BEWARE: This CHAOTIC Disney World Problem Could Destroy Your Rope Drop Plans

Disney World is a complex park. With all its rides with various levels of technological advancements, the different dining locations all across the resorts are all functioning at the same time, not to mention all the different shops, hotels, and everything in between.

EPCOT

That means that there’s a lot of issues that can happen throughout the day. We expect to see some issues happen here and there, it’s nearly impossible for a day to pass without any sort of issue to happen. However, recently there was a MASSIVE issue that happened in EPCOT that, while rare, could happen on your vacation — here’s how to get around it!

On November 5th, in EPCOT, rope drop came and went at 9AM with hoards of people still stopped at the front gate. We were among them, wondering what was happening, especially as we realized wait times were showing on our My Disney Experience App.

Everyone waiting patiently to get in

What we found out was that there was a technological issue at the tap points of the front gate — yes, each and every one of them — that was preventing guests from scanning their tickets to get into the park. Since Disney World uses both a scanner for your ticket and a fingerprint scanner to verify the ticket is yours, it was impossible to let anyone into the park without the system working.

Entrance to EPCOT

The delay lasted about 20 minutes, and only then were guests being let into the park from the front gate. This essentially means that guests who had planned on a solid rope drop strategy had their first precious 20 minutes taken from them. And while that doesn’t seem like a lot, it can certainly wreck your plans and allow for longer lines to build up, since in this case, guests were being allowed to enter from the back entrance of the park, the International Gateway.

EPCOT Crowds

Again, while this issue is rare, it can happen, along with various other technical issues around the parks, so what should you do if it happens to you? First of all, be patient. Everyone around you is in the same boat, and pushing and shoving to get to the front, or getting angry with fellow guests or Cast Members, is not going to fix anything. In fact, you might even attraction the attention of security and not get to enter the park at all if your behavior is that poor.

Mexico Pavilion at EPCOT

Secondly, this is why we always say it’s important to have a Plan B, C, and D. If Plan A has an issue, you’ve got another plan right behind it to follow instead. Make sure your party is well aware of the different plans or ideas you have, that way you can all prepare for the potentially different scenarios. The good news is that if you’ve got a dining reservation or a Lightning Lane reservation that you end up late for due to an issue on Disney’s part, you can chat with the ride or restaurant and politely explain what happened, and oftentimes, you’ll still be let in the restaurant/on the ride. (However, for dining reservations, we do recommend calling Disney to let them know ahead of time so they don’t give away your table!)

EPCOT

Of course, if you’re inside a Disney World park and you notice there are lots of issues taking place, you can choose to park hop to a different park if you’ve got a park hopping ticket, or can choose to check out some nearby Disney hotels by taking a bus or go to Disney Springs, both of which are free. We know, it’s not ideal, but if being in a park with more issues than normal is going to cause you more stress, it may be best to remove yourself all together for a short while.

Crowds in EPCOT

We’re always here to bring you the latest Disney World news and help you plan your vacations, so stay tuned to DFB!

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