Rope dropping can be a very effective way to avoid waiting in long lines at Disney World for popular rides, because if you’re one of the first people in the park, you’ll be one of the first people in line usually.
Rope dropping can be really popular, though!
But, sometimes there is more than one popular ride that you want to go on in the morning! The most popular rides in a park can get long lines quickly, so you have to make a decision about which one is your priority. Or, something else you can do is NOT head toward the most popular rides and instead knock out 2 or 3 somewhat popular rides instead, marking them off your to-do list! So, let’s talk about your options when it comes to getting the most out of rope dropping a park.
We’re going to focus on that oh-so-important first 45ish minutes in the park where you can usually either go on one of the most popular rides with a lower wait time or go on 2 to 3 other rides while much of the crowd is in line for the popular rides.
Where to?!
In Magic Kingdom, a lot of the rope drop crowd will head toward Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, as it’s usually the most popular ride in the park, with waits that can get a lot higher throughout the day. So, you can use this early morning time to wait in line for Seven Dwarfs…
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
…OR you can go on some other rides you want to experience that usually have significantly short wait times first thing in the morning. This include rides like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Splash Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight, or Haunted Mansion. You could ride 2 or 3 of these within the first 45 minutes of the park being open if that’s your goal!
Splash Mountain
Moving on to EPCOT, one of the most popular rides people will go to is Frozen Ever After in the Norway pavilion. By heading to Frozen first thing in the morning, you could possibly avoid the long wait times that usually happen once more people are in the park.
Frozen Ever After
Or, you could spend this time going on several other rides you’re planning to ride that day like Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, or even Test Track if you get lucky! We don’t know about you, but getting 3 rides done within the first hour of the park being open makes us feel very accomplished.
Soarin’ entrance
Now let’s talk about Hollywood Studios! The most popular ride here, and possibly in all of Disney World, is Rise of the Resistance. Now that they’re using a standby line instead of a virtual one, you can be faced with very long waits throughout the day!
Rise of the Resistance entrance
If you get to the park early enough, you can go on Rise before the wait time climbs into the sometimes triple digits. Or, you can knock out Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror with short waits and go ahead and get in line for Slinky Dog Dash or Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
Tower of Terror entrance
And finally, let’s go to Animal Kingdom. Flight of Passage is easily the most popular ride in the park, and it used to consistently have the highest wait times in all of Disney World before Rise of the Resistance got a standby line. Rope drop crowds will flock to Pandora to try and get on the ride before everyone else. You can definitely experience shorter than usual wait times if you get in line early enough.
Flight of Passage
Or, you could instead use that time you would be waiting in line for Flight of Passage going on Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, and maybe even Na’vi River Journey!
Expedition Everest entrance
So, what it comes down to is what you want to get accomplished first thing in the morning at the Disney World parks. Do you want to knock out the most popular ride in the park when it’s likely to have a shorter wait time? Or, do you want to use that time to go on 2 or 3 rides that are in your plans while they have short wait times? It’s up to you! Either way, you’ll be using this early morning time to your benefit.
All of this assumes that you are utilizing standby lines, rather than paying for Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes. If you do plan to utilize those “skip the line” tools, we’ve got you! Check out our step-by-step guide to using Disney Genie+, and stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World tips, tricks, and info!
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Interesting. EPCOT rope drop for Living with the Land or Spaceship Earth? But nothing about Remy’s Ratatouille ride?
What is “rope drop”?
Hi Holly! Rope drop is basically when you are allowed into the park at the beginning of the day. It’s called rope drop because they used to have a literal rope they’d take down to let guests in. 🙂