Changing from rope drop to nighttime touring?

[floridadream]

Hi Everyone-

We are fairly seasoned WDW travelers and usually go in August due to limited schedules. We’ve always been very conscious of the heat and always did rope drop with a mid day break and then back for dinner and maybe more park if we were up to it. Now that the kids are getting older (11 & 14) I’m thinking about switching to a night plan where we go to the pool in the morning and head out later and enjoy the night festivities more. For those that have done both- any considerations going from RD to night? Crowds, heat, etc? TIA!

 

[Kona65]

We have been thinking about doing this also. It will be interesting to see any responses.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We've gradually shifted our touring style like that over the years. When my DS was little, we were all huge early birds. - We'd rope drop every day, and be done early. But now that he's a teen (and a massive night owl ) we often do late nights and sleep in instead. It's one of the things I actually like about the new FP+ system. It gives us that flexibility without losing our first choices.

 

[shakes]

We switched to evening and couldn't be happier. It's great to be able to sleep in, get to the pool around 10ish, eat lunch, then head to parks around 2-3. Actually makes for a somewhat relaxing vacation instead of non stop commando that we used to do. While the parks are a priority, you also are paying for the hotel and its amenities. It helps that we go long enough to hit each park twice and are doing MK DAH one night, so the "we need to make sure we ride everything" obsession really isn't a factor. I agree 100% with PollyannaMom, FP+ works well for us with our touring style.

 

[cmsb]

We have had the same experience as PollyannaMom. As our kids have gotten older, we have shifted from early mornings to closing out the parks. With fp+, we have still been able to do all of our favorites even though we are arriving at the parks a little later. That being said, we have been to Disney enough times that we aren't trying to do everything. We also get the park hopper, so we are flexible and willing to hop for key fastpasses. I have found that our whole family is more relaxed taking our time in the mornings, which makes for a more enjoyable day. Since we go in the summer, it is really nice to be in the parks once the sun goes down, too!

 

[Klayfish]

No real "considerations"...as Nike said...Just Do It. We're very much in a similar situation to you. We're seasoned visitors, always go in summer, and our kids are 14 and 11 (we have twin 11 year olds). We literally never rope drop anymore. DW and I get up at 4am at home, there's no way we have any interest in getting up before the sun comes up so we can stand at a gate, or even on Main Street, just waiting around. Nope. The current FP+ system really makes rope drop unnecessary and a waste of time, IMO.

We aren't necessarily night time tour people either, it really depends on the day. We've also always believed that the mid-day break thing was unnecessary and a waste of travelling time (whether onsite or off). So here's what we do.

If we have a morning planned in the parks, we still sleep until 7 or 8am. Have breakfast at our own pace (we stay offsite and have a rental house) and get ready for the day. Hit the parks around 10am. We have our first FP+ set for the moment we arrive. We set the FP+ back to back to back, and using refresh we blow through all 3 within 90 minutes, sometimes less. Then we start grabbing more FP+. One after the other, unless of course we're doing an attraction that doesn't need it. Midday is the perfect time to do attractions that are all indoor. Philharmagic, CoP, Dinosaur, Muppets, FoTL, etc...are perfect examples. We'll stay from 10am until anywhere from 3 to 7pm, depending on what we want. Then we go home and have a relaxing evening.

If we have a night planned in the parks, we sleep as late as we want. Chill out at the house, go for a swim. Hit the parks around 3pm or so. Same deal as above with the FP+. Use them from the moment we arrive and don't stop until we leave. The last hour the parks are open are very much like the first hour. The parks get pretty empty. For example, TSMM is literally a walk on ride from 8:30pm until 9pm when the park closes. Sometimes we ride it non-stop for 30 minutes.

As the saying goes, never say never, but short of actually saying that I can tell you we have zero plans to rope drop ever again. Heck, we were at HS for opening day of TSL and we didn't even rope drop then.

 

[biochemgirl]

As my son has aged (now a teenager) I've had to modify my touring Style. Rope drop is not as feasible as it used to be if I want a fun and engaged child! What I love about WDW is that I can schedule my FP for later in the day. I then use refresh to get 4th, 5th, etc. What I've gained by changing from morning to night tours is getting to see more of the nighttime shows, but I've also gained some morning time to tour our resort or simply relax and enjoy the morning with a cup of coffee in undisturbed quiet while my teenager sleeps

 

[cujochurch]

I have been wondering about this as well. We are seasoned visitors and usually rope drop. This trip we are taking our niece for her first trip. She has narcolepsy so early mornings are out. She needs 10 - 11 hours of sleep. So anyway we are changing to afternoon touring. I am worried about her getting to experience everything. im nervous about getting headliner fastpasses and dont want her standing in line all day

 

[hildarumpole]

Seriously considering the change also after our last trip. Our plan was rope drop with all morning/early afternoon FPs, TS lunch in the park, then back to the resort to swim, have dinner and early bed. Teen son struggled to get out of bed on day 2 and by day 3, he was a zombie. We did the DHS After Hours event and had so much fun enjoying the lights and night shows, we'd forgotten how pretty the parks are at night. Rope drop isn't as great as it used to be when it was easy to hop from ride to ride the first 2 hours. Now, wait times spike quickly, so there's not as much reward for the morning rush. We're AP holders, so no longer feel we're missing anything if a we don't get on a particular ride.

