Avoiding EMH and RD...

[EmmyL258]

My family and I are going to Disney in August 2016. It's me, my parents, DS 5 and DD 4. My mantra for this trip is "it's the kids' first trip and they don't know what they're missing so no stress." I picked my park days, or at least just mornings, using the EWD crowd calendar and avoiding Morning EMH. My thoughts are that we will likely be going to bed late and I can't imagine having to rouse my small children, feed them, dress them and hurry them to a park before 8am. 9am is pretty much a guaranteed.

So my question is, if we're planning to avoid EMH, does it still make sense to do 9am RD? Are the benefits of RD really only when you're taking advantage of EMH?

We will definitely be taking afternoon breaks/naps/swimming each day, so that would give us 3-4 hours in the park to start and do FP+ if we avoid EMH. Should we be rushing to take advantage of 1 more hour?

TIA!

 

[soniam]

RD is definitely worth it. You can get so much done earlier, because there are just so fewer people there. We try to do AM EMH. However, sometimes it's not available or doesn't work out. We always do RD though. You can't just get there right at park opening though. For it to be worthwhile, you need to get there maybe 30 minutes, but really 45 minutes to an hour, before park opening. Otherwise, you are on the tail end of really long line and probably would have been better off waiting an hour or so after opening. Also, I wouldn't do regular RD for a park that had AM EMH. The one exception is Animal Kingdom, because it's just never that terribly crowded. Also, Magic Kingdom sometimes opens at 8am, so AM EMH is at 7am. You could still get there at 8am and beat a lot of the crowds. Although, you did say that you were avoiding getting up early.

 

[g-dad66]

Definitely worth it for the popular attactions that will have terrible standby line waits later in the day.

 

[dreamit]

I think it's absolutely worth it, both to avoid long standby lines and, because you're going in August, it will help you to avoid the worst of the heat. Can you try to get a balance with your trip--maybe not all rope drop days and take afternoon breaks to rest and get out of the heat?

 

[Baptist]

I agree that it makes sense to rope drop the non-EMH park. Although 45 minutes before RD is ideal, I would not consider it critical. Even if you are in the back of the pack, you still have an advantage over the majority of the people arriving at 10-11 am. I hope you are going the last week in August as it will be less crowded than the first weeks.

Forget the morning EMH for your group. It's not worth it. I know where you are coming from. With small children, you may have the intention of getting there by 8 am. Then, stuff happens and you can't get to the park until 8:30. You will arrive at 8:30 to a crowded park and be disappointed.

 

[soniam]

I think it's absolutely worth it, both to avoid long standby lines and, because you're going in August, it will help you to avoid the worst of the heat. Can you try to get a balance with your trip--maybe not all rope drop days and take afternoon breaks to rest and get out of the heat?

Actually, doing one or two RD would definitely be worth it, especially at Magic Kingdom.

 

[gorjus121]

Get an early breakfast ADR before RD to get yourself into the park early. You'll get great pictures in front of the castle with less people behind you. We usually do an ADR at CP about an hour before RD but this year we have an ADR at BOG. Going straight to 7DMT! Just make sure you do that on non-EMH mornings.

 

[EmmyL258]

I agree that it makes sense to rope drop the non-EMH park. Although 45 minutes before RD is ideal, I would not consider it critical. Even if you are in the back of the pack, you still have an advantage over the majority of the people arriving at 10-11 am. I hope you are going the last week in August as it will be less crowded than the first weeks.

Forget the morning EMH for your group. It's not worth it. I know where you are coming from. With small children, you may have the intention of getting there by 8 am. Then, stuff happens and you can't get to the park until 8:30. You will arrive at 8:30 to a crowded park and be disappointed.

We're at the poly August 16-22. crowds drop more significantly the actual last week, according to the calendar, but my kids don't know what they're missing so if they don't get to do something they won't be able to care! I know we could definitely arrive 8:30-8:45 no problem. And we are planning breaks every day. We have park hoppers so we can really do whatever we we want!!