If we had one hack to get the most done in a short period of time, it would be to rope drop Disneyland Park. That means arriving before the park opens, picking the direction to go and lining up behind a rope so you’re ready to enter a land right at park opening (when the cast members pull back the rope and release you into the park). If you rope drop Disneyland, you will set your day off to a great start. We bring you our Disneyland rope drop strategies so you can get the most out of your day.
Why do we love "rope drop" so much? You can practically walk on most rides in the park! For the first hour or two of the day, you’ll get so much done that you can afford to take a break, enjoy a table-service meal or see a show/parade when lines hit their peak hours in the afternoon. When you walk in late morning or early afternoon, the park is more crowded and wait times can be long. Even if we are not usually morning frogs, on Disneyland days, we spring out of bed because we know the early frogs get the flies. The "flies," in this case, are rides with short wait times!
Here are our Disneyland rope drop strategies. Keep in mind, we also have some Disney California Adventure rope drop strategies too!
When to Arrive at Disneyland Park for Rope Drop
If the park opens at 8 a.m., parking lots open at 7 a.m. Security opens between 7 and 7:15 a.m. and the park turnstiles open between 7:20 and 7:30 a.m. This is when you walk down Main Street U.S.A. and literally walk up to the ropes closing off the lands and rides from the central Hub in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Hotel guests with Early Entry access on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday can bypass those ropes to enter Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. All the other guests are held in the Hub by ropes. At park opening, the cast members pull back the ropes so guests can access all lands of the park. This is why it’s called rope drop.
The mornings are cool, with much fewer people and significantly shorter lines. Don’t be bothered by the waiting crowds in the Hub. The crowd disperses in all directions. So which direction should you go?
Where to Start at Disneyland Park for Rope Drop?
Picture this, you’ve got your littles in hand, a backpack filled with ice-cold waters and snacks. You have a light jacket for temperature changes and sunscreen and lip balm in your fanny pack. Your phone is fully charged, your external charger too and you are ready to tackle the most magical day at Disneyland. You arrive at the parks even before the park opens for rope drop. Where to first?
Everyone you talk to will have a different rope drop strategy. So many factors come into play. Do you have little kids or teens and tweens? Are you using Lightning Lane Multi Pass or not? Are you park hopping? Of course, little Lily would say Peter Pan, but is that a trap? Or Tad would say Space Mountain, but is that the best choice? Let’s talk rope drop at Disneyland Park.
So where should you start? Here are a few common places to start. We’ll go over the pros and cons of each one and why that direction might be best for you. The best answer is that there really is not a wrong way! It just depends on your priorities and party.
Fantasyland
If you have small children or are not seeking thrills, Fantasyland is a great rope drop option for several reasons. The lines are short, the rides are short and there is a short distance to walk between them. That means you can easily knock out several rides in a very short period of time. We recommend starting with Alice in Wonderland, then Dumbo.
Save Peter Pan's Flight until the end. Why is that? Unless you are right at the ropes and one of the fastest walkers and one of the first people to get there that line fills very fast and loading is slow. So you'll spend the first 45 minutes in line while all the other lines are short. But at noon, the line is still about 45 minutes. So you can save this ride for a time when all the lines are long. You'll wait the same amount of time as you would in the morning. If you ride in the morning, by the time you exit, the other lines will be getting longer. For thrill-seekers, Matterhorn Bobsleds has a really short wait in the morning. So does "it's a small world," so hit those after you complete the other Fantasyland rides.
Most of Fantasyland is open for Early Entry. If you have Early Entry, do Peter Pan right before park opening.
Another perk of Fantasyland in the morning is sometimes characters come wandering through. If crowds are low, you might get some special time with them. We have been pulled into tea parties with Alice and the Mad Hatter and have played with Peter Pan on quiet mornings.
Did you know the first person to ride Storybook Canal Boats can sign a book? Now you do! :)
Toontown
Not too many people race to Toontown in the morning. But we recommend it for several reasons. If you have small children, it's easier to watch them play without the crowds. You can meet Mickey in his street clothes outside his house for the first half hour of park opening. Then, if you time right, he'll go into his house to change, and you can follow him and then meet him in one of his stage outfits without a wait. Lines for the attractions are the shortest of the day. The interactive queue for Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is a line you don't want to skip, so you may as well hit it when it's short. Toontown is not a bad way to go after rope drop. Afterward, you can usually hit "it's a small world" and Matterhorn Bobsleds with a fairly short wait.
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is a popular choice, and for good reason. If you are not using Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can hit a lot of those rides in a short period of time. But keep in mind that you'll be in the crowd heading to Space Mountain, so situate yourself to walk quickly to this popular ride. Being at the back of the crowd can add 20 minutes to your wait.
After Space Mountain, you can hit Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Autopia, Fining Nemo Submarine Adventure and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in succession pretty quickly. Five of those rides have Lightning Lanes. If you are using Lightning Lane Multi Pass, we recommend saving some of those rides to use the Lightning Lane for later (when lines are long all over the park) and instead head to rides without a Lightning Lane in the morning.
Adventureland/Frontierland/New Orleans Square
These three lands are all pretty close. Heading left at rope drop is one of our favorite directions to head when we want to hit a lot of iconic Disneyland rides without a wait. The Indiana Jones Adventure line is short in the morning, same with Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain and Jungle Cruise. You'll have a pretty good feeling of accomplishment knocking these big ones early without any waits. We never regret starting this way. Plus, if you are visiting on an Early Entry day, these lands take you away from the Early Entry visitors.
