Which parks are best for early entry/rope drop?

[Davey Jones II]

Hello, Disney experts! I am planning a mid-late Oct. ten-day WDW adventure for seven family members. Our basic strategy will be to arrive later in the day, and close the parks every day.

That being said, it's possible that we might do early entry/rope drop on one or more days, if everyone is up early and raring to go. So my question is: in which park or parks is this strategy most effective (i.e., most worth it, when it comes to doing a lot or rides).

Thanks!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I think I'd need more information. Where are you staying. What park or parks are the priority? I wouldn't just rope drop, say Magic Kingdom, just because it fell on the day we want to do it. If you're staying at a BC/YC/BW resort, then rope drop for EPCOT or HS is pretty easy. If you're on a monorail resort, then MK or EP are easy. Are you staying at a Disney resort to get the early 30 minutes?

 

[Skippyboo]

I would say Hollywood Studios is very good for rope and early entry. The lines are pretty low in the morning. It’s also good at night with all the neon and galaxy edge at night is super cool. I don’t like MK early entry because they only open Tomorrowland and Fantasyland so 90% of the people are going to 7DMT

 

[snikki]

I believe RD is very effective in each park if you arrive early enough and what you plan on riding is open and working at park opening.

 

[storey13]

Be sure to pay attention to the Halloween party days at MK. I think it closes at 6pm on those days. Having said that, if you do decide to rope drop MK, a party day is a great choice. I've been to WDW the past two Fall's (Sept and Oct) and I usually rope drop MK on a Halloween party day as the crowd levels seem to be lower. We were able to ride all of our favorites (Jungle Cruise, BTMR, Splash Mtn (RIP), Pirates, Haunted Mansion, SDMT, and Space Mtn) within the first two hours.

 

[tguz]

We like to RD Epcot because we love Soarin. On our last trip we rode it 4 times in the first hour because a ton of people went right for Test Track and Frozen.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Really RD is a great strategy at all the parks but really, just a quick pass without any info, I'd RD the park you don't plan to buy G+ and also have the most in demand attraction wish list. However, which park will depend on a variety of factors. Which parks will you visit, will you visit all 4, park hours/events, are you a staying deluxe and/or paying for any AH, buying G+ etc, stacking LL's, buying iLL$, etc. All this would go into my decision.

 

[robinb]

Hello, Disney experts! I am planning a mid-late Oct. ten-day WDW adventure for seven family members. Our basic strategy will be to arrive later in the day, and close the parks every day.

That being said, it's possible that we might do early entry/rope drop on one or more days, if everyone is up early and raring to go. So my question is: in which park or parks is this strategy most effective (i.e., most worth it, when it comes to doing a lot or rides).

Thanks!

The best bang for your rope drop buck is the Magic Kingdom on a MNSSHP day.

I also like to rope drop AK. If we're in line early enough we can knock out both FOP and Navi in the first hour the park is open.

We switch off between late nights Extended Evening Theme Park hours for Deluxe guests and rope drops using the morning Early Entry.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Our experience is that every park is worth rope dropping.

 

[Davey Jones II]

O.P. here. Thanks for the responses. We will be staying at an All-Star, so we will have access to early entry. We will be at WDW for ten park days, so we will attempt to do (almost) everything. No one park is top priority, because our group has diverse tastes.

We don't want to get into that early morning race to be near the front of the line for EE. Howver, we might stroll into a park before official park opening, to be ahead of the rope drop crowd.

We are trying for a (relatively) relaxing theme park trip, and plan to hit most of the headliners at the end of the night.

We plan to maximize G+ and ILL at all parks, all the time. The emphasis will be on stacking LLs for later in the day. We will be park hopping on some days (e.g. on a few days, we will be starting at Epcot, then hopping to DHS).

We are also doing two Halloween Parties, on successive Tuesdays. The emphasis will be on doing rides during the first one, and some of the special events during the second.

