How important is it to get to the parks early?

[cwnhokie]

In the past we were always a get to the parks by 9 if not earlier kind of family. But now we have teenagers and two chronic illnesses and rest seems a bit more important. We are going next week when the crowds are predicted to be low most of the week. Can we get there later and still be ok? In the past we were able to get more done from 9-12 than in the rest of the day so I'm wondering if we need to get going. Thanks!

 

[bigbabyblues]

We still find it worthwhile to be at the parks before they open, but my teens are early risers by nature (they did NOT get that from me!). However, if you have people who need more rest, then plan accordingly. Use FP+ to your advantage and understand (as you already know) that you may not get to do everything, which is true whether you arrive at 8 am or noon. Find out what the things are they they really want to do and also ask what they are not interested in. As our kids have gotten older, we find that there are a lot of things they just don't want to do anymore--99% of Fantasyland for one--which helps with park touring.

 

[chris benton]

The nature of the beast dictates that earlier is better to get more accomplished. If two people have the exact same itinerary, and the same "knowledge," the person that starts the itinerary at 8am will either get more done, or be finished before the person that starts at 9am. The park hours are finite, and crowds get bigger as the day goes on, generally.


If the same two people have different itineraries, then all bets are off.

The early bird gets the worm, but if you don't want the worm, who cares?

Do what's best for you. Wally vacations are too expensive to be miserable.

 

[MamaMaleficent2016]

You’re going to get wildly different responses to this question. People have different touring styles.

Here’s what I would suggest: it’s your vacation and you won’t enjoy it if you feel tired or rushed all of the time. Focus your day day on one to three MUST DOS and play the rest by ear.

To answer your question, specially, we’ve never been rope drop people. On our big family trips we don’t get the the parks til late morning. We’ve always been able to do what we hoped we would do. On my last trip there were just two of us and two of our park days didn’t start until afternoon. And it was fine. Did we ride everything? Nope. Did we hit our MUST Dos? Yep. Did we have fun? You bet!

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

We are a Rope Drop/Afternoon Nap team.

But we don’t have the same family makeup you do.

For us it’s rope drop or bust. But that doesn’t mean later start touring plans are worthless. They’re just not for us.

I’d also like to caution about low crowds next week. Crowd predictors are not what they used to be. I think you should prepare for moderate to high crowds and be pleasantly surprised if they are in fact low. The trouble is there might not be as many people around as there would be in say October - the problem arises when Disney runs with low staff and low ride capacity. Wait times for everything from park entry to food service to attraction wait times are impacted.

 

[Brett Wyman]

You’re going to get wildly different responses to this question. People have different touring styles.

Exactly! Unless we have a pre-opening ADR or have a paid event like EMM to attend, we never set a time to be there and just arrive when we do. Which is usually between 9-10am. We almost never visit the parks on days that are higher than a 6 on TP by design.

 

[jess20k]

Very important! You can pop out a good number of rides if you go at rope drop. Especially if you don't have a fp or want to ride a popular one more than once, you can usually go to it at rope drop and have a very short or short wait. We usually do like to go back to our resort for a mid day break at times, and swim or relax. That helps us wind down from getting up so early and then we are ready to go back out later.

 

[siren0119]

Totally depends on the things you find important on the trip.

If riding the super-popular rides is important, then arriving an hour-ish before rope drop can be important. BUT you can get on most of those rides if you are willing to forego the evening fireworks/shows and ride them before park closing.

If managing the physical exhaustion is top of the priority list, you might have to sacrifice some rides/long waits in favor of a later start and/or longer breaks during the day. If you can grab Fastpasses for those more popular rides, it cuts down on what you might miss.

Also, look into DAS. Depending on the nature of those illnesses, you might be eligible to get DAS accommodations for them - or if the illnesses create a mobility issue (can't stand for long periods/walk for long periods) then getting a wheelchair for them might help make the days more pleasant and help mitigate stamina issues. There is NO obligation for the person to be sitting in the wheelchair the entire time they are at the park, but renting one from Guest Services on arrival will ensure it's there if they need it.

 

[Redarrow5150]

IMO if you're going for a short stay very important. If you're staying longer 5+ days I would say not as important.

 

[Upatnoon]

In the past we were always a get to the parks by 9 if not earlier kind of family. But now we have teenagers and two chronic illnesses and rest seems a bit more important. We are going next week when the crowds are predicted to be low most of the week. Can we get there later and still be ok? In the past we were able to get more done from 9-12 than in the rest of the day so I'm wondering if we need to get going. Thanks!

