Giving up on rope drop (not adjusting to east coast time)

[dis1010]

We'll be in WDW in September when there's EMH every day at every park, except Epcot. We're coming from the west coast and I just don't see it as realistic (or desirable) to adjust to east coast time to make it to rope drop. Our DDs are not early risers - don't naturally wake up any earlier than 7 am. They will be 20 months.

So, we're considering getting to the parks later in the morning, taking a break mid-day (nap), and then staying late at the parks. Is this crazy?

Touring Plans has plans available for late morning arrival with small children. So, we could try to build our plans around those itineraries.

Any thoughts on this? Or tips how to make this doable?

Thanks!

 

[rg35]

On the flip side, do your DDs usually go to sleep late? If not, I wouldn't plan around late park nights unless you don't care about them falling asleep in the stroller and you and your partner doing child swap and riding things while they sleep. Even with mid day naps it's unlikely that they'll make it through late nights w/o getting tired and wanting to sleep.

We didn't go to Disney until our triplets were 4 years old, but even as they've gotten older late nights are tough for them. This year might be the first year that I think they'll do OK w/ staying out late and not getting tired, but they'll be 1 month shy of 11 when we visit.

Best advice I can give is to get FP+ for the stuff you want to do most and play the rest by ear and take it as it comes.

 

[sponica]

Everyone tours differently, and I think that plan might work. But I would NOT leave the parks for a break if you're planning on arriving late.

But every kid is different. Mine stroller napped like a champ.

With kids that age, flexibility is key. I only had ONE 20 month old with me and I basically had to throw out my game plan....

 

[princess4life]

Are you staying onsite? I've never been in September, but sometimes the transportation (time) issue is the decision maker. We certainly ducked into Hall of President's with kids for a cooldown with a nap during the summer. Sometimes it was enough rest to move on. If we noticed kids getting cranky, we also stopped for a shared snack or break time. Having said all that, we did try to rest pretty much daily. We adjusted times a little so that we got up earlier each day, took an afternoon nap, and stayed late. We typically go in the summer, so this also helped us avoid the hottest time of the day.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I have a 4 year old and (almost) 3 year old. Oldest has been to WDW 4 times (starting at 12 months) and youngest 3 times (starting at 13 months.)

Because mine are early risers and we always easily make rope drop, we book FP for 10 & 11, then eat lunch, then do our 3rd FP. After that 3rd FP our day is fluid and we play it by ear.

For my kids, we learned an afternoon resort break doesn’t work. They’d either fall asleep on the bus and wake when we got to resort, or just be wired and not rest. The resort breaks take a lot of time and energy, even if you’re staying close to a park. My kids were (and still are) great stroller nappers, so we quickly learned that it’s best for us to just stay in the parks. They often fall asleep on cool and dark attractions and continue to nap in the stroller. We are normally at the parks from rope drop to late afternoon or dinner time.

Because they wake up early no matter what, we only plan one later night show a trip, usually toward the end.

Every kid is so so different and they all react differently to WDW. Mine do great just resting on demand in the parks. I personally would not want to arrive late and then leave for a break. That may be what works best for you though.

I guess my #1 tip is to be flexible and follow your kids’ cues. I think it’s tough to predict what will work best until you’re there!

 

[Brett Wyman]

We rarely rope drop and on a standard 9am-9m park day we usually arrive sometime between 9-10am. Our two year old still naps so depending on how the day is going(and how he slept the night before) we either pack things up between 1-2pm and head back to the resort or we try to see if he'll nap in the park. Our stroller reclines completely so we are setup for park napping if required. I guess my main point is try to go with the flow. Don't wake your kids up early. Stick to their schedule and try to nap them at their normal times, whether it be in the parks or in your room.

 

[Klayfish]

No, you don't need to rope drop whatsoever. The best tip I can offer is to really learn and understand how to use FP+. If you do, it makes rope drop 100% unnecessary. Make your FP+ back to back to back starting when you expect to arrive at the park. Then learn how to "refresh" and get more and you'll be very productive. We haven't done a rope drop in years at the theme parks and have no plans to again. Only time we ever do is at the water parks, but they don't open until 10am and have no FP+....we show up at 9:55am.

 

[dis1010]

We're staying at BLT. So, taking a break while at MK seems like it should be easy. The other parks...who knows?

Right now, they wake up at 7 am or so and go to bed at 7 pm or so. We are transitioning from 2 naps to one. But our girls are generally ok with one nap per day. It's not short when they do - around 2 hours.

We went to Disneyland in May (they were 16 months). We were walking distance to the park, but didn't stay onsite. We were there for rope drop, but that was 8 am. They took a short stroller nap late morning. We walked back to the hotel after lunch and they took a 2 hour nap. Then we went back to the park at around 4 or so. Stayed until around 7 or so.

I'm really happy to go with the flow. I just need to figure out a FP+ strategy. It sounds like booking the FP+'s in a late morning to early evening window would give us the most flexibility - they'd be usable by us regardless of our rope drop (or non-rope drop) strategy.

Thank you everyone!

 

[Klayfish]

I just need to figure out a FP+ strategy. It sounds like booking the FP+'s in a late morning to early evening window would give us the most flexibility - they'd be usable by us regardless of our rope drop (or non-rope drop) strategy.

Yes, however I'd caution against doing your FP+ in a window from late morning to early evening. In other words, I wouldn't schedule FP #1 at 10am, #2 at 2pm and #3 at 6pm. That would mean you'd spend most of your day riding everything standby. If you're planning on getting there at 10am (just as an example), I would do 9:30-10:30, 10:30-11:30, 11:30-12:30. That would mean by lunch you can start getting more. If you're really into using FP+, you could move #2 and #3 up and be done with all 3 by 11:00am or so and then get more.

