Who sleeps in instead of doing Rope Drop?

[tjknitz]

Every single trip I have been to Disney, I have made it to rope drop on every single day. By the end of the vacation, my family is WORN OUT. This time, I was thinking of taking a different approach to our vacationing. We are headed to DW the last week of Aug/first week of Sept (Aug 29-Sept 5). From easywdw and touring plans, this particular week does not seem overly crazy (in terms of crowds).
So far, in my planning - I only have 2 days that I am doing Rope Drop (one HS day and one MK day). The rest of the trip I have plans to get to the park anytime between 10am - 1pm and stay til close. With the use of FP+ for our big attractions, do you think it is going to be crazy showing up that late? We really plan on not rushing from one attraction to the next....simply take our time and enjoy what Disney has to offer. I figure the rides we FP are priorities....the rest we will be willing to wait for. I assume the waits wont be horrendous - right?

 

[greentea]

You're going at a low crowd time, you'll be fine. We are not rope drop people. I wake up pretty early, but my husband is slow in the mornings -- I leave the hotel room and get breakfast, then finally get impatient and bring him some breakfast and start kicking him out of bed. We were there last year in early September and it was no problem to show up later to the parks. I think it's nice to go at a slower pace.

 

[tzeitel]

We have yet to make it to RP - I plan on it every trip but when the day comes I grumble at the alarm clock and keep sleeping. We usually make it into the parks around 10, last trip we did the pool, had lunch at the hotel and then went to the park - ended up being the best day at the parks we've ever had. DD was happy that she did the pool first, it was not as hot, people were not as crazy as in the AM (when everyone is running around trying to do everything asap) and we closed the park

 

[Crystal824]

We sleep in on certain days and do rope drop on other days. My kids can't handle rope drop and night shows so we alternate it.

 

[senadler]

We will always do one RD at MK, there are so many rides that I think you need it in order to get everything done. All the other days we usually get to the parks around 10 AM, sometimes later if we do a character breakfast. We also go at a fairly low crowd time in October, so that helps.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

We do both.

 

[CarolynFH]

Coming from the Central time zone, when it was 4 of us in standard hotel room, to make RD we would have to get up earlier (body time) than we did at home, and it wasn't worth it to us. After we bought DVC and kids got older and could get themselves ready we often arrived at RD or shortly thereafter. Now that it's just DH and me, we often get up early enough, but we don't rush - we'd rather sit on the balcony and drink our coffee slowly. That's why we like FP+ - we can be sure that we'll ride our favorites, and all else is lagniappe!

 

[rwdavis2]

With the new FP+ system we plan to start sleeping in. IMHO, MK is the most important place to hit rope drop. We'll make FP reservations for later in the day if we sleep in.

 

[Carnator]

We alternate also

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

My family has never been to a rope drop. I'm an early riser personally but the rest of them would much rather sleep in. We seldom make it to the park before 11. We go often enough that we don't feel like we have to go go go the entire time. If we miss something we'll get it next time.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Every single trip I have been to Disney, I have made it to rope drop on every single day. By the end of the vacation, my family is WORN OUT. This time, I was thinking of taking a different approach to our vacationing. We are headed to DW the last week of Aug/first week of Sept (Aug 29-Sept 5). From easywdw and touring plans, this particular week does not seem overly crazy (in terms of crowds).
So far, in my planning - I only have 2 days that I am doing Rope Drop (one HS day and one MK day). The rest of the trip I have plans to get to the park anytime between 10am - 1pm and stay til close. With the use of FP+ for our big attractions, do you think it is going to be crazy showing up that late? We really plan on not rushing from one attraction to the next....simply take our time and enjoy what Disney has to offer. I figure the rides we FP are priorities....the rest we will be willing to wait for. I assume the waits wont be horrendous - right?

Go ahead and sleep in. My boys do it all the time. I'm a morning person so I'm up. However I do hopper so it's the same thing as I get to my second park around 1:00pm.

 

[hops&dreams]

We've been for 3 trips (total of 20 nights on WDW property!) and have yet to make it to a rope drop. I think the earliest we've ever made it to a park is about 10am.

 

[Goofy'slady]

In all my years of going to WDW, I've done RD once that I can recall. It was an experience in and of itself and I'm glad I got to do it at least once. However, now we just try our best to get there early but no necessarily at RD. If we get in the parks before 10am then I'm pretty happy. However, we haven't been since 2013 - before FP+ and so depending on how I do and what I'm able to score when our 60 day window opens we will continue with our normal routine. If I can score the elusive A&E FP for my youngest daughter (boy was I hoping she'd be past this Frozen phase by now) then I will try for a RD one of the two MK days during our trip. Since all the other FP's are getting easier to come by now days I don't find it necessary to get to the other parks at RD either but again, we will still try to make it there before 10am to get as much done as possible.

 

[MrKnight]

IMHO I prefer the parks in the evening (especially MK) and normally stay until close, I have never been one to wake up extremely early just to be up at rope drop and risk being worn out to the point that you cannot comfortably stay until close and end up missing the evening festivities and shows. As long as you booked your FP+ and take advantage of Evening EMH you will be fine without having to be at rope drop! Enjoy the evening magic!

 

[crmscotland]

I like getting up early while at WDW, so does my 12 y o son & we would make RD most days, my OH & teenage daughter on the other hand would much prefer to sleep in. If l could rely on them to get themselves up & out to the parks & meet my son & l there l would, but l know they'd oversleep probably till noon & we'd be waiting & having to phone them.

So for our next week at WDW my plan is for the 4 of us to make RD on just one day - for MK. Other days l want us to be at the parks by around 11am. This seems to work for us & make it a more enjoyable trip all round, l'm not grumpy for them being late & they are not grumpy for having to get up early. My husband works long, often late hours & wants to take it easy on vacation. I also think if everyone enjoys the trip, they'll want to revisit sooner.

Edit - meant to add we have a 8:25am ADR for a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare so though it's not RD they have to get up early that day too.

 

[THEDISNEYTHREE]

We are not RD people either. When we go in October we do not RD once. That is the part about fp+ I really like. You can book the big ones and not have to make RD. We are going in a few days for SWW and we will RD for this vacation.

 

[BarbieGal457]

In all of my many, many trips, there is one day that we did not sleep in - NYE this past year. Other than that, we have never once rushed to get there for rope drop or even soon after and we've never regretted it. We don't sleep exceptionally late, but we don't set alarms unless we truly must, like for an ADR although we rarely make morning ones. I think you will be fine! Plus, with the implementation of FP+, you don't have to worry about rushing there at the crack of dawn to try to fight for a FP for something you'd really like to do.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We also alternate. There are no late nights followed by RDs the next day. It can be limiting in some ways, but it makes for a happier family.

 

[TagsMissy]

We have never made a single rope drop, ever.... we have no plans to ever go to one. We have had first booking slots at breakfast before but that's the only reason we've been there early. We tend to go with the flow in terms of the morning. We are on vacation, not boot camp full of early morning timings.

 

[monkyby87]

You're far from alone, and it all depends on what you like to do. You'll be alright I'm sure, have fun