Your Magic Kingdom Rope Drop Strategy Needs to Change FAST

Big news for anyone looking to rope drop their next Disney World trip!

Magic Kingdom

Disney just quietly changed how rope drop works in Magic Kingdom, and we have the details!

Disney Resort guests using Early Entry are no longer being held in the front of the park but are being allowed to wait in line for their chosen attraction.

Rope drop just changed!

Early Entry is a 30-minute time period before the parks open, during which guests staying at Disney Resorts (or some Good Neighbor Hotels) get to enter the parks before other guests and catch a few attractions before they’re officially open to the public.

Early entry

For Magic Kingdom, Early Entry is usually at 8:30 AM, with the park opening at 9 AM. Early Entry guests get to ride attractions in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland (with the exception of TRON), with the other areas of the park still closed. This is a great way to get on one or two popular rides without waiting.

Lines for areas not included in Early Entry

While Early Entry started at 8:30 AM this morning, guests were able to get in line for their chosen attraction before It officially started. Previously, guests were held on the bridges before entering the land and allowed to enter the queues once it officially started. This can be a huge advantage to those wanting to maximize their rope-drop strategy!

Let’s get in line!

There’s also a catch for those running to Tomorrowland. TRON Lightcycle / Run is still unavailable for Early Entry, but you can get in line for TRON as soon as early entry starts. Our reporter in the parks said Early Entry guests could even start putting their items in lockers to get ready for the ride around 8:45 AM.

TRON still is not included in Early Entry

This caused a wildly long line for TRON this morning. At 9:12 AM, the queue was 115 minutes long, only 12 minutes after the attraction was officially opened. The line was all the way by Tomorrowland Speedway. That’s almost in Fantasyland!

The TRON line!

It seems Disney is playing with rope drop in its parks. Last year, we saw Disney testing a new rope drop method in Hollywood Studios. This looks like the first week that Magic Kingdom has joined in on the fun.