Rope Drop Tactics

[twebber55]

going next week (Thursday Feb 5th) are they changing what's open during early park hours? Debating Nintendo or ministry for first ride? Any suggestions. If Monsters opens early also contemplated Werewolf first.

 

[AB2020]

going next week (Thursday Feb 5th) are they changing what's open during early park hours? Debating Nintendo or ministry for first ride? Any suggestions. If Monsters opens early also contemplated Werewolf first.

I would not do Dark Universe first. It is not officially part of early entry, and never gets crazy queues.

Personally I would still do Nintendo. It should now be far more manageable as I assume a large chunk of EPA will go to Ministry. So very likely you can do all three rides during EPA, even if you are not front of the line at the gates.

As a side effect, Ministry should hopefully also get reduced wait times throughout the day because many will do it in the morning. The main reason why I would not do Ministry during EPA is because it is still decently unreliable and therefore could waste all your EPA if it goes down early.

 

[twebber55]

I would not do Dark Universe first. It is not officially part of early entry, and never gets crazy queues.

Personally I would still do Nintendo. It should now be far more manageable as I assume a large chunk of EPA will go to Ministry. So very likely you can do all three rides during EPA, even if you are not front of the line at the gates.

As a side effect, Ministry should hopefully also get reduced wait times throughout the day because many will do it in the morning. The main reason why I would not do Ministry during EPA is because it is still decently unreliable and therefore could waste all your EPA if it goes down early.

thank you

 

[Captain Spaulding]

As a side effect, Ministry should hopefully also get reduced wait times throughout the day because many will do it in the morning. The main reason why I would not do Ministry during EPA is because it is still decently unreliable and therefore could waste all your EPA if it goes down early.

DK is not very reliable either, same with Mario. The majority of these rides are a crap shoot first thing unfortunately. Probably why EPA is changing so they don't have to guarantee anything?
February 1st starts the new EPA procedure where they just list the lands open and not the rides. Hopefully the info board up front will let you know rides before you actually queue up on one side of the park or the other. At least with WWOHP open the non EPA folks can't queue up early anymore, probably.
Maybe you will get some reviews before you attend, Good Luck!

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I would not do Dark Universe first. It is not officially part of early entry, and never gets crazy queues.

Personally I would still do Nintendo. It should now be far more manageable as I assume a large chunk of EPA will go to Ministry. So very likely you can do all three rides during EPA, even if you are not front of the line at the gates.

As a side effect, Ministry should hopefully also get reduced wait times throughout the day because many will do it in the morning. The main reason why I would not do Ministry during EPA is because it is still decently unreliable and therefore could waste all your EPA if it goes down early.

Monsters is no longer listed as part of EPA starting Feb 1. Just “select attractions in SNW, Ministry, and Berk.” I’d say rope drop ministry if possible.

 

[Mad Dog]

DK is not very reliable either, same with Mario. The majority of these rides are a crap shoot first thing unfortunately. Probably why EPA is changing so they don't have to guarantee anything?
February 1st starts the new EPA procedure where they just list the lands open and not the rides. Hopefully the info board up front will let you know rides before you actually queue up on one side of the park or the other. At least with WWOHP open the non EPA folks can't queue up early anymore, probably.
Maybe you will get some reviews before you attend, Good Luck!

'Crap shoot' is right on. I monitor the openings on TP app most every day. There's really no pattern. Stuff continues to
break down at a frightening level, and it's pretty much spread out. A touring plan is basically useless. You have to play
it by ear. Problems are many, and they're universal....If you get a day with few breakdowns, consider yourself lucky, like
winning the lottery. .....Epic reviews are good on low breakdown days. Not so good when there are lots of downtime. That's
probably the main factor for an Epic experience.....I wouldn't want to be an Epic executive. Recommendation on housing......
rent, don't buy.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

'Crap shoot' is right on. I monitor the openings on TP app most every day. There's really no pattern. Stuff continues to
break down at a frightening level, and it's pretty much spread out. A touring plan is basically useless. You have to play
it by ear. Problems are many, and they're universal....If you get a day with few breakdowns, consider yourself lucky, like
winning the lottery. .....Epic reviews are good on low breakdown days. Not so good when there are lots of downtime. That's
probably the main factor for an Epic experience.

