The only "advance" you can do is buying MaxPass from Disney or a third party when you buy your tickets. That way you won't have to buy it each morning after scanning in to the park.
Tours, TS meals, and special activities (like dessert parties, Savi's Workshop, Oga's Cantina, or Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique are also available in advance, usually 60 days out.
Rope drop becomes more important because you can start getting MaxPasses/FastPasses as soon as you scan/enter (even before the park opens). So you get earlier return times. And if you have a parkhopper (which many recommend because the 2 parks are so close) you can get MaxPasses in both parks.
If you went to WDW while they still had paper FastPasses, it's most similar to that, except with MaxPass you can now "Pull" them on your phone app instead of at a physical machine. The machines are still there for people who don't have MaxPass.
PHXscuba