Over the years I've read posts of using the "rope drop" to get to a popular ride before the line gets long. For example, a recent post that someone arrived at 7:45 for a 9:00 opening. They were at the front and walked (quickly I assume?) to their ride and got on without waiting. Then they went on to a few more rides before the lines built up to their daytime lengths.
1. Isn't this the equivalent of standing in line for an hour and fifteen minutes? You arrive at 7:45 for a ride at 9, and you just stand and wait. Hmmm...
2. And arriving early doesn't help you with any ride except the very first. If the rope drops at 9, and I arrive at 9, I still have my choice of all the rides with shorter early morning lines. And I'm actually a bit ahead of the early arriver, because they do get their first ride right away, but for all the rest of the rides I actually am about even with them, just a bit ahead while they are riding that first ride.
Really, didn't you stand in a "line" for an hour or more for that first ride?
So, what's your opinion? Is getting on one single ride quickly worth the potentially long wait? I know many people love rope drop, so I'm hoping to hear what I'm missing.
1. Yes.
2. Yes, to some extent. Except you will get your ride #1 half an hour later than the person who was #1 in line. So by the time you exit ride #1, they will have already spent 20minutes waiting on ride #2.
3. Sometimes the parks open earlier than the posted time.
4. Getting to the parks almost always takes longer than you expect, especially those who use WDW transportation, especially the buses. Or you have to drive to WDW from an offsite hotel.
5. Breakfast rush hour at WDW, especially in the food courts. If 2 or more WDW parks open at 8am, then there will be a hoard of people ALL attempting to arrive at the park for 8am. So if you attempt to get breakfast at a WDW food court, you'll wait. You'll wait to order, to pay, and you might wait longer for your order to be prepared.
Arriving early to the gate, might = being first in line. But everyone else is on the same mission. Stopping to tie your shoe can easily cost 20minutes in the 7DMT queue. On busy days, that queue goes from zero to 90 minutes in a matter of seconds.
Morning is also the least hot part of the day. In winter, it might be chilly. In summer, afternoons can get pretty warm. They also get stormy.
Rope Drop crowds also tend to be rude and aggressive. People are VERY inclined to only think of themselves/their family. That is somewhat true all day at WDW, but worst first thing in the AM when folks are most juiced up on caffeine.
For years, we generally aimed to arrive just after RD. more recently we aimed to arrive for the extra half hour, but I don't know it was really worthwhile. Since so many hotels are now included, and so many folks are up at 7am to book G+, mornings not no longer as value as they once were. On a slow week, they still hold some value. On a busy week, half an hour isn't long enough to make much difference.
