David S.
Member
In my experience, when I get to the park first thing in the morning for the Welcome Show/Rope Drop, the Castle is almost always open.
Sometimes when they do a 9:35 AM Castle Show and the park opens at 9 AM, I have seen a few people overzealously put the ropes up a few minutes before the 9AM announcement plays and deny even the early birds who hustled down Main Street and arrived at the Castle for rope drop the ability to walk through the Castle and into Fantasyland to start their day. Although usually they are pretty good about letting the first wave of guests through the castle before blocking access.
Lately, this doesn't seem to be an issue as the first castle show seems to be at 10:35 AM, so if you get there at rope drop one can walk leisurely down Main Street and through the Castle. I don't know exactly when they block access, but I'm guessing it would be around 10 AM for a 10:35 show.
Basically, once the castle shows get going, one cannot walk through the castle until the castle shows are done for the day. (although I think if there's a big break between morning and afternoon shows, it may sometimes be open then). Then after it opens after the last castle show, the castle is blocked again at some point before the fireworks start, and when the fire marshall gives the all-clear after the fireworks, is then usually open for the remainder of the night (it usually reopens approx 15 minutes after the fireworks)
Castle shows and Trolley shows have also reduced the amount of opportunities for guests to ride the Main Street Vehicles, but that's another matter!
To answer the thread question, my favorite starting patterns are:
Magic Kingdom - Fantasyland, my favorite "land", hitting all 8 attractions in usually under 90 minutes after rope drop, then into Toontown or Space Mountain.
Alternate fave MK starts include:
Space Mountain + multiple Space Mountain re-rides, then more Tomorrowland, and lastly:
Big Thunder/Splash Mountain/Country Bears - which starts the day off with 3 of my faves!
Sometimes I like to start by riding the train around the park, especially if I'm just doing a half day (or less) visit and not trying to rack up rides at rope drop.
For the other parks:
Future World - Imagination, Seas, Land
World Showcase - Mexico/Grand Fiesta, Norway/Maelstrom, and clockwise from there
Studios - Rock and Roller Coaster, Tower, Great Movie Ride
Animal Kingdom - usually Everest or Safari, or sometimes just starting of by enjoying the animal trails in the Oasis and Discovery Island, then It's Tough To Be A Bug.
