When you are planning a Disney Trip, one of the biggest perks you’ll hear about when staying at a Disney Owned Resort is the extra time you can spend in the parks! In this post we are going to break down what these are, how to use them, and how to maximize your time to get the most out of these perks.

What is it?

Rope Drop - Arriving at the parks as early as possible. This will hopefully put you close to the front, so when the park opens (‘the rope drops’) you can get on popular attractions with shorter waits.

Early Entry - All Disney Resorts & select “Good Neighbor Hotels” are allowed to enter the parks 30 minutes before the park officially opens.

Extended Evening Hours - Disney Deluxe Resort Guests can enjoy 2 hours after park close on select days at select parks. You can find these dates in the My Disney Experience App!

How does rope dropping help?

It is essential to utilize all your advantages a the parks if you hope to get on the most popular rides!

Wait times for some of these attractions can get upwards of 2 hours+. To avoid those lines, you’ll want to try and get at least one popular ride at rope drop to save yourself some time later in the day.

Early Entry

All Disney Resort Guests can get into the parks 30 minutes before opening. You also get this perk at these qualifying Good Neighbor Hotels:

Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista
Four Seasons Resort Orlando
Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
Holiday Inn Orlando
Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort
Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
Waldorf Astoria Orlando
Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
Wyndham Lake Buena Vista

how early should i get to the park for rope drop?

On site guests for Early Entry - about 45 minutes before opening to get through security. Most parks will let you into the park before official early entry time.

Traditional Rope Drop (offsite guests) - 1 Hour before park open as crowds will get larger once early entry begins.

Pro Tip - Do some research on how long it takes you to get tot he parks. If you are driving make sure you account about 45 minutes to get through the payment booth, parking, and trams.

How does Early Entry Affect Rope Drop for Off-Site Guests

Disney is uing this as an incentive to stay on property. Epcot, AK, and HS will probably have wait times for popular rides, BUT Rope Dropping is still valuable for offsite guests as the wait times may still be shorter than they will later in the day. AND some attractions are NOT open for early entry.

extended evening hours

This is a GREAT way to get even more out of the parks! All Disney Deluxe Resort guests can take advantage of this perk as well as select Good Neighbor Hotels. Be sure to check the website or App for what parks have these extended hours.

Good Neighbor Hotels w/ Extended Hours:

Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
Shades of Green on Walt Disney World

Popular Rides for Early Entry

When planning your Early Entry Strategy, it is important to know that in some parks, not every ride will be open. This can work to the advantage as you might be able to do a double rope drop depending on wait times!

Magic Kingdom - 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Space Mountain

Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are the only areas open for early entry. Most people will be headed to one of these two attractions, so you’ll probably get one of these knocked out. Another option is to try and knock out a few of the ‘smaller’ attractions like Peter Pan, it’s a small world, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, and the Teacups!

Epcot - Frozen Ever After, Test Track, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

If you are coming in from the front of the park (the main entrance), you are going to be best off Rope Dropping Frozen Ever After or Test Track as they are ‘closer’ to that entrance. If you are entering from the back of the park at International Gateway (aka you are staying at a Skyliner resort or those near Epcot like Yacht & Beach Club, the Boardwalk, or the Swan & Dolphin) you definitely are best to rope drop Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure! This attraction is just a few short steps from that entrance, so pretty easy to get to!

Animal Kingdom - Flight of Passage, Na’vi River Journey

This is another park that is only partially open for early entry. Most all of the attractions involving animals like Kilimanjaro Safari and the walking trails will not be open until official park opening.

Hollywood Studios - Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler’s Run, Slinky Dog Dash

This park is probably the MOST important one to do early! Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog Dash especially are known to have multi-hour waits most of the day, so if you can knock out one of these, it’s a win!

Popular Rides for Regular Rope Drop

Regular rope drop can still be super adventageous for those not staying at a Disney Resort. Since some areas of the park don’t open until official park open, you can still knock out some great heavy hitter attractions!

Magic Kingdom - Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion

Because Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square are not open during early entry, these are definitely the lands that you want to prioritize! My personal pick is Jungle Cruise as that one is bound to have a long wait all day.

Epcot - Frozen Ever After, Test Track, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Soarin

I would still recommend following the same strategy for this park as you would for Early Entry, BUT if you want an alternate option, you can always try and do all the lower wait rides like The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Living with the Land, and Journey Into Imagination with Figment, and then if you have purchased Genie+, you can focus those heavy hitter attractions for your Lightning Lane Selections.

Animal Kingdom - Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest, Flight of Passage

Since most guests will be headed to Pandora for Early Entry, I highly recommend going the OPPOSITE way or even starting in the back of the park! You can usually ride Expedition Everest a few times first thing in the morning AND you can grab one of my favorite breakfasts in the park.

Hollywood Studios - Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler’s Run, Slinky Dog Dash

This park is still really important to get to EARLY even if you are doing regular rope drop. The lines for Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog will still be lowest first thing, so if you can be at the front of regular rope drop, you can still have the option to knock out one of these attractions!

Rope Drop, Early Entry, and Extended Evening Hours at Disney World