Bayou Country
Very few people head straight to Bayou Country because they pass so many tempting rides along the way. But The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh has a guest book to sign for the first person who gets there. However, this line is usually pretty reasonable all day long, so we don't tend to rush here. Mid-morning is fine. If you are looking to get a hug from Pooh and pals, the characters do not usually come out until mid-morning.
Splash Mountain used to have a very short line in the morning (as people like to wait for the park to warm up to ride this water ride), but Tiana's Bayou Adventure is open as of Nov. 15, 2024. However, when it initially opens, it will operate with a virtual queue and Lightning Lane Multi Pass & Premier Pass access only. So, until the ride switches to a traditional standby line, it won't need a rope drop strategy.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is Disneyland’s biggest attraction and a must-see! Much of the crowd is heading to Rise of the Resistance at rope drop. We don’t always recommend it unless it’s your must-do. This ride does offer Lightning Lane Single Pass for an additional fee. The price varies but is often $20-30 per person. (It's not included with Lightning Lane Multi Pass, but it is with the priciest Premier Pass option.) If that is in the budget, great, you will wait little to no time at all. The line tends to be 70-90 minutes through the day, making it the longest line in the park.
If you would like to save that money, we would consider rope dropping this ride. But we do have a whole post on accessing Rise of the Resistance with all your options. We prefer to hop in line during parade time or in the last hour of the ride's operation. Why? We can access so many more rides in the first hour of park opening by not racing to Rise. If you do not choose to do Rise, you can likely fit three to four rides in the first hour. Also, a few times we have tried to rope drop Rise, the ride was not open yet! Croak!
To get to this ride quickly at rope drop, position your family closest to Frontierland. We recommend doing it on a Sunday, Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning when there is less competition from Early Entry guests. (If you do have Early Entry, you can line up by the gates in Fantasyland.) You will enter Frontierland and go right at Thunder Mountain. Basically, follow the herd at this point but you will enter Batuu and get in the line. It’s important you enter this way because if you enter down by Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree in Bayou Country, you will have to walk far past the ride to get in the extended line that will lose you a lot of time.
The tricky part of Rise of the Resistance is that some mornings it is closed at park opening. You should still take your chances and go to Rise of the Resistance at opening, but have a quick alternative plan, you know where to head next. We would suggest Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion or Fantasyland. A lot of people will head to Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run, so we tend to get out of Batuu when Rise is not open.
Are You Using Lightning Lane Multi Pass?
If you are not using Lightning Lane Multi Pass, a good strategy is to hit rides with Lightning Lanes first, such as Indy, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Millennium Falcon, etc. You know those standby lines will be much longer later.
If you are using Lightning Lane Multi Pass, choose a Lightning Lane for either Indiana Jones or Space Mountain, and then start with the other one. Then focus on rides without Multi Pass while the lines are short. Indy and Space Mountain Lightning Lanes tend to fill up first so if you ride one without Multi Pass and secure a Lightning Lane for the other, you should have plenty of other Lightning Lane choices throughout the day. Save Star Tours, Autopia, "it's a small world" and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters for midday because those have the most availability later. In the morning, focus on acquiring other Lightning Lanes first, such as the thrill rides. Hop over to our top tips and strategies for using Lightning Lane at Disneyland post to learn more.
Early Entry at Disneyland
On-property hotel guests get 30 minutes early entry to Disneyland on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (subject to change, especially on some weekend runDisney race days). These are the rides open for Early Entry at Disneyland:
- Alice in Wonderland
- Astro Orbitor
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Disneyland Monorail
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- King Arthur Carrousel
- Mad Tea Party
- Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
- Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
If you have Early Entry, we recommend visiting Fantasyland because the rides are short and close to each other. Knock a bunch out and hop in line for Peter Pan's Flight right before rope drop. If you don't have Early Entry, you might want to head to one of the other paths that take you away from where the Early Entry people are.
Tips for Rope Drop at Disneyland
Here are a few tips for a successful morning.
- Get your coffee before you get to the park.
- Eat breakfast at your hotel or home. (We love hotels that offer free breakfast to save time and money!) Or start out with snacks and eat a delayed breakfast mid-morning.
- Mobile order some food while in ride lines. About two hours after park opening is a good time to take a break or eat a sit-down breakfast or enjoy character dining as the full crowds start to arrive. Hit it hard early and it will help ease the stress of the day.
- Arrive as early as you can.
- Choose your first Lightning Lane upon entering the park.
- Set up your remaining Lightning Lanes for late morning to the middle of the day, when lines are long.
- When park hopping, choose a second or third Lightning Lane for the other park.
- Don't froget to stop to take a morning group photo while everyone is still fresh!
- Grab a locker to store sweatshirts and jackets after it warms up.
- Prep the night before. Lay your outfits out, maybe even shower the night before and get your bags packed and MagicBands out. Do everything you can to make your morning go faster so you can get to the park ASAP!
Are you a rope drop person or a late-night person who likes to close the park down at Disneyland? Let us know in the comments section below! If you are looking to save some green with discount Disneyland tickets, check out the deals at Undercover Tourist. You can even book on-site hotels (with Early Entry) or off-site hotels that are within walking distance of the parks through Undercover Tourist.
Related: Our Top Tips and Strategies for Early Entry at Disneyland Resort
Related: The Yummiest Places to Fill Up on Breakfast at Disneyland
