I find this interesting

[Disney Queenie]

We do the RD break thing, but we also will sometimes decide to stay in the park if the family is vibing tighter, KWIM?
I mean when everyone is happy, why not stay. Now that being said, when the family is cranky we get the heck out of dodge and go to the pool. Now that my kids are older, we are loving staying late nights now too.

Rookie mistake 1st trip- not knowing when we could have stayed and when we should have left.

 

[Sheaboys]

You will happy to hear that the park will be less 9 people every afternoon between 1 or 2 until 4 or 5. Dates are August 16-26.

We love getting there early, not necessarily rope drop but very close, get alot done, then head out, go back and swim, shower, dress, and hit another park for supper and rides.

Occasionally we go back and nap.

It just works for us.

 

[BigAlsGal]

We almost always follow that advice!!!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Every guide book, every blog, and every website dedicated to Disney says to be at a park for rope drop, leave and go back to your room for a nap or a swim then return for the evening.

My question is, doesn't anybody listen?

Why aren't the parks almost empty from 12:00 to 3:00?

I have done my touring as stated as well as staying all day and wondered why I am not almost alone in the afternoon.

Most people don't read blogs and whatnot I always feel like we have an advantage being on this board! We go back to our rooms for a break in the afternoon because that's when it is busiest!

 

[ifjf414]

Simple, because 50 % of the population CANNOT get the act together to get out of there hotel room before 10 AM.

Secondary to it, a large percentage of travelers don't read books or take advice, so they don't know enough to do it.

I think think your estimates are low.

My neighbors went in June. I offered to give them advise and suggest websites. They said no thanks, so I kept my mouth shut. They didn't get FP+'s until the day they showed up. They didn't do rope drop. And you know what ....they had a great time.

Some people value minimizing wait times. Some people value sleeping in. Some people don't want to plan anything. To each his own.

 

[Josh Hendy]

The main reason for getting up early and being there at rope drop is that if you like to go on thrill rides more than anything else, getting there early is the only way that you can pack in a lot of rides in a single day (other than extra-late EMH nights).

My family loves to sleep in, but we love thrill rides even more, so we have always made it to rope drop on every single day we've ever visited an Orlando theme park. We found that seeing a lot of live shows, visiting the un-crowded old-school attractions (like Carousel of Progress) makes us bored. So if we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and then rolled into the parks, we would not enjoy our day very much.

If you don't like to do a lot of thrill rides, and you really enjoy shopping, grazing on snacks, watching live shows, and classic indoors "snoozer" shows like Hall of the Presidents then I don't see any reason for getting up early.

We've only ever vacationed in Orlando for 1 week, never longer. If you're staying 2 weeks or more then I'm sure you can get your fill of thrill rides without getting up early every single day.

On the subject of pre-rope-drop shows: I hate them! We're standing in the hot sun, we've already been there for up to 45 minutes waiting to get in the park, and we have to watch the same hokey, dumb schtick that we've already seen several times before. It doesn't put me in a happy mood for the cast to set the scene with a little show, while they block the way to the attractions. They should move the little shows to one side, so that the (very small number of) people who appreciate that stuff can watch them, and the majority of thrill seekers can boogie right on over to Splash Mountain, Test Track or whatever.

 

[asmit4]

I may get flamed here- but IMHO- it's 1 of 2 groups....lazy people OR people who don't know better....---too lazy to do their own research.....so YES, LAZY people.

If people want to sleep in that's great....my sister is one of those people but I REFUSE to listen to her whine for even 1 minute when it comes to long lines. If you want to ride PP with a 5-10 minute wait- you can do that at 8am. The opportunity cost of your extra 2-3 hours of sleep is a 90 minute wait time for Peter Pan.

 

[jm106]

We really enjoy mid day break but we arent nappers we like to enjoy the pool, a cocktail and rest by the pool. Kids love the pool activities.
I know a lot of people say they never get back to the parks after a break. We have no problem returning, we are rested and ready to go again.
We dont want to just go through the day until we are too tired if that means we risk missing Night time shows and cooler temps (mainly last trip since it was Aug.) we love the parks in the evening.

