Hi Denise! Wow! You’ve brought such a great question to planDisney! I’m happy to help!
Let’s start by giving other readers a quick tutorial in Walt Disney World Resort vocabulary! “Rope Drop” means arriving at a Disney Park prior to official opening time to be one of the first to enter the park when it opens. I absolutely recommend using this strategy! Entering the parks early means lower crowds and somewhat reduced wait times for attractions. Now, let’s take things one step further. If you are a Guest of any hotel in the Disney Resorts Collection you can
enter the park 30 minutes prior to the posted park opening time! This gets you an even earlier jump! If you will not be using Disney Genie+, “rope drop” and taking advantage of early entry is a good way to experience attractions. While you will most likely still wait in a line, it probably won’t be quite as long as later in the day.
Denise, it looks like you did the calculations for
Disney Genie+ for three days of your vacation. Another consideration to keep in mind is that you don’t have to purchase Disney Genie+ for your entire vacation. If you have attractions that you consider “must dos” and you don’t want to wait in the traditional line, you could just purchase Disney Genie+ for one day of your vacation. Also, you don’t have to make your decision about purchasing Disney Genie+ until the “day of” your park visits.
One other PRO TIP to share is that the crowds at the parks begin to “thin out” later at night, especially if a park is open particularly late. This can be a good time to get in line for popular attractions. Also keep in mind that you can get in line for an attraction just before park closing and still experience the attraction even after park closing time!
Denise, you might also want to check out the
special offers on the
Walt Disney World Resort webiste! Some offers can even be applied to existing reservations! I hope these tips are helpful as you continue your planning!
Happy planning!
Jonathan