I Am Not a Morning Person

[clutter]

Almost all of the touring plans, threads, and itineraries that I've read seem to have one common point about park plans: be there when the park opens. In fact, most recommend being there before the park opens. I am NOT a morning person. I hate getting up early in the morning for work (and by early, I mean before 6am). On the weekends, I sleep in until around 10am on average, and I love it. I'm a night owl, so I find that I'm more energized from 7-11pm. The DH isn't a morning person, either, although he does get up a bit earlier than I do.

Are we doomed to hit long lines and major crowds if we don't get up early? We've got 9-10 days in the parks this December...will we still see a lot if we get up later and stay at the parks later in the evening? I know not all the parks have late hours that time of year, so sometimes we'll have to get up a little earlier, but I'd hate to think that I'll be exhausted and cranky my entire vacation.

PS - I hope I'm not the only night owl on these boards.

You're not.

I prefer the parks at night, it's my favorite time!

My dd is NOT a morning person. I can handle them, but we found out that she cannot. We went between Christmas and New Years. You HAVE to be there for rope drop, preferable at the morning EMH. Well, we did it. She didn't smile or speak until around noon, after we'd eaten lunch. (She was 12.)

We've done dozens of trips. However the only time you HAVE to be at rope drop is if you're going over Christmas or another seriously crowded time. Given the length of your vacation, I wouldn't worry about it. I'd make sure that you get to DHS by 10 one day to get a fastpass for TSM by park closing. Other than that, you can still get fastpasses later in the day that time of year. Especially if you plan on being in the parks until closing. (Another hint, Fantasyland empties out at dinnertime, especially the days the park closes early!)

 

[sophie832]

Wow...I didn't think I would inspire such a discussion and variety of answers! First, I appreciate all the advice. Second, I'm really glad to hear I'm not alone in my love of evening hours. I guess I will be forced to change my habits once we have kids, but for now I am trying to hang onto those 9-10 hour sleep periods for all they're worth!

The time change is something I've thought about...being from CA, I'm guessing rope drop won't be doable for us on most days. Maybe we'll do it 2 or 3 mornings, if we find that we aren't too exhausted from it on the first try. We'd ideally like to be at the parks by 10am, and I know a lot of them open at 9am, so I guess we wouldn't be too much later. Of course, that will feel like 7am PST...ugh.

Maybe the excitement of WDW will inspire us to get up earlier. I know I've usually gotten up a little earlier on vacations when I'm really looking forward to that day's activities. We will take advantage of evening EMH when we can. I know that Epcot's EMH keep it open until 12:30am. Also, I've heard MK usually extends its hours in December, so we're hoping for midnight. Since our hotel is right next door to AK, it won't be a very long bus ride, which is nice when that park is has the shortest hours.

I did see that Touring Plans does have a plan for people who like to sleep in a little later. Hopefully, it will help us maximize our time.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

ahh I used to be like you. And I miss it sometimes. But it is very possible to tour disney successfully with a late start and missing RD everyday.We did it for years, actually started hitting RD in 08 just for TSM at DHS. Then we saw what we could get done and started hitting RD for all the parks after that. Just make sure you understand FP and use it to your benefit when you can for the big rides. Utilize super late EMH's when the kiddo's are snoozing to get more rides in (think after midnight at MK). And try to hit the big rides earlies and during mid day hit the slower/shorter wait rides or the shows. We also skipped parades usually when we toured later and got into a few things while others were waiting on the parades.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I hear ya! I am a night owl, and even the excitement of Disney usually can't wake me up to get there in time before the park opens. Sure, I have intentions of doing it, but it never happens. I always steal a few extra minutes under the sheets, spend a little more time dawdling around putting makeup on, change my clothes 100 times...you get the picture. Add in all the time I spend putting on sunscreen, and I've never made it to rope drop once. I have been so many times that if I don't catch something, I'll get it on the next trip. Also, you have a pretty good amount of days for just 2 adults - I think you'll be fine!

