Early Morning Entry

[disneywith4boys]

Can you tell me how you get your family to the parks for early morning entries? We never can get going that early in the mornings. I would love to. We have 4 DS's, they'll be 9, 6, 4 and 4 at our trip in the fall. We don't stay out too late, as the parks usually close early in the fall (except for MNSSHP). I usually get up first, take a shower, make sure all the clothes are ready, all the while making noise. I just can't get them moving. DH is no help, he doesn't see the benefit of the early hours, and would rather sleep. I also don't like waking them, because they're probably sleeping because they need it. BTW, these kids wake up ar 6:30 every day at home, they're not usually late sleepers. Our latest day ever at home is 7:45, and this is unusual.

 

[eliza61]

Can you tell me how you get your family to the parks for early morning entries? We never can get going that early in the mornings. I would love to. We have 4 DS's, they'll be 9, 6, 4 and 4 at our trip in the fall. We don't stay out too late, as the parks usually close early in the fall (except for MNSSHP). I usually get up first, take a shower, make sure all the clothes are ready, all the while making noise. I just can't get them moving. DH is no help, he doesn't see the benefit of the early hours, and would rather sleep. I also don't like waking them, because they're probably sleeping because they need it. BTW, these kids wake up ar 6:30 every day at home, they're not usually late sleepers. Our latest day ever at home is 7:45, and this is unusual.

I don't. If you think the kids need the sleep, let them sleep. I used to make every one get up early for EMH and it usually ended with me turning into a drill sergant & yelling at every one to get ready. Only after 1 of my kids told me they were not having a good time, did I get a grip. That's one of the reasons we rarely make adr's I spent way to much energy watching the clock trying to get to a reservation. In real life between school, after school activities (sports & clubs) and play dates my kids are always on some type of schedule.

Now we take it easy at WDW. We usually roll into the parks aroun 9:30 am. If that means we do 1 or 2 less attractions, you know what "que sera, sera" We're a much happier bunch.

 

[disneywith4boys]

Yes, that's what I thought was best, but I was hoping there was some magical trick that others used to get everyone ready earlier. I wonder what time others actually get up to get out at that time. We never made it to a rope drop- yet alone early entry hours. This year we're staying club level, and I think I'll go out and get breakfast food for the group if I'm still the only one up early. Maybe it'll save some time.

 

[Mkrop]

We set tha alarm for 6:30. I get in the shower, DH goes and gets food and coffee using our snack credits from the food court. I then wake the kids up and get them to start eating, they are usually pumped and have actually slept in, sort of. They eat and watch Stacy, DH gets in shower, get kids dressed and sunscreened.

We have not made rope drop but we did get their for most of EMH or shortly after opening. One day the bus for AK was really late and we wound up missing most of EMH.

It is not rope drop but this is what has worked for us. I love how much we can get done early though.

 

[SmallWorld71]

By all means, it's your vacation and sleep in if you want to.
That said, we always travel during school vacations or the summer when getting there early is a necessity when you have kids who want to ride all the thrill rides and meet all the characters. We are so NOT morning people (except DD) so this is what we do to help:
1) Bathe the kids the night before
2) Have everyone's clothes already laid out so the kids can just get dressed without thinking about it
3) Have the backpack packed and ready to go the night before
4) Eat breakfast either in the room or waiting for the bus, we usually avoid the food court in the morning except to fill up our mugs
5) Put sunscreen (already packed in the bag) on everyone while on the bus
6) Don't do too many rope drops in a row

With these things in place, we are able to sleep until 8-8:15 and make it to rope drop at 9 without any problems.

 

[bear_mom]

Have a dd that consistently wakes up at 6-6:30 am, no matter what time she goes to bed .

She wakes up, starts tossing and turning which wakes me up, then her sister and then her dad. We had no trouble making rope drop any day we were there.

