For avid Disney Theme Park fans Rope dropping is a common term. This is basically when guests arrive prior to the parks opening and cast members would have a rope pulled across the entryway keeping the easy birds at bay. Then when the opening time arrives they would remove or “drop the rope” allowing guests inside. This is a technique many guests have used over the years in an attempt to get on the highly sought after attractions before the long lines can form.
In years past his was done outside the parks and here in Florida at the Magic Kingdom there was even a special ceremony to kick things off for the day. Guests out in Disneyland however had something a little simpler but seemed to be much more memorable. We fans grab onto strange Disney phrases like the monorail safety in instructions in Spanish, you know the one “!Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas”, or just before heading out on Big Thunder Mountain “Best Remove ’em”, and there are just so many more. Disneyland’s rope drop opening announcement was a true classic “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boy and Girls whether this is your first time visiting us or your one hundredth, we welcome you to our family of more than 500 million guests. And now for your safety and the safety of those around you we ask that you walk slowly and carefully to your first destination. Have a great day!”
To commemorate this memorable announcement designer and fellow collector Don Cade has created the above elongated coin. It features a unique version of Sleeping Beauty Castle surrounded by the words Ladies & Gentlemen Boys & Girls all within a classic dotted border.
A version of this coin was commissioned by our friend and fellow collector Jim McNally for his website, and it has an exclusive backstamp advertising Jim’s online elongated coin shop that I have linked here zzzcoins.com. I have used Jim’s website numerous times in the past and it’s a fantastic place to fill in some gaps of your Walt Disney World collection, as well as sets from all over the country. Currently you can receive a free copy of this design on a pressed copper us cent with any order placed through his website. Additional copies of the penny, as well as a few full denomination sets that include a penny, nickel, dime and quarter are available for purchase but in very limited quantity.
As always Don had done a fantastic job enshrining some classic Disney history in the form of an elongated coin, and a special thank you to Jim for making this design available through his website. I always look forward to seeing what they come out with next, and you can be sure I’ll be showing them off here in future posts.
Have a fantastic rest of your day, and as always Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls … Keep on Pressing!