5 Smart Rope Drop Strategies for Disney California Adventure

Lines at Disneyland - who needs them? Not me. I have made it my mission since I started regularly visiting the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California to stand in as few of them as possible.

A key part of my line avoidance strategy is starting early in the morning when lines are shortest. This time of day is referred to as "rope drop" by the Disney faithful, named for the rope that guests are held behind in the parks that Disney cast members drop at the moment the parks open.

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A Brief Recap of Rope Drop Definitions & Rules for DCA

If you've started by reading my post with strategies for rope drop at Disneyland park, then you already know the basics of how early mornings in the parks work. But here's a brief summary of the rope drop details you need to know for Disney California Adventure park specifically.

Rope Drop Location

In DCA, park gates usually open a half hour before official park opening time (same as at Disneyland). Guests are halted and held at the rope just past Carthay Circle Theater just before the main entrance into Avengers Campus.

There are usually also secondary ropes by the private entrances into DCA from the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa (on the pathway by Redwood Creek Challenge Trail) and Pixar Place Hotel (by Goofy's Sky School). It's important to note that these entrances are at a significant locational disadvantage for getting to a lot of the most popular rides in the parks, which are clustered closer to the main rope. Unless you are planning to go to the back of the park around Pixar Pier first, you should start at the main rope.

Early Entry Effect

Early Entry is available in Disney California Adventure on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays (the days it is not available in Disneyland park). Guests staying at on-property hotels will be able to enter DCA 30 minutes before other guests on those days, getting a jump on a few popular rides and potentially clogging some lines.

When applicable, this guide notes the tweaks in the strategy that regular rope droppers need to make to account for the effect of Early Entry. If you have date flexibility, I recommend making your theme park park reservation for DCA on days it isn't offering Early Entry if you don't have it yourself.

What About Lightning Lane?

There are 10 rides at DCA that offer cut-the-line options called Lightning Lane (see my guide to Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass for all the details). The strategies in this post don't require Lightning Lane. Indeed, you shouldn't use valuable Lightning Lanes first thing when standby lines are short! You can, however, definitely supplement your day and work Lightning Lanes in to these strategies if you plan to purchase one or more of these extras.

Rope Drop Strategies for Disney California Adventure

So with that out of the way, let's get straight to the strategies! If you are headed across the esplanade to DCA, these five rope drop strategies for Disney California Adventure park will get your morning off on the right foot with minimal standby waits.

Strategy 1: Avengers Assemble

Best for: Marvel Superfans, Avengers Campus first-timers

Avengers Campus is the newest land in Disney California Adventure, and many Disneyland guests have yet to experience it for the first time and want to make it a priority. Additionally, it's right by the rope drop location so guests who can't keep pace with others for a long footrace elsewhere may find it makes strategic sense to start here.

For the Loki lovers and Spider-Man stans, take the land's two attractions in this order:

1. WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
2. Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!

This strategy may seem out of order to the uninitiated (since Guardians is the more popular ride), but trust me. Because of its pre-show and the second queue to enter the ride vehicles, getting through Guardians can consume a lot of time. By the time you are off of it, lines for WEB SLINGERS tend to be quite long. If you start with WEB SLINGERS, however, you'll be on and off in much less time before the Guardians line has gotten too bad.

Where to go after WEB SLINGERS and Guardians? I like to head to Soarin' which isn't too far away. It often doesn't have much of a line for an hour or two after park opening, as many guests bypass it first thing because it has a time-consuming pre-show.

Alternately, the single rider line for Radiator Springs Racers usually remains short for the first hour to two of the morning so if you are okay splitting up to ride, you could hit another nearby headliner without a long wait.

Strategy 2: Race to Radiator Springs

Best for: Radiator Springs Racers die-hards on a budget

Even though it's been open for more than a decade, Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land is still considered the best attraction in Disney California Adventure by most guests. So it's no surprise that many want to make this a priority to ride first thing in the morning on a DCA day, especially if that saves them from having to purchase Lightning Lane Single Pass access.

On days without Early Entry, guests who want to rope drop Radiator Springs Racers with the shortest waits should plan to arrive to park security 45-60 minutes before park opening. Nearly everyone at that rope will be headed towards Radiator Springs Racers, so you've got to be near the front and move quickly to have little to no wait.

On Early Entry days, it's even more complicated and competitive. While Radiator Springs Racers isn't officially open for Early Entry, it can be affected quite a bit by Early Entry. Sometimes Disney "soft opens" the ride before the Early Entry 30 minute period ends, giving on-property guests a significant head start.

