Rope Drop Rundown: A Marvelous Morning at Magic Kingdom

Ever experienced the exhilarating rush of a Disney Park at opening, as the rope drops, heralding the dawn of a fresh day of enchantment? That’s exactly what my son Johnny and I plunged into on a recent visit to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Our mission? To squeeze in as many thrill-packed rides as possible before our Tron Virtual Queue was summoned. And here’s the kicker – we did all this without the help of Genie+ or Early Theme Park Entry perks for resort guests. Let’s see what an early morning is like in the parks and which rides Johnny couldn’t resist!

Having to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center means having to plan for extra time to get to the park entrance. And rope drop can mean lots of guests all arriving at the same time. Luckily, we sailed right through the parking booth and got a great parking spot.

Security wasn’t an issue, and we headed straight for the Monorail, Johnny’s preferred method of transportation to Magic Kingdom.

We didn’t see our first crowds until we got to the park entrance. As we came down the monorail ramp, we could see the long lines of guests waiting to enter Magic Kingdom.

We worked our way around the lines and to get to the Annual Pass entrance, which was quite short. There were just a few families in front of us. It took us longer to get through the crowds than to get through this line.

We entered the park right around 8:30 and the park officially opened at 9. Our estimated call time for TRON was 1:30pm.

We got to the Adventureland entrance about twenty minutes prior to opening. And there’s the rope! Two cast members guarded the entry to Adventureland. A similar setup is found at each spoke into the park. Then, just about at 9am, the rope dropped… well, they really just tell everyone to stand still while they remove the rope. No actual drop.

Johnny selected to start our day by riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a good choice since it’s the furthest ride from the Early Park Entry options of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. At park open, Johnny led us straight through Adventureland to Frontierland and onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

I personally may have selected a different route, but Johnny was leading the charge. We followed the line but we still walked right onto the ride.

Our first ride of the day, coming into the station!

As we left the area, I paused to get a few construction pictures of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Construction. While they are actively working, there is nothing new to see.

Up next, Johnny headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. There was no line at all here and we went right to the front row.

When we got off the ride, Johnny stopped to look at some of the merchandise.

I took a moment to check wait times and check our Tron return. Our return time for Tron had come down to about 12:30! Johnny chose Haunted Mansion as our next ride. On our way, I stopped to say hello to Big Al.

Part of the extended queue for Haunted Mansion was open and even though the line never stopped moving, Johnny paused to play with some of the interactive props.

Up next, it’s a small world, where not only was it walk-on, but we also had a boat all to ourselves!

Followed by Price Charming Regal Carrousel.

Before heading over to the Mad Tea Party, Johnny tried the Sword in the Stone.

Mad Tea Party was the first attraction where we experienced any sort of wait, if you could call it that. We waited for about 5 minutes before selecting our teacup.

It was now about 10:45am and we stopped to refill our water bottles with some free ice water. The Florida sun gets hot quickly!

Our first real wait of the day, Tomorrowland Speedway with a 15-minute posted wait time. Unfortunately, it was MUCH slower than the posted time. From getting in line to getting off the ride, the whole experience was about 40 minutes.

It was time for a snack, and I Mobile Ordered a Mickey Pretzel from the Launch Pad, to help eliminate the additional wait of waiting to order in line. On the way, Johnny stopped to give the water ball a spin.

We headed over to ride the Peoplemover around 11:30am where we waited about 5 minutes to take the ramp leading up to the ride. As we started our journey through Tomorrowland, I noticed a storm brewing on the horizon.

With the impending storm, we decided to stay in Tomorrowland to wait for our Tron number to be called. Sticking with the Classics, Johnny opted for Carousel of Progress.

As we exited the Carousel of Progress, we could see that there had been some rain but more looked to be coming. Checking the wait board, we were pretty close to our return time being called. Unfortunately, significant storms and lightning were in the area, which closed the outdoor rides.

This inflated the wait times for other attractions, which Johnny did not want to wait for. We opted instead to check out the Tomorrowland Launch Depot to wait out the impending rain until it was time for Tron.

It only took a few minutes before our Tron return time was called. It was starting to drizzle, but luckily the outside line was short. By the time we got off 30 minutes later, the storm had passed.

After that point, we were done for the day. We headed to lunch at the Plaza Restaurant before going home to recover from a rope drop day. Nine attractions in less than 7 hours. We by no means pushed or sped through the morning. We stopped and enjoyed the park along the way.

Although it ended up being a busy day at Magic Kingdom, that had little effect on our day. We got there at rope drop, selected attractions that weren’t the first choice of other guests, and sailed through the morning. At most, we would have done one more attraction if the rain had not affected wait times. While the prospect of doing rope drop may sound scary with a lot of pressure to do as much as possible, Johnny showed us that it was actually an enjoyable way to see the park without too much waiting.

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Have you rope-dropped Magic Kingdom? How did Johnny do? What ride would you start your day with? Let’s get the conversation going in the comments below!

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