Early August - rope drop vs. late evening touring

[icecreamforbreakfast]

Is one better crowd wise then the other? As a general rule is it better to get up early or stay up late to enjoy a lesser crowd?

 

[sharonabe]

If there is any way you can do both, you'll beat the crowds all around. We don't usually go in the summer months anymore, but when we did, we'd get up early for the early EMH park, go back to resort for a NAP (saved pool time for down day or no late EMH day), then went to the late EMH park for the evening and closed the park down. This does require the parkhopper option. That nap in a cool room in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day was the only way we could burn the candle at both ends, but we loved the relatively emptier parks.

 

[minniemous]

We have never been to the park for rope drop. However we found late before park closing we could go on rides easily with little wait. For example we decided to go to Epcot that day so the only fast pass we could get for Soarin was at 8:30 pm it may have been 9:00.

Well when we went for our fast pass time it was empty. We were able to walk off the ride and go right back around. We went on the ride 4 times in a row and then went on a few more rides on our way out of the park. Early that day the fast pass line was even a wait.

So, I certainly learned that if we are spending the entire day at a park you can certainly go on a lot of those long line rides at the end of the day with no wait.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

If there is any way you can do both, you'll beat the crowds all around. We don't usually go in the summer months anymore, but when we did, we'd get up early for the early EMH park, go back to resort for a NAP (saved pool time for down day or no late EMH day), then went to the late EMH park for the evening and closed the park down. This does require the parkhopper option. That nap in a cool room in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day was the only way we could burn the candle at both ends, but we loved the relatively emptier parks.

I like this strategy! Rope drop in the morning, afternoon nap, then go back at night! It's hard to stay in the park without a break in the summer anyways. The heat zaps energy and your body just craves that rest/nap out of the sun!

 

[jm106]

I like this strategy! Rope drop in the morning, afternoon nap, then go back at night! It's hard to stay in the park without a break in the summer anyways. The heat zaps energy and your body just craves that rest/nap out of the sun!

That is is how we did it and it was perfect. Kids really enjoyed the pool time midday, we had lunch by pool and a refreshing swim. We enjoyed the evenings in the park after that. One day we did a ADR at Kona late lunch to get out of the sun and sit.

 

[karenklo]

My DH is a teacher so we are left with summer and Christmas break to fit in our Disney fixes! WE will be there the first week of Aug. We RD and then head out of the parks by noon. WE go back, hopping to a late park if possible, around 6. It had always worked out for us!

 

[JennyDrake]

I like this strategy! Rope drop in the morning, afternoon nap, then go back at night! It's hard to stay in the park without a break in the summer anyways. The heat zaps energy and your body just craves that rest/nap out of the sun!

DITTO!!!

 

[DisneyChristmas]

We're up early, and then at the parks late. Maybe some pool time in the afternoon. You can always sleep at home

 

[puffkin]

We are in the parks early for Rope Drop, head back around noon to the resort. Usually we take a dip in the pool, but don't spend the entire afternoon out there. Then a long relaxation in the room. We usually do an earlier dinner (5ish) and then hit a different park after that and stay through at the least the fireworks/evening show.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

My DH is a teacher so we are left with summer and Christmas break to fit in our Disney fixes! WE will be there the first week of Aug. We RD and then head out of the parks by noon. WE go back, hopping to a late park if possible, around 6. It had always worked out for us!

Looks like we will be at CSR, at the same time.

 

[jade1]

I like this strategy! Rope drop in the morning, afternoon nap, then go back at night! It's hard to stay in the park without a break in the summer anyways. The heat zaps energy and your body just craves that rest/nap out of the sun!

Every afternoon it thunderstorms at about 4PM, so we always were back at the resort around that time. Always out to the parks after for the evening, it kinda knocks down the heat a bit-but still toasty even at night.

Morning gets hot very quickly, so making RD is a good idea if you want to get some things done before it's super hot-and it will be.

 

[HereForMinnie]

Is one better crowd wise then the other? As a general rule is it better to get up early or stay up late to enjoy a lesser crowd?

Crowd wise I would say early morning is almost always better. People are much more likely to stay up late and enjoy the parks than wake up at dawn.

With that said, I think you would be better off going at night because of the heat. I live in the south and I cannot take the humidity that comes with the heat. Some folks on here will say you can leave at noon when it gets warm and I say it's warm as soon as we get up and hot around 10am (hardly worth getting up early just to leave at that time). We have a trip planned in July but we're 99% sure we're going to push it back to November. The thought of the stifling humidity is too much.