But even if it doesn't open early, Early Entry guests are able to queue in Cars Land ahead of all other guests coming from the regular rope drop farther back. As a result, regular rope droppers won't be able to walk right on the attraction even if they are first. That said, you still should be able to experience it with less than a half hour wait if you are super fast.

The agenda for this touring plan is short and sweet:

1. Radiator Springs Racers

After Radiator Springs Racers, there are a wide variety of pathways you can take. You can ride the other two attractions in Cars Land nearby, which is especially smart if you had to wait a bit to ride Radiator Springs Racers and lines had a chance to build at many other attractions. But if you prefer thrill rides and exited pretty speedily, it's also possible to go to either Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT next or head to the Pixar Pier area to ride Incredicoaster.

Strategy 3: All Things Pixar

Best for: Families with kids of multiple ages

For guests who want to prioritize ride volume instead of a single specific attraction, this next Pixar-themed strategy is for you. I especially love this strategy for families with kids who span a wide age range, and it's one that my family often uses for our DCA mornings.

Some of the rides on this touring plan really appeal to everyone in the family like Toy Story Midway Mania. But there are also opportunities with it to "divide and conquer" by letting part of your party ride a thrill ride (like Incredicoaster) while others ride a kiddie attraction (like Jessie's Critter Carousel).

The proximity of the attractions and their usual lack of morning waits make it easy to meet up again without losing time. Additionally, the first ride in the plan (Toy Story Midway Mania) isn't open for Early Entry, so rope drop crowds aren't at a significant disadvantage on Early Entry days. Some Early Entry guests will head back to the attraction ahead of regular rope droppers, but most are busy with thrill rides in the front of the park.

Here's how to tackle this strategy, with the Pixar Pier loop serving as your pathway to march through a lot of rides:

1. Toy Story Mania
2. Incredicoaster***
3. Pixar-Pal-Around
4. Other Pixar Pier rides (Jessie's Critter Carousel, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, Silly Symphony Swings, Jumpin' Jellyfish, Golden Zephyr)
5. Goofy's Sky School***

***Denotes thrill rides. If you plan to divide and conquer with your group, sending some to a thrill ride while others ride a kiddie attraction, I recommend pairing Incredicoaster with Jessie's Critter Carousel and Goofy's Sky School with Jumpin' Jellyfish or Golden Zephyr for proximity.

Strategy 4: For the Littles

Best for: Slower-moving families with little ones

The conventional wisdom for many years was the Disney California Adventure was more of a park for older kids, but I think there are now enough attractions and offerings in the park that you can really have an enjoyable morning with little ones there too.

Related: Best Rides for Toddlers & Preschoolers in Disney California Adventure

If you have younger kids who won't measure up to the height minimums for a number of the DCA thrill rides, here's a plan that both minimizes walking and backtracking and also hits many of the kid-friendly characters they will love.

1. Monster's, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue
2. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
3. Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters
4. The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Under Sea Adventure
5. Select Pixar Pier attractions (Jessie's Critter Carousel, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, etc.)

By the time you get back to Pixar Pier, the lines will be too long for Toy Story Mania, but several of the other little kid attractions there should still have very reasonable lines. If you plan to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Toy Story Mania would be a great pick with it. Aim to select a mid-morning return time (approximately 10-11am) so the timing works to fit in with this plan.

Strategy 5: Nothing But Thrills

Best for: Teens and adults-only thrill seekers.

If you are on the other end of the spectrum and only want to hit DCA's thrills, this final plan is the one for you. I personally love doing this one solo when I find myself in DCA on a work trip.

To use this strategy to the fullest, you need to be willing to utilize single rider lines to save the most time (the attractions that tend to have a single rider line some or all of the time in DCA include Radiator Springs Racers, Incredicoaster, WEB SLINGERS, Goofy's Sky School, Grizzy River Run, and Soarin').

1. Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!
2. Radiator Springs Racers (Single Rider essential)
3. Incredicoaster (probably won't need to use Single Rider at this hour except on high crowd days)
4. Goofy's Sky School (Single Rider probably won't be open for use at this hour except on high crowd days)
5. Soarin' (use Single Rider if posted wait is 30 minutes or longer at this hour)
6. Grizzly River Run (probably won't need to use Single Rider at this hour except on high crowd days)

Final Thoughts and Tips

As you can see, it's very possible to have a successful DCA morning tackling the attractions of your choosing with the right strategy. If you haven't yet read my similar strategies for rope drop at Disneyland park, be sure to check that out as well.

If you want even more of a deep dive and geek out session on this topic, be sure to check out this episode of the Disney Deciphered podcast (yes, I've co-hosted a Disney podcast since 2017!). My co-host Joe and I talk all about both rope drop and Early Entry morning strategies for tackling Disneyland.