Strategy for arriving early to mid-morning, not rope drop?

[Surgie2]

Planning a visit early May 2018 and will have 6 adults and 4 children under the age of six. We have gone with all adults in the past as well as older kids and have had no problem arriving at each park at rope drop (these were the days before FP+). But with the littles it will not be doable to do that every day. We are staying at the Poly and plan at least 2 days at MK, 1 at AK, 1 at EP and 1 at HS. But we will have hopper tickets for flexibility.

That said, we will have FP+ for all but it is hard to wrap my mind around not being out of the resort while it is still dark LOL. I just know it's not practical though - one of the kids will only be 13 months old.

So is there a strategy for arriving later in the morning? We have the Touring Plans subscription and I haven't done an itinerary there but wanted to hear from the experts here first.

Would you recommend down time at the resort in the morning and head to the park after lunch? Naps not an issue...the baby will sleep as needed in the stroller. We might be able to swing rope drop on at least one day - how to choose which park that is most effective for in our situation?

I have read multiple times to avoid the parks with EMH in the morning and that makes sense - would be an even earlier morning for us at rope drop.

We will also do one character breakfast - thinking Ohana since it is at the Poly and have that be a non-park day. Advice appreciated!

 

[rwdavis2]

Just make FP+ reservations some time after you know you will be in the park. I would wait to go until after lunch as you will be hitting the largest crowds by then. We're going in 3 weeks and have several days where we skip rope drop. Our first FP+ on those days is usually around 10:30-11:00. But, since we're going for 8 days we're not too concerned about missing something on any specific day. We'll be able to get around to everything we want in that amount of time.

This is one reason I like about FP+. You no longer have to race to a park to get a fastpass before they run out. Since we're skipping rope drop on several days we'll stay later in the evening.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We rarely do RD anymore (my DS is now 9). I usually schedule our first FP+ around 9:30 am or 10:00 am, book 2 FP+ back-to-back, give ourselves an hour or so break (for lunch) and one FP+ after lunch. This gives us a chance to have a leisurely morning and arriving at the park without rushing. If we happen to get there earlier, we use that time to hit rides with lower wait times, wander around, grab Starbucks, etc. Even now that he is older, we typically take a mid-afternoon break, go back to the resort and then have an evening activity of some sort (going back to the park, kids club, DS or wandering around the Boardwalk). I personally wouldn't wait until after lunch to go to the park as PP stated, those are peak crowd times.

 

[mommy_to_C]

We've done several trips with toddlers/preschoolers - it isn't rope drop that's the problem, IME, it's more long days/late nights!

Our strategy with littles has been to eat dinner early, and be (very) selective with regard to nighttime entertainment (with a goal of keeping dinnertime and bedtime as close as possible to our "usual routine") - so this trip will be the first time DD#2 will see Illuminations and Wishes.

That being said, we've found it most essential to rope drop MK (Fantasyland).

Overall, though, rope drop with toddlers/preschoolers and an afternoon break (for a nap, or the hotel pool!!!) tends to work very well.

 

[Accident]

The best strategy I have for not rope dropping is closing the place down. when it starts to get a little darker out, many areas of the parks start to be more like a ghost town and like rope drop you can do a lot of things really fast. This doesn't usually work out for kids as it doesn't line up well with what hours they are out and doing things when not at disney so it's a huge change in their schedule. It's also a lot of extra walking and not really friendly to getting the best spots for night entertainment (which is why it works, everyone starts to get in place and many things go walk on).

rope vs close is just a way to get a few more rides in with shorter lines, it's not a giant difference. everyone still ends up roaming around the place the rest of the day doing things the same way.

 

[saving our pennies]

We usually avoid rope drop since I don't like being around the mad dash down main street (seems too much like Black Friday shopping!) On our last trip, were showed up at MK just before 9 when we THOUGHT they had already opened at 8 for EMH, so we accidentally experienced rope drop ;-) It was nice to see the welcome show and we managed to get on 7 Dwarfs and Peter Pan relatively quickly even though we had not planned any "strategy". It's not something we will plan for in the future, but if we're up and ready and out of the resort early, we won't try to avoid it. Staying at the Poly will be easy for you, we loved the ease of the monorail, but don't forget about the resort boat. While it took a little longer than the monorail, it was never full, and made for a relaxed arrival and departure from the park.

