So the subject basically asks the question. For MK it seems like a yes since you can go to the areas of the park not open early. But for the other parks does it still make sense to arrive 30 minutes before regular park open if you don’t have early entry? Are you gaining anything by getting into HS at around 9:00 vs. 10:00 or 9:30? The same for Epcot and AK?
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IF you are not planning to buy LLs etc. then yes, rope drop. @QwertySC might have some thoughts on this 
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Just don’t do a headliner. You can even stroll in a few minutes after opening and most non- headliners should have little to no wait.
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You should always get into the park as early as possible, but there will be a couple of attractions that aren’t worth going to as lines will already be at their longest, or close to it.
But everything else will be close to a walk on.
Hit the headliners at the dips which (usually) occur at opening +1 hour, lunchtime and dinner time.
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Agree with what others have already said. Don’t target the super headliners (Tron, FOP, GotG, etc.) but you can still gain a lot of time from targeting second tier attractions at park open.
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Thanks for the advice. Is there a good site that outlines a few specific strategies for each park given certain conditions? EasyWDW was great for this but sadly is no more. Josh would outline a specific strategy and actually try it out. Are there recommended sites with similar content?
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Just use Touring Plans and will give you suggestions. Hit optimize plan.
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everything I read says to go to FoP first at AK, if you are RD
Right. But without early entry the line for FOP will already be 60+ min by the time non-resort guests are able to enter the park. Every other ride in the park will likely be a walk on. So it would make sense to do everything else first and then just catch FOP later in the day when the line has a lull.
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I always loved reading Josh’s park strategy posts. They were so helpful!!
Making a TP is helpful for this. Also, I see to remember my TP books having maps highlighting rides into categories like “ride two hours after park open or two hours before park close” (those would be Tier II type attractions - POC, HM, etc) and “ride anytime”, etc. I always found those helpful as well.
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when are your travel dates?
oh i see 
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You replied to my thread about picking parks on each day. My trip is from 1/4 - 1/13 with Disney planned for most of the period from 1/7 - 1/13.
Oh oops! My bad. Didn’t notice the same username.