Help! Lazy Friends!

[BUPhiSig1997]

Hi everyone! I'm heading down for the free dining promotion Aug 26-31 with two of my best galpals. Here's the problem: I love using Tour Guide Mike, and I'd be up at the of dawn to get to the park before the rope drop. However, my friends are more sleep in and get to the parks at lunchtime kind of people -- making TGM not so handy. Believe me, NOTHING can budge these two out of bed before 10:30 am! So, I've pretty much planned the trip around the parks that have evening EMH. Is this the best plan for us?

I was also thinking of using RideMax (even though it feels like I'm "cheating" on TGM!) because you can plug in the time that you want to go to the park (I think). Has anyone used ridemax (or another similar service) for late arrivals to the park?

What do you guys think?

 

[MomofKatie]

If it was me, I'd decide ahead of time which parks to visit which days, then tell your "sleepy" friends you'll meet them at the Partners statue (or the big dinosaur, or Indy's well, or the Mexico pyramid) when they get up and get going. Use the morning hours to get some good solo park touring in- just make sure you and your friends have cell phones to communicate with.

 

[liamandcaili]

Personally, I would tell the friends to meet me at the park. No way I am wasting the entire morning at WDW in bed. Go by yourself and then when your friends do decide to arrive, you can tell them about everything you've done in their absence and how there weren't lines just an hour ago.

 

[rlovew]

I would meet them somewhere for lunch. I do that with DH on days he doesn't want to get up because he doesn't do the thrill rides anyway, so I do them without him.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

I too would go by myself!! Why would you wait for them. You could take a Segaway tour or do the Dolphin Swim program or any other tour. If you don't wait for them maybe they will get up early too in order to see what they are missing!!! Especially when you tell them that you rode soarin 3 times that morning and they are in line for 75 minutes !! :

We are going with another family next time and I already told them that we get to the parks at 9:00 and they either show up at 9:00 or we will meet them later!!

Have a great trip!!

 

[penguin087]

They may surprise you. I am not an early riser. I went with my friend and our respective children (6,10,11) last year and I think she as worried about my reputation for sleeping until noon (yes NOON ) I am happy to report I was the first one up almost every morning!

 

[TiffJ]

I just got back from a girls weekend & 2 of my friends are like yours & I'm an early bird. Luckily we werent doing the parks or I might have gone nuts. I felt like I was wasting alot of time just sitting around waiting for them to get up, even though we didnt have to be anywhere at a certain time, I'm just not one for waiting.

I'd talk to them ahead of time & let them know how much you can get done in the mornings & see where their priorities are. If they are going for a sleep in, wander around vacation WDW is not the place. That way you can know ahead of time what they plan on doing & if they dont want to get up early, I'd go with what everyone else says & have them meet you at the parks later. Then they can wait in line for 90 min. I bet they wont do it twice

Have fun no matter what you do.

 

[dizenthusiast]

I was also thinking of using RideMax

Ridemax *does* give wait time estimates for any given itinerary, right?

Maybe you could run two different plans, one that starts when the park opens, and another one that starts at noon. If your friends could see in black and white how high the estimates are for a noon plan compared to the early morning plan, maybe it would convince them to get out of bed!

 

[bluejasmine]

I agree I wouldnt wait around, I would tell them to call when they are at the gate so you can decide where to meet.. They may suprise you tho..I just couldnt understand not being bright eyed and bushy tailed in WDW..lol

 

[BUPhiSig1997]

I really appreciate the advice, but I just don't think I'd have a great time by myself, even if I know it's for a few hours. I was hoping you'd tell me that the last week in August wouldn't be too bad line-wise because school's in session in most of the country. Here's the plan I had in mind:

Saturday 8/26: Epcot Future World. We're getting off a Carnvial cruise in Port Canaveral that day, so I'm hoping to get off the ship early and be at Epcot by about 10:30-11:00 am. We're only doing Future World that day, so I think we should be ok except for Soarin.

Sunday 8/27: Magic Kingdom eve EMH. We have lunch ADRs at CRT, so I'm thinking of telling them that we have to be at the park at 9 to make up for the time we're going to spend eating lunch. Hopefully they go for it.

Monday 8/28: MGM eve EMH. This is one of the days I'm really worried about it.

Tuesday 8/29: Epcot World Showcase. We're doing Drink around the world, so they know we have to be there by 11 to get it all in!

Wednesday 8/30: Animal Kingdom. They know they have to get up early because AK closes early.

Bottom Line, Sunday and Monday are the only days I really care about. Can we get MGM in if we get there at lunchtime and stay through the end of EMH? What do you guys think?

 

[miss missy]

hi! I will be there that week too! And I have ALWAYS been on that schedule too. I am all about sleeping in since we are always out till closing! I am thinking that this plan is better this time of year too, the heat of the day wont be as long. I just love summer nights so I am right at home there!

I dont use either so tell me what you find out. Never heard of ridemax.

Just get to a park and fastpass right away. We do EMH nights too and sometime FP's are gone early, so watch that.

ALso the pools are opened at night, so get a nice swim in too

 

[BUPhiSig1997]

Ridemax *does* give wait time estimates for any given itinerary, right?

