Input Needed on Rope Drop Plans

[Loco4Loko]

Hey All. Going to be going to WDW next week and going to be going to MK on Tuesday (Apr 27). Park hours 8am-9pm.

There is going to be 3 adults (1 pregnant) and 3 kids (4yr, 4yr, and 2yr). Here is my planned rope drop sequence...please let me know if this is a decent plan or if something else could be improved.

1. SDMT (expecting mom and 2 yr would likely hit Winnie the pooh just to keep busy and the 2 yr LOVES pooh bear)
2. Pirates (everyone)
3. Big Thunder (expecting mom and 2 yr hit the magic carpets/treehouse and walk around while riding these)
4. Splash Mountain (expecting mom and 2 yr hit the magic carpets/tree house and walk around while riding these)
5. Go back to adventure land and hit jungle cruise, then just go clockwise through the park and do everything else throughout the day. I would probably just hit Space mountain sometime in the evening when the line is decent as I'd probably be the only one riding. Peter pan would probably be the only other ride with a longer wait but would be willing to stand in line if we could pull off the rope drop plan

My biggest concern is that by the time we got to Splash mountain, the wait is going to be too long and bog down the rest of the morning. If we arrive right around 7:00am and get in as early as possible, do you think Splash would be too long of a wait (Seems like we would be there around 9-9:30am or so at that point.

The alternate plan would be to start at Pirates and move SDMT to sometime later in the evening when the line is shorter while moving through the remainder of the park.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I would make BTMRR second or Splash depending on wait times. Splash lines get longer sooner and loads slower. Pirates loads quickly and usually does not have lines as long early on.
In January we did, in order, Mine Train, Big Thunder, Splash, Space, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise all before 11:00 with a scheduled 9:00 opening.

 

[Loco4Loko]

I would make BTMRR second or Splash depending on wait times. Splash lines get longer sooner and loads slower. Pirates loads quickly and usually does not have lines as long early on.
In January we did, in order, Mine Train, Big Thunder, Splash, Space, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise all before 11:00 with a scheduled 9:00 opening.

I appreciate the feedback! So the reason we put pirates second was to allow the 2 yr and preggo momma to be able to do at least one ride with the rest of the group during the first couple rides. Its not an absolute must, but it would be nice. How much of a setback would it be to ride pirates before BTMR and Splash. Would it be a matter of 5-15 minutes for the latter 2 or could the wait times already be past 30m by that time? Just trying to get a decent medium between rope drop efficiency and pleasure for everyone on the trip. Thanks!

 

[Gehrig1B]

How much of a setback would it be to ride pirates before BTMR and Splash. Would it be a matter of 5-15 minutes for the latter 2 or could the wait times already be past 30m by that time?

This will depend on if you enter the park when the tapstiles open because your Mine Train wait will be much longer if just 5 minutes late as that is where most rope droppers go. Not unusual to see a 30+ minute wait after first few minutes. This will mean longer lines at Splash and Big Thunder by the time you get there from Pirates.

If you take 30 minutes or more to do Mine Train, then another 20 for Pirates, the Splash queue could easily be 45 minutes to an hour in our recent experience. One other possibility is that Splash does not open on time and a long line develops hoping for it to open soon.

 

[Shellyred8]

I would do the rides in this order:
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Splash
BTMRR
Peter Pan
IASW

This is the order we usually do them in because JC and Pirates are usually walk-ons first thing in the morning. Since we are in the area, we do both so we don't have spend extra time going back and forth around the park. Check the wait times at BTMRR and Splash after Pirates. If Splash is a shorter wait than BTMRR, I would reverse the order for these two. We almost always wait to do Mine Train at the end of the day because that line gets long fast and pretty much stays that way all day. There might be a few pockets of time during the day when it is a little shorter, but you have to really be keeping your eye on the wait times, and I just don't like being glued to my phone that much while on vacation.

Pooh and Little Mermaid usually have pretty short lines for most of the morning, so I would hit those after IASW.

 

[maryj11]

From what I have watched on YouTube videos they are letting people in early. The lady I watched went straight to Pirates(walk on) then BTMR(walk on) then Splash. Splash does not always open early and sometimes later then opening time. So I wouldn’t rush there first. Another video showed Seven Dwarfs at a 30 minute wait by the time they got there at rope drop.