Early Robin or Late Owl.?

[Pepper pots]

Hi folks, kinda curious on your answers on this one...I helped plan a first Disney vacation several years ago for a family of seven, including grandad,granny, mummy, daddy, and three kids, aged 5, 7, and 10...Stayed onsite at PORS..They were there for 14 days and only managed to do one rope drop, as most mornings didn't get moving till around 11.00am..I admire those who get up at dawn and are still in the parks in the wee small hours, ( I've yet to see after midnight ) We are definitely early birds, up at 06.30am almost every morning, even if it's not a early park opening..So what category do you fit into..The early Robin or late Owl..Or are you both..?

 

[figmentfan423]

It's almost too funny I'm the first to share. We're the burn the candle at both ends type of family. Rope drop until they kick us out! With 4 of our Disney days being water park and mini golf days at least the WPs will close at 7 so we'll get a bit of sleep. We've never missed rope drop and were even sometimes the first family to get in through our turnstyle in the am. Now that being said were going to take a few days off at home to rest when we get home.

 

[Alesia]

Both. Rope drop to closing (or nearly so) every day. If I wanted a relaxing vacation, I would stay at home where I can sit around and do nothing without spending $5000.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We do both, well I do both, usually with my daughter. My husband and the boys tend to sleep a little later and meet us at the parks around lunchtime and stay until closing. It works out well. And this is why onsite is the only thing that works for us.

 

[Disneylover99]

Some days early, some days late, some days mid-day.
It depends on the park, what resort we're staying at, our mood, and what we want to accomplish that day.
But we are never rope drop to closing.

 

[ArielRae]

We are only early birds. We are up between 3-4am and asleep between 7-8pm. Sucks that breakfast doesn't start until 6am at the resorts.

I really wish Disney opened one park everyday at 6am (even if only a section or two). They could get more breakfast reservations in and those of us that are up early can get right into the parks having fun. Resort arcade doesn't open until 7am, Can't even swim now in the early mornings so there isn't anything to do until late. Feel it is a little unfair that night owls get really late nights but they won't open a park early for us early birds. 8am opening is not an early opening. Come on that is only an hour difference. Evening gets up to 3hrs.

 

[MrsDuck]

Always early bird!

 

[kj2mom]

Both now! When I took my children when they turned 5 we stayed late and slept late. I blacked out the room as much as possible (brought clothespins to clip the curtains completely closed) so they would sleep as late as possible. We were interested in the night time entertainment so they stayed up late and I wanted them to sleep until they naturally woke up. Sometimes that meant we weren't hitting the parks until noon time but I was okay with that, well rested children are happy children and happy children means happy mom!

This past summer I took them again, they were 13. The first day was 4th of July so I wanted to RD and close, RD was because of potential crowds and close was because it was their twin friends' birthday (which was the reason for the trip). After that first day it was up in the air. I asked my children before bed if they wanted to RD again the next day and it was a resounding yes! They realized how much could be done in the morning and thought it was worth it. We RD and closed the entire week. We actually did okay in the sleep department because RD really only meant leaving our place at 8 and since we all had our own bathroom it didn't take that much time to get ready, sometimes we would get up at 7:30 and be out by 8. Considering we were only out after midnight a couple of nights we still did okay with sleep (just saying that you don't necessarily have to sacrifice a ton of sleep in order to open and close the parks).

 

[Pepper pots]

Kudos to you folk who can do both..What's your secret..?..lol...

 

[Luv2Run]

Definitely night-owls. The earliest we have gotten to the parks was 11:30am, and that was for a lunch reservation. We stay till park close, and usually plan which park to visit around if it has Extra Magic Hours. I can't do rope drop; I'm a bear in the morning. I should note that we don't have kids, but I would imagine that if we did then we'd still hang out at the resort until lunchtime, then do the parks later.

