Going with non-rope drop friends on our next trip

[Tyr23]

I've always been a rope drop person for every trip, but this year, we're going during F&W with friends who aren't. They are late night, close the parks down people, and so I thought we'd try that strategy this time.

I'm trying to be accommodating but I'm worried that we won't be able to see everything. Are there any former rope-droppers who have changed their strategy for late night? We're staying at AKL so we'll probably make use of evening EMHs.

Advice?

 

[flortlebap]

I think that kind of touring style is where FP+ can benefit - just schedule for late in the day and accept that unfortunately you will have longer waits!

You may still find shorter lines if you manage to hit a 2am MK EMH though

We like evenings in WDW though - nice restaurants, a leisurely walk round the WS, a drink (or ten) and it's a lot of fun. Plus lots of rides are better at night

 

[catra121]

My only advice is that if you decide to go along with this strategy (which personally I think you should) that you should look at it as a new experience, one that you are sharing with your friends, and come to terms with the fact that it will be a very different trip.

If I were you I would talk to your friends and get an idea of how they tour the parks. Are they big ride people? Do they know what park they are going to each day? Do they do a lot of planning?

If your goal is to spend time with them and you plan on spending your days with them...then just prepare yourself for what their style is and accept that going in. If their touring style is at complete odds with yours and you will not be happy unless you do x, y, and z...then you are better off knowing that up front. And then you have a decision to make on how you want to handle this trip...if you want to sacrifice your needs to spend time with them, if you just want to meet up with them mid-day for a few hours, if you just want to spend a couple days WITH them and a few on your own, if you alternate with one day their way and one day yours, etc.

There are lots of options...but it's going to start with talking to THEM about what they usually do, how much they usually get done, what they prioritize, etc. Then you'll have a good idea of what the trip might look like and can go from there.

I personally would urge you to try a different sort of trip and go for it 100%...enjoy your time with friends...and then you can decide afterwards if it's something you would want to consider doing on your own trips in the future. But do NOT go in and give it a half hearted effort to try something new and then get frustrated that it's not like all the other trips or because you aren't doing the things you've always done in the past. That never works out well for anyone.

My trips with family (rope drop commandos) are very different from trips with my boyfriend (laid back sleep in sort) and those are different from my solo trips (open to close but take it easy and stop to look at all the details). I enjoy ALL of these different touring styles...mostly because I just enjoy being at Disney World and making memories there.

 

[Andtototoo]

I think you need to figure out if getting on every ride as quickly as possible is your #1 priority or not. Also... if they just want to walk around and "enjoy the parks" -- find out if it's going to be enjoyable based upon the crowd calendar.

Speaking for myself, I have to say we were just there for spring break and the crowds (and confusion over the FP+ "rules") were such that we could not enjoy the atmosphere/theming/details very much and therefore, going on rides was that much more important to us.

 

[Tyr23]

I think you need to figure out if getting on every ride as quickly as possible is your #1 priority or not. Also... if they just want to walk around and "enjoy the parks" -- find out if it's going to be enjoyable based upon the crowd calendar.

This is a really good point. In past trips, I've tried to do as much as possible. This time will be more about enjoying the parks, and eating and drinking our way around the World. We're mostly there for F & W and MNSSHP so we'll make those our priority and get "done" what else we can do.

 

[tmarquez]

We have always been rope drop people too, but had to change it up on our spring break trip (3/22 - 3/27) due to what FP+ is doing to the standby wait times.

We found that we were able to do TONS more in the final 2 hours then at rope drop now. It was also cool to be in the parks after dark...it's a whole new experience.

I don't think going at rope drop is advantageous anymore, at least not during busy times. Hopefully Disney will get some of the issues tweaked by the time F&W rolls around.

I've always been a rope drop person for every trip, but this year, we're going during F&W with friends who aren't. They are late night, close the parks down people, and so I thought we'd try that strategy this time.

I'm trying to be accommodating but I'm worried that we won't be able to see everything. Are there any former rope-droppers who have changed their strategy for late night? We're staying at AKL so we'll probably make use of evening EMHs.

Advice?

 

[Bluegrrl]

Definitely talk to them about what they want to do and accept that you may have to "do your own thing" and meet them later or go without them certain times.

I had a similar experience with my two friends who were hang out at the pool, spend time at the resort and maybe ride one ride or two people. Drove me nuts, since I am a RD commando person. Finally, after repeated phone calls to my mom complaining about them, she gave me some great advice. Go to the parks when you want to, and then set up a time when you want to meet up, like for dinners or late in the day. That way they get what they want and you get what you want. No one is forcing you to stay together and be miserable.: It's ok to do different things! But certainly talk to them and figure out what they want out of their vacation!

 

[JeremyGNJ]

I'll just go on record here as saying:

If I took the time and money to go on vacation with friends. I'd be royally PISSED if they ditched me half the time just because they wanted to 'ride more rides'.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'll just go on record here as saying:

If I took the time and money to go on vacation with friends. I'd be royally PISSED if they ditched me half the time just because they wanted to 'ride more rides'.

Doesn't it go both ways though? Doesn't a ride focused person get to be annoyed at the money they spent to sleep, laze around the room, sit at the pool, etc?

That's why it's a good idea to not plan to spend all day every day together. Gives people more to talk a out during the time together!