There really is no good touring plan. I've tried everything and I can't seem to find any sort of pattern.

The only tips I have:

• Don't worry about Monsters Unchained & Stardust Racers - you can get multiple rides in throughout the day.
• Hiccup's is best done at night, I'd avoid it to then as the queue is unbearable under the sun.
• Mario Kart (and all of SNW) gets quiet around 8PM as people start to leave after a hot day at the park.
• Take time to cool off. Don't dehydrate. Go back to your hotel or enjoy a drink at Atlantic.
• Donkey Kong - wait to the last hour of park ops (once you've guaranteed everything you wanted to do)
• Ministry - there's no way to go about it. Maybe use this as your break from the hot sun later in the day?

 

[Mad Dog]

There really is no good touring plan. I've tried everything and I can't seem to find any sort of pattern.

The only tips I have:

• Don't worry about Monsters Unchained & Stardust Racers - you can get multiple rides in throughout the day.
• Hiccup's is best done at night, I'd avoid it to then as the queue is unbearable under the sun.
• Mario Kart (and all of SNW) gets quiet around 8PM as people start to leave after a hot day at the park.
• Take time to cool off. Don't dehydrate. Go back to your hotel or enjoy a drink at Atlantic.
• Donkey Kong - wait to the last hour of park ops (once you've guaranteed everything you wanted to do)
• Ministry - there's no way to go about it. Maybe use this as your break from the hot sun later in the day?

That's right on....A small add on: 'IF' Ministry doesn't have a bad breakdown day, it's often under 45 minutes the last two park hours.

 

[Clive]

That's right on....A small add on: 'IF' Ministry doesn't have a bad breakdown day, it's often under 45 minutes the last two park hours.

We had two great uptime days and were able to ride Ministry three times with waits under 20 minutes this way.

 

[Freak]

Bought my ticket for Tuesday April 14th I am esctatic I will finally be able to check out this awesome park!

Obviously I plan to stay the full day. I’m staying about a mile north of the park. Is there some early entry program they offer like what USH has or is that only for on-site hotel guests?

I was initially thinking for rope-dropping DK, but after reading that it’s a total crapshoot, it would suck to walk all the way back there, find out it’s down, and now I gotta trek all the way out to wherever and by that time the lines will be long. Ministry doesn’t seem to be the move either as that’s also a crapshoot. I’m not rope dropping Mario Kart since I go on that often as a USH local.

Looks like Hiccups should be the ride I rope drop I take it? Should I wait until later in the day to do Ministry?

 

[Mad Dog]

Bought my ticket for Tuesday April 14th I am esctatic I will finally be able to check out this awesome park!

Obviously I plan to stay the full day. I’m staying about a mile north of the park. Is there some early entry program they offer like what USH has or is that only for on-site hotel guests?

I was initially thinking for rope-dropping DK, but after reading that it’s a total crapshoot, it would suck to walk all the way back there, find out it’s down, and now I gotta trek all the way out to wherever and by that time the lines will be long. Ministry doesn’t seem to be the move either as that’s also a crapshoot. I’m not rope dropping Mario Kart since I go on that often as a USH local.

Looks like Hiccups should be the ride I rope drop I take it? Should I wait until later in the day to do Ministry?

Read the posts right above you. They basically re iterate that it's a crapshoot. Play it by ear. Epic plans aren't worth anything. The
only constant is that anything and everything has a large potential to be broken down in the morning most especially. ..
Pray to the theme park gods before you go asking for deliverance from ride breakdowns and rain.

 

[LPCaptainDeath]

Bought my ticket for Tuesday April 14th I am esctatic I will finally be able to check out this awesome park!

Obviously I plan to stay the full day. I’m staying about a mile north of the park. Is there some early entry program they offer like what USH has or is that only for on-site hotel guests?

I was initially thinking for rope-dropping DK, but after reading that it’s a total crapshoot, it would suck to walk all the way back there, find out it’s down, and now I gotta trek all the way out to wherever and by that time the lines will be long. Ministry doesn’t seem to be the move either as that’s also a crapshoot. I’m not rope dropping Mario Kart since I go on that often as a USH local.