 

[tinkerbella16]

I fit into both. I start work each day at 4am (work from home).. so even in WDW on vacation, waking up at 5:30-6am is sleeping in for me. I love hitting the parks early. We take breaks and enjoy the resort each day, and then head back out until the park closes at night. That is what always worked for us. We like to take breaks each day when the parks are at their most crowded... so we will relax, swim, take a nap, have lunch and it gives us that refresh for the evening.

 

[jsmla]

Early bird, one of my favorite things about solo trips now that the kids are grown is being one of the first people at the turnstile. I'm one of those people who almost never sleeps past 6:00 AM or stays up much past the ten o'clock news.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

Definitely early! We have to get up at 4am for work so it's hard to shift your schedule suddenly more than a couple of hours. We usually rope drop without an alarm set, then come in somewhere around 7pm - 10pm, sometimes with a break in the middle of the afternoon, sometimes not.

 

[figmentfan423]

Kudos to you folk who can do both..What's your secret..?..lol...

a healthy diet and exercise

 

[Tomh]

Usually, we are there for rope drop, and stay until park closing. If we get tired, we will either take a mid day break, or leave before park closing. On occasion, we sleep in, though that is never planned, it happens on those occasions that we have just gotten too tired from all the long days, or if DW or I get sick we might sleep in. That is not the norm for us though.

As for my secret, I have a grueling work schedule at home. I am up every morning at 6:00 AM promptly, and generally don't get home until almost 11:00 PM, so I am pretty used to long days.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Hi folks, kinda curious on your answers on this one...I helped plan a first Disney vacation several years ago for a family of seven, including grandad,granny, mummy, daddy, and three kids, aged 5, 7, and 10...Stayed onsite at PORS..They were there for 14 days and only managed to do one rope drop, as most mornings didn't get moving till around 11.00am..I admire those who get up at dawn and are still in the parks in the wee small hours, ( I've yet to see after midnight ) We are definitely early birds, up at 06.30am almost every morning, even if it's not a early park opening..So what category do you fit into..The early Robin or late Owl..Or are you both..?

Definitely an Early Robin rope drop person if it's MK or AK. No need for rope drop at E Or HS. I always take a mid-day 4 hour break from MK and go back for the parade and fireworks. Usually leave right after the fireworks. Love it when they are at 8pm, but will stay till 10pm when necessary. So, not really a late owl by choice.

 

[DisneyHardin]

DH and I are early robins. We are up at 6 on vacation, have breakfast and are at the park with time to spare for RD, but then we are back in the hotel room crashed in bed by 10 PM.

 

[katt789]

We're definitely both, especially on the shorter trips. If the trips under 4 days, we're doing am emh, and park hopping for pm emh!
If I had to choose one though I'd choose the early bird, you can just get so much done, and there's nothing like an early morning in the parks!

 

[kj2mom]

Kudos to you folk who can do both..What's your secret..?..lol...

I really do think accommodations have a bit to do with this, at least for us. We were 3 people each with our own bedroom and bathroom. We could all shower and be out in 30 minutes or so (we ate breakfast either in the car or in the RD line). We traveled with a family of 5 who were in one room, one bathroom and several mornings we ended up heading into the parks without them because they couldn't quite make it to RD. They lost quite a bit in the sleep department as well as a couple of them showered at night making less time in the morning but still allowing enough time for 3 people to shower in the morning and get to RD can be time consuming.

At home I generally sleep 11:30ish-6:45am and with the exception of one night (the 4th of July into the wee hours of the 5th) I got just about the same amount of sleep during vacation.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Early bird, one of my favorite things about solo trips now that the kids are grown is being one of the first people at the turnstile. I'm one of those people who almost never sleep past 6:00 AM or stays up much past the ten o'clock news.

I agree! In November I went solo, but had family and friends staying the week. My Aunt and Uncle were staying at the same resort as me, and my Uncle would text me every morning to meet him at the Riverside Mill for breakfast, and I was already at the park waiting for it to open or having breakfast at 7:30am at Kona. He would laugh every time, he could not believe how early I was up and out each day lol. By the end of the trip, he finally said to me "I now see why you love you love this place so much, you are so happy here." It really is great being solo in WDW!