What time to get to parks to be at the very front of the crowds?

[monkyby87]

That still seems like a long wait. Using FOP as an example, waiting 90 minutes before the park opens is still a lot longer than waiting 20 minutes after the park closes. Neither take up any park time, but a lot more can go wrong in the morning.

Fortunately, most guests don’t want to stay late which is why it works so well.

It is a long wait, definitely. Either way, you are indeed waiting a while. There are pros and cons to each. For people that don't mind being out late, going at park close is a fantastic idea, and I support it. But for people that like getting up early, before park open is great, and I support that too

 

[DumboDash2006]

My first thought-4am!

Is it truly worth it to wait for hours & hours before the park opens?
Will others in your group be accepting of your plans?

I would simply aim to arrive just before opening & be content with that strategy..

There are lines and waits whichever you look at it.

It is for us. We don't want to waste park time, dh and I are well used to getting up early, we are up by 5:00 am for work. DD not so much but she knows that's what we do on vacation and doesn't complain once we're in the car. And she loves Disney, though we don't get to go nearly as often as many here. We did rope drop for our trip a few years ago and greatly enjoyed the excitement of waiting at the rope and talking to others etc.

 

[DumboDash2006]

You can sleep.

But that said, I agree with the rest of your post. Effectively using park time is important to me since we don't have APs so I'd rather wait before park open too.

OP when are you going? That will help people give you a more accurate answer. I at think MK and EP, 90 mins would be overkill. We've done 60 and been in the first 10 people at the rope for 7DMT. But if you really are early risers and don't mind it then go for the 90 mins, at least at AK and DHS. Also, even off site you should be able to get TT or Soarin at a reasonable time and FEA doesn't build the lines as quickly as it used to. Soarin is pretty easy to get as a 4th FP and it's waits aren't too bad since the 3rd theater opened.

We are going the last week of March.

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

Wouldn't waiting 90 minutes to be let in just negate the time savings of waiting in line for the first ride, whatever it may be?

Yes, but I’m not using a lot of actual Park time waiting in line for that headliner.

 

[siren0119]

Yes, but I’m not using a lot of actual Park time waiting in line for that headliner.

THIS. Yes you're still waiting...but it's time that you wouldn't be able to use on other attractions anyway. Getting into the headliner at RD means more time to see and do more when the park is actually open!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

This story is a few years old, but the theory still applies. Guest A spent an hour to ride a popular attraction once. Guest B spent an hour and rode the same attraction 4 times.




Here's my favorite Rope Drop story:

I had a co-worker recently telling me about her trip to Disney World. They seemed to be pretty good planners and tried to maximize their time the best they could.

She was very excited to tell me about her experience riding Midway Mania without a Fast Pass. The got up really early, got to the gates about 45 minutes before they opened and waited in a pretty large crowd. Then they hurried as fast as they could to the ride and the wait was *only* 15 minutes. By the time they got off the line was almost an hour long. There were people all over the place.

I rode the same ride 4 times in about an hour late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

 

[Micca]

It seems to me that being among the first in line has about the same advanatge as being literally the first in line. If that's a difference of waiting one hour prior to opening or two hours, I think an hour would be sufficient.

We aren't regular rope droppers at this point, but we did RD AK last trip because we couldn't get a FP for FOP. We were at the park an hour before the posted opening and there were probably around 1500 people in front of us. They started letting us in about 15 minutes early and nearly everyone headed to FOP. I was thinking we'd be waiting for FOP for a while but it was essentially a walk-on--we probably waited less than 10 minutes. The park had officially opened by the time we exited the attraction and people were running for FOP which had a substantial wait time by this time.

 

[singingpixie]

I don't know if it's always a straightforward choice between early and late touring like some people are framing it as here. Rope drop and the very end of the night are both great times to tour with low crowds! Obviously not everyone can do both. Some people are wired to be early risers, others night owls, and working against that natural pattern is rough. Others might be able to pick one or the other. But if you're able, I'd try to do both! Take a break in the busiest, hottest part of the day and then come back when things start to slow down. Many of us don't have to choose.

 

[DumboDash2006]

I don't know if it's always a straightforward choice between early and late touring like some people are framing it as here. Rope drop and the very end of the night are both great times to tour with low crowds! Obviously not everyone can do both. Some people are wired to be early risers, others night owls, and working against that natural pattern is rough. Others might be able to pick one or the other. But if you're able, I'd try to do both! Take a break in the busiest, hottest part of the day and then come back when things start to slow down. Many of us don't have to choose.

We are not evening people at all. Staying late for the fireworks at MK one night will be hard enough and we don't want to be rushing around on rides, we want to see the fireworks. Even on weekends when I can sleep in later, I can't stay up much later. I'm normally in my jammies and in bed by 8:00 reading and relaxing. Not a night owl and don't want to be at the parks at night if we can be there in the mornings. I'm not going to do it when we can easily get up in the morning!

