Actually I have a question for you guys about this. The DH and I vacation at WDW every year...but we've never seen a rope drop at any of the parks! I know...we're terrible...but I'm a bit of a troll in the morning so I'll take the heat for this one
Anywho, what time do you suggest getting there in the morning for the rope drop? Like 15-20 minutes before the park is scheduled to open?
Thanks!
For Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Studios, I like to be in line to enter the turnstyles NO LATER than 30 minutes before posted park opening, if not sooner, which means getting out of my car around 20 minutes past the hour before opening. The turnstyles usually don't open until quarter 'till opening, although on some extremely busy days, they may open sooner. I look for a turnstyle that has the green arrow activated, and pick the one with the shortest line. Don't assume that just because a turnstyle has no one in line that it won't be used, as "the masses" have a habbit of lining up wherever they see a line formed, often without looking for a shorter one.
At AK, I like to use the shorter line at the Cast Member turnstyles, (to the far right) as those are not exclusively for CMs. If even those have too long a wait, the breakfast turnstyles to their left are exclusively for breakfast guests before the turnstyles open, but usually convert to regular turnstyles when all the others open. So I may ask a CM by those if that will be the case on that given day, and if so, I can wait by those, out of the way of those who need them, and then be the first person through them when all the others open.
Now, MK is an entirely different animal than the other three parks due to that big lagoon preventing the park entrance from being mere footsteps away from your early parked car.
The first thing I try to do to make a MK rope drop is make sure my car is parked in the ultra-close Minnie lot (usually the first one they park, although occasionally they start with the equally close Sleepy) by 8 AM (for a 9AM rope drop). This is because sometimes they start parking the MUCH FARTHER Pluto lot shortly after 8 (on crowded days) even though there are plenty of spots left in Minnie. And then if you just miss a tram in Pluto, I find it quicker to jog to the TTC than wait for the next tram!
But anyway, the ideal is to be on that monorail as soon as possible, so that if the line for the monorail is unexpectedly backed up, or if they are having technical difficulties with the monorail, you can still make it into the park in time for the Welcome Show (which usually starts at around 12 minutes to opening, with the turnstyles usually opening about 30 minutes before opening).
It's not so important for me to be the first one through the turnstyles in the MK, as I don't stand by the ropes anyway, because I like to have a better viewing angle of the Welcome Show in front of the train station.
Usually if I'm running a little later parking and exiting my car than my "60 minutes before" opening target, I can still make the Welcome Show, but it seems something always goes wrong when I am running late (such as problems with the monorail that are completely out of my control) which is why I recommend the "60 minutes early strategy" to make sure I don't miss the rope drop and Welcome Show at MK!
As much as I love/prefer the ferry, I don't consider it a reliable option in the morning, as the first boat of the day doesn't always leave early enough to make the beginning of the Welcome Show.