 

[frog3101]

Rope drop was never in the cards for us. We just are not early risers, esp. on vacation. Even with so much to see/do if we get up before we are really ready it just doesn’t end well. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I plan to the best of my ability but if it doesn’t pan out that’s fine. Even with the insane ( in my opinion) cost, I’d rather really enjoy a little than be frazzled trying to “ do it all”. Make a plan you think will work best for your family and be prepared to tweak it multiple times. Have a great trip.

 

[Christine]

We're staying at BLT. So, taking a break while at MK seems like it should be easy. The other parks...who knows?

Right now, they wake up at 7 am or so and go to bed at 7 pm or so. We are transitioning from 2 naps to one. But our girls are generally ok with one nap per day. It's not short when they do - around 2 hours.

We went to Disneyland in May (they were 16 months). We were walking distance to the park, but didn't stay onsite. We were there for rope drop, but that was 8 am. They took a short stroller nap late morning. We walked back to the hotel after lunch and they took a 2 hour nap. Then we went back to the park at around 4 or so. Stayed until around 7 or so.

I'm really happy to go with the flow. I just need to figure out a FP+ strategy. It sounds like booking the FP+'s in a late morning to early evening window would give us the most flexibility - they'd be usable by us regardless of our rope drop (or non-rope drop) strategy.

Thank you everyone!

All I can say is WOW you've got some sleepers!!! My kids never did anything like that.

They'd go to bed early enough (by 8PM) but sometimes they were up between 5-6AM. Naps were never 2 hours and certainly not two of them. I am very jealous.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We never did rope drop. I scheduled our first FP starting around 1030 +and back to back thereafter) and figured if we ever made it in earlier, we'd hopefully catch some of the shorter morning lines before hitting up our FPs. Yeah, that never happened. I think the earliest we may have gotten to a park was around 10, and after hitting up a bathroom and walking to the ride, our FP window had opened. We didn't do breaks and stayed until close and my almost 2 year old slept in his stroller. He didn't regularly take naps by that age, but he fell asleep like clockwork mid-afternoon, sleeping for around 2 hrs and waking up refreshed for dinner and a few more rides/activities. Personally, going back to the hotel wouldn't have worked for us as I think he would have balked at being "forced" to nap, and it wouldn't have taken too much time. With staying at BLT and having kids who still take regular naps, going back to the hotel might be beneficial for you. I'd play it by ear though and if they happen to fall asleep in the stroller, I'd just roll with it rather than trying to get them back to the hotel and risk waking them up.

If you think they may take stroller naps, bring a lightweight sheet or blanket (we used a receiving blanket) to drape over the stroller to help keep the sun out and find a shady/air-conditioned place to wait with them. Rider swap is great to take advantage of during their naps while the waiting adult can check out a gift shop or maybe have a snack. (I don't know about you, but at that age, my son still needed some assistance with eating and only ever wanted MY food, so I never seemed to get to eat my own meal/ snacks, let alone when it was still hot. It was nice being able to get a Dole whip or some cheese fries and actually enjoy them at their proper temp all to myself!)

I'd not go too overboard with the planning and be prepared to change things as the day goes. We looked into some of the touring plans, but honestly, it was way too structured for us. Bathroom breaks especially seemed to take a lot longer than I thought it would, with one in diapers and an older kid who gave warning about 3.2 seconds before she needed to go. We also found that my kids would get super excited by something we had no way of pre-planning for, like watching ducks, wanting to ride Triceratop spin 13x in a row when there was no wait, or play on the light up carpets for an hour in Epcot rather than ride Nemo.

 

[KPeterso]

Also from the west coast, but no kids in the party. But rope drop just does not happen with the 3 hour time difference if I am with my Mom. She tells everyone that she stays on west coast time, but that is not really true since she is never up between 6-7 AM in CA but I have her up around 7:30 at WDW (so 4:30 AM our time). When I travel solo, I can usually make rope drop or pretty close to rope drop, but not always! But I start work at 6 AM pst since my team is east coast based, so it is really not too different than what time I get up at home.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We're staying at BLT. So, taking a break while at MK seems like it should be easy. The other parks...who knows?

Right now, they wake up at 7 am or so and go to bed at 7 pm or so. We are transitioning from 2 naps to one. But our girls are generally ok with one nap per day. It's not short when they do - around 2 hours.

We went to Disneyland in May (they were 16 months). We were walking distance to the park, but didn't stay onsite. We were there for rope drop, but that was 8 am. They took a short stroller nap late morning. We walked back to the hotel after lunch and they took a 2 hour nap. Then we went back to the park at around 4 or so. Stayed until around 7 or so.

I'm really happy to go with the flow. I just need to figure out a FP+ strategy. It sounds like booking the FP+'s in a late morning to early evening window would give us the most flexibility - they'd be usable by us regardless of our rope drop (or non-rope drop) strategy.

Thank you everyone!

one thing to think about is how would your girls do with a 16 minute car ride near nap time? if they would fall asleep on the way would you be able to keep them asleep or get them back to sleep after a walk to your room? also if using buses you will have to fold stroller and help them on and off the bus. I say this because we had a huge meltdown with 17 month old grandson trying what you plan. it was worst meltdown that we had on any trip with always with at least one toddler age. the WDW resort is huge compared to Disneyland and what works there doesn't always work at World

 

[stephk1981]

We are in the same time zone as WDW, and stick to DD 1 schedule that we have at home when we do visit. However, we have made a few trips to Europe with DD, every time we have tried to keep her on our EST, but she has gradually changes her schedule on her own to whatever time zone we are in each trip. It has been challenging once returning home though, and takes a few days to get her acclimated back. Good luck, have a safe trip!