So, Monday is my birthday and I’m thinking about rope dropping my way into Star Wars Land. Is anyone else going, or do you think most people are going to avoid going on the first day for obvious reasons?
3 Likes
I don’t live close enough to go on a whim, but if I did I would probably avoid that day. That said, I’m very interested to hear how it goes if you end up going!
1 Like
May the force be with you! Go as early in the day as you can make it. And in case you didn’t already see, the Disney Parks Blog posted an article today with all the latest on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Boarding Pass Info
We are not going but I will be following along as much social media as possible to see how it all shakes out!
2 Likes
@quickgoalie It may not be to bad with all the annual passholders blocked out. Since Disneyland is mostly attended by passholders the crowds could be manageable. Please report back I would love to know how crowded it was. We planned WDW trip for September before the opening of SWGE was announced. I live in CA and now my family is talking about going to Disneyland in July to see SWGE so we can avoid it when we are in WDW but that would be additional 400.00 plus for 1 day. And I know my family we will go to SWGE in Florida too. We were going to just use Disney Transportation but now with the opening at the end of August. I’m thinking I will suck it up pay the nightly 19.00 to 20.00 to the resort and rent a car for the week because who know what the crowds will be like in September. I want to do as many rope drops as I can, use the pool in the afternoon if the weather permits and back to the parks in the evening. So if you go to Disneyland for your birthday be sure to post your experience and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
1 Like
Thanks for the input everyone! I think it’s worth a shot. I’m planning on getting to the main entrance @ 7am. Do you think that’s overkill? I figure there’s not much difference between getting there @ 7:30, 7:15, or 7, so I might as well just commit to this as if it’s going to be crazy packed. I will have been up since about 5am to wake up and drive down from Culver City anyway, so the whole morning will feel surreal anyway since I’m not normally functioning that early.
And, yeah, being that most of the APs are blocked out will help (I have a Signature, so I’m good). I’m sure there are tourists that have come from all over for this opening, and it’s summer so anything is possible, but I figure at the very least, if I rope drop like a pro, I’ll be fine. My only goal on Monday is to ride Millenium Falcon and have lobster nachos at the Lamplight Lounge (nee Cove Bar) in CA (and try out the new boarding pass system to hopefully ride MF twice). Anything else is icing. I figure that’s pretty reasonable in terms of expectations. If it’s crazy packed, I can get out of there early knowing I’ve at least ticked my measly two boxes. 
I want to do as many rope drops as I can, use the pool in the afternoon if the weather permits and back to the parks in the evening.
Ugh, I’m so jealous. I love the idea of leaving in the middle of the day and coming back at night. I would love to take a nap!!! Does anyone nap in the park? I could totally see myself zonking out in one of the hotel lobbies. I should check out the Grand Californian lobby.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. I’ll let ya know what happens (if you don’t find out via your own means)
Oh, and, fun fact, the last time I did a rope drop was for the opening of the Indiana Jones ride. 
2 Likes
3pm Frozen show. Sixty minutes of dark & cool in a seat. There are a lot of other great spots too but none nearly as long or as guaranteed of a seat & not that it matters while you are napping, but it also offers a place without other people watching you sleep (like you would most certainly have in a hotel lobby).
2 Likes
Ha, great idea…as long as I could stay asleep. I hear it’s a really good show I guess I could always get a cat nap in Philharmagic (12 min). It wasn’t very good 
1 Like
Haha, if you’re tired enough even though it is a great show there are definitely slow moments! We have unintentionally napped in it before and we are all Frozen fans. Shows like Philharmagic are great for cat naps but 12 min is short! Tiki Room, Mr. Lincoln and the Tomorrowland Theater previews are similar lengths but they all have seats and darkness that make it easy to get in a quick snooze, better than nothing!
Mr. Lincoln’s a good one too. I’m not really into history. 
Thanks again. These suggestions really help. Sometimes all I need is a quick recharge, so 12 minutes might actually be enough. Only one way to find out. 
1 Like
If all else fails, get on the train & don’t get off until you are good and rested 
Not that I have any experience with this…
1 Like
The train would work too. Maybe I could get into the special caboose car for privacy. Ha!
1 Like
I hope you ended up going! Looking forward to hearing about your adventure and Happy Birthday!
1 Like
I just got home. I’m soooo tired. I was supposed to get up at 4:45 this morning but woke up at 3. Fell back asleep until 4 and ended up getting up because my body wouldn’t let me get another 45 minutes sleep. Left the house at 5:50, got to parking at 6:30 as planned. Got to the front gates at 7am along with A LOT of other people. Almost as soon as I got there, they opened the gates and let us in for rope drop all the way up at the entrance to Frontierland. I’m really bad at estimating distances but I was maybe 15-20 feet from the rope???
