How to Rope Drop at Disney World

I have seen it so many times: guests arriving at the park at 8:50am, thinking they are early since the park opens at 9am. They are disappointed and shocked to see hundreds (literally hundreds) of people in front of them already waiting to get into the park.

Crowds at Disney World's Hollywood Studios — Hollywood Studios 8:41am (19 minutes before park opening) So many people ahead of us 😭

WHAT IS ROPE DROP

Did you know the turnstiles at each park typically open 45 minutes to an hour before park opening? You get to enter the park and go as far as you can until there is a rope blocking you from going any farther. Then… you wait… sometimes with entertainment…until the official park opening time when that rope is “dropped” (actually a cast member comes and moves it out of the way, but “rope drop” is more pithy and easier to say 🙃 ).

JAMMitors at Disney World's Epcot theme park — The JAMMitors offer entertainment as you wait at the rope in Epcot

Once that rope is moved, you “walk with a purpose” to whichever attraction you are wanting to visit.

TERMINOLOGY FOR YOU:

If you were there when that rope was dropped, you “rope dropped” that park.

If you “Rope Drop” an attraction, that means when they move the rope, you go straight to said attraction. Example: If you rope drop Flight of Passage, that means when they moved the rope, you went straight to Flight of Passage and got in line there.

WHO IS ROPE DROP FOR

Rope Dropping is not for the faint of heart. It feels like a competitive sport in some cases. You may be a very chilled and laid back person, but if you stay like that at rope drop, you will probably get trampled and find yourself in the back of the crowd.

You may have wanted a little breathing room, but someone will find their way into that empty 6” space in front of you, so you might as well fill that space yourself.

Disney World Magic Kingdom, crowd of people waiting behind rope until park opens — Guests with early morning Dining Reservations get to bypass the rope on their way to the restaurant. If you eat fast enough, you may be able to hop in line at your favorite ride before the ropes drop!

HOW TO BE AT THE VERY FRONT

Arrive at the park an hour before the park officially opens (watch out for EMH! If the park has morning EMH hours that day, you still want to get there at least 45 minutes before it opens… or an hour before if you are competitive).

This means you will probably be taking the first bus from your resort. Here is where you play a little bit of a guessing game. The buses do not promise to arrive at your resort until 45 minutes before park opening, but in my experience the first ones have usually come about an hour and 15 minutes before park opening. Go grab a drink with your resort mug and enjoy the early morning outside as you wait for your bus.

PS. Good luck convincing the rest of your group to get up and out this early in the morning 😬. Just say it with confidence that this is how early you need to be there if you want to have a “successful” morning knocking out attractions.

One year old at rope waiting for Disney World's Magic Kingdom to open — 8:30am at Magic Kingdom, but we probably arrived at 8am 😬

Argument – some may think that either way you will be waiting: “well if I show up early I’m waiting for an hour at park opening, or I can sleep in and I’ll wait an hour in line for that attraction.” That can be true in some cases, but for those top attractions, the lines are usually at least an hour and a half, plus if you are toward the front at rope drop, you can ride that top attraction AND others before the crowds start to show up. Also, I don’t know about you, but when I’m waiting in the front of the line, I am much happier than waiting in the back of a line. I feel like I’m winning in life 😆.

ROPE DROP IS NOT FOR YOU IF…

You want to sleep in, and no attraction is worth catching a bus at 6:45am on vacation!
Riding attractions is not a priority for you.
- maybe you are there to just take in the Disney magic, and you are okay if you don’t ride all the rides.
You already have Lightning Lanes for those top attractions
- if that’s the case you could skip rope drop, have a little extra sleep and arrive later.
- or you could still rope drop and get a lot more attractions in by simply avoiding that most popular one. My friend rode 5 Fantasyland rides while she waited for us to just ride Seven Dwarf Mine Train! #winning
- or if you are like I was as a teenager, (and let’s be honest, sometimes still today), you may want to ride that attraction multiple times, so you are going to rope drop it and use your Lightning Lane for it later!

GO HARD OR SLEEP IN

When it comes to rope dropping, my philosophy is go hard or just sleep in, at least if you are wanting rope drop the top attractions at the park.

If you arrive 10 minutes before Rope Drop, there will still be possibly hundreds of people in front of you going to that top attraction.

Crowd waiting for Disney World's Epcot to open — 8:54am, 6 minutes before Epcot opens… yikes

Instead, get there an hour before official park opening and be stress free as you wait for the turnstiles to open. Once they open, put your game face on and book it to the rope. Then relax as you wait for about 30 minutes until they move that rope and you put your game face on again and book it to that top attraction.

If you are not going to one of the top attractions, then rope drop is a great opportunity for you to know out a few other rides while everyone is still waiting for that top attraction!

Or you could just stroll and get some special interactions with characters, which is how we got to walk around with sweet Russ 👇🏼

Margy walking with Russel from the movie Up! at Disney World's Animal Kingdom theme park.

WHY IT PAYS OFF TO BE AT THE PARKS EARLY

Parks with new or super popular lands may open early without notice! This is another advantage to rope dropping. If you are already there, then you will be able to go to the land! Only that specific land will be open (like Pandora or Toy Story Land). The other lands won’t open until the official park opening time.