Don’t Do This at Rope Drop - Peter Pan

[flyingenie]

It was after about 5 rides...the wait was listed around 30 minutes, so I was confused. But I get it now, I would have flown through the first 5 or 6 rides and then had a moderate wait at PP. The more I read here, though, I think I might try the end of the night at park closing. Sounds like a nice relaxing way to end the night.

5 rides in Fantasyland? Or did they have you criscrossing back and forth through the park?

 

[BadPinkTink]

this summer is going to be interesting, will there be fights at rope drop, as people elbow each other out of the way, one group doing the traditional Peter Pan sprint and the newcomers doing the Star Wars Galaxys Edge run. Will the Peter Pan sprinters use the strollers to flatten the Star Wars Galaxys Edge runners? Or will the Star Wars Galaxys Edge runners use The Force to clear a path and flatten the Peter Pan sprinters, anyone want to take a guess?

 

[Je Suis Renard]

I'd advise the opposite. Do PP first. The line for that gets crazy almost immediately. Lines for the other two, however, will still be relatively short 15-20 mins after opening (i.e. after riding PP). Your one chance for a short PP line lasts for about 45 seconds from rope drop. Use those seconds wisely and to your advantage.

I have to agree with you; I've only recently rediscovered the joys of PP, and I now make the mad walkdash there at rope drop (I used to start by grabbing a FP for Space Mountain at rope drop). I haven't had to wait more than 5-10 minutes to board PP when I do that.

I'm not typically at the park at closing time, so the late ride isn't an option for me.

 

[VandVsmama]

Are there any pre rope drop breakfast options that give an advantage in early morning like at DW ?

Nope

 

[FallsChurchDad]

I have to agree with you; I've only recently rediscovered the joys of PP, and I now make the mad walkdash there at rope drop (I used to start by grabbing a FP for Space Mountain at rope drop). I haven't had to wait more than 5-10 minutes to board PP when I do that.

I'm not typically at the park at closing time, so the late ride isn't an option for me.

At the risk of going down a rabbit hole, the prior question was, how would you start your day in Fantasyland if you had a stroller and didn't start by going to Peter Pan. So I named two other fun, no-height requirement rides for which the lines can build relatively quickly, particularly on a crowded morning.

This entire thread is about how, if you have a stroller, you can often end up waiting 20 minutes or more at rope drop by starting with Peter Pan, even if you are near the front of the rope. For families, this is especially bad on Early Entry mornings, since the rope is back on Main Street and there is lots of time to get passed by people without strollers.

 

[Sarahelizabeth]

How late was the park closing and I wonder if it matters - would this happen at a midnight close or a 9PM close - as I think the earlier the busier the park perhaps?

I don’t remember but it wasn’t a super late closing because i have a 5 year old and we can’t do the midnight closings.

 

[ZBSW]

Sorry if i missed it in this thread, but how early do folks get there before opening for Magic Morning hour?
Say if the park opens at 9, MM 8. When is a good time to be there waiting that is before most MM goers arrive? 7:15 - 7:30? Earlier? Later?
We don't want to be first, but definitely don't want to wait so long that the hour is almost up waiting to get in.

Also is there a special side or line that usually is the Magic Morning line?

Thanks for any answers to my questions.

 

[chickapin parterre]

Sorry if i missed it in this thread, but how early do folks get there before opening for Magic Morning hour?
Say if the park opens at 9, MM 8. When is a good time to be there waiting that is before most MM goers arrive? 7:15 - 7:30? Earlier? Later?
We don't want to be first, but definitely don't want to wait so long that the hour is almost up waiting to get in.

Also is there a special side or line that usually is the Magic Morning line?

Thanks for any answers to my questions.

I arrive 40 mins before opening and am about 15-20 in line, though that is not a viable number because usually a family member is holding a spot for 5-10 folks. Also the number does not reflect the volume of folks who have already been photographed. There is no special line, all those folks are entering early. I have been able to touch the rope every time in front of the castle with the numbers I have given you.

And that is the problem with the whole Peter Pan experience....everyone waits the hour....if just comes down if you want to wait in the horrible chains or in the magic in front of the gates and ropes that is well spent because there is no other attraction to board.

 

[ironband74]

Sorry if i missed it in this thread, but how early do folks get there before opening for Magic Morning hour?
Say if the park opens at 9, MM 8. When is a good time to be there waiting that is before most MM goers arrive? 7:15 - 7:30? Earlier? Later?
We don't want to be first, but definitely don't want to wait so long that the hour is almost up waiting to get in.

Also is there a special side or line that usually is the Magic Morning line?