I personally would rather sleep a little more in the mornings than be grouchy and grumpy and falling asleep on the bus. That said, I do like to be at the parks for no later than 11am, but stay until park closing because I too have more energy at night and find it more fun when the sun goes down! The only park I wake up a bit earlier than others to do is AK, because it closes so early!

 

[ilovejsparrow]

I'm more of a night owl than a morning person. I hate getting up early. Except when I'm at WDW! It's the only place that I don't mind dragging my half-asleep body out of bed. I like to see and do a lot, and the best way to do that is to get there early! I can sleep when I'm home!

 

[snykymom]

Wow...I didn't think I would inspire such a discussion and variety of answers! First, I appreciate all the advice. Second, I'm really glad to hear I'm not alone in my love of evening hours. I guess I will be forced to change my habits once we have kids, but for now I am trying to hang onto those 9-10 hour sleep periods for all they're worth!

The time change is something I've thought about...being from CA, I'm guessing rope drop won't be doable for us on most days. Maybe we'll do it 2 or 3 mornings, if we find that we aren't too exhausted from it on the first try. We'd ideally like to be at the parks by 10am, and I know a lot of them open at 9am, so I guess we wouldn't be too much later. Of course, that will feel like 7am PST...ugh.

Maybe the excitement of WDW will inspire us to get up earlier. I know I've usually gotten up a little earlier on vacations when I'm really looking forward to that day's activities. We will take advantage of evening EMH when we can. I know that Epcot's EMH keep it open until 12:30am. Also, I've heard MK usually extends its hours in December, so we're hoping for midnight. Since our hotel is right next door to AK, it won't be a very long bus ride, which is nice when that park is has the shortest hours.

I did see that Touring Plans does have a plan for people who like to sleep in a little later. Hopefully, it will help us maximize our time.

And don't forget - if you do make it one day to RD, there's always nap time!

 

[sophie832]

Not trying to derail my own thread here, but the other thing I'm hearing a lot is that the one rope drop you have to do is DHS for TSM FPs. Well, we have TSM here at DCA, so I'm wondering if I will be heartbroken if I don't go on it. I mean, we'll give it our best shot, but there seem to be a lot of horror stories out there about pushy ppl that are at DHS rope drop sepcifically for TSM, and will manhandle anyone that gets in their way. I'll have to search the threads to see if the ride is the same. Btw...TSM at DCA is awesome!

 

[The Expert]

I'm not a morning person, but I am at WDW. I just makes so much sense and you can get so much more DONE! We don't necessarily do rope drop, though. We shoot to get there roughly about that time and then let the gathered crowd smash through while we stroll in behind them. This allows them to disperse into the park a bit, and while we may not be first in line at everything, there still isn't much of a (if any) wait.

I can sleep when I'm dead!

And aside from the queue, TSM at DCA and TSM at DHS are the same. I actually LIKE the queue at DHS and don't mind waiting in it.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I've made rope drop one day out of one of our ten trips.

I am here to tell you that you will in fact enjoy yourself at WDW. You are NOT doomed to stand in line hours on end. You CAN ride everything that you want to ride. We've never had an issue.

Sleep in. Enjoy your vacation.

We usually are at the parks around 10, 11, and sometimes even noon. We also tend to go during peak times (i.e. longer park hours) and close the parks. PM EMH were helpful, as well. We've never found them to be overly crowded.

You'll be fine.

ITA. Same here. I just have to say in really really super crowded times (like Christmas, Spring Break, etc) this probably wouldn't work. But at that point I wouldn't touch Disney with a 100 foot pole. (If I even got that far, lol)

 

[Dan J]

I would like to encourage everyone that visits WDW to sleep in.

Me too! (for selfish reasons!)

