When you visit a Disney World or Disneyland park you will soon be greeted with a new Genie+ "Lightning lane" system that for many guests will be incredibly good. It should not, however, change your plans to enter the park.
Beginning on July 24th, the new attraction reservation system will begin in Orlando and California parks. Previously, the confusion of the reservation system left many guests skipping it all together. While it still may end up confusing to some, the ability to get what you want quicker will be a nice change.
The simplest way to put this is if you are staying at a Disney resort hotel, you can make your first three reservations seven days before you arrive at your hotel. If you are not staying on property, you can do so three days ahead of your arrival. This 100% beats getting up at 7:00 am and trying to get your lightning lane passes lined up for you and your family.
There are those who believe that this will allow you to skip the early entry and Disney parks, but why change your plans just so you can sleep in? It's Disney, rope drop the parks!
Why rope dropping your park of choice is still a great idea!
When you wake up on the day of your visit to a park, your first inclination may be to just stay in bed a little longer. You know your ride times and your new pre-reservation. Reservations are all set. But guess what, that is a benefit to you! While other guests may be jumping into the parks and heading to the top attractions you were savvy enough to reserve, other attractions are wide open for you and your family with what will likely be no wait times.
Unless you have a complete desire to stay in bed as long as possible and really just want to do the rides you already schedule, you should still rope drop if that was your plan.
As was the case previously, once your first attraction is completed, you can make another one, and so on. Making your first reservation earlier in the day will also allow you to experience more for your money. So don't rule out the benefit of getting to a Disney park as soon as you can.