Rope drop returns to Walt Disney World theme parks as physical distancing continues to be reduced

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EPCOT rope drop June 8 2021

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Posted: Tuesday June 8, 2021 10:22am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The classic Walt Disney World experience of the "rope-drop" is back at EPCOT.

EPCOT rope drop June 8 2021

Guests arriving at the park are now allowed into the entrance area around 10am, and then join one of two rope-drops on the eastern and western side of Spaceship Earth.

EPCOT rope drop June 8 2021

The eastern side appears to be the most popular, leading to Test Track and Mission: SPACE.

EPCOT rope drop June 8 2021

A smaller line had formed on the west side leading Soarin' and Finding Nemo.

EPCOT rope drop June 8 2021

The rope was dropped at 10:20am allowing guests to move further into the park.

EPCOT rope drop June 8 2021

Guests heading to Test Track at rope-drop are in for a crowded and long wait.

Guests heading for Test Track at rope drop

Guests entering a 1.5 hour wait for Test Track at rope-drop

By 10:45am the wait for Test Track immediately after rope-drop was at 1.5 hours.

The end of the line at 10:40am for Test Track

Although a long-time tradition at Walt Disney World theme parks, rope drops have not been seen since the park's reopened in July 2020, with COVID-19 physical distancing preventing close grouping of guests.

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G00fyDadJun 09, 2021

Amen. I would have already ridden MS, Test Track and Soarin' at least. Then we'd go have a small wait for Nemo, lunch around 11:00am, then a 20-30 minute wait for Living with the Land.

danv3Jun 09, 2021

Seriously. By 11:00 I've normally ridden a bunch of rides and am usually ready for my first break.

ToTBellHopJun 09, 2021

Don’t worry. They are filling almost every seat at PhilharMagic now. The extra people will just go there.

G00fyDadJun 09, 2021

I would be too...... at this reduced capacity. Increase capacity and then try all that.

wdwfan22Jun 09, 2021

It really wasn't 90 minutes at opening. They dropped it to 45 shortly after the park opened.

wdwfan22Jun 09, 2021

Now lets get Epcot back to opening at 9:00 am.

Po'RichJun 09, 2021

Yeah, I'm real excited about that for my upcoming August trip.

matt9112Jun 09, 2021

Even better maybe every ride will become a lottery and you can hope your family is important enough at rope drop.

Roy G. DisJun 09, 2021

On top of that people are waiting 90 minutes for Test Track, 2000's hottest ride. Absolutely awful.

ToTBellHopJun 08, 2021

What would you suggest? It looks like a rope drop.

bsilver22Jun 08, 2021

This is awful. It had been opening at 10 anyway, and slowly letting people in. Now they say they are opening at 10, and will hold people back, causing more bottlenecks in an already narrow alleyway.

correcaminosJun 08, 2021

We arrived at 10 am today. Even Barnstormer was 20 minutes. Some waits seemed less but many did not. I would have been unhappy today if we had not walked on everything Sat morning. Arriving at opening is key. Or waiting until much later to come back.

MummumJun 08, 2021

FYI Yesterday (Monday) we rode Winnie, Tea Party, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Mine Train, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Small World, Philharmagic, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Pirates, Space Mountain, ate twice and Dole whip with a 10AM arrival(check in day). Every wait time was 10-15 minutes less than posted except for Peter Pan which had an issue for 15 minutes. We left before 8. I was quite satisfied without FP+.