 

[DebbieB]

Just a little more info on the staying up late and hitting the late EMH. That probably works much better different times of the year. OP's signature says she is going Dec. 2-12. Looking at the calendar for those dates, here are the parks that will be open past 8pm during her stay(other than Epcot WS which is always open until 9:30pm):

12/2 - None
12/3 - Epcot FW (10pm EMH)
12/4 - MK (10pm)
12/5 - DHS (11pm EMH)
12/6 - MK (11pm EMH)
12/7 - None
12/8 - None
12/9 - None
12/10 - Epcot FW (10pm EMH)
12/11 - MK (10pm)
12/12 - DHS (11pm EMH)

The parks just are not open that late during early December. Unfortunatley, for those coming from California, that means no park will be open past 8pm Pacific Time, and on many days most of the parks will be closed by 5pm Pacific Time. Sleeping in and catching stuff lat at night is just really not a great option.

Epcot evening EMH goes to 12:30am for both FW and WS. Most of the FW attractions stay open until 9:30 in December for regular hours.

 

[luvthemouse71]

It depends when you go ...we go in September and the only time we get up early is for a breakfast ADR. Rope drop is highly overrated, IMHO . I also don't get the whole "getting things done" at WDW thing. That makes it seem like a chore..

 

[bumbershoot]

I hate mornings, too. I'm generally nauseated until around 11am (all my life, even a 4 years old I remember being a bit green in the morning), I'm cranky, I just don't like mornings. Seeing the sunset is lovely, but when I also feel sick, it cuts down on the loveliness.

But at Disney, I'm AWAKE. It's happened for every one of our Disneyland trips, and I'm 100% certain it will happen at WDW as well, even with the time difference.

Mornings are SO worth it at Disney.

 

[biolabetty]

Not trying to derail my own thread here, but the other thing I'm hearing a lot is that the one rope drop you have to do is DHS for TSM FPs. Well, we have TSM here at DCA, so I'm wondering if I will be heartbroken if I don't go on it. I mean, we'll give it our best shot, but there seem to be a lot of horror stories out there about pushy ppl that are at DHS rope drop sepcifically for TSM, and will manhandle anyone that gets in their way. I'll have to search the threads to see if the ride is the same. Btw...TSM at DCA is awesome!

Before I went to WDW for the first time, I talked to some of my friends who work for Disney. One is an imagineer who worked on TSM. He said it is the same ride in both parks, just different queue experiences. He let me know what I could afford to skip and what I would want to see that was a bit different. We haven't worried about TSM or Soarin' as a result since they are the same thing in both places. Made life easier for us since we then could concentrate on what was truly unique between the two locations.

 

[Taja]

Try being a night owl visiting from California. Rope drop? That's still night time back home. We got up early our first trip to WDW because we had some fellow Californians with us that wanted to eke out every single minute of the day. My husband and I hated it. Ever since then, we get up whenever we feel like it and then head to the parks. We do follow the touring plans that suggest one park might be better to visit on certain days than another, but you won't find us at rope drop, and you won't find us at an early breakfast ADR.

We have the same issue with time difference. We're lucky to make it to bed by 3:00 a.m. ET our first few days at WDW!

After that, we do adapt. We rarely manage rope drop, but we do arrive at the parks within an hour or so (sometimes more "or so") of park opening.

Thank goodness for late park hours and evening EMH!

 

[ZoZo]

We never made a rope drop last September and did fine. Got to Epcot at maybe 10:30? and the line for Soarin' was like 8 minutes.

Got to AK at... 11:00?... and the line for the Safari was 5 minutes. (Can't speak to Everest b/c we weren't even bothering with that because DD was too young.)

So yeah, I'm not a WDW expert, but time of year must play part.

Funny, this is exactly the opposite of my experience (I've gone in October 5 or 6 times). Even at "slower" times of the year, FPs for Soarin' are gone by noon, and the standby line is at least 30 minutes long immediately after rope drop (and just gets worse throughout the day).

The Safari ride is not quite so bad, but at least a 20 or 30 minute wait without a FP even in late morning.

I think time of year does play a part, and you might get lucky like the person above did, but realize that if you choose to sleep in, you might miss out on some stuff. If the trade-off is worth it to you, I say, sleep in! (Or just get up early one or two days of your trip, and sleep in the rest of the days.)

here's my theory: I'm a night owl by nature, but it's worth it to me on vacation to get to the parks by rope drop most days. I figure that if I get tired in the afternoon, I can always go back to the room to rest or take a nap, and still take advantage of the short lines in the mornings.

