kids).

 

[ComeToSocialize]

On the Disneyland side, you have to show your hotel key card to get past the rope drop at the end of main street. It's over on the right hand side near Plaza Inn on the way to Tomorrowland and there are a few cast members checking that each person is holding up a key card (maybe not little kids).

Does literally every non-kid have to have a room key? Or it is kind of more of a one per family situation?

 

[goofy1954]

Does literally every non-kid have to have a room key? Or it is kind of more of a one per family situation?

Would a screenshot of my DLH reservation page with all six names in my party listed do the trick?

 

[YodaRulz]

When I was there this past August we stayed at the GCH and did early entry. I pulled up my reservation via the Disneyland App and showed it to the cast member at the check point going into Tomorrowland. They checked the number of guests on the reservation and they allowed all of us through without every person having to show anything. So if you have 4 on your reservation they should only allow 4 through.

 

[Chereya]

Does literally every non-kid have to have a room key? Or it is kind of more of a one per family situation?

If you're asking for verification that you'll be able to sneak 2 extra adults into the park for Early Entry... that's up to you if you want to try but it may be an uncomfortable situation. Please understand that it is the CMs jobs to check for legitimate hotel guests gaining EE. I personally find it faster for each person to hold up their own key card as we quick walk our way through with a wave and a smile. The previous poster said they were able to pull up their phone app and show the number of guests on their reservation...

 

[Whistlebee]

We used to stay on-site a lot, and would be joined by friends that would stay off-site. I’d add 2 of my friends to my room (this was before they charged extra for the 3rd adult). A few different times we’d have 1 or 2 extra people, and we just asked vm very nicely and they let them join us for early entry. I did not expect it, and if they said no , then we’d just meet up with our friends later. I don’t see how you could get them in without the permission of the cast members. This was all pre-Covid, and there’s been many changes since. No idea if cast members still have the ability to be generous, and let your whole party in. We never had more than 1 or 2 extra people.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

If you're asking for verification that you'll be able to sneak 2 extra adults into the park for Early Entry... that's up to you if you want to try but it may be an uncomfortable situation. Please understand that it is the CMs jobs to check for legitimate hotel guests gaining EE. I personally find it faster for each person to hold up their own key card as we quick walk our way through with a wave and a smile. The previous poster said they were able to pull up their phone app and show the number of guests on their reservation...

Thanks. Seems like the cast members keep a pretty close eye on it (a good thing), which totally makes sense. I'll just have to tell our friends to come a bit later and that we'll meet them after EE; they're magic key holders anyways so not a big deal if they miss a few rides.

 

[Jobelle]

Hey all,
We have 2 days at Disneyland park planned for mid-June a Thursday and a Sunday, no hoppers. We will not have EE but do plan to be there bright and early for rope drop.

Peter Pan is a ride we all want to do but as I've researched park plans and strategies it doesn't seem like a good use of time to start there if we don't have EE. So my questions are, if not in the morning when do we do it? We have younger kids so we likely won't be staying until the park closes. Also what's the best ride to start with in Fantasyland if not PP? Alice? Dumbo? Snow? Opinions please!

 

[DLRExpert]

Hey all,
We have 2 days at Disneyland park planned for mid-June a Thursday and a Sunday, no hoppers. We will not have EE but do plan to be there bright and early for rope drop.

Peter Pan is a ride we all want to do but as I've researched park plans and strategies it doesn't seem like a good use of time to start there if we don't have EE. So my questions are, if not in the morning when do we do it? We have younger kids so we likely won't be staying until the park closes. Also what's the best ride to start with in Fantasyland if not PP? Alice? Dumbo? Snow? Opinions please!

Park opening without EE order should be.... Alice, Dumbo, Toad, Snow, Pinocchio. Know that Alice can fill up fast after park opening. Especially with more people heading that direction for Railway and waiting for the VQ or ILL to be called.

For Pan you look for a wait time you are willing to wait in. Or...
- Go to attraction if you notice its down and wait. Then get in line when it comes up.
- Fish for a gold tier MEP and hipe that a CM lets you use it

 

[LizzyS]

I just want to confirm that nothing has changed- Lightning Lanes are still available for purchase at RotR & RSR, etc. after scanning into the park, correct?

 

[senoragilbert]

@DLRExpert what LL should I be grabbing for bait as I enter now that Indy is out of the mix?

 

[DLRExpert]

@DLRExpert what LL should I be grabbing for bait as I enter now that Indy is out of the mix?

Matterhorn early for gold tier.
Big Thunder throughout the day for Silver Tier.

 

[senoragilbert]

I just want to confirm that nothing has changed- Lightning Lanes are still available for purchase at RotR & RSR, etc. after scanning into the park, correct?

I just dug into the data for you on www.thrill-data.com and it looks as though ILLs are still available for purchase all day for both of those, with near-immediate return times. The ILL for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway can sell out by 6 pm or so. Most of those return times are within the hour. I hope that's helpful!