WDW with kids who are late sleepers. . .

[AshleeH]

This is where the beauty of the new fastpass system comes in - make them for late in the day, sleep in, enjoy breakfast, go to the pool or shopping or resort hopping, then head to the parks about 4:00 and close them down. You'll miss the worst of the crowds, the worst of the heat, and if you stay until close, you'll have a very similar experience (crowd-wise) that you would've had if you'd made it to rope drop. Have fun!

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

FP+ is perfect for your family! We used to be rope-drop fanatics but now we know everyone is happier if we sleep in and just take the morning slow. Sure, we don't squeeze every possible experience out of the park, but we have a great vacation, and that's what we're paying for. What good is it if you force everyone out of bed, people are in bad moods and not having fun, but you ride every ride?

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

That is our family now. I am usually up before 7am having coffee and sometimes breakfast with one of my kids. Out of a 9 day trip we will get up early maybe 1 or 2 days. Otherwise we do not hit the parks before 11am but we do stay late. We used to love when the MK was opened until 1 or 2am. It less crowded and not as hot. Maybe they can compromise and give you 1 early day.

 

[MamaJinji]

If by "kids" you mean "husband", I understand completely. Lol. Planning around him and his nocturnal lifestyle is going to be fun. But I love mornings in the parks and afternoons being slow, so I'm kind of the opposite. And my son likes to be right there with me, given that he's usually his dad's alarm!

 

[sdomino11]

We will never make a rope drop! We're night owls and there's almost nothing I'll agree to set an alarm for -- even Mickey! But I still feel like we get to do everything we want to do! By using FP+ and a subscription to Touring Plans (so we know how to avoid lines in the middle of the day) we have quite efficient days. Closing down the parks is so enjoyable- they are even more magical at night!

 

[Jacoby 46]

We have never been early birds, either. Never done a rope drop. We have done exactly one breakfast ADR in all our trips (a late breakfast). It has never been an issue doing the things we want to do. We have probably the most relaxed Disney vacation of anyone on these boards and still enjoy ourselves. LOL. Our upcoming trip will be the first one with FP+ and I'm quite excited about being able to get Fastpasses for later in the day and being able to plan accordingly. We love the parks at night. Enjoy the evenings and have a blast. We've been in January and the crowds were low enough to do everything we wanted to do even without being in the parks early.

This is my family and we have never done a breakfast ADR ever! LOL We just love being out late and sleeping in and now that my kids are much older (17 and 19) I love having this easy going vacation. When they were little, it was go, go, go at Disney...now much more relaxed and I love it!

 

[jeepnjudy]

We usually go over the summer or over a holiday. Our last trip was over new Years. So most crowd levels that we;ve seen don't allow too many late sleep ins.

Same with our family as we go over the holidays so sleeping in is not an option if you want to get to MK before it is closed because it reached capacity in the morning!

 

[buzznina]

We may do 1 RD, but our whole family would rather close the park, especially MK, then to be there at open. I can get more rides in towards park closing then from RD and rides like BTMRR seem so much more fun at night then during the morning under the sun. We usually arrive at MK around 10ish and then normally close the park. We make sure our DDs get their sleep, so we let them sleep in the mornings. I really like the morning to take a stroll around the resort for photos etc and then on the way back, stop and grab breakfast for everyone to take back to the room. We went last Thanksgiving week and did not do any early park days and did not have any issues either, and still got on some of our favorite rides more then once.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

This is where the beauty of the new fastpass system comes in - make them for late in the day, sleep in, enjoy breakfast, go to the pool or shopping or resort hopping, then head to the parks about 4:00 and close them down. You'll miss the worst of the crowds, the worst of the heat, and if you stay until close, you'll have a very similar experience (crowd-wise) that you would've had if you'd made it to rope drop. Have fun!

Although this sounds relaxing, the parks close early in January so...they would only get a few hours in the parks.

 

[CharleneR]

I only made rope drop once and that was before kids when my husband and I did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour and had no choice but to be there early .

We have two boys 11 and 8 1/2 and all four of us are night owls and not morning people. We won't sleep in too late each morning, but we won't rush either. The only early morning we have is an 8:30am Tusker House Breakfast. We are in Disney August 13-20.