Closing down the parks is now the best strategy?

[epcotobsessed]

I am very grateful to everyone who is posting about their recent experiences in the parks without FP+s (my absolute crutch and savior for the past umpteen trips). It seems to me from reading these that, with the exception of Epcot, most parks are emptying out now in the last couple hours of the day. I'll be there mid-July and know a lot can change before then (a return of fireworks, for instance, would totally change this) but is a few hours before park close generally now the best time to go vs. RD?

 

[lovethattink]

I prefer the last 3 hours of a park. Especially DHS, seems people hop to other parks after they ride rise, or if they didn’t get RotR. AK is also nice in the last 3 hours as people hop to parks opened later.

 

[_19disnA]

In July when it is always HOT, early morning or later in the day makes the most sense for the parks. That was true even before covid became in issue. We would never go to Disney in June/July/August since it is just too hot outside most of the day to be enjoyable, however some can only got at that time, so you have to make the best of what your schedule permits.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I was glad to find out this thread was about staying at parks until closing time. I thought it was going to be about the parks closing down again!

 

[supersnoop]

Rope drop is still best, in my opinion. The problem, however, is that rope drop is between 30 and 60 minutes before the actual stated opening time, and if you're late, then closing it down makes more sense.

 

[_19disnA]

Rope drop is probably less enjoyable compared to later in the day since beside having to get up way too early on vacation, I would imagine you have to deal with masses of people racing to get to their favorite ride once the park opens.

 

[kylenne]

I am very grateful to everyone who is posting about their recent experiences in the parks without FP+s (my absolute crutch and savior for the past umpteen trips). It seems to me from reading these that, with the exception of Epcot, most parks are emptying out now in the last couple hours of the day. I'll be there mid-July and know a lot can change before then (a return of fireworks, for instance, would totally change this) but is a few hours before park close generally now the best time to go vs. RD?

Doing both has always been the way to go tbh. Rope drop and then get out for a rest break at the resort during the worst of the heat and crowds, then go back in the evening. And it’s absolutely doable without killing yourself if you take a legit rest during your break.

ETA: and during rope drop, zig while others are zagging. Eg. don’t run with the masses to stuff like Mine Train and FOP. Hit the left side of MK instead and the Safari. Save those rope drop headliners for the evening hours instead.

 

[gharter]

Mid July, I would be there for RD, head back to the room/pool during the heat of the day, and then return in the evening.
If there are not fireworks, getting in line for a ride just before the park closes is a great option. You get 1 more ride and the park has emptied out by the time you walk out. Most of the stores are open an hour after official park closing time, so you don't miss those as well.

 

[epcotobsessed]

Thanks everyone, and apologies for the confusing subject title! We're transitioning as well as my kids are now both teenagers and we're so used to being up at 6am, rope dropping, and usually not returning in the evening unless it's Epcot (we always stay at BC) but now staying at every park until it closes is more appealing. Can we do that *plus* rope drop? We'll see - I guess that's what afternoon naps are for.

 

[MomOTwins]

Honestly, a lot depends on what works better for your schedule. The reason that end of day hasn't worked well for us these days is that "end of day" at many parks has been 8 or 9pm. Well, we get hungry for dinner around 7pm, so even if we eat in the parks that usually doesn't leave much if any time for rides after the meal is over. Then again, we really dislike quick service so if you're fine doing something quick grab and go, or eating a late dinner after park close, that may work better. And that again assumes we can even get a dinner in or near the parks, but with ADRs being hard to come bhy, we've been eating at Disney Springs more, which requires more travel time so end up needing to leave the parks around 6pm.

On the other hand, there are other folks who care much more about sleeping in or having a big breakfast, and for them rope drop sounds as unappealing as eating dinner at off times sounds to us.

 

[LovesBelle]

Thanks everyone, and apologies for the confusing subject title! We're transitioning as well as my kids are now both teenagers and we're so used to being up at 6am, rope dropping, and usually not returning in the evening unless it's Epcot (we always stay at BC) but now staying at every park until it closes is more appealing. Can we do that *plus* rope drop? We'll see - I guess that's what afternoon naps are for.

My family is in the same boat. We've always been rope-droppers, but now both kids are teens and during COVID they've gotten really used to sleeping late. I floated the idea of rope-dropping to them, and neither seemed keen to do it. So we're going to try the end of day approach instead. Which is tougher for me, because I always get tired early!

 

[epcotobsessed]

Honestly, a lot depends on what works better for your schedule. The reason that end of day hasn't worked well for us these days is that "end of day" at many parks has been 8 or 9pm. Well, we get hungry for dinner around 7pm, so even if we eat in the parks that usually doesn't leave much if any time for rides after the meal is over. Then again, we really dislike quick service so if you're fine doing something quick grab and go, or eating a late dinner after park close, that may work better. And that again assumes we can even get a dinner in or near the parks, but with ADRs being hard to come bhy, we've been eating at Disney Springs more, which requires more travel time so end up needing to leave the parks around 6pm.

