You’ve scanned your magic band at the park entrance and it’s Early Entry so you get the extra time in the park. What’s better?! Honestly, it’s the feeling know you’ll hop into your first line and wait just 5 minutes instead of 90 like you would later in the day. The term “rope-drop” is literally in reference to entering a Disney Park right after the cast members “drop” the rope at park opening. Rope-dropping is an amazingly effective and generally free way to maximize your time in the Disney parks. Getting to the Disney Parks an hour early can often save you HOURS of standing in line later in the day. All the proposed strategies do not take into account Lightning Lanes, which can change your strategy entirely.
Pre-Rope Drop Prep
If you’re planning your next Disney trip and debating between staying on or off-property, the perk of Early Park Entry is a major consideration for rope-dropping. Guests who stay on property at any of the Disney resorts are allowed in each of the parks 30 minutes before they officially open. That’s not to say that you still can’t take advantage of rope-drop if you’re off-property, but that 30 minutes can usually get you a whole extra ride.
When planning to get to the park that you’re rope-dropping, aim to be at security before the gates open. Official guidelines from Disney report that Disney resort busses start running ~45 minutes before parks open, and that’s really not true. They tend to start running about an hour before parks open, so there’s plenty of opportunities to catch one to get to your park nice and early. If you’re taking the Skyliner to get to EPCOT or Hollywood Studios, that line builds up fast! Grab your coffee to go and get in it. If you’re lucky enough to be somewhere like the Contemporary where you can walk to Magic Kingdom, enjoy the delightful stroll. Regardless of where you’re staying and what park you’re headed to, grab your breakfast to go and get moving! That is, of course, unless you’re eating breakfast in the park! Then you can work up an appetite on your journey.
Step-by-Step Rope Drop Execution
- First, get through security and the tapstiles. Some tips for not get pulled over by security include taking your umbrella and electronics out (we tend to have a phone charger) and hold them in front of you as you walk through the metal detector. We also learned the hard way to not pack a sunglasses case that snaps closed with a magnet. Apparently they drive the metal detectors crazy and it took security forever to figure out what was setting the machine off. It was not fun.
- Then, once the rope has dropped head in the approximate direction of your target ride. If it’s not formal Early Entry opening time, you’ll likely be stopped again, but you’ll be a little closer to your goal.
- Next, pace yourself without sprinting! You don’t want to run. It’s the start of a long park day, and there’s no need to physically exhaust yourself quite to early.
- Your target ride should be the headliner. This will vary depending on what park you’re in and what your priorities are. There’s more detail on this in the next section.
- The final step is to take advantage of the knock-off effect. Right after you finish riding the headline, hop in line in a nearby ride. Even if it’s not a top-tier ride, you’ll have likely finished two full rides before the general public floods the area. As a crazy example, we rope-dropped the Tower of Terror one year. Right after we got off, we saw that Rise of the Resistance actually had a delayed opening and we rushed over there. Before 10AM we had ridden both Tower of Terror and Rise of the Resistance AND got lunch box tarts over in Toy Story Land.
Park-by-Park Priorities
Magic Kingdom
There are three favorites for rope-dropping in the Magic Kingdom. They are the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, and Tron. Your choice really depends on your priorities. Before Tron, we felt like the easy choice was Seven Dwarfs because a lot of that queue is outside in the heat. While the line for Space Mountain got long, it’s all inside. With Tron, it’s tricky. We suggest choosing the option that places in the area of the park you want to start in. Tomorrowland or Fantasy Land? Do you want to hope on Buzz Lightyear right after Tron or would you prefer to Winnie the Pooh following Seven Dwarfs? There’s no right or wrong – do what feels right!
EPCOT
EPCOT is tricky as there are a couple of variables. The popular options here are Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Test Track. Your rope drop strategy not only depends on your priorities, but also from which side of the park you’re entering. If you’re staying at a Skyliner resort, you’ll be entering the park from the World Showcase side very close to France. Ratatouille is the easiest and obvious choice if this is you. If there are preferences, you’ll really want to take into account where you’re entering EPCOT. Logistically speaking, the closest of these rides from the main entrance of EPCOT is Test Track. Guardians of the Galaxy is the next closest, and then the other two are in the World Showcase. Further, if you want to take advantage of the knock-off effect, Test Track and Guardians are the closest together. You can, in theory, rope-drop Guardians and dash over to Test Track without using up too much precious park time. The other two options are pretty far away from each other.
Hollywood Studios
Your rope-drop strategy is a little more straight-forward in Hollywood Studios. The two most popular options are Slinky Dog Dash and Rise of the Resistance. This one, we feel, is really about priority. We might skew a little more toward suggesting Slinky Dog because that one does keep a pretty long line all day. We’ve seen Rise of the Resistance regularly get into the 45-minute mark, depending on crowd levels. Again though, there’s not right or wrong. Do you want to help save the galaxy or fly around Andy’s backyard?
Important Considerations for a Rope-Drop Strategy
First and foremost, have a back-up plan. As mentioned above, it’s not uncommon for Rise of the Resistance to not open up first thing in the morning. If you rush to that ride and it’s down, what do you do? We suggest either picking up some speed over to Slinky Dog, or settle into Star Wars land and heads over to the Smuggler’s run. Have your strategy in your back pocket because you never know.
While this post doesn’t include tips on Lightning Lanes, if they’re in your budget, strategic Lightning Lanes should complement your rope-drop strategy rather than replace. Just because you have Lightning Lanes doesn’t mean you should sleep in. Use both strategies to really maximize your park time.
Conclusion
Rope-dropping doesn’t have to be stressful. With appropriate preparation, set goals, and an early arrival time, you’ll nail it! What’s the one ride you MUST head to first when that rope drops?? Let us know in the comments!
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