This trip I am super bummed that we are off site and not sure we will bother heading back for a break(just a condo, basic pool, no theming nor restaurant.) I have a few days that I plan to leave earlier then park close, have an ADR for lunch to cool off and make it an open to close day.

 

[Laura's Dad]

Most people don't read blogs and whatnot I always feel like we have an advantage being on this board! We go back to our rooms for a break in the afternoon because that's when it is busiest!


Of course we have an advantage. We are Disney Park freaks and want to plan out our stays and get to see/do twice as much for our vacation dollar than the many people that have no ideas about the disboards or mousesavers or allears.net or easyWDW. I am a teacher and coach and I talked to another coaching friend of mind who was upset that his family could not get into the MK on the day before Christmas at 11 pm.

I am a morning person who is married to an evening person but has convinced her of the importance of RD. She has seen the benefits. My daughter has been there to wake up Tinkerbell, been in front of the castle with just Mickey, Minnie and her (because of an early ADR at Crystal Palace before park opening), has had Breakfast at the castle 3 times even when they were auctioning them off, eaten the Kitchen Sink with a friend, got an autograph and picture with Flick and Jiminy Cricket when my wife was on her character quests, had had many great opportunities at WDW that the "average" WDW
traveler has no clue about.

That being said, she is about to graduate from college and we have a celebratory trip planned during the weekend and few days before Thanksgiving. She is still entranced with the magic. She has decided that she wants Mickey waffles and Mickey character apples. We have never been to see the Christmas decorations but I am a now retired teacher that will be able to do this with my family. It has been a great 15 years worth of memories.

 

[MIGrandma]

I may get flamed here- but IMHO- it's 1 of 2 groups....lazy people OR people who don't know better....---too lazy to do their own research.....so YES, LAZY people.

If people want to sleep in that's great....my sister is one of those people but I REFUSE to listen to her whine for even 1 minute when it comes to long lines. If you want to ride PP with a 5-10 minute wait- you can do that at 8am. The opportunity cost of your extra 2-3 hours of sleep is a 90 minute wait time for Peter Pan.

You truly think that if someone doesn't go to rope drop they're lazy?

Just because some people love going to rope drop doesn't mean everyone does, and neither one is wrong.

We couldn't care less about being in the parks for rope drop. We are fairly early risers (6:00 or so) but we enjoy having our morning coffee and a leisurely breakfast, walking around the resort (we stay at Port Orleans Riverside), and by the time we have our showers and get dressed we don't usually head for the bus stop until around 10:00.

But. We have never felt the need to take an afternoon break and go back to the resort. Now maybe if we had little ones that needed naps we would, but since we don't we stay in the parks usually until nearly closing time.

Works for us, and that's what important, not what someone says is "good advice" in some book.

 

[andyman8]

Unfortunately, most visitors don't read all these websites and fully utilize these and other resources. In fact, just the amount of people who buy guidebooks for any vacation (let a lone a WDW one) has decreased significantly. With all the pressures of the "real world", often, those who do not have a great fondness of Disney don't feel or understand the need to research. It's just not something most people are used to doing for vacations. I mean I've never planned as extensively for any vacation as I do for a WDW one and I live 2.5 hours away and go frequently!

I've tried many strategies for the parks varying in everything from early morning to late nights to sleeping in to last-minute planning to even not using FP+ and there's benefits and drawbacks to all of them, so I think it's just a matter of preference and what works for you and that's something only you can decide. I do get somewhat of a chuckle from those who believe that you are wasting your money on a WDW vacation without arriving at rope drop. It's all just a matter of preference.