We are trying for a (relatively) relaxing theme park trip, and plan to hit most of the headliners at the end of the night. So here's a follow-up question: which will allow us to do more headliners: early entry, or short waits at the end of the night?

 

[DPgrlz]

Our experience is that every park is worth rope dropping.

I agree. Recently I have tended to visit at Christmas time. And Rope dropping isn't much of an option, it's been required if rides are your priority.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We don't want to get into that early morning race to be near the front of the line for EE. Howver, we might stroll into a park before official park opening, to be ahead of the rope drop crowd.

So, if you are arriving for ETPE, you are ahead of the guests that will arrive at regular park opening and you will have a significant advantage over guests that arrive later, especially those without G+ LL's already booked but by hitting the parks for early entry, you are rope dropping. There's no disputing that. If you decide to get to a park after the park opens to resort guests, you can do that but you will still want to be ahead of the non-resort guests. The RD process varies from park to park and where you will be let in and where you will be stopped. Once you decide which park you want to RD, do a bit of research so you know what time to leave your resort, etc.

But imo, RD will get you 1-3 possibly popular rides done before the masses converge on the park, whereas getting in line at park close will let you complete really only 1 popular attraction. Both have their place in park touring but RD is usually the more advantageous of the two options barring rides being down or odd ball things like that.

 

[RoseGold]

Wow. I go to WDW four times a year at 10 days sounds like a TON of Disney to me. Plenty of time to ride everything. I don't see why you need two Halloween parties. By then, you should have ridden everything and can just do parades and snacks and such.

If you make a plan and prioritize RD, you can do this easily.

 

[Lesverts]

O.P. here. Thanks for the responses. We will be staying at an All-Star, so we will have access to early entry. We will be at WDW for ten park days, so we will attempt to do (almost) everything. No one park is top priority, because our group has diverse tastes.

We don't want to get into that early morning race to be near the front of the line for EE. Howver, we might stroll into a park before official park opening, to be ahead of the rope drop crowd.

We are trying for a (relatively) relaxing theme park trip, and plan to hit most of the headliners at the end of the night.

We plan to maximize G+ and ILL at all parks, all the time. The emphasis will be on stacking LLs for later in the day. We will be park hopping on some days (e.g. on a few days, we will be starting at Epcot, then hopping to DHS).

We are also doing two Halloween Parties, on successive Tuesdays. The emphasis will be on doing rides during the first one, and some of the special events during the second.

We are trying for a (relatively) relaxing theme park trip, and plan to hit most of the headliners at the end of the night. So here's a follow-up question: which will allow us to do more headliners: early entry, or short waits at the end of the night?

Animal Kingdom.

You Should be able to get in, do FOP, Navi, Kilimanjaro Safaris and EE within 2 hours if you are standing in the courtyard between the tapstiles and the ticket booths. I destroyed AK in under 3 years last year. It was amazing. Finished off with a 80 dollar bill at Nomad. It was a Great Success.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

So here's a follow-up question: which will allow us to do more headliners: early entry, or short waits at the end of the night?

Late night is best for multiple rerides on the headliners. Just keep in mind that the posted wait times are intentionally inflated at night to discourage late riders.

For example: On our most recent visit, we hit Rise of the Resistance an hour and 20 minutes before closing time. The posted wait was 90 minutes but we were able to ride 3 times. You can’t do that in the morning no matter how early you arrive.

Another good one was 4 trips through Space Mountain in 35 minutes when the posted wait was 50. That did take a little running as it’s a long way from the exit and back around.

I’ve never understood the long waits and mad dash for 7D in the morning. The longest we’ve ever waited for that one was 20 minutes on opening weekend back in 2014. Now we generally get on in less than 10.

 

[ohdewer33]

Late night is best for multiple rerides on the headliners. Just keep in mind that the posted wait times are intentionally inflated at night to discourage late riders.

For example: On our most recent visit, we hit Rise of the Resistance an hour and 20 minutes before closing time. The posted wait was 90 minutes but we were able to ride 3 times. You can’t do that in the morning no matter how early you arrive.

