Do you arrive for rope drop?

[wide receiver]

I am helping a friend plan her first trip for her family to WDW. Her family is DH, DD12, DS10, DD7. The family is staying OP at Bonnet Creek, and won't have a car but will use Bonnet Creek shuttle. My friend says she usually enjoys sleeping in on vacation, and is planning on not rushing out of the room to get to WDW at opening. I on the other hand usually stay on property, have a car and enjoy EMH. Here is my question....I want to respect my friends desire to not rush out in the morning, after all there is not only one way to see Disney, right? But I also want to counsel her properly so that she doesn't miss out or end up at the park right when the long lines start. What is the latest time you can get to the park and still enjoy riding most of the rides and seeing the shows? (she is traveling Oct 28-Nov 4 with 5 days in the parks)

 

[Candikayne]

I am helping a friend plan her first trip for her family to WDW. Her family is DH, DD12, DS10, DD7. The family is staying OP at Bonnet Creek, and won't have a car but will use Bonnet Creek shuttle. My friend says she usually enjoys sleeping in on vacation, and is planning on not rushing out of the room to get to WDW at opening. I on the other hand usually stay on property, have a car and enjoy EMH. Here is my question....I want to respect my friends desire to not rush out in the morning, after all there is not only one way to see Disney, right? But I also want to counsel her properly so that she doesn't miss out or end up at the park right when the long lines start. What is the latest time you can get to the park and still enjoy riding most of the rides and seeing the shows? (she is traveling Oct 28-Nov 4 with 5 days in the parks)

I didn't know that the rope drop wasn't an option!
I can't remember the last time I went after the park opened.
I did counsel my friend....but she did not listed....but she learned the hard way.
And her kids were 6 and 3.
If this is your friend's first trip she may not be rushed to ride everything and see every show. But still let her know the down side to sleeping in.

 

[~Kristina~]

I don't think we've ever opened a park. We'd rather shut them down! lol

 

[woodnymph]

We are nearly always there for rope drop - or at least try to be - especially for MK.

As for the friend, I have one that isn't planning to go for another year or more. But, she really isn't grooving on the park planning thing either. I'm considering just picking up Birnbaum's 2010 when it comes out. I think she'll get enough info there to plan a pretty smooth first trip. Trying to talk to her about it is going nowhere.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Rope drop is a must for us. Closing a park is not an option since my kiddos poop out early. Heck, I poop out early so more than 1 late night is not an option. We go for rd as much as possible.

 

[romtea]

Maybe you could just let your friend know how relaxing it can be to get to rope drop (I'll explain). When I was a kid we were the type of family that moved slow, showed up at the park a couple hours in and my memory of disney is LOTS of LONG lines which can also be VERY tiring.

After I had been to Disneyworld myself as an adult and realized the glories of rope drop I introduced the concept to my mom on her most recent trip. As we wandered around MK walking onto 4 or 5 of our favorite rides with little to no wait, pleasant weather, and light crowds... she just kept exclaiming over and over and over again how much fun it was and how she had always viewed our Disney trips as very tiring and stressful and couldn't believe how nice it was to get to the park at opening.

Then you could suggest that they do their hanging around in the room in the afternoons or evenings... HOWEVER like you said to each their own... maybe they think that sleeping in and staying late IS more relaxing.

 

[8disneyfans]

I don't think we've ever opened a park. We'd rather shut them down! lol

We open and shut them down
We are a gung ho type of family, and if the little kids poop out then I take them back and DH stays and plays longer with the older kids.

We got really sick(I mean really sick ds had to go to ER) so that slowed us way down. We actually got to a park at 11:00 am one morning it was a whole new experience for us. I think we would all rather be there at rope drope, it something a little bit more magical.

 

[8disneyfans]

I didn't know that the rope drop wasn't an option!

It's not! Have to be there at rope drop, there just isn't any other way to do it.

 

[MinnieMouse73]

When my dd was very young (and before she was born) we would do rope drop every day. But the truth is, now she is 7 and NOT a morning person. We could drag her out of bed, cause arguments, get to the park early but stressed, and she would be tired by lunchtime.

OR we could take it easy in the morning, arrive at the parks relaxed and happy by 11am-noon and enjoy the parks until they close (usually 11pm for us at DLP in the summer) making good use of fastpass.

Whilst it's not my preferred way of touring, it is what works for us now. So I would explain the benefits of rope drop to your friend, but realise that it's not actually for everyone!

 

[davidsprincess]

YEAH!! Of course. Is there any other way?

The one sentence my family heard me say every day,"We are so behind schedule" if we weren't at the gates at least a half hour before they opened.!!

 

[The Princess]

We try to and I would love to but we end up closing the parks instead.

 

[clc053103]

I have never seen rope drop at the parks, though probably arrive minutes after on many occasions. It's not worth the stress. However, i do get to water parks for rope drop!

 

[8disneyfans]

When my dd was very young (and before she was born) we would do rope drop every day. But the truth is, now she is 7 and NOT a morning person. We could drag her out of bed, cause arguments, get to the park early but stressed, and she would be tired by lunchtime.

OR we could take it easy in the morning, arrive at the parks relaxed and happy by 11am-noon and enjoy the parks until they close (usually 11pm for us at DLP in the summer) making good use of fastpass.

Whilst it's not my preferred way of touring, it is what works for us now. So I would explain the benefits of rope drop to your friend, but realise that it's not actually for everyone!

I know it's not for everyone, and everyone does it different. I was just teasing!!! We love rope drop!!! I feel an extra spark waiting and seeing the train come in...ahhh...wish I was there now!