Friday, January 16, 2009

Rope Drop at WDW Theme Parks

Here's an article of an often-overlooked aspect of WDW theme parks - the rope drop ceremony to open the theme parks.

This event is known as the rope drop ceremony because when you first enter, you are only allowed to go partway into the park. For example, at Epcot, you are held up just before you would could turn off to the right or left to go towards Soarin' or Test Track. In the Magic Kingdom, you'll go through the tunnel under the train but you won't get much farther. At Disney Hollywood Hollywood Studio, you'll be stopped at the end of the street before you can turn right to head towards the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster. At Disney's Animal Kingdom, they'll stop you at the bridge before you reach the Tree of Life.


I think the report is a little bit outdated. Nowadays, after the rope drop at DHS, the majority of the guests head towards Toy Story Mania and not Tower of Terror/Rock 'n Rollercoaster. And the cast members try to direct you to Pixarland via the LONG route that avoids the steps/stairs to minimize people tripping or falling down.

As a morning person, I tend to go to the theme parks early in the morning, and even more so if they have an early Magic Hour. So I've seen probably all 4 rope drop ceremony (though I don't quite remember the one at AK). I think the one at The Magic Kingdom is the most elaborate and enjoyable, since it involves the train. This video is the rope drop ceremony that we videotaped just this past May, 2008. It has Scoop Sanderson as the MC.



So, have you seen any or all of the rope-drop ceremony? Or are you just not fun to be around with that early in the morning and avoid all crowds? :)

Zz.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We usually arrive right as the rope-drop is ending, but we've gone specifically to see it before. Some members of my party are anxious to be at the front of the crowd, but I figure if that's going to make a huge difference in what you get to ride that day, you're not going to have much fun anyway.