Another way to get the most done and out of the way is to be there at for the rope drop at Disney. Rope drop is when the park opens to guests for the day. Sometimes this includes a morning show but not always. This can be slightly different from extra magic hours to non-resort guests. Extra magic hours (EMH) has a rope drop for Disney resort guests earlier in the morning, for more information check out THIS. For those staying off site – rope drop is at a later time. You can check here for daily opening hours on Disney’s direct site. For opening times, check out Disney’s calendar. You can usually get to the big rides quicker than say mid day.
You’ll want to get to the park early, at least 30 minutes to an hour before the park opens. This allows you to be one of the first in line. Know where you are heading, so you can pick the best touch point, area to scan your magic band to enter the park. Remember there will be fewer people first thing in the morning but it can still be fairly busy. No running when the rope drops, but a brisk walk is advised
Where to go when the rope drops?
Each park has certain rides that you want to hit at rope drop. We will start with Animal Kingdom, more or less because I like alphabetical order. At animal kingdom, you want to head towards Pandora and get to either Na’vi River Journey or Flights of Passage and getting a Fastpass for the other one. Both are tier 1 rides, so you can get only 1 pre-booked fastpass. For more information about fastpasses, check out this Post. These are the most popular rides, so you’ll want to get there first. When going to Epcot, you’ll want to make your way to Frozen Ever After or Soarin around the World. This one is personal preference, I would say Frozen is the most popular ride at Epcot at this point.
Hollywood Studios is your starting point, make your way to Toy story land for either Toy Story Mania or Slinky Dog Dash. Alien swirling saucer is good if you have small children but has been less busy since the opening day. In the past, it was Rock N’ Roller coaster and Tower of Terror before Toy Story Land opened up. And Finally, if you are going to Magic kingdom for your rope dope, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train is where you want to head. This continues to be a very popular ride and times at rope drop tend to be a little lower. Hopefully this will help the next time you are headed to Disney.