Maybe you could run two different plans, one that starts when the park opens, and another one that starts at noon. If your friends could see in black and white how high the estimates are for a noon plan compared to the early morning plan, maybe it would convince them to get out of bed!

I never would have thought of that! That's a great idea. You're a genius!

Of course, if it works out that there's very little difference, I'll never say a word! Hopefully, none of them read the Dis!

I still feel like I'm cheating on Tour Guide Mike though. "Mike, honey, RideMax doesn't mean anything to me! I mean, it was just for fun! It was an accident! I swear!"

 

[DrTomorrow]

Hi everyone! I'm heading down for the free dining promotion Aug 26-31 with two of my best galpals. Here's the problem: I love using Tour Guide Mike, and I'd be up at the of dawn to get to the park before the rope drop. However, my friends are more sleep in and get to the parks at lunchtime kind of people -- making TGM not so handy. Believe me, NOTHING can budge these two out of bed before 10:30 am! So, I've pretty much planned the trip around the parks that have evening EMH. Is this the best plan for us?

I was also thinking of using RideMax (even though it feels like I'm "cheating" on TGM!) because you can plug in the time that you want to go to the park (I think). Has anyone used ridemax (or another similar service) for late arrivals to the park?

What do you guys think?

I find this quite interesting; I've never before read that TGM is only of real value if you are an early riser. Sounds like TGM isn't for noon arrivals....

 

[BUPhiSig1997]

It's not that TGM isn't for late arrivals...it's that all of his advice is based on getting to the parks early. The whole idea is that you do the opposite of what "they" do. As in "they" don't make ADRs in advance, "they" wait til the afternoon to ride Space Mountain, so you should ride it in the morning. His advice is 100% spot on, it's just not going to work out so well for me on this trip.

Please let me say again what a HUGE fan I am of TGM and what a valuable service he offers. It's just that what he offers isn't that great for me on this particular occasion.

 

[ZoZo]

Just so you know, many states have schools that do not start until after labor day (like our schools here in Washington). Unfortunately, the parks are very likely to be very crowded even at the end of August.

I was also going to recommend doing some "solo" touring while your friends sleep, but it sounds like that's not appealing to you. (I went with three girlfriends last October and we split up constantly, keeping on contact by cell phone! You might give it a try one day, you might decide you like it!)

Make sure your friends are aware that fast passes run out pretty early in the day, especially for really popular rides like Soarin'. I'd encourage them to try at least one early day, just to try it. The benefits of getting going early really outweigh the luxury of sleeping in. I am not an early bird by any stretch of the imagination, but think it's totally worth my time to get going early at WDW!

 

[BUPhiSig1997]

How come no one has suggested that I get some new friends? HA HA HA!

 

[battricia]

I just want to warn you, I wouldn't press the issue of sleeping in. I'm a very grumpy morning person and being awake just because someone else wants me to would make me ten times grumpier. especially being on vacation. I disagree that WDW is for early risers only. I didn't realize that was a prerequisit! I'm a very 'go with the flow' type person so I would just chill at the pool until they were up if i was up earlier than them. Which resort are you staying at? I'm sure every resort has beautiful grounds to walk around, you could grab some breakfast at the food court. etc. Play in the arcade or something. I'm sure you can find something to do.

As for freaking out about not getting 'everything' in, I wouldn't stress about this, it will only make the vacation more stressful for everyone. And even if you don't put it right in their faces, your friends CAN tell you're stressed out and it might be taken personally. I've been on vacations like this to WDW before and it is NOT fun, and I LOVE disney. I don't freak about about lines or crowds, it makes my vacation much less stressful. Which is what I think vacation is all about?

This vacation I have decided I won't be up earlier than 9am, unless I wake up on my own which is highly unlikely. I am much more fun when I get good morning sleep, and my boyfriend can attest to that. I'm not gonna stress about gettinng the first fast pass or getting on soarin' 3x before the rest of the world has wiped the sleep from their eyes. I'm not going to stress about ANYTHING because I'm on vacation, and if i wanted stress I would have stayed home and went to work.

Just my 2ct. I hope you will take into consideration.

tricia.

 

[BUPhiSig1997]

...about not pushing the sleeping in thing. That's why I was thinking of using RideMax. I mean, it's only 18 bucks -- what do I have to lose?

I guess whatever happens, happens...I mean, I really don't have much to complain about. I'm going on a weeklong cruise, then coming off the cruise and going to Disney for 6 days! I'm going to live my lifelong dream of eating in the castle, I'll be eating FREE Disney food, and my friends generally don't complain about anything OTHER than getting up early. They all look forward to posing for character pics and singing like dopes on all the rides.

They're both teachers. Maybe I can convince them that they should start getting up early to practice for when school starts after Labor Day?

 

[isis151miu]

Try and get someone else to go with you that IS an early riser and just as excited as you are. If not just go in the morning alone- you can use the single rider lines! Then meet your friends somewhere for lunch.

I'm taking my boyfriend this year, and its his first time so for his sake, I want to make sure he see everything (everything worth seeing that is) in 5-6 days. He is not an early riser, and also likes to sleep in. Know what this means? If he doesn't get up he'll be getting cold water dumped on his head

 

[BUPhiSig1997]

Jeez...I hope he's not your soon to be ex boyfriend after that!

Have a great time!