The Difference Between Rope Drop and Early Entry Explained

Planning your itinerary for a Disney World holiday from the UK can feel overwhelming. Especially when you look online and all you see is people talking about strategies to beat the queues and make the most of your time. Not only does it add to the stress, the jargon is used in such a way that terms get confusing fast.

Fear not, we’re here to clear up two of the terms that get easily confused all of the time. So let’s dive in.

Rope Drop: The Classic Disney Strategy

“Rope Drop” refers to being at the park entrance right as it officially opens. The term comes from when Disney World first opened way back on 1st October,1971. Disney cast members used to hold ropes across the entrance, and later the lands, and then once the park opened the Cast Members would lower the ropes. That is why it’s called rope drop.

These days the term rope drop means the same but it has took on a new strategic meaning too. The idea is that your at the gate ready to go the minute the park opens. Often, at this time visitors tend to find that there are shorter queue times for the most popular attractions.

Example: Rope dropping Animal Kingdom for Kilimanjaro Safaris and then Expedition Everest will probably see you walk straight on both attractions. (We don’t recommend you rope drop Flight of Passage, as everyone does that).

By mid-morning the parks are getting busier and wait times increase. The idea of rope drop as a strategy is that at the time everyone else is arriving, you have three rides under your belt and are heading for your first Disney snack.

Early Entry: A Perk For Disney Hotel Guests

Early entry is a resort benefit only available to guests who have paid to stay in Disney hotels or select partner hotels, or for people who have an annual pass. Its a perk that gives guests entry to the parks 30 minutes before official opening times.

It might not sound like very long but that half an hour can make a huge difference. You’ll be ahead of thousands of day guests, often walking onto major rides. However, there are lots of guests in Disney hotels, so you do still have a wait for the most popular rides, like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in EPCOT.

Early entry works like this. If EPCOT opens at 9am for rope drop, it opens at 8:30am for early entry. Only the resort guests can enter the park during this half an hour to enjoy attractions.

Key Differences Between Rope Drop and Early Entry

Terms For A Morning Strategy To Beat The Queues

Both of these terms are different as you can see, but they are used together and interchangeably by Disney World vloggers, bloggers, and trip planners to describe a free morning strategy to beat queue times. Getting to any of the four Disney parks to enter as soon as you can is what both rope drop and early entry are all about.

By using an early morning start to head to rides that are very popular and get long wait times, people can:

• save money on Lightning Lanes,

• save time waiting in queues,

• make the most of their day by experiencing as many Disney attractions as possible.

How Early Should You Arrive?

If you choose to rope drop or do early entry, aim to be at the park at least 30 minutes before official opening. This allows time for getting in, security checks, and scanning into the park. They do open the park fractionally earlier than the time stated sometimes, so it is worthwhile being there.

Also as a top tip, do not underestimate travel times to get to the park. It’s surprising how long it takes to get from cars or buses to the gates.

Whether you’re rope dropping from off site or enjoying the perk of early entry as a resort guest, the key to succeeding with either of these strategies is planning and arriving early. Those first couple of hours in the park can be golden, no matter how you choose to use them.

For UK travellers be sure to use the jet lag well if you want to use rope drop or early entry to beat the queues. Getting up early those first days in Orlando will be easier than getting up in the mornings later on in your holiday.

Your Rope Drop and Early Entry Questions Answered

What time is rope drop at Disney World?

Rope drop is at different times at each of the parks and it varies daily. You need to double check opening times in your My Disney Experiences app the night before. If you’re planning, the park times are normally up about 2 ½ months in advance. If you use these times to plan an itinerary, still be sure to check the times the night before, just in case.

Do off site guests get early entry?

No off site guests are not entitled to early entry, only guests staying in Disney or Disney partner hotels get Early Entry.

How do I know if my hotel qualifies for early entry?

You can check Walt Disney World Resort Guest Early Entry | Walt Disney World Resort where you will find the most up-to-date list of hotels that give guests the early entry perk.