Quick Tips: Rope Dropping Early Entry at Walt Disney World

Rope Drop. Just the phrase itself gets my adrenaline pumping and makes me excited to go to Disney World! There are two experiences every Disney diehard needs: closing the parks out and opening the parks up. Opening the parks is otherwise known as rope dropping. My wife and I have rope dropped as off-property guests, but not since the new early entry rules. With the new entry guidelines in effect, rope dropping from an off-property stay is very different. I’m sure we will try it again at some point, but for now these tips are for those staying on property. I can proudly say I have stood at the rope of every park, been on the first ride of Seven Dwarfs, Slinky Dog, Frozen, and even Flight of Passage. We have also accomplished four rides in thirty minutes. Early entry is a great perk and if you’re willing to wake up early on vacation, the tips below can help you get the most out of it.

The Basics

When discussing rope drop, I’m going to mention Tier One and Tier Two rides quite a bit. Tier One rides are those attractions that can get two hour waits at the parks when it is busy or even one hour waits when it gets slow. Tier Two rides get one hour waits and still have long lines, but are generally less popular than Tier Ones. When rope dropping there are two main strategies:

When to arrive, how to get there, when to leave

Early Entry starts 30 minutes before the parks open, but aside from Magic Kingdom (MK) you may actually get on rides even before that. If you really want to be at the front of the line and get the most out of rope dropping, you should aim for arriving at the gate ~1 hour before that (total of ~90 minutes before park opens). Guests will start getting let into the gate around 30 minutes before early entry and staged at various spots in the park. That leads to the question of when to leave your hotel and which transportation to take.

In order, if it’s available you should take:

• Walk – If you’re in a reasonable setup to walk this is the best option. I’d suggest leaving early enough to actually arrive ~70 minutes before early entry. 
  • Contemporary or Grand Floridian going to MK
  • Boardwalk, Yacht Club, and Beach Club going to Epcot or Hollywood Studios
• Monorail – If you’re on a monorail line it will start running ~1 hour before early entry. You will actually arrive a little after the first buses, but there’s not much you can do about that since your resort won’t have buses as an option to these parks. The monorail also has the added benefit that it’s after the security checkpoints. This means that while you’ll technically arrive after guests who took buses, you may beat them to the gate – though this is less likely with the faster security check Disney now has. Also, if you are staying at the Poly and going to Epcot, walk to the TTC and do not take the resort monorail around to the TTC as it will add 10-15 minutes to your trip.
• Skyliner – The Skyliner will open ~1 hour before early entry, however, people will start lining up before this. If you’re at Pop Century, Art of Animation, or Caribbean Beach you should try to get in line ~75-90 minutes before early entry. At Riviera, the smaller size of the resort means you can plan on being ~70 minutes before early entry. Be aware the Skyliner sometimes has issues in the morning that cause it to open late. If this happens, you will want to head to the nearest bus stop (which is at Caribbean Beach Resort). This won’t completely sink your rope drop hopes but it will likely land you further back than you’d hoped to be and for Epcot likely means going in the front gate instead of the International Gateway at the back.
• Bus – This is really the second best option after walking. I put it below monorail and Skyliner to avoid confusion, since if those are an option for you buses are not (Disney does not run buses between parks and resorts with a monorail or Skyliner route). Buses begin dropping off at the park ~1 hour before early entry. That means guests who took buses are getting off at the park while everyone else is just getting onto their transportation. The tricky thing about taking  buses is that the first bus will likely be picking up from your resort ~75 minutes before early entry starts. Disney buses are not reliable to the minute and may be 5-10 minutes early or late, so you will want to be at the bus stop ~80-90 minutes before early entry. If you miss that first bus the next one won’t be around for 30 minutes (which is only 45 minutes before early entry) and you will be much further back in line at the gate.
• Drive yourself – Driving yourself may seem like a better option because of improved reliability, but it has some flaws. First off, parking lots don’t open until 1 hour before the early entry. That will put you behind the guests who took buses as you’ll be parking and walking to the gate after they have started walking to the gate. At MK this is an even worse option, since after parking you’ll have to ride a monorail or take a ferry from the TTC to the MK gate. The only times I would suggest driving are when you’re riding a monorail from your resort to Epcot or if you would be taking the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios. For the first, driving will probably  be faster, especially if you’re coming from the Grand Floridian which has three monorail stops and a transfer on the route. For the Skyliner, driving is about the same timing and more reliable, however I wouldn’t do it vs. a Skyliner to Epcot since entering through the International Gateway is a huge advantage.
• Boat – Boats are generally the slowest option and really only make sense if you are taking one from Fort Wilderness or Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom. In all other cases there are better options and, I admit, I’ve never used them for rope drop myself.

Park Specifics

Every park is a little unique when it comes to rope dropping. They hold you at different places, they have different attractions, and they open at different times.