Best method for guests who like to sleep in

[kenshinelite]

We are a big time over sleepers and can easily stay up late. What are some strategies for people like us? It seems the parks are just made for Rope Droppers. No all day breakfast spots, just seems there’s more to do early than late. Am I wrong?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Most table service and counter service restaurants serve breakfast until 10:30a. Anytime after that is considered lunch unless you drive to Denny’s, McD’s, or a Keke’s Restaurant.

If you aren’t planning to be in a park within the first few hours of the day, plan your 3 pre-booked FPs for the afternoon and at least you’ll be guaranteed 3 Attractions with a very short wait. After tapping in for FP#3, look for another FP and so on. The digital FP system is a perk for non-rope drop people.

 

[Animal]

We’ll be on a very late schedule for our summer trip. We aren’t morning people and we don’t like the midday sun. We *might* wake up in time to get breakfast at the POFQ food court by 11. Then we will do things like the POFQ and POR arcades and gift shops, splash pad and pool, laundry, and a boat trip to DS and back. We might be in the parks by 3 and stay till park close, which is from 9 to 1 depending on park and EMH.

 

[sjlogghe]

I think you're wrong! Ha.

We have always been a night owl family at the parks!! I'm not sure what you mean about the parks being made for rope droppers ... I have never once rope dropped, we always close down the parks and have an amazing time! We hate mornings - we schedule our first fast passes later in the day, so we can sleep in and enjoy the morning and not have to rush. We don't worry about breakfast. We usually go to Walmart on our arrival day and pick up some granola bars, muffins, fruit, etc - grab and go in the room before heading to the parks. We always utilize the night EMH when staying on property. Utilize your FPs - pick the 3 attractions you most want to go on. We usually spend 5 days in the parks when we go. 2 days at MK, and a day at all the rest. We've never had a trip where we missed anything we really wanted to do, had to wait a long amount of time for an attraction, or had issues with anything else going later to the parks. I will say the only time we do go early is AK - the Safari is better in the morning, so we usually try to do 9-10 for that. Then if we get done early, we head to another park to close that park down!

I say embrace your love of sleeping in - you will feel more relaxed being on your own schedule than trying to change it up because you think rope dropping sounds better.

 

[Klayfish]

We are a big time over sleepers and can easily stay up late. What are some strategies for people like us? It seems the parks are just made for Rope Droppers. No all day breakfast spots, just seems there’s more to do early than late. Am I wrong?

Yes, you are wrong. We're not rope drop people either. We get up at 4am during regular weekedays, no chance on earth we're waking up early to go stand outside WDW gates. Nope. Besides, with the current FP+ system, we think it's a waste of time and isn't any more productive. I completely disagree with the thought that you need to be at the park at opening to get on a lot of rides. While I wouldn't argue that it works, it's unquestionably not the only way or the best way.

Our strategy is FP+ and refreshing. Let's say we plan to show up at a park at 10:00am. We'll set our FP+ from 9:20-10:20, 10:20-11:20, 11:20-12:20pm. That way when we show up at 10:00am, we're on the backside of our first FP+. We go right to it, and as soon as we get off, it's already time for FP+ #2. Tap into that and then immediately modify FP+ #3 and move it back to 10:30-11:30am. So when we get off #2, it's time for #3. Then we jump back on MDE and grab #4, and so on. Sprinkle in a ride or two that doesn't even need FP+ and by lunch, we can have already tackled 4 or 5 rides, including headliners. While eating lunch, grab my next FP+ for a headliner ride. Rinse and repeat for a few more hours and by 3:00pm we'll have done 10-12 rides easily.

You can also do evenings, if you're night owls. We're not late night owls, but can stay at a park until closing (unless it's one of those 1am nights). The last hour a park is open is golden. It really empties out, especially on nights where the park is open for an hour after fireworks. You can hit tons of rides then.

 

[Selket]

With two teenagers we often roll in late to the parks. We get some light breakfast items for the room for those who want it. Often we get to the park and have lunch and have our FP planned for early afternoon - then book other FP as the day goes on. This works well for those who don't have must-do rides that they cannot get FP for, don't need to ride the same ride twice perhaps, etc. With small kids it might be harder to convince them to move on and not ride something right that minute. When my kids were younger or if we want to get a lot done - we go early. The other option could be to plan your trip around times when Disney has after hours events (like Disney after Dark) - even though the cost is extra. It's easier planning to sleep in and stay out late in the summer or at times when parks are open late.

I also enjoy getting there maybe around 11:30 or so and getting some coffee at Starbucks and just hanging out a bit....looking in shops, etc.

 

[kwdw]

While I prefer RD - I actually think the whole experience at WDW is much better designed for late folks.

You think breakfast doesn't go late enough - but I think it doesn't start EARLY enough...... My peak awake time is 5:30 am to 9 pm. Let's talk about how all those nighttime shows typically start at 9pm......

I think in the summer when the hours are long - it's better to be a late person! It's often cooler after about 5pm, for example - but the 7 am openings only give me 1-2 hours of cooler temps first thing.