 

[NLD]

Funny, this is exactly the opposite of my experience (I've gone in October 5 or 6 times). Even at "slower" times of the year, FPs for Soarin' are gone by noon, and the standby line is at least 30 minutes long immediately after rope drop (and just gets worse throughout the day).

The Safari ride is not quite so bad, but at least a 20 or 30 minute wait without a FP even in late morning.

I think time of year does play a part, and you might get lucky like the person above did, but realize that if you choose to sleep in, you might miss out on some stuff. If the trade-off is worth it to you, I say, sleep in! (Or just get up early one or two days of your trip, and sleep in the rest of the days.)

here's my theory: I'm a night owl by nature, but it's worth it to me on vacation to get to the parks by rope drop most days. I figure that if I get tired in the afternoon, I can always go back to the room to rest or take a nap, and still take advantage of the short lines in the mornings.

Yes, we picked our September week very, very carefully... avoiding the start of Food and Wine, making sure it was late enough that every school would be in session, avoiding Columbus Day and all fall breaks, and avoiding Jewish holidays.

Last year that all meant Sept 19-25, and it was great. My dh HATES crowds and was dreading the trip and was positively stunned when we got there and he didn't have to deal with any crowds.

That third week in September... golden. (If you can take the heat!)

 

[eliza61]

I think the urban myth of "you must be at the parks at rope drop or you will not get any thing done" is sooo over hyped.

We go in August and Jersey week. we generally get to the parks aroun 9:30 ish and have never had more than a 25 minute wait. We always use fastpass which usually allows us to ride 2X's back to back on every major attraction.

I have never ever in 15 consecutive years of going had any difficulty getting a fast pass. even at TSM. like I said we get to the parks around 9:30

Unless I was going on a major holiday like Christmas or 4th of July I would not worry about it.

I did rope drop the first year on the advice of all my fellow dissers. My family and I were miserable.

 

[eliza61]

Funny, this is exactly the opposite of my experience (I've gone in October 5 or 6 times). Even at "slower" times of the year, FPs for Soarin' are gone by noon, and the standby line is at least 30 minutes long immediately after rope drop (and just gets worse throughout the day).

.

I think time of year does play a part, and you might get lucky like the person above did, but realize that if you choose to sleep in, you might miss out on some stuff. If the trade-off is worth it to you, I say, sleep in! (Or just get up early one or two days of your trip, and sleep in the rest of the days.)

here's my theory: I'm a night owl by nature, but it's worth it to me on vacation to get to the parks by rope drop most days. I figure that if I get tired in the afternoon, I can always go back to the room to rest or take a nap, and still take advantage of the short lines in the mornings.

Miss out on what? does the stuff go away at noon or some thing?
what exactly can't you see or do at 10:30 that you can do at 8:00 am? Toy story mania possible. every thing else, no worries.

 

[NLD]

Maybe I should add...

Getting there late for DHS WAS still an issue for Toy Story Mania. Only did DHS one night--just the EMH, 7-10 PM, and the lines for TSM were definitely long.

However my family had ditched me, so I was the only one at the park. Did TOT with a 13 minute wait, did RNR with a 30 min wait (was worth it), did GMR with no wait, and then just saved TSM till the very end... hopped in line near closing time, and got on in about 35 ? minutes.

So... I did wait for stuff at DHS even during the golden September week. But with no child that night to complain about waiting, and given that there was still plenty of time to do all that stuff (and set up the tripod and take night pictures), it was fine.

But if you really can't stand even 35-45 minute waits, then yeah, I guess rope drop (or at least an earlier start than 7 PM! ) for DHS.

(I still remember Disneyland days with no fastpasses. And remember waiting 3 HOURS for Splash when it was new there... and that WAS with getting there early, knowing the park, knowing what to hit first, and commando-style-touring. We just really wanted to ride Splash again mid-afternoon and waited the three hours! LOL. )

So a 30 min wait for a headliner is an entirely acceptable trade-off, to me, for being able to sleep in.