 

[karenklo]

Agree up front to go your own ways at times. We went with family and spent some time together, but then went our own way at times! Just talk about what you all expect before you get there!

 

[x5x5x5x5x5]

As a former rope dropper, I will say that I much prefer the evening touring plan. It took a while for me to warm up to it though. My DH is NOT a morning person so I used to take DD to the park at the crack of dawn so we could go commando through all of the rides we like. One morning, I decided - forget it. We ended up going to the parks just in time for a long lunch, then pool time and a nap. Then we went late night until closing (emh park). We all had a blast! Slept in the next day and did it again. I will probably do rope drop at some point during some trip -but now, I'm a convert. My advice would be to take it easy and know that you are likely not going to be able to do it all. Focus on your friends and enjoying whatever you guys do together. I enjoy just being in the world more than hitting every ride possible. You'll have fun even if late night touring is not your thing.

 

[KimK2006]

Everyone should get to enjoy their Disney vacation as they want to. Schedule your FP's for the afternoon or evening. You go do RD while your friends are sleeping in. You ride what you want to. They get to sleep. (For the PP who mentioned you, as the friend, would be mad at being ditched for rides, the friends are sleeping. You wouldn't be together anyway!) They can call you as soon as you get to the park. Tour together the afternoon and evening.

I think group trips can be stressful for all parties involved if they have different priorities and touring styles. You both do your thing and try to meet up as much as possible. You could compromise by them going early a few days and you staying last a few days.

 

[wareagle57]

Doesn't it go both ways though? Doesn't a ride focused person get to be annoyed at the money they spent to sleep, laze around the room, sit at the pool, etc?

That's why it's a good idea to not plan to spend all day every day together. Gives people more to talk a out during the time together!

That's how I feel. Why would someone be pissed at that? Unless it was literally leaving one person alone. I went to DLR for one day in January. It is likely the only chance I'd ever get to go and I had a pretty intense plan. I had a friend who was out there at the same time. He invited himself along. Honestly I didn't want him to come because I was afraid he'd slow me down. But I just told him ahead of time that I was going to be going full blast from rope drop to closing and if he didn't keep up I wasn't going to slow down for him. He said it was cool and ended up bragging to people we rode with about how much we got done that day.

Toy Story, Cal Screamin', ToT, Cars, and Soarin' all before 10. Ended up riding Screamin' and ToT again later, along with the ferris wheel and seeing the Aladdin show. In DL we did Space, Splash, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn twice, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Roger Rabbit, Tea Cups, Mr Toad, Pinnochio, Small World. That's all I can remember but I'm sure there was more. This was on a crowd level 9 day.

 

[JillyBean1899]

I've always been a rope drop person for every trip, but this year, we're going during F&W with friends who aren't. They are late night, close the parks down people, and so I thought we'd try that strategy this time.

I'm trying to be accommodating but I'm worried that we won't be able to see everything. Are there any former rope-droppers who have changed their strategy for late night? We're staying at AKL so we'll probably make use of evening EMHs.

Advice?

Define "everything". I never went to rope drop when I lived there, yet managed to see everything that I wanted to see 90% of the time when I did all 4 parks in the same day. Then again, I was either by myself or with just my mom, who has pretty much the same ride/show must sees as I do.

You're already probably not going to see "everything" you're used to seeing or want to see, just because you're going to be in a bigger group. I hate to say this, but take a tip from FP+ ... plan out tiers of stuff you absolutely can't miss, stuff you'd like to see but won't cry if you don't see it, and stuff you really don't care about. Then be ready to compromise when your list butts up against your friends' lists.

 

[disnut8]

I've always been a rope drop person for every trip, but this year, we're going during F&W with friends who aren't. They are late night, close the parks down people, and so I thought we'd try that strategy this time.

I'm trying to be accommodating but I'm worried that we won't be able to see everything. Are there any former rope-droppers who have changed their strategy for late night? We're staying at AKL so we'll probably make use of evening EMHs.

Advice?

Is this the only vacation to Disney World you will be taking with these friends? If yes, I'd do their plan because you obviously want to spend time at your most favorite place with these people.

Will you be going back to Disney World without these friends and be able to do your normal rope drop routine? If yes, then definitely do their plan.

Thing about it - then it would be a once in a lifetime trip with people you care about.

Now, you can talk to them about maybe mixing it up a bit and maybe instead of rope drop, a little earlier arrival in a park than they are used to? Come up with your "must-dos" and their "must-dos". Not the "we would like to do" but the "must". Then figure out together how that can be accomplished. With the rest of your time, have fun with each other!

 

[Redmic]

Definitely talk to them about what they want to do and accept that you may have to "do your own thing" and meet them later or go without them certain times.

I had a similar experience with my two friends who were hang out at the pool, spend time at the resort and maybe ride one ride or two people. Drove me nuts, since I am a RD commando person. Finally, after repeated phone calls to my mom complaining about them, she gave me some great advice. Go to the parks when you want to, and then set up a time when you want to meet up, like for dinners or late in the day. That way they get what they want and you get what you want. No one is forcing you to stay together and be miserable.: It's ok to do different things! But certainly talk to them and figure out what they want out of their vacation!

I have done many non-Disney trips with friends. Believe me, this is the BEST advice! Families have different rhythms, and if you try and put the square peg into the round hole it will not work and you will just get stressed. Spend some time apart to meet your personal styles and you'll have more to talk about in the time you spend together.