 

[anniemae]

We are not rope droppers either. We like to sleep in too. GASP!!! We usually grab something small to hold us over until lunch, which is later than then rope droppers eat.

 

[Mome Rath]

Just as a minor point; we discovered recently that Grand Floridian Cafe has the same menu for breakfast and lunch, so if you'd like brekkie at 12, head there. And, if you'd like a different choice for breakfast, you can order "lunch" whenever you like it.

In general if you are prepared to stay out late you can still get a lot done if you don't rope drop. Learn (or brush up on) how to best use FP's and go have fun!

 

[ears2BWV]

My family has made it very clear, vacations are for relaxing. We always sleep in. Eat breakfast in the room. Maybe enjoy the pool, water park, or other amenities of the resort. We head over to the parks mid afternoon for our scheduled FP'S, do a couple quick things, then have dinner. By then the sun is setting, exhausted young families are leaving and life is good. We always are able to get extra FP'S as the evening rolls on, and standby lines just get shorter as the night goes on. And yes, we ride almost exclusively E ticket rides.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Best strategy would be to schedule FP for when you think you'll arrive, grab extra FP+ and stay until the park closes. The last 1-2 hours in the park can have crowds as low as rope drop crowds. Especially if you skip the shows. I've seen pretty low waits at DHS and MK when Fantasmic and HEA are going on. We rode TSM multiple times the last half hour the park was open. The same with ToT.

 

[rwdavis2]

We did a mix in 2016. FP+ makes it easier. I think we rope dropped 4 of 7 days, if not just 3. The more days you spend at WDW the later you can sleep and use FP in the afternoons and evenings.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We did a mix in 2016. FP+ makes it easier. I think we rope dropped 4 of 7 days, if not just 3. The more days you spend at WDW the later you can sleep and use FP in the afternoons and evenings.

We’re doing a mix next trip also. Ten day park tickets and only 5 RD days. One for each park and then the day we’re doing 4 parks 1 day. And our RD consists of arriving 5-10 minutes before the park opens. Not 45-60 minutes.

 

[VTNuke]

How late are you talking about? If you can get into the the parks around 10, the breakfast options are still there and often the breakfast crowds have cleared a bit. Makes it a nicer breakfast. But, if you're talking about rolling in around noon, you just have to set your expectations that you aren't going to be able to do everything. And let me break it to you, you weren't going to do everything even if you showed up at rope drop and went until closing. Too much to do.

Another option is to get up early, hit the parks, but go back to your room for an afternoon nap. That works well too.

 

[ericar]

I find that the parks are so much nicer to look at after dark. We were never early morning people but on our next trip we are only going to parks for late afternoons and nights.

 

[oceanmarina]

We are a big time over sleepers and can easily stay up late. What are some strategies for people like us? It seems the parks are just made for Rope Droppers. No all day breakfast spots, just seems there’s more to do early than late. Am I wrong?

I feel the same way. We tend to sleep in on vacation (to us sleeping in makes it a vacation, I get up early all year long for work), and since we go in August, we find the parks are crowded in early evening to evening when we go (years ago when we would go in August this wasn't the case, but with all the late summer and international promotions, the parks are a lot more crowded, more crowded each time for our last 4 trips in August) . It seems to us that you can only have shorter waits in the summer at rope drop in my opinion.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I think all of you are making the rope droppers' point...

Many love to sleep in and arrive to the parks later in the day, that is why early morning can be very valuable. We do it both ways but you can get more done early in the morning and if you combine that with 10-1:00 fast passes and rolling fast passes after you can get the most done.

Now, do you really want to do that every day? Probably not...that's why we mix it up. We usually get there early, fast pass rides at RD+2 hours, then leave and return or get another park late afternoon...

If we do a late night EMH we will sleep longer the next morning. We have extended visits of 8-10 days usually.

You can still get a lot done by not rope dropping but you do need to know how to use the refresh strategy to be most efficient.

 

[jsbowl16]

There are some things that only happen or are available in the morning and also late at night. We do rope drop each day and then an afternoon break during the hottest part of the day/storms in July and August. We will sleep, hit the pool, explore the resort during the afternoon and then go back to the parks at night to eat dinner, use our FP and see the fireworks. It takes a day or so to adjust to the afternoon nap but we think it is worth it to experience everything we want to do.

 

[CSchex]

We have only ever rope dropped once or twice. We like to sleep in also, and I find that the parks are just as uncrowded in the late evening as they are super early in the morning. Most of our trips have been in the fall and winter, but the few times we went in the summer, people left the park in droves at about 4 pm! We stayed on property and sometimes the park was open until 3 am for extra magic hours. It was AMAZING! We slept late and entered the park at about 4 pm and stayed until close. After midnight, most people were gone, and we had walk on times for most all of the rides.

 

[picktails]

I've only roped dropped once in nearly 20 visits, and that was at Epcot so my then teenaged DS could go on a tour. Even when my kids were small, we used snack credits to grab the next day's breakfast in the evening on the way back to the room - French bakery being the best for that! Never rushed in the morning, and really enjoyed the old days when MK EMH went until 3am!!