Parks only at night?

[Skullcrusher]

We have been to WDW many, many times, including in the summer. This summer we are considering spending the day at the resort and only doing parks in the evening. Does anyone have advice? Kids want to sleep in and swim during the day. I'm thinking with FPP and EMH this can be done. We have always been rope drop people so this scares me a little, but we do not need to see and do everything.

I can tell you that we did our first night park visit back in September last year and it was to us a whole different experience. We really enjoyed it and the temp was much more agreeable.

 

[TiffanyA]

This is exactly how my family does Disney in the summer and we've been going since the 90's. We'd do a water park in the day, park in the evening. It was so warm the days we went this Xmas that we contemplated doing just this again.

 

[Amw1064]

We love doing this and as Fl Res and annual passholders, we do it quite a bit.

 

[Beetuna]

.... Just keep in mind that posted wait times are intentionally inflated at night to discourage riders.

Is this true? And if so... why?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Is this true? And if so... why?

Yes it's true. They use a process called "Line Stacking" to make the lines appear longer than they really are. Then they post an inflated wait time to discourage riders and funnel them toward the gift shops and exits. An example is TSMM, where the late night line spills outside of the attraction with a 70 minute posted wait. In reality, the line goes directly to the 3D glasses pick up spot and is actually about 15 minutes. We've often rode 4 times in less than the posted wait time.

I first read about this in the 2001 Unofficial Guide so it's nothing new.

The main reason is for cost control so they don't have to pay excess wages to employees for working after the stated closing time. Another reason is that many guests have an irrational fear of "closing time" and are more likely to stop in the gift shops and spend a few dollars if it's before that dreaded hour. After the park is closed, remaining guests are more likely to hurry out of the park and to the waiting trams.

If you know these secrets you can get on a lot of rides during the late night hours. We find it to be a much more efficient use of time than trying to fight through the early morning crowds.

 

[Jajone]

Lines do get much shorter at night as guests that arrived early eventually tire out and head back to the resorts. Here's just an example of what can be accomplished on a crowd level 8 summer evening in just 4 hours (8 pm - midnight) with no FP+. Just keep in mind that posted wait times are intentionally inflated at night to discourage riders.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

This is awesome and exactly what I was hoping for.

It's still hot at 8pm....

Yep, been there twice in July.

This is exactly how my family does Disney in the summer and we've been going since the 90's. We'd do a water park in the day, park in the evening. It was so warm the days we went this Xmas that we contemplated doing just this again.

We are planning to get the options tickets so we can do watermarks and possibly Disney Quest in the day hours. Is DQ still open?

 

[DisDadDVC]

We are planning to get the options tickets so we can do watermarks and possibly Disney Quest in the day hours. Is DQ still open?

Yes, DQ is still open now. Rumor is it will remain open until 2017.

 

[MrKnight]

These are just preliminary hours. In June, MK hours will be extended to midnight on most nights with a few nights until 1 am and a few only until 11 pm. Last year, June hours were finalized on May 11.

@Babe the Blue Ox has a point, this is why I stated "until at least 10pm" in my post. The hours could very well be extended as summer draws closer so be on the look out!

 

[sharadoc]

This is why we prefer staying at a DVC resort that has lots of activities and a Community Hall. There's so much to do around the pool all day that sometimes we hate to leave! But the kids are getting older so we probably won't do as much of the activities this time, but we always enjoy the trivia, family bingo, that sort of thing. Old Key West has been awesome for these kind of days.

We love MK at night. We like to arrive during the first parade and head over to Tomorrowland. We can usually ride everything we want and work our way toward Frontierland for the 11:00 parade. I've watched Wishes from the front of Pirates, behind the carousel, lots of fun spots.

Epcot Future World at night is beautiful and empty. It takes longer to walk from one pavilion to another than it does to ride something.

We're haven't been in the summer since 2010 and our plan is to focus on evenings. Pool, mini golf, shopping, maybe a single rope drop or two but mainly evening park time.

 

[toni nicole]

We are trying the same thing next trip! I've always rope dropped every park, every morning of all of our trips, but this trip we are trying out just doing some nights with FP or some later mornings with FP. I hope your trip works out how you want!