Disneyland Makes Rope Drop Change to Land Access That Improves Crowd Control

Disneyland has just made a new change to rope drop, which is likely influenced by other changes at the park this year, including the removal of Early Entry access for hotel guests. Rope drop is what Disney fans call the first moment of the day when the “ropes are dropped,” and guests can access areas of the park with the most popular attractions.

Keep reading for this newest change to rope drop, which will impact your planning if you are visiting Disneyland soon and plan on lining up for the most popular rides. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including which nights Disneyland is closing early in April and May, plus the new Star Wars popcorn buckets coming to Disneyland.

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Disney California Adventure Park Rope Moved

Cast members typically allow guests to enter both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park up to 30 minutes before the park officially opens. During this time, guests can access the Starbucks and the stores on Buena Vista Street and Main Street, U.S.A.

For guests who are serious about getting on attractions with no wait, they will use this time to get a good standing position near the ropes, blocking off access to the lands. This is why we always recommend guests arrive at Disneyland at least an hour before the park opens for the day, so you can be among the first inside the parks.

The positioning of the ropes for rope drop is often quite consistent. Over at Disneyland Park, the ropes keep guests in the hub, and then when the park opens, they are removed so guests can make their way to rides. The placement of the ropes in Disney California Adventure is a bit trickier, just because there isn’t an easy central hub in the same way that Disneyland offers.

Previously, the ropes were set up in Disney California Adventure to block guests right before the entrance to Avengers Campus in the walkway that faces the back end of Grizzly’s. This is noted in the image above, where it says Rope #2.

The other rope on this side of the park, Rope #1 on the map above, is set up right in front of Hollywood Land, which is where guests looking to ride Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission: BREAKOUT! should line up. By looking at the image above, you can see how this would create a massive crowd of guests in one walkway for Rope #2. Usually, guests who lined up at this rope were prioritizing Radiator Springs Racers or WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure.

Here is an image of what those crowds look like in real time. It’s also very confusing for guests to figure out where they need to go for which rides they are prioritizing, since this big rope is for more than one land. This was previously set up this way in part so that Early Entry guests could walk down the left side to enter the park 30 minutes before other guests. That has now gone away as we address below.

Now the locations for rope drop have been changed. As you can see in the photo above, the rope that previously blocked off the path to Avengers Campus, Cars Land, and Pixar Pier has now been divided into three individual ropes for each land.

This means guests heading to Avengers Campus would choose Rope #2, those going to Cars Land would line up at Rope #3, and guests heading to Pixar Pier would use Rope #4. Guests aiming for Guardians of the Galaxy should continue to wait at Rope #1, since it offers the closest walking path to that attraction.

This change was first reported on Reddit here.

There are also other ropes going the other way toward Soarin’ Over California and wrapping around Grizzly River Run, but those never have the same morning rush from the main entrance.

Is This Rope Drop Change at Disney California Adventure Permanent?

This could be a temporary test, especially since walking access in Disney California Adventure is more limited at the moment because the back side walkway from Cars Land and Avengers Campus is currently closed for construction as Disney adds new rides and attractions.

However, this could also be a sign that Early Entry is actually gone for good now. When Early Entry was still offered, Disney Resort hotel guests had 30 minutes of early access and needed a clear, direct path to the lands open before general admission guests were allowed in.

Now that this is no longer in place, Disney can divide crowds more efficiently. Rather than have all the crowds stack up in the path leading up to these three lands, they can just create three different access points with these new ropes. This means guests looking to avoid the massive crowds heading to Radiator Springs Racers can stay clear of that rush and instead line up for Avengers Campus. This also makes it far less chaotic and easier for guests to navigate in the mornings.

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This is far better crowd control all around, and I hope this measure stays in place. You can read more about rope drop at Disney California Adventure in our guide and how to make the most out of your mornings at Disneyland. 

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