Forget RD & Start Day "Mid-Afternoon"

[JayhawkFans]

My non-disney-loving DH has the notion that if we skip RD, sleep in and laze around the pool during the morning & early afternoon hours we will have a more enjoyable time at the parks by going in mid-afternoon when the masses are leaving. His brother shared this genious idea with him while they were here visiting this w/e. His brother has been to Florida twice in 50+ years. How in the world am I going to convince him that is NOT a wise idea???

This will be my 10th trip to WDW and I would like to think that by spending time on Disboards and TGM that I am somewhat knowledgable about how to tour the parks. Last year he kept joking telling me I need to start him in Disney Boot Camp prior to going b/c my early morning wakeup calls were starting to do him in. I told him since we are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek this year that I could drive to the parks and he could catch the bus whenever he felt like joining us but that didn't fly.

So .. I would love to hear from you if you have been successful at missing RD and wandering into the parks later in the day. Our cast includes myself (38), DH (54) and DD (10). We are going 9/5-9/14.

 

[mom2rtk]

The part I don't like about that plan is that he not only wants to try that himself, but he's insisting that you do it too.

Sounds like you're going to have to try to mix it up a bit and hope he can see the err in his ways.

 

[mossy1]

My non-disney-loving DH has the notion that if we skip RD, sleep in and laze around the pool during the morning & early afternoon hours we will have a more enjoyable time at the parks by going in mid-afternoon when the masses are leaving. His brother shared this genious idea with him while they were here visiting this w/e. His brother has been to Florida twice in 50+ years. How in the world am I going to convince him that is NOT a wise idea???

This will be my 10th trip to WDW and I would like to think that by spending time on Disboards and TGM that I am somewhat knowledgable about how to tour the parks. Last year he kept joking telling me I need to start him in Disney Boot Camp prior to going b/c my early morning wakeup calls were starting to do him in. I told him since we are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek this year that I could drive to the parks and he could catch the bus whenever he felt like joining us but that didn't fly.

So .. I would love to hear from you if you have been successful at missing RD and wandering into the parks later in the day. Our cast includes myself (38), DH (54) and DD (10). We are going 9/5-9/14.

Even tho most people here wouldn't tour this way. I suppose there is no right or wrong answer. Have him try your way one day and maybe his the next. The difference will be clear. That is the easiest way I have found to convert non believers....

 

[kaligal]

Sometimes questions are more marriage-related than Disney-related.

Of course rope drop will allow you to do more. But different people have different vacation styles. Some people look forward to vacation as a time to relax and sleep late.

This is something you guys are going to have to work out.

My suggestion would be to begin his way. He may decide he'd rather ,not wait in lines, after all.

Good luck!

 

[Bearybear]

So .. I would love to hear from you if you have been successful at missing RD and wandering into the parks later in the day. Our cast includes myself (38), DH (54) and DD (10). We are going 9/5-9/14.

We have yet to do rope drop when we didn't have a pre-park opening ADR. You are going at a less crowded time, so it shouldn't be too outrageous to go in the mid afternoon. Instead of RD, we usually stay until park closing. The lines at MK are practically non-existent after 10:30 or so at night, even for characters. If you are willing to try it, you might like it. Just remember you might not be able to get FPs for most rides if you get to the park in the afternoons.

 

[gwmort]

I'm the only one in my family that's ever done rope drop, and growing up we went to WDW every other year.

My mom was always of the opinion that she was on vacation and didn't want to get up earlier than she felt like. If when we got there a line was too long we went and did something else, we'd done whatever it was before and we'll do it again so no big loss. The laid back pacing and relaxation was more important to her.

Its all in the attitude. If you have a long "must-see" list, you'll need long days in the parks. If you're in the only two weeks vacation a year crowd and want to spend it sleeping in and hanging by the pool, there's nothing wrong with that at all.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

I have only been to rope drop once in 3 trips. Having said that I am probably more in your husband's mentality... It is a vacation. If I have to walk around an exhausted zombie with 3 exhausted zombie kids, that is not a vacation in my book. We can't happily make it from rope drop to park close every day. We have our limitations.

We go early and leave early some days, we go late and stay until closing others. It works for us. We also don't tend to go during the busiest times of the year either, so I can't say that the way we do Disney would work for you or your time frame. We also don't feel that we have to do everything every trip. Disney isn't going anywhere and we will be back, so if we miss something, no big deal.

