Rope Drop for Offsite Guests

[Huey Louie and the News]

My family has a trip upcoming 11/25-12/2. We have a timeshare at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek so we are offsite guests. We've always been early morning rope droppers and just avoided the park with morning magic hours...obviously, this is no longer an option for us.

Does anyone have any experience with how they are handling offsite guests early in the morning? If MK opens at 9AM and we arrive at 8:30-8:40 AM will they allow us in the park to shop, get coffee, and take pictures of the Castle? Or will they just be holding us outside the park entirely until 9AM? (we typically get breakfast at the Contemporary and then walk over early...will they allow us through the Contemp walkway?)

Will this also be the case for the other parks as well? I'm a little confused on when they scan your Magicband/ticket for those staying onsite vs offiste at each park.

We'd still plan to get to the parks early to avoid full crowds in the morning but don't want to arrive too early to just stand in line.

Thanks!

 

[Tuvalu]

At DHS and Epcot you will be held outside the turnstiles until official opening time.

At MK, you will be allowed into the park with resort guests but have to remain on Main Street or the castle hub until official opening. CMs are stationed at the entrances to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland (the only lands open early) to scan resort guests in for admittance.

You can use the Contemporary walkway to MK but note you cannot park at the Contemporary without a dining reservation.

I did not experience AK and cannot comment on that protocol.

 

[Huey Louie and the News]

At DHS and Epcot you will be held outside the turnstiles until official opening time.

At MK, you will be allowed into the park with resort guests but have to remain on Main Street or the castle hub until official opening. CMs are stationed at the entrances to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland (the only lands open early) to scan resort guests in for admittance.

You can use the Contemporary walkway to MK but note you cannot park at the Contemporary without a dining reservation.

I did not experience AK and cannot comment on that protocol.

Thanks for the info - this is very helpful! Our plan was to mobile order breakfast from Contempo cafe and just walk over to the park after eating (we'll most likely just take an Uber to the Contemporary in the morning).

 

[Weather_Lady]

Thanks for the info - this is very helpful! Our plan was to mobile order breakfast from Contempo cafe and just walk over to the park after eating (we'll most likely just take an Uber to the Contemporary in the morning).

I'm not sure a mobile order (as opposed to a TS reservation) will get your rideshare through the gates at the Contemporary in the morning. I thought I'd read that they cracked down on that awhile ago, although YMMV.

 

[Demarke]

At DHS and Epcot you will be held outside the turnstiles until official opening time.

At MK, you will be allowed into the park with resort guests but have to remain on Main Street or the castle hub until official opening. CMs are stationed at the entrances to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland (the only lands open early) to scan resort guests in for admittance.

You can use the Contemporary walkway to MK but note you cannot park at the Contemporary without a dining reservation.

I did not experience AK and cannot comment on that protocol.

They may have changed Epcot recently. I went a couple weeks ago and they let us past the turnstiles, but non-resort guests were held back essentially by the fountain before you get to Spaceship Earth and they dropped the ropes to allow us through at about 9:55am for the 10:00am opening. I didn’t go early to any of the others, so can’t speak to any of those.

 

[nickys]

I believe at AK everyone gets in and non resort guests get held at Discovery Island. No change from the old EMH procedures.

 

[LittleMerman]

I have a question about rope drop. I'm going to WDW in Feb 2022 and will be staying off-property. Will it be worth getting to the parks right at opening in hopes of getting in line for the big attractions (Flight of Passage, Mine Train, etc) or will the lines already be super long because of resort guests? I plan on purchasing Lightning Lane for a lot of these attractions but figured rope drop might be a good way to ride them more than once. Thanks.

 

[Raxel7851]

I'm not sure a mobile order (as opposed to a TS reservation) will get your rideshare through the gates at the Contemporary in the morning. I thought I'd read that they cracked down on that awhile ago, although YMMV.

I think you may be correct. In May we stayed at GF and wanted to mobile order at The Contempo Cafe for something different. We kept getting a message that only Contemporary guests can mobile order. We later found out that it’s due to people using the Mobile Ordering as a way to access the Contemporary parking area, then walk or Monorail to MK.

 

[Huey Louie and the News]

I think you may be correct. In May we stayed at GF and wanted to mobile order at The Contempo Cafe for something different. We kept getting a message that only Contemporary guests can mobile order. We later found out that it’s due to people using the Mobile Ordering as a way to access the Contemporary parking area, then walk or Monorail to MK.

That's disappointing to hear but thanks for the heads up. That was always our tradition to get breakfast at CC and then walk to the Kingdom. Good to know in advance, though as we'll make other plans. Does anyone know if this would be the case for the quick service locations at Grand Flo or the Poly? We were also going to get breakfast a day at the Riviera as I've heard their quick service is excellent. I wonder if this will be the case for all resorts or just MK resorts?

 

[Raxel7851]

That's disappointing to hear but thanks for the heads up. That was always our tradition to get breakfast at CC and then walk to the Kingdom. Good to know in advance, though as we'll make other plans. Does anyone know if this would be the case for the quick service locations at Grand Flo or the Poly? We were also going to get breakfast a day at the Riviera as I've heard their quick service is excellent. I wonder if this will be the case for all resorts or just MK resorts?

I’m not sure if it’s the same at the Poly. When we were at the GF, the monorail wasn’t stopping at Poly due to the construction out front. Maybe someone who has stayed there more recently can provide more info. You could make reservations at the Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast if they’re available.

 

[Clamman73]

My family has a trip upcoming 11/25-12/2. We have a timeshare at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek so we are offsite guests. We've always been early morning rope droppers and just avoided the park with morning magic hours...obviously, this is no longer an option for us.

Does anyone have any experience with how they are handling offsite guests early in the morning? If MK opens at 9AM and we arrive at 8:30-8:40 AM will they allow us in the park to shop, get coffee, and take pictures of the Castle? Or will they just be holding us outside the park entirely until 9AM? (we typically get breakfast at the Contemporary and then walk over early...will they allow us through the Contemp walkway?)

Will this also be the case for the other parks as well? I'm a little confused on when they scan your Magicband/ticket for those staying onsite vs offiste at each park.

We'd still plan to get to the parks early to avoid full crowds in the morning but don't want to arrive too early to just stand in line.

Thanks!

You'll be allowed in at MK...They check at the right side of the hub where they'll have it roped off to get into Tomorrowland and to get to 7 dwarves hub spokes...that's where the band for resort people will get scanned.
Epcot at some point they'll let you through turnstiles and you hang to the left of the fountain until opening...The resort people go up to Guardians to about where the front of pavilion is...International gate resort people are held around the Canada stage.