 

[cmarsh31]

Kids are 10 & 13 (almost 11 & 14) and we started doing the same with our trips. This year has been 3 shorter trips rather than one long one, so trying to just pick something to focus on (MVMCP, DIS Party, etc) at night and taking the mornings easier - booking our first FP for 10ish or even later for our August trip.

 

[mamamelody2]

We are definitely planning to do more night time in the parks and few, if any rope drops. We're to the point we don't feel like we have to ride everything as many times as possible, so don't have to spend every possible minute in the parks. We're planning more sleeping in, more pool time. I am especially hoping for DAH during our trip (Labor Day week).

 

[Randomsoulshine]

This is our new plan as well. Hoping summer hours are extended like last year. Arrive to a park around 3 and have our fast passes start then. Fingers crossed refreshing will work this late in the day in june. We stayed until 10 pm one evening at MK last year and my teens loved it. Also hoping for an after hours event to be on calendar before I purchase Disney tickets. Perhaps I could add three day tickets to my room and they would drop it to two if I ended up with a DAH event.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I think the nights are magical! The parks really clear out after fireworks and shows and you can just walk on so many rides! And I love seeing the park all lit up at night. The weather is usually nicer and you don’t have to worry about sunscreen as much. Plus. It feels more like a vacation if we can sleep in a bit.

 

[pookybean]

This is exactly how we do it now. My youngest is not a morning person, never has been, yet i would always try (and fail) to make it to rope drop. We would do morning, rest and go back to the park for the night. One year we were there in early Oct and it was so unexpectedly hot. We decided to sleep in, swim and head out around 4. We could shut MK down at 12 and stick around for another hour or so then leisurely leave and get on our basically private bus! This is now our preferred way to go. It also saves a little money because we dont bother with hoppers much unless its a shorter trip. I think its a lot more relaxing rather than the go, go, go trips and we get to feel more magic too.

 

[pookybean]

I have been wondering about this as well. We are seasoned visitors and usually rope drop. This trip we are taking our niece for her first trip. She has narcolepsy so early mornings are out. She needs 10 - 11 hours of sleep. So anyway we are changing to afternoon touring. I am worried about her getting to experience everything. im nervous about getting headliner fastpasses and dont want her standing in line all day[/QUOTE

Depending on the park, dinner or what we want to accomplish, we make our passes for 3/4 or 5/6. Choose your must do's like you would for the morning. We havent had a hard time getting any fp's starting at those times and even found FOP for later times leading up to the trip or while we were there. The only one we couldn't get on our last trip we slinky dog, but we know we will be back....we will ride it in a few years! lol You can get so much done in MK after the fireworks. The other parks you may have to be a little more creative with, but it is def. doable to only go late afternoon /night and get a lot done. Her first trip will be will be as magical as you make it

 

[hereforthechurros]

We are doing this for our June trip! Not every day, but since we have a large group going and want to be at a leisurely pace we are choosing to sleep in some days and stay out much later once the sun is down.

If your goal is to cram in as many rides without FPs it’s hard to beat rope drop but not sure its valid every day/all the time.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We are considering doing this more in August! I am getting really tired of the loooong security lines at RD now and we have been many times so the thrill of beating the crowds is gone now. I actually have noticed the crowds and getting in the parks at RD is much more a pain than it was years ago.

We are a mom and daughter team and my dd is now 19 and she is game with whatever way we tour so I think we will try this!

My problem is I am not a night owl, lol! At WDW I do stay up later than my normal routine. I have found during the fireworks at MK you can do some popular rides with very little wait.

 

[kappyfamily]

We are doing this for our June trip! Not every day, but since we have a large group going and want to be at a leisurely pace we are choosing to sleep in some days and stay out much later once the sun is down.

If your goal is to cram in as many rides without FPs it’s hard to beat rope drop but not sure its valid every day/all the time.

This is us exactly for our June trip with our group of 10.

 

[hereforthechurros]

This is us exactly for our June trip with our group of 10.

It’s the only way to do it with a large group! Trying to get 11 of us out the door for rope drop every day would feel like punishment We range in age from 2-62 so have to stay flexible.

 

[kcp6763]

How are the crowds doing this compared to rope drop? I'm considering this for Animal Kingdom one day but I'm worried about it being really busy in the afternoon. Are you able to see everything you wanted?