If rule number one for getting the most out of your Disney vacation was to do the planning, then, when you’re on your vacation, rule number two is to get to the parks for opening (or “rope drop”, as it’s more commonly known) when you’re visiting in the mornings.
The parks are, unsurprisingly, least busy just after opening and just before closing.
Even at rope drop, when the cast members (Disney park employees) officially let you in, there will be significant numbers of people trying to get a drop on everyone else and bag a couple of big rides before the majority of guests descend on the park.
We will usually aim to be at the park around 15 to 30 minutes before its scheduled opening. This gives us plenty of time to get from the car parking lot (generally it’s a walk, maybe a tram ride – particularly for Magic Kingdom, which also includes a monorail ride), get through security, and then through the ticket gate and into the park.
Disney generally opens the ticket gates for park entry around 30 minutes before park opening.
Then, just make your way as far as you can in the direction of the first ride or attraction that you have scheduled (or want to do) until you hit the queue of people, and then wait for rope drop.
Remember, if you’re staying in a Disney Resort hotel you can access each of the parks 30 minutes before everyone else, every day of the week, and sometimes stay “after hours”, depending on the hotel you’re staying in.
This is a fantastic benefit of staying in a Disney resort hotel and enables you to do two or three rides before everyone else arrives. Genie+ doesn’t operate during that 30-minute period, but you can schedule your first Genie+ ride for when the park is officially open to all, enabling a great start to your Disney day.