 

[DumboDash2006]

We do rope drop regularly and we did AK in June WAY early (we were third in line overall) to do FOP because we only had one day in the park. I do agree with the strategy but I do offer one caution. You say you’re out of shape and your DD has some issues as well...just remember that most of that wait will be standing up, as people just can’t seem to avoid crushing forward in line, whether it’s getting the in sooner or not. And the actual walk to FOP (and I’d imagine SDD—which ironically opened on our one day to do FOP!) is pretty wild. There’s a good bit of pushing and jostling, with a good bit of tripping and lost flip flops mixed in. Not to say it isn’t manageable, just want you to be prepared for that. Have fun!

Yes, I know. We did rope drop in 2014 and all that and were fine. We'll manage and if we have to slow down, we will and just wait longer.

 

[Days In the Sun]

Just posting about our timeframe:

We were at AK rope drop end of August 2018 (low season), park opened 9, we were at the gate at 8:10am. I had a ticket issue so went to guest services and was in the guest services line when they started letting people into the park at 8:15am as far as Avatarland. My family got out of line and we rejoined the end at 8:25am, they opened Avatarland a few minutes later 30 minutes before park opening.

90 minutes during busy season seems reasonable if you want to be near the front of the line.

 

[Sjm9911]

This story is a few years old, but the theory still applies. Guest A spent an hour to ride a popular attraction once. Guest B spent an hour and rode the same attraction 4 times.




Here's my favorite Rope Drop story:

I had a co-worker recently telling me about her trip to Disney World. They seemed to be pretty good planners and tried to maximize their time the best they could.

She was very excited to tell me about her experience riding Midway Mania without a Fast Pass. The got up really early, got to the gates about 45 minutes before they opened and waited in a pretty large crowd. Then they hurried as fast as they could to the ride and the wait was *only* 15 minutes. By the time they got off the line was almost an hour long. There were people all over the place.

I rode the same ride 4 times in about an hour late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

Its a great idea , unless you have small children with you

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Its a great idea , unless you have small children with you

How small? One of my fondest Disney memories is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming One More Time Daddy all the way.

DHS closes well before midnight. My plan works anytime after 8 pm.

 

[Sjm9911]

My daughters way older then that, 7 , but at 9 pm out for the count. Im not carying her out of the park! Dosen't help shes up at 5 am each day, so it depends on the kid! At 3 it was easier , you had a stroller

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

My daughters way older then that, 7 , but at 9 pm out for the count. Im not carying her out of the park! Dosen't help shes up at 5 am each day, so it depends on the kid! At 3 it was easier , you had a stroller

A lot of guests do leave early. That’s what helps create short lines in the evening.

And we didn’t have a stroller for a 3 year old. Her feet would have dragged the ground at that age.

 

[gharter]

Both options work. Often the lines close to park close are much shorter than what is posted.
RD if you get to the park an hour before opening is a great way to get a lot of stuff done early for the really popular rides (SDD and FoP).
While I might wait an hour in line by getting there early, I am one of the first in line for the super popular ride and not losing park time waiting in a 60+ minute line.

 

[Sjm9911]

I wasnt disputing that its shorter later , just that its not for everyone. Lol, Never had feet dragging, my daughter is tall , like me. Stroller was good untill like 5.

 

[Ds4angels]

That still seems like a long wait. Using FOP as an example, waiting 90 minutes before the park opens is still a lot longer than waiting 20 minutes after the park closes. Neither take up any park time, but a lot more can go wrong in the morning.

Fortunately, most guests don’t want to stay late which is why it works so well.

The only problem with this is, if the ride goes down at night then you miss out on the ride

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

The only problem with this is, if the ride goes down at night then you miss out on the ride

I really think that’s an irrational fear, but wherever keeps the lines shorter is ok by me.

We’ve been doing this a long time, and the only time we’ve ever had a ride go down while waiting after hours was for Dudley Do Right at Universal about 15 years ago.

Everyone in line got free 1 day tickets to return another day,

 

[ChimCher-ee]

We are not evening people at all. Staying late for the fireworks at MK one night will be hard enough and we don't want to be rushing around on rides, we want to see the fireworks. Even on weekends when I can sleep in later, I can't stay up much later. I'm normally in my jammies and in bed by 8:00 reading and relaxing. Not a night owl and don't want to be at the parks at night if we can be there in the mornings. I'm not going to do it when we can easily get up in the morning!

This! It's really hard for me to stay up past 8! Now that DD is a teen, and definitely not an early bird anymore, I plan late arrivals (11 am or later) and rely on FPs (we always stay on property though, so get most FPs that we want).

Itry to stay awake and enthusiastic, for her sake. It's a different feel, being in the parks late, and kinda nice. But more food things seem to close (again, I'm thinking of EMH). And we have had experiences with BTMRR/Splash/Jungle Cruise/ToT being shut down for problems.

But for me, it comes down to this. I'm up at 5 anyway. After hitting the food court at 6, I'm basically killing time at the resort until I can leave. I mean, the pool isn't even open. So I might as well head out to rope drop! (When I am with DD, I do all my stuff and still have time to take a nap while she gets ready...)