I suggest you try RD early in the trip. If your group is enlightened by it, then you have additional days you can take advantage of it. Likewise, if RD brings more pain than pleasure to your group, you have the rest of the trip to continue to show up later. All in all, it comes down to what’s going to make your group happy.
My family and I worship the rope for many reasons, most of which have already been stated by previous posters. Add’t reasons:
we’re not big breakfast eaters, especially right after waking, so we spend the time at the rope nibbling breakfast snacks and enjoying a cup of coffee. It’s not wasted time for us. And it’s not park time.
There’s a definite air of excitement that builds as park opening approaches. There’s a cheer from the crowd as the CM’s approach the turnstyles. At MK, there’s the extra time you get to meander Main Street. Then there’s the adrenaline rush of the “brisk-walk brigade” at the drop of the rope. It’s all such dumb fun because waiting at the rope, you can see the whole day ahead of you…
We all spend so much time planning the trip, and part of that is because we “live the trip” through the planning. It appeases our anticipation. Flash forward… the day has arrived! My family could sleep in a little, or, we could get up early, and soak up those last moments of anticipation, at the rope.
Summer? The temperatures and humidity are more reasonable early in the day. And because we’ve accomplished rides early with shorter lines, we feel good about doing more sheltered options when the temperature picks up (breaks/pool/shows/TS dining).
We RD’d Flight of Passage 2 years ago when published opening time was 9:00. We arrived at 8:00. We did not have to wait in one spot longer than 10 minutes as we were slowly guided to the ride. Walked thru the entire queue with out stopping until we walked down the ramp with no one in front of us. We exited the ride at 8:55 and could not believe how long the line was! The sign showed 75min wait! Smart, smart, smart!
I think this is an excellent point. I understand the thinking that if you wait at RD, you are still waiting in line, being deprived of sleep. But as a family that always eats breakfast, I see it (when we actually do it) as a chance to just eat in a different location, while also getting a jump on the crowds.
In October, my son and I rode Slinky Dog Dash three times, Toy Story Mania twice, and Alien Spinning Saucers once during the first hour and a half that the park was open. Sometimes you can wait that long for just one of those. We RDed Toy Story Land, and then went to Galaxy’s Edge to ride the Millennial Falcon with a 25 minute wait. We were the second party on SDD, and were back in like 9 minutes after the park opened to ride it again.
We also loved the excitement of Rope Drop. There’s a camaraderie you build with fellow rope-droppers. On another day, we were standing next to a man that we saw later at Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror, after we successfully RDed Toy Story Mania (twice) and Slinky Dog Dash (once) and he had RDed Millennial Falcon. It was fun seeing him again, and cheering each other on on our plans.
We also RDed MK on that trip, and finished everything we wanted to do (most of it) in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland (and that included breakfast at BOG) by 11:30. We canceled our SDMT FPP for noon, and left the park to rest before an evening at Epcot. It was awesome.
Personally I wouldn’t queue for an hour before park opens, unless there is a must go to ride and/or you don’t have w fast pass for it. Otherwise relax it’s a vacation. having said that I have rope dropped, and I used to love the opening of the magic kingdom.
Plus side of doing rope drop, as per touring plans, is getting a lot of rides under your belt in a short time and then going back to the hotel for some r and r during the day to make up for the early start. You can then go back to the parks later in the day for the night time shows.
RDing really depends on the purpose of your WDW vacation.
Is it about the rides and you only have a day or less in each park? Then RDing is a must.
If it’s about strolling, shopping, eating, watching shows, enjoying the company of one another, people watching, and getting in less than a handful of rides (3 with prebooked FPPs), then RDing is not needed.
Our 2nd trip to WDW just ended on Monday. We had a 7-day pass, no PH.
We RDed MK on Day 1 and AK on Day 2. We got to the park on both days at 7:10 for 8 am openings. We got in the rides. We had a FPP for 7DMT but not FOP. Good thing we RDed AK for FOP because there were no SDD that day!
We arrived after 9:30 on both Epcot days because it wasn’t about the rides plus we had FPP for 2 Tier 1 and got a SDD for Soarin.
We all decided that we didn’t need to ride ROTR, so we arrived around 8:45 on both days. Both days, we got BBG and got called. HS Day 1, we got in all the rides and even rode ToT and TSM 2x. We could have ridden more but we had 8:10 ADR at Storybook Dining.
HS Day 2 was a last minute change in schedule so we didn’t have a good line up on Tier 2 times to pick up more drops and we were back ended by a 5:05 CG ADR. We did SDD and RNR on FPP, stood in line for an hour each for TSM and ST, snacked a bit, and called it a day. To be fair, it was also the Monday before Christmas. Our BBG was called during dinner.
I’m not a fan waiting in lines, but even I jump on the RD train, at least for the first few days. For all the reasons everyone else has listed, including a sheer lack of people in the park.
I will admit our enthusiasm wanes as the week progresses, though. So we start out with a couple of days of RD, and then move to later starts and/or a day off. My family is comprised of night owls (except for me) and they can only burn the candle at both ends for a little while.
Another thing to consider is time change. If one is coming from several time zones further west, it can be a struggle. General travel advice would be to stick to Eastern time as much as possible- definitely don’t stay up late on arrival day even though it’s terribly tempting and your internal clock will let you. You might even save RD for the second full day instead of the first.
We don’t RD headliners first, either. For instance, we head to Adventureland at MK (skip JC because it takes too long & we can get a 4th FP later) proceed more or less clockwise, and use our first FP at HM. It’s amazing what you can get done while everyone else rushes to 7DMT and Space.
Also, the crowd at Adventureland is much smaller, so we can show up considerably later and still be near the front of the pack, which is handy to know if one’s best laid plans go awry on MK RD day.
I want to try that route next time, too. I love AO, but yeah… very slow line, probably the most deceptive line in MK, if not the entire World. I tried to ride it last thing at night but it was inexplicably closed then, both nights we were there. So I didn’t get my AO fix and now I’m cranky just thinking about it.
I think it might actually scare some little kids (and adults, too). It’s pretty high up, not for those who are afraid of heights. I like it because it’s about as close to flying as you’ll get aside from FOP, and you get to see the park from a unique vantage point- it’s especially exhilarating at night.
I did rope drop for 7 Dwarfs on a 4 day trip - with a lot of park hopping. I got there 20 minutes before official opening and because I was a single adult able to move - instead of a 2 hour plus line I only waited the time it took to get through the line (well maybe another 10-20 minutes more). It is one strategy - going late or using EMH if you are on site is another. If you are a early riser and you really want to go on rides and hate waiting in line as much as I do - go for it.
We adopted the Adventureland first, proceeding clockwise plan about 12 years ago with a toddler who didn’t do noise and crowds well. It was a quiet intro into the sensory madness of MK, preparing her nicely for Fantasyland. She still insists that Magic Carpets be the first MK ride.
Since then, whenever we bring newbies to the World, we head to the left at the end of Main Street.
Let your friend arrive and join you when they are ready. I frequently meet a local friend at the parks and she arrives when she is ready and joins me wherever I am in the park.
