If you have spent any time doing Disney World vacation planning, then you know the most common advice is to arrive early to the parks, preferably before they even open. Doing so will help you avoid the crowds and spend less time in line. This strategy is referred to as “rope dropping,” and if you’re wondering what it means to rope drop at Disney World, and how to make the most of it, you’ve come to the right place.
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How Does Rope Drop Work at Disney World?
Before park opening, guests tend to line up at the entrances to the various Disney World parks. This human brigade can block the turnstiles and back all the way up to the bus stops at some parks, potentially risking guest safety.
To prevent these issues, Disney allows guests to enter inside the parks prior to opening, as long as they stay behind the “rope gates” that lead to individual lands. When the park officially opens, these ropes are dropped, and guests are allowed admittance into the rest of the park and the rides. Hence the term “rope drop” at Disney World.
Each park has their own rope drop locations. For example, in Magic Kingdom, guests are allowed rope drop admittance into Main St USA and the main hub surrounding Cinderella’s Castle. The ropes are located at the entrance to each individual land. A rope can be found at Tomorrowland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland.
Inside Animal Kingdom, guests are allowed pre admittance into the park areas of the Oasis, and sometimes the Tree of Life. The rope can be found either on the bridge prior to the Tree of Life, or on the pathways that lead away from the Tree of Life to the remainder of the park.
Rope Drop at Disney World is the most diverse inside Hollywood Studios. Inside this park, there is no technical rope drop. Instead, guests are allowed to queue up in individual lines for each ride, but admittance onto the ride is not allowed until the park officially opens. This makes for a bit of a smoother experience, as there is no running and rushing to rides when the rope drops.
EPCOT’s rope drop is the shortest, as EPCOT has the most room between the turnstiles and the modes of transportation, so less room is needed inside the parks to hold guests.
The EPCOT rope drop leaves guests standing directly in front of the park’s icon, Spaceship Earth. Then once the rope is dropped, guests will rush in varying directions around the construction hub to their desired rides.
Why Rope Drop at Disney World?
There are many advantages to using the Disney World rope drop strategy. Guests find that they save time in line and often make better use of their time.
Get Ahead of the Crowds
Many head out on vacation with thoughts of sleeping in and total relaxation. If this is you, you may wonder why people put the effort into the rope drop at Disney World. There are actually quite a few reasons you may want to skip sleeping.
First, many guests, specifically those who are first time Disney visitors, arrive at the parks a few minutes before, or at opening. By planning to rope drop at Disney World, you will automatically be ahead of the lines of this large wave of people.
Get Through Security Faster
Secondly, the Disney World rope drop strategy is great because it gets you through security and potential bag check prior to opening. The line for this can drag on during peak “travel times” to the park and can seriously delay your arrival to the rides.
At all parks, a security screening is required prior to entry, before you even get to the turnstiles. The exception for this is at Magic Kingdom, where monorail and ferry guests will go through this screening at the Transportation and Ticket Center. Resort monorail guests will go through screening prior to boarding the monorail at their resort. All other guests will go through security at the gates after leaving the bus loop.
If you arrive at the park 30-40 minutes prior to opening time, you will be through security and the turnstiles, and on and off your first ride before guests who arrived at park opening get inside, simply because there are fewer people arriving at this time.
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Enjoy a Midday Pool Break
By utilizing rope drop at Disney World, you can fit more into your morning, and more into your day, with less wait times. With less wait times you may even find time for that desired relaxation we mentioned earlier.
During many of our trips we roll out of bed very early to rope drop our desired park. By lunchtime, we have ridden all the headliner rides in the park and are ready for a rest. We then head back to our Disney resort for the afternoon for some poolside relaxation and naps.
Then, feeling refreshed, we head back to the parks in the early evening after the crowds have dissipated a bit.
Do I Need to Rope Drop if I Have Early Theme Park Entry?
Even if you have Early Theme Park Entry, it is still a good idea to Rope Drop at Disney World. Early Theme Park Entry is the program that replaced Extra Magic Hours. It allows guests staying onsite at Disney World hotels to enter any Disney World park 30 minutes prior to the scheduled opening.
With this added perk, you may find rope dropping is still a useful strategy to apply. Disney World has a large number of resorts, with an even larger number of rooms in each. Therefore, Early Theme Park Entry is not as exclusive as you would think. It also does not bring low crowds like you’d expect.
