Rope drop at a Disney park is usually a mad dash to get from the gate to somewhere. However, most of the time not everybody in the entire park is heading to the exact same location. Over the course of last week that hasn’t been the case as it seems everybody at Epcot spent three or four days trying to get a limited edition popcorn bucket, and the trip to just go get in line seems wild.
Tattoodisneydad on TikTok took several videos over the last few days as he was on Figment Watch, as guests spent several days in a row trying to get a popcorn bucket that looks like Epcot’s little purple dragon. One of the videos posted shows the rush from rope drop just to get in line, and that line was filling up fast.
@tattoodisneydad ♬ original sound - Jason M
While the video isn’t entirely “real time” as advertised it does show the mass of humanity entering the park, followed by entrance into a line that was already heading into the back of the park as soon as it opened. By some reports the line was as much as seven hours long.
There isn’t a ride at Disney World that would make you wait that long. Maybe the pocorn bucket needed a virtual queue system like the most popular rides. Considering that Epcot opens later in the day than most Disney World parks, you would have basically given up a day to be able to get one of these.
The good news, if you can call it that, is that most of the people in the line could probably afford to do that. They were likely mostly annual passholders who go to Disney World often and only went to Epcot on this day to get the popcorn bucket. Vacationing families likely had shorter than usual lines with that many people waiting for popcorn.
I will never be too critical of people who get excited over popcorn buckets or any other theme park merchandise. If it makes them happy, more power to them. I only feel bad for the people who wanted one of these and could not get one. For some the only avenue was to pay scalper prices on eBay. Fandom being held for ransom is not cool. Some people tried to do a good turn and help out those who would otherwise be locked out of the special item.
At this point it appears that all the Figment buckets are gone and if they ever return, it may just be luck that allows some guests to get one. But to be sure there will be some other unique item, a different popcorn bucket or a set of Mickey Mouse ears that will be made artificially scarce, and thus fans will want it.