They rope dropped at 7:30! (I almost went to the bathroom thinking I had 30 minutes to wait. Soooo glad I didn’t). We all smushed through the Frontierland entrance, and I shot dirty looks at the fast-walkers cutting in front of us all. It didn’t matter cuz I walked straight onto Millenium Falcon via the single rider line at about 7:40am. By the time I came off the ride, ran to the bathroom, and went back into the single rider line at 8am-ish, the SRL was 30 minutes long, and by the time I got to the waiting area just before loading onto the ride at 8:30, the standby line was up to 150 minutes!!!
However, by 11am, the MF standby was down to 30 minutes, so it makes me feel like arriving at rope drop might have been unnecessary…
…except for the fact that the rest of the park was pretty much empty most of the morning, so after my two MF rides, I basically walked on to 7 more rides, had lunch, and then headed home cuz I was exhausted. The parks were probably still at about 50% capacity when I left at 1ish, but I was tired and being surrounded by strangers was starting to bug me, even if there was much less of them than normal. (MouseWait says that both parks are still at 50% as of 3pm)
The Lines app says that MF right now (3pm) has an expected wait time of 56 min, even though the posted sign says 110. And single rider is 33 min. That’s not bad at all for opening day. I was expecting 150 minute waits all day.
I think I made the right choice to rope drop, and it’s fun getting caught up in the excitement. I didn’t do Oga’s or Savi’s or Droids, but that’s not my thing anyway. And the land itself is beautiful, but I didn’t really look around cuz I’m going back with my husband at some point so I’ll have more fun watching him geek out. I was all about MF and lobster nachos, and I did both, and had a great time on almost all of my other favorite rides too (with no wait on any of them!!!). The only thing I didn’t get to do today was Radiator Springs, but I’d just eaten half a mountain of nachos (and had a beer) and didn’t want to stand in the 30 minute SRL (and I was getting sleepy). My bad for not getting a Fast Pass or doing RS before nachos. No biggie. I wrapped up my day with a leisurely Jungle Cruise. Felt so bad for our boat captain. He had a boat full of serious people and/or people who didn’t get his jokes.
All in all, it was a great birthday! Would’ve been nice to have shared it with someone else, but I don’t know many early risers/Disneyland fans. Ha!
Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone! Time for a nap
3 Likes
Happy birthday! Sounds like a great way to spend your special day!
Happy Birthday to you! So glad to hear your morning went well, even on such short sleep! I don’t blame you for opting out by the time you did & hope you make it back soon for your next race around RSR and to enjoy more of GE with the hubby 
Can’t wait to go back with the hubs. I have no problem going to DL by myself, and I do A LOT, but it’s always more fun with other people (as long as they can put up with my methodical ride itineraries. Ha!). I’ve got my sister in law and niece coming down in October too, so that will be great since they’re Disneyland nuts too.
2 Likes
I bought an AP this year since my daughter is going to college in SoCal. I can fly standby, so I did fly down one day in February and uber’d to the park. Went to DCA for 5 or 6 hours then uber’d back to the airport and flew home. It was fun but I realized it’s just not the same by myself! Next time, maybe I’ll post on here or the Lines app and see if there are any other crazy solo visitors who want to meet up. LOL
Sounds like you had an amazing birthday. I can’t wait for our trip in late August (when we take DD back to college), but worry the crowds will be back up by then.
2 Likes
@Julianne_fki
I totally hear you about going to the parks alone. I love going, but I, too, sometimes miss having others to hang with. You might like this Meetup group (if I’m allowed to post links. If not, PM me):
https://www.meetup.com/DisneylandFanClub/ - This is a group of random Disneyland lovers who get together periodically for various events at the parks and sometimes outside the parks.
Login to Meetup | Meetup - And this is a thread where people can post that they’re going to the park if they’re looking for someone else that might be going as well. The organizer posts a general thread like this every month where people can communicate about solo Disneyland meetups. This particular one is for June only, but he makes a new one each month. So the next time you’re planning a trip, post here and see if anyone else is going, or you can plan your trip around specific events listed in the group. For example, I’m going on July 7th for a Star Wars Land-specific meetup with a bunch of people. I’ve never been to one yet, so I can’t comment on it yet, but it’s a great place to start for solo Disneyers like ourselves. 
Good luck! Hope to see you in the parks!
Thanks for the info! I will definitely check it out!