Looks like Hiccups should be the ride I rope drop I take it? Should I wait until later in the day to do Ministry?

I actually don't think it's as hard to wait for DK as people think or make it sound but to each their own.
Early Entry is only for ONSITE guests. Are you staying at a Universal resort?
If not, you'd at least know if DK was running by the time you enter the park. Hindsight, if it IS and that's where you want to go, you can always enter the Nintendo section through the exit on the ground floor as it's a pretty straight shot back to the DK section from there. I'd personally still pick DK over everything else.

Hiccup's is a good choice if doing the Toothless Meet n Greet right after means a lot to you. I think that's a good use of your first hour or so if we're talking alternatively to DK or Ministry. Ministry does have a tendency to close the queue early, so be on the lookout for that if you are saving it for later in the day. I've waited 20 minute for it SOLO and almost 2 hours with a party. As cool as the queue is, i wouldn't want to wait 2 hours for it again.

 

[Freak]

I actually don't think it's as hard to wait for DK as people think or make it sound but to each their own.
Early Entry is only for ONSITE guests. Are you staying at a Universal resort?
If not, you'd at least know if DK was running by the time you enter the park. Hindsight, if it IS and that's where you want to go, you can always enter the Nintendo section through the exit on the ground floor as it's a pretty straight shot back to the DK section from there. I'd personally still pick DK over everything else.

Hiccup's is a good choice if doing the Toothless Meet n Greet right after means a lot to you. I think that's a good use of your first hour or so if we're talking alternatively to DK or Ministry. Ministry does have a tendency to close the queue early, so be on the lookout for that if you are saving it for later in the day. I've waited 20 minute for it SOLO and almost 2 hours with a party. As cool as the queue is, i wouldn't want to wait 2 hours for it again.

Didn’t realize Ministry closes early! Thanks for the heads up! How early does it close generally?

Looks like I’ll probably do Hiccup’s first since my sister really wants to see the Toothless meet and greet. I may do DK for later in the day.

I personally don’t mind waiting for Ministry if it means get to ride. My biggest priority is obviously doing everything, save for Mario Kart and Fyre Drill. Like I said, I already have MK in my backyard and Fyre Drilli don’t really care for unless it’s stupid hot lol Aould be nice to be able to hit up Stardust and Monsters twice, if possible.

 

[Mad Dog]

Didn’t realize Ministry closes early! Thanks for the heads up! How early does it close generally?

Looks like I’ll probably do Hiccup’s first since my sister really wants to see the Toothless meet and greet. I may do DK for later in the day.

I personally don’t mind waiting for Ministry if it means get to ride. My biggest priority is obviously doing everything, save for Mario Kart and Fyre Drill. Like I said, I already have MK in my backyard and Fyre Drilli don’t really care for unless it’s stupid hot lol Aould be nice to be able to hit up Stardust and Monsters twice, if possible.

It closes early if there's a very long line that will spill way past closing. That usually happens on high breakdown days. Otherwise, it stays open. Keep in mind, it's not a ride that warrants a real long wait. It's just OK, not great.

 

[kingcooger]

Didn’t realize Ministry closes early! Thanks for the heads up! How early does it close generally?

Looks like I’ll probably do Hiccup’s first since my sister really wants to see the Toothless meet and greet. I may do DK for later in the day.

I personally don’t mind waiting for Ministry if it means get to ride. My biggest priority is obviously doing everything, save for Mario Kart and Fyre Drill. Like I said, I already have MK in my backyard and Fyre Drilli don’t really care for unless it’s stupid hot lol Aould be nice to be able to hit up Stardust and Monsters twice, if possible.

Not perfect evidence, but worth a thought:

We went on a Monday in October when it rained for a few hours in the late afternoon/early evening.

35 minutes before park close we speed walked over to the Toothless M&G from Atlantic and it only took 15 minutes to get through the line.

The time was 9:50 at that point and we ran over to Hiccup’s Wing Gliders with just 3 minutes to spare before the park closed. The ride was an absolute walk on.

The next day (which had no weather warnings) we attempted to rope drop the Toothless meet and greet, only to find it already at 90 minutes.