Those who utilize Early Theme Park Entry (ETPE) will swarm the popular rides as soon as they are allowed entrance inside the park. If you do not rope drop this already early time, you will find yourself and your group a bit behind the curve.
Guests who wish to rope drop but do not have ETPE, will be asked to wait in a separate rope drop area, allowing ETPE guests to rope drop 30 minutes prior to park opening.
With the time limit being a short 30 minutes, it is best to optimize your time by being among the first guests to arrive at an attraction. This can be accomplished by arriving even earlier than the ETPE time, and rope dropping.
Rope Drop at Disney With and Without Multi Pass
How you rope drop at Disney World will differ, depending on whether you plan to purchase entrance into the Lightning Lane through Multi Pass or Single Pass.
Rope Dropping Without Multi Pass or Single Pass
If you plan to ride popular attractions, such as Slinky Dog Dash, Mine Train, Rise of the Resistance, and Flight of Passage, and do not plan to purchase entry into the Lightning Lane, this Disney World rope drop strategy is the best one to use.
Lightning Lane is the new expedited queue that replaces FastPass+. It allows you to skip the regular queue for most of the Disney World rides for one fee per guest.
To enter this queue, you will need to purchase a Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Lightning Lane Single Pass depending on the ride. Multi Pass can save a lot of time, but paired with rope dropping, you can expect minimal wait times all day.
Not sure what the Lightning Lane is? Be sure to read our blogs on Multi Pass and Single Pass.
If you do not plan to purchase Multi Pass or Single Pass, using the rope drop at Disney World for the most popular rides, can dramatically reduce your wait times. To do so, arrive at each park 30-40 minutes prior to opening. When cast members open the turnstiles, begin walking toward your desired ride.
Here, you will wait until the park officially opens. Often times, they will drop the rope ten minutes or so prior to the park opening, and allow you to walk to your ride and get in line. Occasionally, the rides are already running at this time.
Once the rope drops, be prepared for some hustling to your desired ride. It is not uncommon to see guests sprinting to the rides, though we do not recommend this. You will still have plenty of time to get there and have a low wait time if you walk and will reduce the risk of injury.
We recommend guest rope drop the following rides in each park if they do not intend to use Multi Pass or Single Pass
Magic Kingdom Rope Drop Rides
- Provided you are using Early Entry and are some of the first guests to arrive, head straight to 7 Dwarfs Mine Train
- If you are not using Early Theme Park Entry or you arrive at or after the start of Early Theme Park Entry, you’ll make better use of your time by hitting Space Mountain (Early theme park entry) or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Regular Opening)
EPCOT Rope Drop Rides
- If using Early Theme Park Entry, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure for Frozen Ever After are always good bets for the first ride of the day at EPCOT. You can board the ride with minimal wait and avoid the long lines that form once the park opens.
- As soon as you get off of the first ride you choose above, head straight to the second one. If you move fast, you can get there before the large crowds that arrive at regular opening.
- If you aren’t using Early Theme Park Entry, you will still find the shortest lines of the day at either of these rides. As a rope drop warrior, you’ll be at the ride entrance before all of the people who arrived as the park opened.
Hollywood Studios Rope Drop Rides
- Hollywood Studios is one of the more difficult parks to rope drop without Multi Pass or Single Pass due to the large number of headliner attractions. However, hitting Rise of the Resistance is your best bet, since lines for this ride can reach 2 hours later in the day.
- If you don’t plan to ride Rise of the Resistance, you can usually hit both Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster during Early Theme Park Entry. If you arrive after Early Theme Park Entry, you can likely select one of these rides before long lines form, but Mickey’s Runaway Railway is another good option.
Animal Kingdom Rope Drop Rides
- Whether you have access to early entry or not, Avatar Flight of Passage should be your first rope drop ride. The shortest lines of the day will be seen within the first 15 minutes or so after opening.
- If you don’t plan to ride Flight of Passage, then hit up Na’vi River Journey at Rope Drop. All other rides will sport short queues for at least an hour after regular opening.
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What Rides to Rope Drop at Disney World When Using the Lightning Lane
To use the Disney World rope drop strategy and the Lightning Lane together, first, plan on booking one of the most popular rides of the day as soon as the booking window opens for Multi Pass.