 

[wendybeth75]

We used to be that family that wanted to sleep in and saunter over to the MK and then we discovered Rope drop. We can get more done in the first two hours of the day then we can for the rest of the day. Same goes for the last couple of hours that the MK is open. We nap midday and catch up on our sleep then. I think there are some people who want to cram everything in and don't rest enough. Or perhaps it is a once in a lifetime trip and they don't want to "miss" anything.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We prefer to get there at rope drop and stay until close - I'm too cheap to waste away in the room while my tickets slowly expire

 

[Tomh]

We do rope drop pretty much EVERY park day. Mid day breaks, well, once in a while, if we are feeling like it. Most of the time, we just slow down mid day, do those boring air conditioned things like hall of presidents, the American Adventure, Country Bears, etc. Most days, we also stay until park close.

 

[SpringSprite]

I may get flamed here- but IMHO- it's 1 of 2 groups....lazy people OR people who don't know better....---too lazy to do their own research.....so YES, LAZY people.

hysterical! My husband gets up at 5 am everyday and frequently (like 2-4x a week) works 12 hour days, and 16 hour days when storms are around (he worked 16, 16 hour days in a row when NJ got hit by Sandy, he works for a utility company. He never, ever complains. Like NEVER. He would LOVE to sleep in on vacation, unfortunately our kids are up by 6, 6:30 am, so we'll be at rope drop regardless. I just get such a kick out of the "if you like to sleep in on vacation, you are lazy" comments

 

[ArwenMarie]

If everyone showed up to rope drop, there wouldn't be a rope drop advantage anymore.

 

[NYDisGuy]

I may get flamed here- but IMHO- it's 1 of 2 groups....lazy people OR people who don't know better....---too lazy to do their own research.....so YES, LAZY people.

If people want to sleep in that's great....my sister is one of those people but I REFUSE to listen to her whine for even 1 minute when it comes to long lines. If you want to ride PP with a 5-10 minute wait- you can do that at 8am. The opportunity cost of your extra 2-3 hours of sleep is a 90 minute wait time for Peter Pan.

I don't go to RD anymore because it was forcing me to become a Navy Seal that had to sprint to every ride and basically rush through everything while still worrying what the wait times were on the next ride. I felt like I needed a vacation after every park. Sure, you can finish everything early but we weren't really enjoying anything that much. Now we enjoy the resort, maybe go to the marketplace or other hotels then stroll into the parks. If I don't get to do everything so be it but at least i'm enjoying alot more and i'm way more relaxed.

 

[1stvisit0909]

If everyone showed up to rope drop, there wouldn't be a rope drop advantage anymore.

We need to keep it to ourselves.

one can see the craziness that is rope drop at MK right now for A&E and 7DMT....

They need to go away! RD is our time!

 

[mag73]

hysterical! My husband gets up at 5 am everyday and frequently (like 2-4x a week) works 12 hour days, and 16 hour days when storms are around (he worked 16, 16 hour days in a row when NJ got hit by Sandy, he works for a utility company. He never, ever complains. Like NEVER. He would LOVE to sleep in on vacation, unfortunately our kids are up by 6, 6:30 am, so we'll be at rope drop regardless. I just get such a kick out of the "if you like to sleep in on vacation, you are lazy" comments

I don't think that we are lazy or that we don't know better. My husband works in Manhattan every day, he leaves the house before 6 am and does not get back until 7 pm. We simply choose to have a more relaxing vacation, after all Disney is not a one size fits all type of a thing, we all enjoy different experiences. It is not that important to us to hit every ride and get as much in as possible. We have our favorite rides, and have always have been able to enjoy them without having to wait on line for hours. We love being at Disney, and do enjoy even those boring attractions. I guess for us it is more important to relax and just to have a nice, easy, relaxing time together than pack as many rides in as possible.

 

[richmo]

I don't think that we are lazy or that we don't know better. My husband works in Manhattan every day, he leaves the house before 6 am and does not get back until 7 pm. We simply choose to have a more relaxing vacation, after all Disney is not a one size fits all type of a thing, we all enjoy different experiences. It is not that important to us to hit every ride and get as much in as possible. We have our favorite rides, and have always have been able to enjoy them without having to wait on line for hours. We love being at Disney, and do enjoy even those boring attractions. I guess for us it is more important to relax and just to have a nice, easy, relaxing time together than pack as many rides in as possible.

Absolutely agree with that. My thoughts exactly.