Take that however you will.

 

[LPCaptainDeath]

Not perfect evidence, but worth a thought:

We went on a Monday in October when it rained for a few hours in the late afternoon/early evening.

35 minutes before park close we speed walked over to the Toothless M&G from Atlantic and it only took 15 minutes to get through the line.

The time was 9:50 at that point and we ran over to Hiccup’s Wing Gliders with just 3 minutes to spare before the park closed. The ride was an absolute walk on.

The next day (which had no weather warnings) we attempted to rope drop the Toothless meet and greet, only to find it already at 90 minutes.

Take that however you will.

Yeah, this is just another reason why i go to Nintendo and try to wait for the DK line. I know DK can get up to 200 minutes and it's not worth that at all. I'd rather wait anything less than an hour to get DK done, knowing that i'll be able to hit Hiccup's or Toothless during another time when it's not as high that same day. DK starts low and gets high quick and does not change unless it goes down. Be on the lookout for weather in that case as you can always get lucky with an empty reopening queue.

This park is EMPTY at night, i swear. I was able to do almost everything the park has to offer RIDE-WISE within the hours of 6-10(with some luck that Stardust and Carousel were still running past 10). Some rides even TWICE! Guess which ride i didn't get to do even once because it was still busy? DK. Even when the rest of the park is dead, this one is still backed up. That shows me that it's worth being the rope-drop pick by a longshot.

Didn’t realize Ministry closes early! Thanks for the heads up! How early does it close generally?

Looks like I’ll probably do Hiccup’s first since my sister really wants to see the Toothless meet and greet. I may do DK for later in the day.

I personally don’t mind waiting for Ministry if it means get to ride. My biggest priority is obviously doing everything, save for Mario Kart and Fyre Drill. Like I said, I already have MK in my backyard and Fyre Drilli don’t really care for unless it’s stupid hot lol Aould be nice to be able to hit up Stardust and Monsters twice, if possible.

Ministry will have a sign out front if they've been experiencing trouble or expecting a larger crowd that day. It will say something to the effect of "Please be aware that the queue for Ministry will be closing early today at 7PM." This means to get IN before 7PM, essentially. I've been lucky to NOT see that sign on any of the 4 days where i was there AND be able to do back-to-back rides past 8PM most nights, BUT i know others haven't been as lucky and this one can still be a pain to queue for at the wrong time. Don't count on it being open past 7PM as much as we've put stock into previously. Check it out later that day and maybe ask a TM if that would be happening so that you can prepare for that eventuality. Worth a shot!

 

[Freak]

Yeah, this is just another reason why i go to Nintendo and try to wait for the DK line. I know DK can get up to 200 minutes and it's not worth that at all. I'd rather wait anything less than an hour to get DK done, knowing that i'll be able to hit Hiccup's or Toothless during another time when it's not as high that same day. DK starts low and gets high quick and does not change unless it goes down. Be on the lookout for weather in that case as you can always get lucky with an empty reopening queue.

This park is EMPTY at night, i swear. I was able to do almost everything the park has to offer RIDE-WISE within the hours of 6-10(with some luck that Stardust and Carousel were still running past 10). Some rides even TWICE! Guess which ride i didn't get to do even once because it was still busy? DK. Even when the rest of the park is dead, this one is still backed up. That shows me that it's worth being the rope-drop pick by a longshot.


Ministry will have a sign out front if they've been experiencing trouble or expecting a larger crowd that day. It will say something to the effect of "Please be aware that the queue for Ministry will be closing early today at 7PM." This means to get IN before 7PM, essentially. I've been lucky to NOT see that sign on any of the 4 days where i was there AND be able to do back-to-back rides past 8PM most nights, BUT i know others haven't been as lucky and this one can still be a pain to queue for at the wrong time. Don't count on it being open past 7PM as much as we've put stock into previously. Check it out later that day and maybe ask a TM if that would be happening so that you can prepare for that eventuality. Worth a shot!

Thank you everyone for your posts! They’re super helpful! This one is ESPCIALLY helpful! So my initial gut was right. Looks like I’ll be hitting DK first thing!