Plan a return time for late morning. This gives you time to rope drop another one of the long wait time rides as soon as the park opens.
If you plan it right, you will be able to rope drop one popular ride, and then ride another one with minimal wait before your first Multi Pass reservation return window is open.
Since you are still reading, you are probably searching for rope drop strategies for each park. Below, we will discuss our tried and true methods for a flawless rope drop.
What Rides to Rope Drop at Magic Kingdom with Lightning Lane
- Single Pass for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (if available). Otherwise, book both 7 Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON: Lightcycle Run
- Multi Pass Tier One: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
- Multi Pass Tier Two: Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Rope Drop: Jungle Cruise or Peter Pan’s Flight
What Rides to Rope Drop at EPCOT with Lightning Lane
- Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Multi Pass Tier One: Frozen or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Multi Pass Tier Two: Soarin’ Around the World and Spaceship Earth
- Rope Drop: Whichever Tier one ride you did not reserve a Multi Pass for or Test Track when it reopens
What Rides to Rope Drop at Hollywood Studios with Lightning Lane
- Single Pass for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance
- Multi Pass Tier One: Slinky Dog Dash
- Multi Pass Tier Two: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania
- Rope Drop: Mickey & MInnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Be sure to book your first 2 in park Multi Pass reservations for the remaining two attractions
What Rides to Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom with Lightning Lane
- Single Pass for Avatar Flight of Passage
- 3 Multi Pass preselections: DINOSAUR, Na’vi River Journey and Festival of the Lion King.
- Rope Drop: Kilimanjaro Safaris and immediately head to Expedition Everest or book a Multi Pass into the Lightning Lane for this attraction as soon as your first Multi Pass of the day is used.
How Much Time Can I Really Save by Rope Dropping?
We have mentioned many times that by using the Disney World rope drop strategy you can save time. For example, wait times for Slinky Dog Dash average 70 minutes at 1 pm in the afternoon.
By rope dropping this attraction, you can get in line as soon as the park opens, and ride Slinky Dog Dash with less than a 20 minute wait (the wait time spikes to 60 minutes within 30 minutes of opening typically).
This can save you 50 minutes right off the bat and allow you to get in line for the next ride sooner.
Do I Really Need to Rope Drop at Disney World?
The answer to this is simply… “it depends” on how you prefer to run your Disney vacation. When you rope drop at Disney World, you will be required to get up early, and do some planning, but will be rewarded with shorter wait times on some popular rides.
There are a few categories of Disney travelers who may not find rope dropping to be for them:
- The Late sleeper- Guests who prefer to sleep in, awake as they feel like it, and don’t mind waiting in line.
- The Go with the Flow Traveler- guests who don’t like structured vacations or the tedious planning that comes with it. These guests prefer to pick attractions as they feel like it, without worrying about wait times.
- The Travelers Who Don’t Care About Lines- Guests who don’t fret about wait times have no need to rope drop.
- Take Me to the Shows- Guests who prefer to spend their time watching shows, parades, and maybe even shopping, do not need to rope drop as crowds for these activities remain fairly manageable throughout the day.
If you fit into one of these four categories, you will probably want to skip the hassle of the rope drop at Disney World, and just enjoy your Disney vacation as you see fit.
Other Reasons to Arrive at Disney World Parks Early
If you are planning to grab a cup of coffee inside the parks first thing from either Starbucks or Jeoffrey’s, then plan to arrive early. First thing in the morning, it is not uncommon for the coffee lines to reach 10-15 minutes or even up to an hour during peak travel times!
Another reason you may want to set an early alarm while on your Disney World vacation is for the photo ops. Early in the morning crowds are quieter at the main Disney PhotoPass sites. With all the guests rushing to the rides, the Photopass photographers also have shorter lines. This might be especially important if you purchase Memory Maker.
We also love heading to the Disney parks early to explore the park “streets” with less people. One particular morning we arrived at Animal Kingdom for an ETPE rope drop and perused the paths of Dinoland USA and Asia with almost no one in sight.
Lastly, we find arriving at the parks early allows for a crowd free shopping experience, particularly in Magic Kingdom. Many popular Disney stores inside the parks are full of wall to wall crowds by midday, especially the Emporium.
Early in the mornings, the shops are open and practically empty.