 

[BlueFairy]

It sounds like you may not be the parent, since you mention going with adults as your prior experience. Are these your children? You know them best if they are. If not, I would ask the parents. My girls would never sleep in, and certainly not in a strange hotel. Also, May of 2018 is 1 1/2 years away. That is a long time in the life and habits of such young children. Like the PP said, it has been late evenings that are next to impossible in my family. My kids did not see the nighttime shows until they were 6 and 9, and we were only able to do 1 night. Rope drop for the first few days of a trip was pretty easy for us, even with a baby. After about the 3rd morning we have to slow way down and start sleeping in more.

So, pick your park as if you aren't going to RD. That means avoiding the EMH park if possible. Plan your FPs for lunch time. Have a TP in place that allows you to take advantage of any RD mornings that you are able to make. And then a second TP that has you prepared if you are arriving closer to 10am. Don't leave must-dos for past supper except maybe 1 late night. DO your OHana breakfast the next day as a rest day. Call it quits after 4pm the rest of the time, or at least have your plan so that you can switch gears to something low key like pool time after late afternoon. Plan more pool time than you think you need. Kids that age LOVE WDW pools.

 

[Surgie2]

It sounds like you may not be the parent, since you mention going with adults as your prior experience. Are these your children? You know them best if they are. If not, I would ask the parents.

You're right, I'm the grandparent and I've had input from the parents but as you said, May 2018 is a long way off so how the kids are now may not be how they are in 18 months.(one a definitely early bird, the other two, not so much and baby isn't here yet)

I think even projecting a year and a half out, at ages 5 1/2, 5 1/2, 4 and 13 months, we still won't be up for later parades and fireworks. It will be a treat for them to see Wishes from the Poly the best that we can. Seeing it from the castle can wait for a future trip. And yes, I think we need to build it plenty of time at the resort pools. We made the mistake years ago with our own kids of not having enough down time. And if we're paying for a deluxe, why not spend some quality time there?!

 

[Micca]

at ages 5 1/2, 5 1/2, 4 and 13 months, we still won't be up for later parades and fireworks

Another grandparent here We took our 3 & 5 yr. old DGDs in June and we sort of "let" them determine the schedule. At that age there comes a point where they will just not have it your way. It was their first trip, and our feeling was "Let's get this first trip under our belts and build from there." We're huge WDW fans and DVC members, and it's our intention to take them every year. There will be plenty of opportunities for the bigger rides and later nights.

 

[mrzrich]

How do you know that a child who isn't even born yet will nap in the stroller? In my experience, every baby is different.

My babies were up early. Was easier to get to rope drop when they were little than it is now that they are teenagers!

 

[Surgie2]

How do you know that a child who isn't even born yet will nap in the stroller? In my experience, every baby is different.

Sorry...let me edit my thoughts to say that the baby will have the opportunity to sleep in the stroller. Of course I don't know for sure what the baby who isn't born yet will do

 

[travelbug08]

We just stayed at Poly with a 6 yr old, 4 yr old, and 2 year old. We generally arrived at the parks around 10-10:30 and left before closing, 8-9 range depending on the park/operating hours. This worked well for us. We didn't do any mid-day breaks at the resort as that seemed to be too much trouble. The younger two would fall asleep briefly in the stroller and the 6 year old was fine walking and being awake the whole time. We didn't do everything of course, but felt we accomplished plenty and everyone enjoyed themselves.

 

[Thing 1]

Another idea is to make mornings so easy that getting to Rope Drop might happen. What we have done is to get EVERYTHING ready the night before. Bags packed, kids baths etc. Dress the kids in comfortable clothes they can wear to the parks the next morning. Easy for boy moms....might be harder with girls. Always Disney t-shirts and soft cotton shorts or gym pants. Choose breakfast items the night before from things you bring from home or purchase the night before at the resort. Kids can eat while waiting for the bus.....in the car if you drive, or while waiting for the gate to open. With all these, and avoiding the EMH park....You can pull your child out of bed about 8..brush teeth, grab shoes and go.