On the other hand, there are other folks who care much more about sleeping in or having a big breakfast, and for them rope drop sounds as unappealing as eating dinner at off times sounds to us.

We're really flexible with eating. Part of the reason for this is that, pre-covid, I found that I could get a reservation at pretty much anywhere I wanted the day of, so we could fit TS meals in based on how we were feeling that day (and often that minute - I have made an ADR and walked right to the restaurant countless times). This might be harder now with more limited ADR availability. We also enjoy snack carts and eating 1-2 things at several QS locations as we walk, so that makes it easier, but we certainly can't do that the whole trip so I might need to get more serious about my ADRs for this trip.

 

[Sarahslay]

My family does both, my kids and husbands always wake up stupid early vacation or not so we always make it well before posted opening time and get tons of stuff done. We always make a lunch ADR, head back to the resort for some chill time, then head back later in the afternoon or evening and get even more done. We've done every ride at HS before lunch by getting to the park by 7:45 for a 9am open (with them letting people in at 8:15 and lunch at 12:30), then we've come back with 3 hours left before park close and ridden everything again, sometimes multiple times. Of course it helps that the parks don't stay open crazy late right now, if they did we couldn't do it, but it is possible to go at the end of the day and get a lot done especially at AK & HS.

 

[seashoreCM]

If you are caught still at the park close to closing time you might as well go on a ride. This way you miss some of the crowds heading out and therefore avoid some of the waiting for the buses.

 

[Delirium]

Closing down the parks has always been the best strategy. Unfortunately, it does not work as well when the parks close so early. Back in the glory days you could ride more things in the 3 hours from 11:00 PM to 2:00 AM on an extra magic hour night at MK than you could during the 14 hour window from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

 

[epcotobsessed]

If you are caught still at the park close to closing time you might as well go on a ride. This way you miss some of the crowds heading out and therefore avoid some of the waiting for the buses.

That was exactly my plan

Closing down the parks has always been the best strategy. Unfortunately, it does not work as well when the parks close so early. Back in the glory days you could ride more things in the 3 hours from 11:00 PM to 2:00 AM on an extra magic hour night at MK than you could during the 14 hour window from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

That is sad news for my kids, who would have loved to do that, and will whenever those hours come back (I guess it's more "if" they come back). For mom, if I make it to the 10pm close at Epcot I'll be very proud of myself, and then it's quickly to bed!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I usually do the rope drop - afternoon nap/swim - park close plan in the summer.

My concern with that strategy this summer is pool capacity issues. There's also the afternoon storms to contend with.

I might swim early some days and go to the parks late. I'll have to see how things go.

 

[epcotobsessed]

I usually do the rope drop - afternoon nap/swim - park close plan in the summer.

My concern with that strategy this summer is pool capacity issues. There's also the afternoon storms to contend with.

I might swim early some days and go to the parks late. I'll have to see how things go.

Absolutely, I'm reading on other threads that people who show up to their resort pools in the early afternoon can't find chairs. It sounds like you are choosing between the RD advantage and finding a spot at the pool, at least at some resorts.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I checked the app last night at 6:30 to see wait times because we will be there next week. Each park had 1 ride at 50 minutes and everything else was lower. We’ve always preferred to close the parks. If you get in line even 1 minute before close, you still get to ride. So we always put the longest line rides at the end of the night and it’s also kind of nice to leave the parks on a high note! August was the first trip we’ve taken that we rope dropped. It worked well for us then because so many rides were opening much earlier than usual, and with lower crowds we were able to do all of Toy Story land before open. But it seems like the last few days I’ve seen several comments that most of the rides are not running as early as they were.

 

[nkereina]

I usually do the rope drop - afternoon nap/swim - park close plan in the summer.

My concern with that strategy this summer is pool capacity issues. There's also the afternoon storms to contend with.

I might swim early some days and go to the parks late. I'll have to see how things go.

This is typically our strategy too, but on our October trip, we found park hours too limited to justify going back to the resort and then returning to the park in the evening. There just wasn't enough time. Instead, we did rope drop and stayed in the parks until about 3-4pm (or whenever we were tired/done), and then returned to the resort for some swimming before dinner. We did TS lunches in the parks, so dinner was often QS at the resort or at Disney Springs - we visited DS four times during our trip, more than ever, because our evenings were free and flexible which was new for us. It was actually enjoyable, although we did miss the evening entertainment at the parks.