Thanks for any answers to my questions.

It really varies depending on what time the park is opening. Earlier openings introduce more friction to get out of bed. Couple that with the time of year and the crowd levels.

Anecdotally: Week between Christmas and New Years - every day is a 7AM magic morning. At 0615 hardly anyone is there. By 0630 the lines were getting somewhat deep, and by 0645 it was pretty packed. I got there at 0615 and was first in line at a gate.

In my experience (usually going at busy times), the center gates are all set for Magic Morning. You can tell because they have a changeable sign above each set of turnstiles that will say Entrance, Magic Morning, or Exit. At actual opening the Magic Mornings get turned to Entrance.

If you go a little later, there are a few things you can check for. The first is that a lot of times despite there being two turnstiles at each gate, the mob will form one line. If you see this, you can quietly go up and start the second line. A corollary to this is that sometimes you'll see two lines, but one is super long and the other is super short. Many people assume that the short line is just a bulge in the longer line and join the longer line. When I went at 0615, I was first in line at a turnstile while there was a large family on my left for the other turnstile. I was ALONE in line at that gate until almost 0650! It was quite amusing to watch the lines grow on either side of me, and made me question whether I had worn my sweatshirt for too many days without washing...Lastly, there are a couple of turnstiles where there is a planter with a tree in the way of the line. A lot of times folks will line up to the planter and then people just stop getting in that line instead of forming a line around it. If you see this you can be the trailblazer that starts snaking the line around the planter.

For me, getting there early and getting in line builds my excitement. I'm at Disneyland - when I'm there I have trouble sleeping anyway, at least on the first day of a trip. I'm like a kid on Christmas (Is it time to get up yet?) I like to talk to the other families around us and get their Disney stories. I like to watch the lines build up and the excitement build up. I like to watch the chosen family count us down. And if its our first day, I really like to be near the front of the line so we can get our pics taken before they start letting folks through.

Your mileage may vary. I think getting there 30 - 45 minutes before is a good rule of thumb (the later the open, the earlier you should get there since more people will get up 'on time') that should get you in the top 25% of folks going in early.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

5 rides in Fantasyland? Or did they have you criscrossing back and forth through the park?

Sorry, just seeing this, busy week..
It was a mix of FL and TL. Like two from eachish.... sorry, I ended up dismissing the whole process. My plans kept leaving all this time at the end of the day even accomplishing all my rides twice! I feel like I'll just wing it and see how it goes. As a solo traveler I can accomplish more in a day than the average family.

 

[wdwfan22]

Is peter pan at DL the same or different than WDW?

Us too! Since it's my understanding that PP is similar to the one in WDW we're just gonna skip it and concentrate on rides and attractions not at WDW.

Peter Pan at the two parks are quite different. There are features in most of the rooms that are the same/similar, but none of the rooms are the same. I am a Peter Pan lover, riding usually twice a day at DL, and when I recently went to DW, I was surprised that I had forgotten how different the rides are. The rides, of course, have a similar feel, so I can see how people that don't ride them multiple times at both parks think they are the same.

 

[wareagle57]

If you are near the front of rope drop, starting with Alice then Dumbo would be a nice way to start the day. Both those lines can actually get pretty long pretty quick. A big mistake is to do Nemo or Autopia too early, before they are fully operational - on an 8 am opening, the ride can actually take longer at 8:30 am than at 9:30 am.

The PP line never 'dies down', but there are times when it might be posted at 35 minutes in the late afternoon / early evening. That's the time to wait for Peter Pan! Definitely not an hour after park opening.

This was actually my strategy last time I was there. On a MM we made a b-line for Alice and were first in line. We waited maybe 3-5 minutes for them to start the ride and by the time we got off, Dumbo ended up being a 20-30 minute wait for us and the posted wait times for the other dark rides scared us off. Another morning we made the Nemo mistake...never again. What a waste of time. I think I will continue to try Alice first, but then skip Dumbo and just hit up Toad and the other dark rides. We might have just had bad luck with an unusual number rushing to Dumbo but lines were bad that whole trip. It was the end of August the last week of the 60th and might have been right after blackouts were dropped.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Peter Pan at the two parks are quite different. There are features in most of the rooms that are the same/similar, but none of the rooms are the same. I am a Peter Pan lover, riding usually twice a day at DL, and when I recently went to DW, I was surprised that I had forgotten how different the rides are. The rides, of course, have a similar feel, so I can see how people that don't ride them multiple times at both parks think they are the same.

Thanks for a different perspective! Maybe if time allows we'll do PP after all.