That's what we kindof do
Not really
However, we do stay IN the park as long as possible. When watching Illuminations, we're usually near the American Adventure and SLOWLY work our way toward Future World, stop for pictures, stop for a beverage and snack, sit and watch the fountain dance for awhile, wander through Mousegear for a bit, and then finally at least an hour after Illuminations, we wander toward the bus stop and the lines are usually empty by then and a bus usually comes pretty quickly.
Same thing for Wishes, as soon as Wishes is over, we wander in the wrong direction, just slowly winding through the park until security starts nudging us toward the front, then sit and watch the castle change colors for awhile, meander down Main Street, stop for a soft drink at Casey's or an ice cream, wander through the Emporium, then slowly wander out of the park to an empty bus queue
For Fantasmic! we hang out in our seats for quite awhile just chilling till most of the crush is gone, then slowly wander our way out, take MANY pictures of the Tower of Terror and the RnRC courtyard, wander down Sunset boulevard, and toward Great Movie Ride and take pictures of the Hat and Grauman's Theater, then slowly out of the park, probably grabbing a drink and/or snack on the way out.
Using that strategy, we rarely have to wait in the smelly bus line standing up. I'd much rather sit on a bench looking at the Castle at MK, the dancing Fountain at Epcot, or Sorcery Mickey's Hat at the Studios contemplating the universe than standing in a bus line with grumpy people.
