Rope drop strategies

[disneyshea]

We're planning do to RD at MK on our first full day. I have touring plans and plan to hit FL first. Can anyone tell me around how many rides you were able to complete in the past for RD in this land? Touring plans has us completing around 5 during the first hour but I'm a little nervous about it.

 

[Bigmo]

I am seriously thinking with the summer crowds and the availability of FP+ at rope drop on instead of later like it was you will see standby lines jump to longer waits faster early in the morning. More people will use FP+ early to try and get to their 4th as soon as possible therefore making the traditional standby lines a little longer from the beginning. I do not think it will affect it dramatically but in some cases there will definitely be a noticeable difference IMO. With that being said I have all my FP+ set early and hope to hold off using my first one until the end of its window and do whatever I can as standby before then. I have them all set in the first three hours and will use my third one as close to the beginning of its window to get my 4th one ASAP.

 

[erij11]

I am starting to get a bit nervous about my RD plans. We will be there from July 5 - 12th and have 4 park days with hoppers (military tickets). My DH and DS24 are not morning people and I have planned to do RD at the easywdw recommended park with my mom and DD14 while the boys sleep in each morning. I scheduled all of our FP+ for 4:30/5pm and after. Now I am worried seeing that a lot of folks are using FP+ in the morning so they can get to the 4th as fast as possible. I'm not too concerned about the 4th. I just want to have a good RD experience, take our afternoon break and return with the boys during the evening until park close. It would be great if we could get a 4th later, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I sure hope it will work out ok.

 

[cassiejo2711]

We've never done RD so I'm hoping to learn some things from this post. I hope your trip goes well!

 

[margaret07013]

any park and any RD - be smart about it. I went in the firs week of May and took advantage of morning EMH for each day even if it meant go to the park that was not "recommended" by Josh.

My reasoning was simple - I would rather push 2 strollers at 8am than 9am due to the heat. I also planned it a little bit based on park map and walking distances. nothing crazy - but simply have an understanding which ride first, second, third etc.

Example: MK with morning EMH. since only FL and Tomorrowland are open - you get almost 2 rope drops for the price of one. counter clock direction - Pooh, Mermaid, Small World x 2 between 8 and 9am. at 9am we moved to BTMR x 3, and than PC and JC --- JC had about 10 min wait time. we closed the first 2.5 hrs with magic carpets of Aladdin with about 15 min wait time around 10:30am.

than we had our FP+ scheduled for afternoon part of our day.

Epcot is another park where a little planning can get you a lot done. same approach - 8am EMH and we walked to the land building and did Soarin first at 8:20am with about 20 min wait time, than same building - the Land boat - it was a walk on at 8:50am. We walked to the Nemo building and Nemo was a walk on at 9am. after Nemo - pictures, tanks and we waited for the first show of Crush at 9:30am --- suggestion - be at the entrance around 9:20am since they let people in early. at 10:10am we had first FP+ for the TT. My hubby went with our older son while I waited. at 10:40am - we walked towards Norway. We did Maelstrom at 11am with about 5 min wait before the ride opened.

than we waited 10 min for our lunch at Akershus at 11:30am. than used remaining 2 FP+ for other rides in afternoon.

Not all rides we all could go on together since we have 2 yr old in our party. so it was either me or my hubby who took our older son on rides that required 40" to ride. Yes, we also got baby rider swap passes too for afternoon rides.

My final suggestion - I wouldnt count on extra FP+ for Epcot or HS or even AK. this strategy may work in MK on certain days - but you may be surprised with availability in smaller parks.

HS - if you have small kids - dont use FP+ on any "shows" --- if you arrive 5-10 min early - you may not have a great seat but you will be ok. kids will still enjoy the shows.

If you go in the summer time - treat lunch break almost like a break from the heat and simple rest than your lunch. even in May we needed to get away from the heat.

print out the map of the park and mark your journey in the first 2 hrs of the park time if you do morning EMH. it will help you a lot.

 

[erij11]

Thank you for your suggestions, Margaret. These are great tips. I do plan to do EMH at MK on 07/10 and it is not a recommended day by Josh. It's our first trip so I definitely want to experience morning EMH. I'm hoping to get a lot done that morning before we break.

 

[margaret07013]

also - try to find out which rides load faster which are slower. it does make a difference - for example - LM in FL - its a fast loader while Peter Pan is not. 40 min shown wait time for LM most often means 20 min in reality.

smart show selection - example AK - Nemo show. I would rather sit in AC building at 1pm in AK than a 11am. same kind of logic in HS shows.

my kids lasted about 2-3 hrs in the heat. after that - we had to find a building with AC to cool them off or face meltdowns. one more thing for parents with small kids - while doing your TS lunch / dinner - ask for the check way before you are done. it takes forever to go through entire procedure after you eat.

Thank you for your suggestions, Margaret. These are great tips. I do plan to do EMH at MK on 07/10 and it is not a recommended day by Josh. It's our first trip so I definitely want to experience morning EMH. I'm hoping to get a lot done that morning before we break.