Why not compromise and do some days his way and some days yours.

 

[2girlsmom]

For the most part, I think you can get away with late arrivals in September, as the crowd levels are dropping, though you do have Labor Day weekend in there, right? One exception, MK will be holding MNSSHP during several dates likely during your time frame, at which point the MK will close at 7pm unless you have the seperate ticket, and crowds will increase significantly around 4pm, as that is when they let in the MNSSHP guests. Second exception, TSMM at HS. As of last year, we arrived at 10am (in October) and were able to get a FP for 5:35-6:35 time frame, by 11am they have been out of fastpasses at every time of year I have been there thus far (Feb, March, May, June, Sept, Oct, Dec). Now if you don't CARE about riding this ride, you are fine.

Your hubby needs to know that the #1 benefit to going early is reduced wait times. At that time of year, wait times are generally not TOO terrible, but popular rides will likely still be 30-45 minutes during the afternoon hours, and those rides may also either be out of fast passes or have them for very far out times. We have done both styles of touring, and as locals, afternoon arrivals can work, in large part because we don't really HAVE to ride everything, or even close to everything. For example, not at Disney, but this past weekend we went to Universal, mostly to see the Miranda Cosgrove concert Saturday night. We opted not to enter the park until @ 6:30pm, and the kids wanted to ride Minion Mayhem, so we went ahead and got in the 90 minute wait line (which actually took 60), since it is new and their first chance to ride it. After the ride it was time to go to the concert field, and then after the concert we went to Louies for pizza and sat outside to watch the fireworks/water screen show, then left the park. We COULD have ridden Mummy or RRR on the way either to the concert yard or to the restaurant following the concert, and by that time (7:30pm and 9:15pm) the ride times were listing at 15 minutes, but opted not to, we've ridden before and will be back within the next month or so, were just there in June previously. So when we left the park, we had ridden exactly 1 ride. That works when you can go whenever, but not so much when you are taking a vacation trip.

 

[Disney Doll]

I've been to WDW @ least 2x/year for the last 20 years and I think I have done "rope drop" maybe 4 times.

But it depends on the kind of vacation one wants.

I like to take it slow and easy. If I get to a park and it's crowded or too hot or too annoying, I levae and go back to the pool or something.

No more commando touring for me...we did that for a few years and needed a vacation when we got home from our vacation!

 

[Texashokies]

Could you take the bus in to get there early and leave the car with him to catch up later?

 

[Mickeyrella]

My non-disney-loving DH has the notion that if we skip RD, sleep in and laze around the pool during the morning & early afternoon hours we will have a more enjoyable time at the parks by going in mid-afternoon when the masses are leaving. His brother shared this genious idea with him while they were here visiting this w/e. His brother has been to Florida twice in 50+ years. How in the world am I going to convince him that is NOT a wise idea???

This will be my 10th trip to WDW and I would like to think that by spending time on Disboards and TGM that I am somewhat knowledgable about how to tour the parks. Last year he kept joking telling me I need to start him in Disney Boot Camp prior to going b/c my early morning wakeup calls were starting to do him in. I told him since we are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek this year that I could drive to the parks and he could catch the bus whenever he felt like joining us but that didn't fly.

So .. I would love to hear from you if you have been successful at missing RD and wandering into the parks later in the day. Our cast includes myself (38), DH (54) and DD (10). We are going 9/5-9/14.

I don't think this is either wrong or right. My parents have been DVC Members for 22 years now, so therefore I've been going to Disney more like 50 times in my lifetime, and we've never done RD, we usually arrive at 11am or noon and still have fun that way. Some people just don't like waking up early when they're on vacations, families are different and not everyone will like waking up at 7am or 6am to get to a park for RD. We also don't take mid-day breaks, we stay until EMH ends (when available). What I don't really agree though, is him making you wait for him, that's just plain dumb (no offense), you should be able to go the park whenever you want to and whatever time you wanna go and he can catch up with you later.

 

[rachellm]

I think it's certainly possible to have a lovely vacation and see everything you want while doing it his way - especially if you still until closing.

I'd make sure he knows though that in reality the "masses" WON'T be leaving as you're heading in. Based on what everyone here talks about it seems like it would be that way but this is still a small minority compared to all the visitors!

Typically when we're leaving for our afternoon break it's jam packed with people heading in for the day!

