The BIG Problem With Rope Dropping Magic Kingdom's Most Popular Ride

Rope dropping your favorite ride at Disney World might sound like the perfect solution, but we’re asking you to pump the brakes on that, as it could affect your expected experience!

TRON Lightcycle / Run

Most of the time, when you think about rope dropping a ride or attraction at Disney World, you’re looking for the fastest route possible through the standby line so you can get on to the next. If you’re not using Lightning Lane MultiPass or Single Pass, this could be a great alternative to get a jump start on your day. However, we’ve got a word of warning to those who choose to rope drop popular rides, and it comes at a place where you might least expect it.

We’re always ready for a rope drop moment here at DFB, and what better way to get your day started at Magic Kingdom than immediately beelining for one of the park’s most popular rides? Not only will you get to be one of the first for the day, but it could significantly decrease your wait time for some of the longest waits you have throughout your day.

Rope Drop crowds!

On this particular day, though, we decided it would be the perfect opportunity to rope drop TRON Lightcycle / Run, one of our favorites! This thrilling, high-speed coaster is consistently one of the most popular rides in all of Magic Kingdom (which means it’s also consistently one of the longest waits you can expect all day long.) We wondered just how different our experience would be if we were one of the first on the ride for the day, and boy, this experiment did not disappoint!

Rope drop crowds

While most of our experience through the line was a speedier version of the normal queue line you’ll expect to walk before boarding the ride, things took a turn for us when we entered the preshow room. After walking the standby queue, you’re typically corralled into a smaller preshow room that tells you a little bit about what you can expect while riding the lightcycle during the ride and reveals the track and ride vehicles just below you. It’s a really neat effect when it’s performed and usually gets a resounding “ahh” from your fellow riders waiting around you.

TRON Lightcycle / Run queue

However, that was not our experience this morning. Nope, we were swiftly ushered into the preshow room only to wait for a brief pause until the door opened, and then we were let on through to the lockers and ultimately on to the ride. Did it really make a mess of things for us this morning? No, and we didn’t seem to mind skipping the preshow, but we can appreciate that there are folks who’ve yet to get the full experience of everything this ride has to offer, and by skipping the preshow, they could feel their experience was a little lacking.

No preshow for us

So lesson learned — if you’re someone who values the full quality of the ride’s experience from start to finish (especially stopping for preshows), you might want to hang back a few groups if you’re planning on rope dropping a ride. Otherwise, you could miss elements that are typically part of the experience if that matters to you.

We’re always sharing our best tips, tricks, and strategies to help you WIN your next Disney World trip! Be sure you’re following along with us, right here at DFB.

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What’s the first ride, attraction, or character meet and greet you’re rope dropping when you get to Magic Kingdom? Tell us in the comments below!