Another good one was 4 trips through Space Mountain in 35 minutes when the posted wait was 50. That did take a little running as it’s a long way from the exit and back around.

I’ve never understood the long waits and mad dash for 7D in the morning. The longest we’ve ever waited for that one was 20 minutes on opening weekend back in 2014. Now we generally get on in less than 10.

It really all depends on what you want to do and your get up and go, as you stated in your post. I would say use rope drop to get on the rides you really want then you can relax a little the rest of the day. Here is one hint I will give you. If you plan on doing a Hollywood Studios / Epcot day, park at Hollywood Studios early and then walk to Epcot. The Skyliner gets really crowded and the walk between the two is a little over a mile. This will put you at the World Showcase entrance right by France so rope dropping Ratatouille is a piece of cake. Then you can Skyliner of to Hollywood Studios later.

 

[brockash]

Hello, Disney experts! I am planning a mid-late Oct. ten-day WDW adventure for seven family members. Our basic strategy will be to arrive later in the day, and close the parks every day.

That being said, it's possible that we might do early entry/rope drop on one or more days, if everyone is up early and raring to go. So my question is: in which park or parks is this strategy most effective (i.e., most worth it, when it comes to doing a lot or rides).

Thanks!

DHS. We find we a lot done and it's the most pleasant since it's the only park who does rope drop in a reasonable manner in our opinion. At DHS, you scan into the park and then walk to whatever attraction you want to ride first and get in line. All the others are hearding and waiting, jockeying for a spot repeat.

In our opinion MK is the worst and would be our last choice to rope drop.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Wow. I go to WDW four times a year at 10 days sounds like a TON of Disney to me. Plenty of time to ride everything. I don't see why you need two Halloween parties. By then, you should have ridden everything and can just do parades and snacks and such.

If you make a plan and prioritize RD, you can do this easily.

We've always visited WDW for 9-10 park days. For a long time, we were going to Orlando every two years (alternating with California/DLR). Our last visit was in 2019, so again, ten days isn't excessive.

I don't trust the new hodgepodge of Genie+, VQs etc. -- all that overly convoluted tech nonsense is making me ILL. At least at the MK, we should get to do everything (except maybe Tron -- the aformentioned tech boondoggle again) thanks to the two Halloween parties.

 

[ghtx]

RD and EE are great at all of the parks.

One thing that's different about MK though is that since there are so many rides, as long as you aren't heading for one of the headliners (Mine Train, PP), you can do a lot of rides in the first hour or so with almost zero wait.

 

[Mome Rath]

Here was my write up from a different thread on my AK Early Entry, which is my favorite EE:

Just back from a trip and thought I'd share what my AK early entry morning was like (7/10/23). My aim was to be at the bus stop at around 6:30 (for a 7:30 Early Entry), but was a bit later. Waited for about 15 min or so, and the bus driver said it was his second trip, and that the first bus was practically empty. This bus was standing room only. Got there a bit around 7:10. Went all the way to the far right tapstiles and watched closely for them to open more, which they did. That put me about 10 back from the tapstile when I moved over.

They opened the tapstiles later than I was used to in the past; about right at 7:30. Headed left, and was 2nd in a moving line to get scanned in (the scan did not work and she asked me how many and which hotel, and then waved me through; obviously did not want to mess with how long it would have taken to clear up whatever issue). Speed walked to Pandora, held at the bridge, only about a minute. Lead back, and was in the first group of riders on FoP. Straight off, to Na'vi River, total walk on, to bathroom.

Took back path to Africa, straight onto Safari (this was right around 8am). The animals were so worth getting up that early for; go to see the "baby" giraffe, hippo, and zebra (I'd call them younglings, not babies, but was still really neat). I think I got to see at least one of everything you are usually on the lookout for.

Kusafiri Bakery for breakfast; overnight oats which were really cold and really good. People watched a long while, then shopped on my way out, took pics over by Everest as it was down that morning, and really quiet over there. Could have ridden anything else after Safari of course, but was done with rides.