Because of this, we typically ended our day after dinner. Dinner at 6, back to the resort, watch a little TV, get them cleaned up, eat a snack and to bed by 8-9. Twice we stayed up late, once for Spectromagic/Wishes and once for Illuminations. Both of those days we went back to the resort to rest for a while.

 

[Momvic5]

My family is half and half. Some of us get up no problem while the others love their sleep. My DH, DS11, and I usually drag ourselves out of bed pretty easily. My DD8 and DS6 on the other hand like to sleep in. However, once they are up, they are usually ready to face the world. I have to say it takes a lot of effort on my part. I have to have everything ready the night before and then put on a big happy face and encourage everyone in the morning ~ not always easy but it works for my kids. I have found that the better mood that I am in the better mood my kids and even DH are in.

Like you, I get up first (6:00) and take my shower making noise all the while. I am careful about the light though because that can make some of us grouchy. My husband is usually next, and after he is done showering, we both try to gently wake the kids ~ loving on them, singing a Disney song, open the windows, etc. You know ~ the please be in a good mood tactic. Once they are up, we usually eat a snack while we are getting dressed.

We have made it for several early morning entries, and we really enjoy them. We may have to eat lunch earlier and even leave the parks earlier, but we have decided it is worth it.

But like other posters have said, it is your vacation and if it is too hard on everyone then avoid the stress and sleep.

 

[mom2aredhead]

1) Bathe the kids the night before
2) Have everyone's clothes already laid out so the kids can just get dressed without thinking about it
3) Have the backpack packed and ready to go the night before
4) Eat breakfast either in the room or waiting for the bus, we usually avoid the food court in the morning except to fill up our mugs
5) Put sunscreen (already packed in the bag) on everyone while on the bus
6) Don't do too many rope drops in a row

With these things in place, we are able to sleep until 8-8:15 and make it to rope drop at 9 without any problems.

This is exactly what we did. Having everything ready the night before makes a HUGE difference. We would all shower/bathe the night before, pack the bags, etc. so it would really only take us like 20 minutes to get out the door. I even went to the food court the night before and grab some bananas and yogurt and throw them in the 'fridge to have the next morning.

I HATE HATE HATE setting an alarm clock on vacation, so out of a week, we maybe do this 2 times at the most - for an EMH, or maybe an early (8:00 am) ADR at Crystal Palace or Hollywood and Vine so we can eat and still be on an attraction when the park opens. We are more of a night owl family so we generally stay for pm EMH more often than hitting the morning ones. So if we are going to get up early, I make sure it is not the morning after we did a late night out.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We used to go to morning EMH since DD8 is always up early, but DD5 likes her sleep. For our trip in April, I have intentionally planned NOT to be at any park for early entry. It will be too crowded if we arrive late, so we are going a non-early entry park each day. Our chances of making a regular rope drop (9:00 in April) are much better!

 

[brymolmom]

My best tip is BRING YOUR BREAKFAST FOODS. Bring some cereal/bagels in your luggage (or have groceries delievered) and put some milk/juice/apples from the food court into a cooler in your room the night before. This saves SO MUCH TIME - especially with a large family - going to the food court, deciding what to get, getting in line and then eating take up way too much time to make it to the bus stop early.

Also, just plan for it with your family - let them know - 'we're going to try something different - we're going to wake at our 'normal' wakeup time at home and see how that goes'. That way they're ready for it (make sure they go to bed at their 'regular' home time the night before) and their bodies might even wake on their own. If not - go ahead and get in the shower, open the curtains to let some sunlight in, and gently say 'it's almost time to be up' every once in a while.

I'm kind of surprised you have trouble if that's the usual wakeup time every day at home - my kids are programmed to wake up at our 'usual' time no matter where we are. Maybe try to do it your very first full day so that their bodies aren't tired out from days of a lot of walking??

I say if you are really into it to try it - I LOVE going to the parks early. It is truly amazing how much more you can get done in less time during the first hour - hour and a half of park open time.