What time to leave the parks

[VeeHam]

Our next trip is May-June 2016. We are commando style and always do rope drop. We've always gone in the fall/winter when the weather is nice. We've never gone in the summer. We're from Houston, so we know hot. My question is what time should we leave the parks to go back to the resort for a little nap/pool time? And what time should we head back to the parks in the evening? We're only taking breaks at MK and maybe Epcot. Thanks

 

[wdwjeffc37]

What we normally do is rope drop, get all of our rides in and when the park starts to seem crowded we will head out either to another park or back to the resort. This is usually between 11:00 and 1:00. We always have park hoppers so we will have our FP+ scheduled for our second park. Most of the time we will take a break at the resort for a couple of hours before heading to our second park depending on our FP+ times, usually about 3:00 or 4:00. A lot of the time we will end up at either EPCOT for dinner and Illuminatioins or the MK for Wishes and EMH. Since you are from Houston the heat at WDW won't be anything new for you. We are from south Louisiana and don't find the heat unbearable especially in early June. We might out of the parks for 3-4 hours for our mid-day break which isn't a problem for us. We are always there for 8 days/7 nights. Have fun! Cheers!!!!

 

[TwoCortWort]

Our next trip is May-June 2016. We are commando style and always do rope drop. We've always gone in the fall/winter when the weather is nice. We've never gone in the summer. We're from Houston, so we know hot. My question is what time should we leave the parks to go back to the resort for a little nap/pool time? And what time should we head back to the parks in the evening? We're only taking breaks at MK and maybe Epcot. Thanks

If we decide to head back, we go about 1-3pm depending if we have a reservation for dining. Then go back out about 6. My niece and I last year stayed the entire day at MK from 9a-3a (EMH Evening) and we both fell asleep on the bus back to the resort.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We leave when the last park closes. Summer late nights are absolutely the best time for multiple rides on the headliners with little to no wait. Just be aware that the posted wait times are intentionally inflated to steer guests away from the attractions.

Have a fun trip.

 

[mshanson3121]

Here now. 4-5 is the worst heat wise, so I would go back around 6. At AK we just split it into two days since it closes early. We typically left the parks around 1 or 2.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

We've only done summer crazy twice. First time knew nothing, planned nothing, still had fun, was blind but now we see! Lol. We get to rope drop (especially early if EMH for that park) get out by 11 (unless we have lunch ADR in park), back to room. DH and I go to pool, he naps, I read, and we plan for either a dinner ADR in park (if no lunch there) or quick CS at resort before leaving. We are back in park by 6pm refreshed and ready to do night stuff... With RD we get all our rides in with little or no wait, plan our FP for night rides and fireworks. Hope this helps!

 

[VeeHam]

If we decide to head back, we go about 1-3pm depending if we have a reservation for dining. Then go back out about 6. My niece and I last year stayed the entire day at MK from 9a-3a (EMH Evening) and we both fell asleep on the bus back to the resort.

Wow! You two are hardcore. We've never stayed that late. I couldn't make it after a long day at the park.
We are probably going to have lunch at BOG one day and CHH another day. I think we'll leave after lunch and head back to the resort.

Here now. 4-5 is the worst heat wise, so I would go back around 6. At AK we just split it into two days since it closes early. We typically left the parks around 1 or 2.

Thanks. We'll do this. I haven't checked when park hours for this time of year are. How long have the parks stayed open on your trip?

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[mshanson3121]

MK is open till 12 or 1 am
HS is until 9 or 10
AK has been 5-7
EP is 9

 

[VeeHam]

MK is open till 12 or 1 am
HS is until 9 or 10
AK has been 5-7
EP is 9

Thanks!

 

[AshleeH]

Peak times are 11:00-3:00 - we usually attempt to head back to the hotel at 11:00 or 11:30, unless the crowds are still light. Swim, nap, relax, head back to the parks around 4:00-5:00. I can't tell you what an accomplished feeling it is to know you've done all your "must-haves" before noon and walk out seeing the masses of people coming in during the worst heat of the day. Definitely not my type of touring, but obviously thousands love it, so I thank them for making my trip more relaxing .

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

We usually leave around lunch time if no one can agree on where to eat in the parks, we go back to the hotel and eat there. Rest and go back to the parks for dinner and some low key touring.

 

[cakebaker]

We've only done summer crazy twice. First time knew nothing, planned nothing, still had fun, was blind but now we see! Lol. We get to rope drop (especially early if EMH for that park) get out by 11 (unless we have lunch ADR in park), back to room. DH and I go to pool, he naps, I read, and we plan for either a dinner ADR in park (if no lunch there) or quick CS at resort before leaving. We are back in park by 6pm refreshed and ready to do night stuff... With RD we get all our rides in with little or no wait, plan our FP for night rides and fireworks. Hope this helps!

This is how we do it as well.

 

[disneyseniors]

I guess we do the tour opposite of everyone else here. We go to rope drop, and ride some rides with walk on, then start using our 3 fp's from 9am, 10,am, and 11am or close to that. It is getting more crowded by 11am. Then back to our resort, or if we are hungry, we eat CS. If an adr is used, we eat around noonish. Then rest time, and back to second park around 4 or 5pm. We don't schedule our 2nd destination at all. We just do what we want to do for the 2nd half of the day. That way, we keep some of the spontenaity (sp) while in the parks. It works for us. I know most people use their fp's for the 2nd park later in the day, but using them in the am works for us. Have fun, either way!

 

[maryj11]

We plan on taking a break with our MK days because it is closest to our resort.

 

[JennyDrake]

I leave about 1 pm and walk out my resort door between 4-5 pm to catch a bus back.

I *know* you know heat, but as a person in the south w/o a/c and living/working on a farm, WDW heat is in a category all its own.

 

[tinkerbella16]

I always plan breaks for each day. It really does make a difference later in the day when you want to do a park until close or close to closing time. We are early risers, love getting up early and have a good breakfast, either at our resort QS or a low key TS restaurant like Kona or GFC and we are done in time for rope drop. We stay until around 12-12:30pm the latest and head back to the resort to swim, rest or take a short nap and freshen up for the evening, whether we have a dinner ADR or not. We usually head back out around 5-5:30pm if we don't have an ADR for dinner. We are always recharged and refreshed for the evenings at the parks. We always have park hoppers so we can just decide if we want to go back to the same or different park that night. We don't go in the summer, we go in the fall when the weather is great and we still need that break in the middle of the day.