Help Planning Rope Drop: Mid-December, Off-Site Stay

[LittleMerman]

Which rides would you recommend rope dropping at each park? We’ll be visiting December 13–20, staying off-site. We plan to use Lightning Lane Multi Passes at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, but won’t be purchasing Individual Lightning Lanes. Thanks so much for your advice!

 

[JIMINYCR]

Not staying onsite gets you behind all the resort guests who get in earlier than you and get ahead of you.
Rope drops are best when targeting those attractions that are the most popular and which build heavy lines very early on and stay very busy throughout the day. Your goal is to beat everyone else there before the lines explode and you have wasted time. You get as much done early on so the rest of the day you can get in on lesser attractions that may not be as heavily stacked with lines.
Those that are recommended by most are
MK: 7DMT, PP, JC, Tron
DHS : RotR, SDD, ToT, MMRR.
EP: GotG, Frozen, Soarin, TT
AK: Avatar, EE, Safari
You are going just before Christmas which is popular. LL's may be needed. Crowds are reported as being lighter than ever now but the holidays may surge those numbers up,

 

[nickys]

At MK I would go for JC and Pirates at rope drop.
The onsite guests will need to double back to get to Adventureland, so you’ll have an advantage - assuming you are near the front of the crowd in the Hub.

Alternatively go for Tiana. The slight issue there is that onsite guests will be waiting just before HM to rush to Tiana. You’ll be in a 2 way scramble to the ride. After that I’d probably head to Adventureland and knock out those rides.

I would not go straight to 7dmt or PP. I’d try and use an LL for PP if it’s a must do.

At Epcot go for Guardians or Test Track.

At AK I’d go to Dinosaur and Everest. Or the Safari, which only opens at official park opening. Everyone will head for Pandora and the lines will be horrendous!

I can’t help with DHS. I find it really hard to plan for, so maybe just decide based on what LLs you get and what else to focus on.

 

[nickys]

A few more thoughts.

7dmt is a ride where the wait time goes sky high for an hour or so and then levels off for the rest of the day. So if you avoid it first thing, then you can go at pretty much any other time.

I would also generally advise planning Fantasyland for the afternooon. Many families will head there first thing. And guests who turn left or right first thing and work their way around the park will arrive there at lunchtime. If you wait until 3-4, it should be quieter.

If you plan to watch the afternoon parade, work out which side of the parade route you want to be on, so that as soon as it passes you can dive for a ride. As per above, I’d go north, leaving you free for HM or Fantasyland.

If you don’t care about parades, or have more than one day in MK, then wait times drop just prior to and during the parade so use that time for headliners. But again, work out which side of the route you want to be on.

Also plan a day at MK on a party day. You’ll get so much more done with lower wait times, even with the early close.
If you don’t have park hopper tickets, think about a character meal or Hoop De Doo for the evening.