 

[rosiep]

My take:

I am not a morning person and as such, my daughter and I usually mosey into the parks around 11 or noon. We tour mostly in October and by the time we reach the park most FP's are for much later in the day. The crowds are in full swing but no where near unmanageable.

I have done RD once and was able to ride several rides in a row with minimal waits...practically breezed through.
I truly enjoyed RD, but was spent pretty early on...even though we stayed onsite, going back to the hotel for a rest meant we often did not return to the parks.

We go often enough that following our own body rhythms make the most sense for us. We get a longer, more relaxed day in the park even if that means longer ride waits.

Tell your husband that there are plenty of people who think like him and don't do RD, tell him the park isn't less crowded and the wait times are longer. Then, the two of you can try both styles and decide for yourselves which you like better.

 

[bytheblood]

Neither one of the guys are that far off base for September. If he is not into Disney like you are, making it to rope drop and doing the headliners multiple times probably isnt a big deal to him. If he wants to sleep in a bit, it is his vacation too, so let him... you can still go to rope drop and have the vacation you want.

 

[GC&S]

Been there done that!! My DH hated getting up early and we did it "his" way for a couple of years and I didn't care because it was just me and him. But then we had dd. She and I are kindered spirits and wake up REALLY early. So we tried an early morning (not rope drop but close to it ) and DH loved it. He couldn't believe how low the crowds were, what we were able to do before we took dd back to the room for a nap. Plus everyone is happier in the morning. When we would start getting crabby and tired, we knew it was break time.

We still kind of mix it up but generally we get there pretty early. And now DH is usually the one ready and waiting for us!

Good luck!

 

[katrina1122]

I guess it depends hwen you go. We always go in off season and never even knew about rope drope until I read it on here. We always go in later and use the evening EMH instead of morning and always ride everything with little to no wait.

 

[kshattuck]

....but our family is a crowd of early risers. It gives me hives to think about "lazing" around at WDW when there are all of those PARKS just WAITING to be explored

My sister is a different kind of traveler, though. She and her family are DVC members and are WDW quite often. When they traveled there last spring break, she swore the crowds were better when they spent the morning hanging out and then would head to a park late in the day and stay until it closed, or park hop to a park that was open later. (Obviously during spring break, the parks are open longer than perhaps in September.) They loved it!

One thing I would caution about that was suggested by previous posters is that it would seem pretty difficult to try it your husband's way one day and yours the next. You're going to be pretty tired if you try to stay out until midnight and then are up the next morning for RD. Not to sound bossy, obviously you could figure that out on your own

These spouses have some nerve having their own ideas about travel!

Good luck! Have fun!

 

[miami305]

My non-disney-loving DH has the notion that if we skip RD, sleep in and laze around the pool during the morning & early afternoon hours we will have a more enjoyable time

This will be my 10th trip to WDW

Last year he kept joking telling me I need to start him in Disney Boot Camp prior to going b/c my early morning wakeup calls were starting to do him in.

I bolded the parts of your post that stood out to me. Your DH told you in a nice way that he wants to sleep in some days. One problem with DIS, is that we get so caught up in the planning that we forget there are no rules on how to experience Disney. Plan some non-rope drop days and relax at the resort instead. Problem solved and everyone is happy.

 

[ars0525]

I don't see the issue with having 2 start times? Group A (you) is leaving at XYZ time & whoever wants to come with goes with. Group B (DH) is leaving at ABC time. Let the kids choose whether they want to sleep in or be in the park.

Luckily I always had parents who were get up & go people. As a kid I couldn't imagine sitting in a hotel room at Disney waiting for my dad to get out of bed so I could go to a park. That would be agonizing.

 

[miami305]

I don't see the issue with having 2 start times? Group A (you) is leaving at XYZ time & whoever wants to come with goes with. Group B (DH) is leaving at ABC time. Let the kids choose whether they want to sleep in or be in the park.

Luckily I always had parents who were get up & go people. As a kid I couldn't imagine sitting in a hotel room at Disney waiting for my dad to get out of bed so I could go to a park. That would be agonizing.

OP didn't write that her DH wanted them to sit in the room staring at him sleep all day. The man wants a day to relax at the resort, then go to the parks. It isn't laziness to want to sleep past 7am when you're on vacation.

Family vacations mean taking into consideration the needs of everyone.