The Ins And Outs Of Disney's Rope Drop

You’re researching your upcoming trip, and you see people talking about “Rope Drop.”

What the heck is Rope Drop?

Rope Drop is a term used by frequent Disney-goers to describe the moment the park opens. It describes the technique used by Disney to guide guests into the park to avoid a stampede to popular attractions.

Cast Members hold a rope and guests stand behind, waiting for the all-clear to enter the park or individual lands within the park. When it’s “all-clear” Cast Members will guide Disney guests to the attractions. At a safe time, they drop the rope, allowing all guests free reign of the park. Other methods can be used depending on the park or land location. But Rope Drop is still the term used, whatever the method.

The was back when Magic Kingdom conducted their Rope Drop at the front of the park at an EARLY before the sun comes up park open.

Why should I care about Rope Drop? I like sleeping in when I’m on vacation.

If you’re a night owl and you are visiting during the summer when long hours in the parks are plentiful, you never have to experience the indecent early morning hours. Sleep in. Have a leisurely lunch. And then, hit the parks when all the early birds are leaving to take their naps. Just make sure you have your FastPasses in place during that crowded mid-afternoon time.

If you’re a night owl during the winter when evening hours aren’t plentiful, you may have to ignore that snooze button and brave the early park open at least a few times during your trip. Sorry. It’s just the nature of the beast.

But I love getting up early! What does Rope Drop mean to me?

You’re in luck. Walking into the parks, the minute they open is the best way to maximize your time. Lines are shortest first thing in the morning before all the sleepy heads start trickling in.

If you’re going to take advantage of Rope Drop, you won’t need to start scheduling FastPasses until the park has been open for at least 2-3 hours. The only exception to this rule is if you want to be able to start scheduling more than the allotted 3 FastPasses a day. For example, at EPCOT we make a beeline to Test Track and ride without a FastPass. Then, we go to Soarin’ with an early FastPass scheduled. We use our 3rd FastPass an hour or so after the Soarin’ FastPass. As soon as we have checked in to our last FastPass, we rev up the My Disney Experience App and start looking for more FastPasses: Frozen Ever After, Soarin’ or Test Track are our favs.

Crammed in, ready to stroll to Test Track at EPCOT during Rope Drop. Believe it or not, even with this many people ahead of us, Test Track was just about a walk-on.

What if I have every intention of making it to Rope Drop but miss it?

No big deal. You should already have your FastPasses in place. Check the My Disney Experience App to find the shortest lines and go from there. You may not be riding your favorite attractions multiple times but you’ll still have a magical time!