Best method for guests who like to sleep in

[leebee]

Our goal is to be headed out of our hotel by 10am. We eat breakfast in the room (usually I get coffee in the food court but we bring food from home). I plan our fast passes between 11 and 1:30, and we have a late lunch, around 2pm, so we can take a break in the a/c. We get 4th-5th, etc, FPs for the afternoon. Dinner is also late, around 7, and we stay until park closing.

 

[LovingPooh]

We are definitely not going at rope drop. We sleep as long as we want in the mornings, grab lunch at a resort or Disney Springs, go back to whatever DVC resort we are staying at to relax until supper. Then we will get supper in the parks with fast passes starting around 5:00 pm.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Go more often!

Every single morning, I count to the weekend so I can sleep. Even in my 50s.

 

[kenshinelite]

One of the things that I feel I miss out on is the characters on the streets. Singers, dapper dans, Hollywood people, the horse carts. Just details that by midday are gone and don’t come back. Either due to heat or other reasons. I have never seen dapper dans bc of this after 4 trips over the years

 

[rentayenta]

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.

I agree, the parks are so pretty at night.


We won’t be rope dropping this trip at all and I planned our FPs similarly to what I have read here; first ones somewhere between 9:30-10:30. We’ll get their on the tail end of the first. We are also planning to use Lyft/Uber v the internal transportation to the parks to maximize our resort relaxation time.

 

[YesterDark]

We are rope droppers but we have 2 young kids a d the next time we go it'll be 3.

I'm with you though, if it was just my wife and I we'd be park closers.

You're only missing first hour near walk on for rides and then you're on even footing. Get your fast passes done early and then refresh.

 

[PetePanMan]

We normally do mix of RD and sleep-in. Sleep-in for entire trip option works well if parks open late.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I have never seen dapper dans bc of this after 4 trips over the years

If you buy a party ticket, you can see them on MNSSHP evenings as the Cadaver Dans.

 

[randumb0]

Please don't ask me to show up at a park before 12

 

[GeneralTso]

I'll preface this by saying we don't have young kids. We travel to WDW a couple of times a year (one of our kids lives in Orlando) and we've been many times so it doesn't feel so "urgent" to us.
If this was a once in X years Disney trip, had kids that need a break and a nap during the day, etc.....rope drop is the only way to go. It's not any of that for us.
We think rope drop is dreadful! The crowds, the way too early out the door, the energy. The entry move into the parks is rough when it's super crowded. It's much easier at Disneyland and we don't even do it there.

We prefer to hang out on the balcony and have coffee and breakfast. Roll out when the initial wave has gone through the pearly gates. I schedule our FP late morning. Anything earlier than 10am and we both feel pushed for time. Our preference is nighttime. The park literally lights up and it's a completely different scene there. Many rides are much better when it's dark. Most of the overtired screaming kids and parents are gone. It's just better all the way around--for US.

I think people set their vacation time up the way it best suits their family and travel style.

 

[LA Poolboy]

Early park closings are making it so if you don't roll into the parks before mid afternoon are you really getting your money"s worth? Only you can answer that, but these early closings are making me rethink afternoon breaks on MK days and EPCOT days too. HS and AK, not so much. We don't do nearly as much in those 2.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

In 25 years of going to WDW, we've only rope dropped 3x. I used to stress about getting to the parks and have to nag my family and that put a damper on my day. FP+ has made it easier for us to have a leisurely breakfast in our condo, hit the parks at about 10-11 am, do our initial 3 FP+ rides (and schedule our next FP+ after we've scanned our third one), watch a show or two and then think about a CS lunch. By then the major lunch crowds have already eaten. We head to our next FP+ and then go from there. Same with dinner, we usually eat at about 6-7 and most diners have already eaten. Crowds really clear out after the fireworks and we're able to ride most rides with minimal waits.

 

[Disneymom1126]

So we are rope drop people, but I would think one thing to consider if you are not is the time of year you plan your trip. If you are late-night people, consider going during a time of the year where the parks stay open later (e.g. summer). That way you can make the most of the time that you prefer to be out doing things. In the fall/winter parks often close at 8 or 9 p.m. so you would have far fewer hours to work with! I would imagine the later hours tend to be more like the morning hours with shorter waits, lesser crowds especially when you're talking about after 10 p.m.

 

[pigletto]

Ok we are mostly diehard rope droppers and have been for years. Somewhere around 15 my daughter began to mutiny. She was so cranky if we dragged her out for rope drop that we started letting her sleep in and meet us later. Now she’s 21, and our son is 14 and starting to sleep in later. Frankly, my husband and I don’t love being up at the crack of dawn but it’s always given us an advantage for riding multiple things without waits. A few trips ago we were the only three people in the Haunted Mansion.. we had the stretching room to ourselves! It also has given us an advantage when we stay offsite to be able to do rides we couldn’t get fastpasses for at rope drop.

This all being said.. I would love to switch to a later schedule for this trip coming up and close the parks rather than open them. But will it work for us considering we are staying offsite ( so 30 day fastpasses) and it will be mid March during the start of heavy spring break season? Would we be nuts to switch our morning strategy to a later one considering those things? How does a later touring plan hold up during higher crowd times?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Use fastpasses for the ultra popular stuff. If you're staying at a resort, eat breakfast there and not in the park. You won't find all day breakfast anywhere, though, so if you don't get it by 10:30 you're probably out of luck. Find evening extra magic hours! If you can afford it, try the MK After Hours - it apparently has been held in a practically empty park and you can get multiple rides on everything.

The dapper dans don't leave by noon. They do have a lunch break, and also break time mandated by their union. The Hollywood Citizens usually have their last set round 3:30 pm.

 

[luvthemouse71]

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.

I agree 100%. I love the parks at night.

 

[littleblackegg]

We have worked on this for decades, and there is never a perfect solution. I am a night owl, and worked night shift for many years. My husband likes to be up with the chickens. Also, I have become heat intolerant like CRAZY in the past ten years. We get up early most days but only stay at the parks until about 11am. Then we go back to the resort and hang out in our room or at the pool until 6 or 7pm. Then we go to dinner and then back to the parks. Some days I sleep in while my husband goes out and grabs breakfast and games. This means we only get a few attractions a day, but neither of us likes to rush around on a schedule while on vacation. It's all about flexibility and balance.