You will get far more done in the morning. The parks are just less crowded and easier to maneuver in. I find it a much more pleasant experience. We will often leave around 2 p.m. after lunch satisfied with what we have done.

When we want to see fireworks and other evening events, we go to the parks in the late afternoon, after relaxing early in the day. We use our 3 fastpasses, eat dinner and watch the show.

A few times we have gone early, napped, then went to an evening show, but usually only when we are not planning on a park the next day, as it is hard to get up early after a late night at the park.

I think the worst strategy to visit is to arrive late in the morning and try to make it to close. After burning you 3 fastpasses, you will be in with the worst of the crowds.

No matter what you do, you have to set your expectations and know your limitations. Know that if you arrive late in the morning, the lines will be long. You still have your fastpasses and there are attractions, like shows, you can do, but everything will be more crowded.

 

[TwinkleKS]

We go at least once a year, so therefore don't feel that we have to do everything on any one trip ... so my opinion is clouded by that.

We don't rope drop. Some days we don't show up until lunch time ... or at least a late breakfast. We travel during Christmas week. We still manage to do everything we want to do. Use your FP+, get the CL FP if you can ... enjoy your trip.

 

[eagle1992]

It really depends on what you want to accomplish...we are going for a week this coming April so want it to be more of a relaxing vacation...we plan on going one or two early mornings and the rest will be late evenings...our kids are older now and we plan to just go with flow...don't get me wrong...we have a schedule laid out with FastPasses but some days we aren't planning to go the parks until the late afternoon/early evening in order to have more down time and relax...it helps that the week we are going we are doing two DAH so that will help knock out a lot of the headliners multiple times...

 

[chloelovesdisney]

If you need to go later just adjust the expectations for how much you will do/see. It's fine, target your must-dos, and anything else you can fit in is extra.

 

[pooch]

Going on trip #17 later this month, have never seen a rope drop. We usually arrive around 10am and have had our fill by 5-6. Then we’ll have a relaxing sit down dinner and either return to our resort or head out for fireworks. I’ve given up trying to get anyone motivated in the morning.

 

[Gussie Granger 1969]

We have 2 morning people in our family of 4 and two sleepers. It can be challenging to get out the door for rope drop but we always plan a few late days into our trip. For example for our upcoming trip we have 4 rope drop days and 2 sleep in days. The two late days are our World Showcase day, we arrive around 10:30 and enter WS at 11 and our other day will be an afternoon spent in Disney Springs and evening at HS.

 

[maryj11]

I also have a teen and we have done a couple of rope drops but mostly arrive in the afternoon and stay til closing. If you know how to work the FP system you can use the first 3 and then get about any FP you want by refreshing the app over and over. Except maybe Flight of Passage or Seven Dwarfs, although we managed to get Seven Dwarfs by refreshing the app before.We always go in the middle of summer when crowds were busy.
If your going next week I think you will be fine arriving later.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Rope drop seems too crowded and stressful for me, but I guess it’s ok if you want to hit the headliners once.

There are other strategies that don’t require arriving early yet still allow for multiple rides on the top attractions.

Check out some of the FP refresh strategies. You can also find shorter lines later in the evenings.

 

[JennyDrake]

It also depends upon your heat and crowd tolerance. IMHO MK is crowded and *impossible* from noon until 4-5 each day. AK is always crowded by 1pm and depending upon the tie of year, hot an miserable too. Epcot and DHS are more spread out for crowds but there is little shade.

I also deal with a chronic illness (lupus) and I do rope drop or just after, eat lunch in teh park then nap, swim rest until 4 or so then head back out.

 

[LilyWDW]

As someone with chronic illnesses, I understand the need for rest. However, I still will rope drop each park once. This is because I can get so much done in a shorter period of time, giving myself tons of opportunity to rest and take it slow the rest of the day. That said I will not do an early morning and long/late day. If I rope drop, I will usually be out of the park before dinner (with ADRs set for a resort location or just grabbing something at my resort). I will also try not to do a late night with an early morning the next day. Does this mean I miss stuff? Yep, but I know what I need to get through a trip.

 

[Remy is Up]

Depends on 4 things
What you want to accomplish
Time of year
Fps you have
And whether or not you Know how to use refresh