Your Rope Drop Strategy Is About to Look TOTALLY Different in Disney World

Are you ready to navigate these huge changes that are about to come to Disney World?

We’re talking about the bombshell that Disney dropped on us at the end of June 2024 — Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass! This is the new name for the Genie+ skip-the-line ride reservation system (that’s been in place since 2021). With this new system about to begin operation on July 24th, we’ve really been thinking about what your ride strategy will be, specifically about how this is going to change how you rope drop. Let’s talk about it!

As we were saying, this new strategy is going to change a lot of our ride strategies, especially rope dropping rides. But before we go into what to do about your rope drop plan, let’s go over a quick primer on the new system.

When the new system is in place on July 24th, you’ll be able to:

Make your Lightning Lane plans BEFORE you get to Disney World
- If you’re staying in a Disney World hotel, you’ll be able to book your first three Lightning Lane reservations seven days before your trip.
- If you’re NOT staying in a Disney World hotel, you’ll be able to book your first three Lightning Lane reservations three days before your trip.
In a single day, you’ll be able to book Lightning Lane reservations for multiple vacation days.

Now when it comes to booking those Lightning Lanes, Disney has divided up most of the rides and attractions in Disney World into separate tiers for the Lightning Lane system.

When it comes to Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios have a group of attractions of which you can only pick one when booking your early Lightning Lanes:

In the next tier of rides and attractions at those three Disney World parks, you can choose 2 (or all 3 if you’d prefer) to fill out your three Multi Pass Lightning Lanes.

The situation at Animal Kingdom is slightly different. The rides and attractions at this park are organized into one tier of rides for Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Feathered Friends in Flight!, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!, It’s Tough to Be a Bug!, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Naʻvi River Journey.

The last tier of rides and attractions are grouped together as Lightning Lane Single Passes, which means they can’t be selected as Lightning Lane Multi Passes:

Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle / Run
EPCOT: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Rise of the Resistance
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage

Now that we’ve gotten that all out of the way, let’s think about what your rope drop strategy could be starting on July 24th. Let’s break this down by park starting with Magic Kingdom.

Currently, when you’re thinking about rope dropping, you only have one attraction or ride in mind, but the great thing about this new system is that, in essence, you now have the opportunity to have two top priorities (but we have to explain.

As we said, these are the only options you have when it comes to the attractions you can book for new priority Lightning Lane at Magic Kingdom:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

You can only choose one (choose wisely!), but the first thing you’ll want to do is figure out what your top two attractions are. This way you can book one and then rope drop the other. So let’s say your top two are Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan’s Flight. If you book Jungle Cruise, then go ahead and rope drop over at Peter Pan’s Flight. Reminder: certain lands are closed for Early Theme Park Entry — be sure to check the Disney World website before you go for the most updated information.

Here are your options at EPCOT:

Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Soarin’ Around the World

The same thing goes here at EPCOT, meaning pick your top two attractions. Let’s say your top two are Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. If you book Remy’s, then go ahead and rope drop Frozen. Test Track will likely be in this category when it reopens after its lengthy refurbishment.

Here are your options at Hollywood Studios:

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, and Slinky Dog Dash

Let’s make this one simple and just choose the two coasters as your top two — Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, and Slinky Dog Dash. If you book Slinky, then go ahead and rope drop Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

The situation at Animal Kingdom is slightly different. The rides and attractions at this park are organized into one tier of rides for Lightning Lane Multi Pass, so your strategy doesn’t have to change too much.

Remember that all the attractions are in the same tier at Animal Kingdom:

Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Feathered Friends in Flight!, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!, It’s Tough to Be a Bug!, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Naʻvi River Journey.

Let’s say your top two are Dinosaur and Expedition Everest. If you book Dinosaur, then go ahead and rope drop Expedition Everest. We also love rope dropping Kilimanjaro Safaris — the animals tend to be pretty active!

This is just a bit of how your rope drop strategy will change due to the new Disney Lightning Lane system. To be sure, there are going to be even more changes, tips, and hacks to sort through when this all starts on July 24th, so stay tuned to AllEars for all the updates!