VIDEO, PHOTOS: Traditional Rope Drop Returns to Magic Kingdom, Character-less Welcome Message

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    As Disney World continues to March towards “normal” by removing and reducing temporary measures put in place due to COVID-19, another familiar operating procedure has returned to Magic Kingdom – rope drop. We made it out to Magic Kingdom this morning to take a look at the newly returned rope drop!

    As far as timing goes, it’s important to note that it was an 8am park opening today, so the timestamps on our video below are against an 8am rope drop. Keep watching until the end of the video below for the Character-less rope drop message and welcome music!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTIC4Ktx6Ug

    If you’re traveling by resort transportation, your day will start about 50-60 minutes before official park opening. It’s at this time that guests traveling by foot or bus are allowed to queue up outside of the park entrance.

    From there, guests are held just outside of the Magic Kingdom park entrance until about 45 minutes prior to official park open.

    At 45 minutes before park open, guests will begin to walk down Main Street USA. This morning, the first monorail from the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) showed up around 45 minutes prior to park open, but it’s more likely that TTC monorails and ferryboats won’t start dropping off until guests are let into the park (read: 30-45 minutes before official park opening).

    Once inside Magic Kingdom, various offerings along Main Street USA are open such as Starbucks and The Emporium to give guests something to do until the park officially opens at 8am. In addition to shops and coffee, Characters will welcome guests to Magic Kingdom atop the Walt Disney World Railroad station at Main Street USA.

    Of course, the majority of guests will line up at one of 6 or 7 entryways into the various themed lands of Magic Kingdom. Here’s a look at some of the early crowds at the various land entries. At 8am, Cast Members at each of the land entries will remove the ropes and allow guests into the rest of Magic Kingdom.

    Keep in mind that the photos above were all taken at least 30 minutes prior to the official opening, so crowds are light. For example, here’s a look at the same area as the photo above just minutes before 8am. Essentially, these crowds about 70-80% of what guests would experience in a pre-pandemic rope drop.

    As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!

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