Rope Drop at the Magic Kingdom refers to making it to the moment they open the Magic Kingdom to guests for the day. When you arrive before opening, you will see a rope closing the entrance to the park (although I have seen it without a rope and just a Cast Member manning the entrance).
Only a small percentage of guests make it to the park for rope drop. I am one of them! We go to rope drop every morning of our trip. Now I know and understand that some people just don’t want to get up and get at it so early in the morning. And I respect that… because that means while you are in the bed sleeping, I am going to be riding Peter Pan’s Flight over and over and over again with little to no wait! ;)
The Magic Kingdom opens at 9 am in the morning (unless it’s an Extra Magic Hour morning and it will open at 8 am.) In order to make it to Rope Drop, we usually get up around 6:30 in the morning. (We set a wake up call with our hotel.) We eat breakfast in our room and we arrive to the bus stop around 7:30 am. We try to be at the Magic Kingdom no later than 8:15 am.
Here are a few pictures of us at Rope Drop on our previous trips:
Why should you aim to make it for Rope Drop? Here’s why. This is my daughter and I making it into the park as the first guests of the day!
In the first hour, we were able to ride Peter Pan twice, Pooh, Little Mermaid, Goofy’s Great Goofini 3 times and Dumbo all before 10 am!
Learn how to make it to Magic Kingdom in time for Rope Drop.
Learn more about the Walt Disney World Parks including attractions, secrets, tips and more. Plus my friends at Destinations in Florida can help you plan your perfect Walt Disney World vacation.
T. Polk says
i’m so glad i’ve found your site! we going on our first trip to Disneyworld next week and its been overwhelming to figure out how to make the most of our visit. I never even heard of the rope drop til I found you. THANK YOU for such a clear and straightforward site for a newbie like me. We are staying off site (holiday inn celebration) so the info on getting there by 7:15 was super helpful. God bless yall!
Chris says
We have been going to Disney since 2004! This is the best thing to do. The opening show and being able to ride the rides more than once is awesome!
Jennifer says
We ALWAYS get there for rope drop! It’s almost like a ride in itself…the anticipation swells as you wait for the countdown! Plus, not only is there minimal wait for the rides, there’s minimal wait for the BUS! I have seen the line waiting for the bus after 8:00 (I had to go back to the hotel to get something I forgot). Getting up early is totally worth it!
Lari says
Yay!!! We are going on our very first Disney trip next week, and plan on going to the rope drop…DEFINITELY!! Thank you for including your morning time schedule for making it…I was wondering how much time to allow for the buses! Thanks again!!
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Enjoy your trip :)