Rope Drop Epcot from International Gateway

[mikejs78]

Anyone do rope drop from international gateway lately? What's the current procedure? How long of a wait time can I expect coming from IG if we get there before 8:30 and walk decently fast? We're going in mid-April, so FastPass selection is coming up. Current thinking is to do Frozen at rope drop, do 3 FastPasses early (Spaceship Earth, Soarin', and something else, either Turtle Talk or Space), and then try to get a 4th FastPass for Test Track in the afternoon... Any thoughts on

 

[GVentola]

I would pick Mission: Space above Turtle Talk for Fast Passes. Turtle Talk is an interactive show that you should be able to get into without a pass, and Mission: Space is a thrill ride with a potential line.

 

[lentesta]

Last Saturday I and 5 people from my team tested all 6 permutations of visiting Test Track, Frozen, and Soarin' at rope drop. Half of us started from IG.

It looked like the IG entrance was opened at the same time as the main entrance. Walking times to Soarin' and Frozen seemed roughly equal from both entrances, too. (We didn't run, and the joggers were not stopped.)

Test Track was down for most of the morning. Even with that, though, the only permutations that didn't make sense were the ones that had Frozen as the middle step (as in: Future World -> Norway -> Future World). The extra walking is not useful.

I think your plan is reasonable. You might try for TT as your 4th FP, as I think the combined wait of Space and Turtle Talk wouldn't match TT on a busy day.

Good luck.

 

[Weather_Lady]

From what I've read on this issue (and as @lentesta appears to confirm), it's "six of one and half-a-dozen of the other" if you're headed to Frozen from either entrance (main or IG). They open about the same time, and if you look at a map and trace the route there from either entrance (from the IG, you're routed clockwise around WD, which is not the most direct route), the distance is similar.

I have read (and it makes sense, given how much closer Soarin' is to the main entrance) that if you head straight to Soarin' from the IG, you'll get there a couple of minutes after the first few dozen people from the main entrance.

For this reason, next time we visit (staying at Beach Club), we plan to enter at IG and hit Frozen first (touringplans tells us to expect a 15-20 minute wait right from the get-go, but of course that depends on how quickly we can speedwalk, and whether the main entrance folks get a slight head start -- because Frozen loads so slowly, even a 5-minute delay in arriving could mean a substantial jump in our wait time), then Test Track (possibly in the single rider line). We'll use our FP+ on Soarin', Spaceship Earth and Mission:Space.

 

[Club34]

i can only imagine the gateway mob for 'rope drop' once ratatouille and the gondola are all going.

 

[mdubm]

We stayed at YC in June and rope dropped from IG. We didn’t hit frozen first because we had a FP for it later. We went straight to Soarin and wait time was about 20-30 by the time we made it there. Crowd level at IG entrance was very low.

 

[nickys]

i can only imagine the gateway mob for 'rope drop' once ratatouille and the gondola are all going.

I doubt they'll open Ratatouille at RD, unless just to spread out the RD crowd. The reason for FEA being open is because of Akershus's breakfast.

 

[Tuvalu]

I doubt they'll open Ratatouille at RD, unless just to spread out the RD crowd. The reason for FEA being open is because of Akershus's breakfast.

Les Halles Boulangerie is open for breakfast.
I’d be VERY surprised if Ratatouille isn’t open at RD.

 

[mikejs78]

Last Saturday I and 5 people from my team tested all 6 permutations of visiting Test Track, Frozen, and Soarin' at rope drop. Half of us started from IG.

It looked like the IG entrance was opened at the same time as the main entrance. Walking times to Soarin' and Frozen seemed roughly equal from both entrances, too. (We didn't run, and the joggers were not stopped.)

Test Track was down for most of the morning. Even with that, though, the only permutations that didn't make sense were the ones that had Frozen as the middle step (as in: Future World -> Norway -> Future World). The extra walking is not useful.

I think your plan is reasonable. You might try for TT as your 4th FP, as I think the combined wait of Space and Turtle Talk wouldn't match TT on a busy day.

Good luck.

@lentesta Thanks for this advice. Did it this past Monday, and it worked perfectly. Rope dropped Frozen from IG, basically walked on.. Then did the rest of the park with FPs for SSE, LwtL, and Soarin. While in the FastPass queue at Soarin, got a 4th FP for TT for after lunch pretty easily.

Also, the lines app and your custom touring plans feature came in *very* handy during our trip. Crowd levels were pretty reasonable, and with good planning we were able to see most of everything we wanted without waiting in a lot of long lines. Great work, well worth the subscription.