Is it REALLY that important to get to the parks early?

[tinkalicious]

I keep hearing about how vital it is to get to the parks at rope drop. But I'm thinking that my family would be better off to sleep in a bit. We're not super late sleepers - we're a high energy bunch, and we're always up by 7 or 8 no matter what, but this trip will be a much needed vacation for DH and I don't want to rush him in the mornings. Also, we have some late ADRs (Chef Mickeys and CP at 9:00 PM) , and it seems like the evening EMHs and MVMCP are worth sleeping in the next day.

I know we could go early and take a nap break in the afternoons, but we're staying at POP and I'm not looking forward to riding the bus back to our hotel more than once every day (my kids are good at napping in the stroller! .

So do I really need to get everybody up and at 'em in the mornings?

 

[A Mickeyfan]

The way I look at it is if you are going during a very busy season and want to get in as much as possible, yes... you need to get there early. If you are not wanting to get in as much as possible at the parks and want to take in more relaxing time, sleep in and enjoy the resort you are staying in too. It all depends on what you want out of your trip. If you go during a slow season, you can have the best of both types of trips.. .

 

[twokids0204]

Is it REALLY that important to get to the parks early?

It really, really is.

Morning is when the crowds are at their lowest.

Knock off the big attractions early, and tour at your own pace the rest of the day.

A good plan, is the difference between a great vacation, and a stressful one.

 

[twokids0204]

Just to add to my previous post.

Disney is not really the place you go to relax. Get out a calcualtor and work out what it is costing you per day of vacation, and then ask yourself if you want to sleep through that.

You can sleep at home for free.

 

[whitneyNC]

For us it is the single most important factor in not standing in lines. We don't do lines. It is more important than your touring plan or day of the week. The first two hours (especially at MK) we get more in than the whole afternoon. It also gives us some FP strategies too. Collecting several the first couple hours, riding more than once, etc. Many people simply don't know they usually open a bit before the official time, and many don't want to be standing at the rope at 8:30 on vacation. It's fine with us! We love sleepy heads!

 

[d1gitman]

It really, really is.

Morning is when the crowds are at their lowest.

Knock off the big attractions early, and tour at your own pace the rest of the day.

A good plan, is the difference between a great vacation, and a stressful one.

I agree and disagree.

It really depends on what one's idea of a great vacation is. To me, getting up early is not a vacation. Putting myself in the mindset that "i got up early, i have to get x,y,z done" takes me away from my happy place. Our best vacation to date was when we hit the parks AFTER lunch, usually getting thru the gates right around 3pm. We had a fantastic trip!

 

[mlg32]

Our very first trip with only 2 kids we were getting up at the crack of dawn to get to the parks, by day 3 we were all in total meltdown. Lesson learned.

We never have been to any park at rope drop and have always managed to see everything we want. We do avoid all parks with morning extra magic hours and only do the late ones at the MK.

I must say though we have never stayed in the parks all day we enjoy the resort pools a lot. We are just not into commando touring ( not that there is anything wrong with that).

Almost all of our trips are during low crowd times so that makes a real difference too.

 

[tinkalicious]

Don't get me wrong, we're not planning a "relaxing" vacation, and I'm a super OCD down to the minute planner. I just want my kids (6 and 2) to get enough sleep and have the best time possible. I don't believe in being miserable in order to have "fun"! So if early mornings are the way to go, then that's what we'll do and I'll just plan more breaks for naps.

 

[d1gitman]

Just to add to my previous post.

Disney is not really the place you go to relax. We are able to relax while we are there. Get out a calcualtor and work out what it is costing you per day of vacation, we do, we do... and that is what helps us to relax even more - knowing how much we get for our $ and then ask yourself if you want to sleep through that. We don't consider it sleeping through it. Fact is, there is no vacation where we would want to be running from early morning to late at night. Getting in the parks at 3pm and staying to close is still a long day of pavement pounding to us.You can sleep at home for free. Nope. My house isn't free and i spend way more in a year on my house than i do on vacation. Also, i still have to work for a living so sleeping in isn't an option. That's part of why we go to Disney

.

 

[Pembo]

My kids do better in the am so we were up early taking advantage of emh mornings and low crowds. However we were to bed before the parks closed. There is always a trade off.

 

[mmforme2009]

early or late, for us the most important thing is to be flexible. We always spend the extra on the park hopper, so if we arrive at one park and the crowds are heavy we'll leave and head to another park for the day. If we can take advantage of EMH, naps are a must before hitting the park for a really late night.

 

[tinkalicious]

.

That's how I look at it, too. I've had lots of travel and vacation planning experience, and the worst mistakes I've made have been running my kids too ragged. I'm trying to leave some breathing room in our Disney trip - after all, it's our first trip! I'll have it all figured out for the next one.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I don't think it's vital that you are there at rope drop. When we first started going to WDW we slept in a little and hit the parks around lunch time. We had many great trips that way. DS and I hated to get up super early on vacation to be at the parks at RD, DH didn't mind but we would be cranky. For some odd reason though, we started doing RD. DS and I do much better if we get up early, hit the parks for a few hours, and get to come back to the room and nap. We can get a lot more rides in and it actually ends up being a more relaxed vacation because we weren't standing in line as much.

I say to each his own, if you don't want to get there at RD then don't. You can still have a great vacation.

 

[maxiesmom]

It would depend on when exactly you are going to WDW. If you are going during the Christmas holiday, then you really do need to be to the parks at open. The first 2-3 hours are the golden time, where you will not have very long waits for anything. After that, the parks are swamped. And my idea of a relaxing vacation is not standing in lines that are up to 3 hours long with young kids.

If you are going during a more quiet time, you can sleep in a bit and still do a lot. By sleep in a bit I mean you are still to the parks by 9-930 at the latest.

If you want to hit the late night EMHs, most definately plan to sleep in the next day. Maybe get up, take a swim, go to DTD for some shopping. Being up till the wee hours of the morning and then going again early is not easy for most adults, and a receipe for disaster with young children.

 

[mrbghd]

Just to add to my previous post.

Disney is not really the place you go to relax. Get out a calcualtor and work out what it is costing you per day of vacation, and then ask yourself if you want to sleep through that.

You can sleep at home for free.

I completely disagree with this. This seems like it would just add more stress to your life. Plus, we actually do go to Disney to relax and btw still see everything.

OP, I think the importance of being in the parks early varies based on crowds and weather. In busy season(s) hitting the parks in the morning is great-minimal wait times for pretty much everything. In the summer it is also good to go early since it will be hot but not as hot as later in the day.

It is important to keep a few things in mind about not going early. If you do not get to DHS early in the day, FPs for Toy Story will most likely be gone and you will be in for VERY long waits for the ride; same thing for Soarin at EPCOT.

No matter what you read on these boards it is possible to have a relaxing vacation at WDW!

 

[mrbghd]

Putting myself in the mindset that "i got up early, i have to get x,y,z done" takes me away from my happy place.

That puts me in the I am at work place

 

[tinkalicious]

You guys are AWESOME! Thank you all so much for all the input. I think we'll probably do some rope drops and some sleeping in. Our first day is at DHS, so we'll for sure make that an early morning and try for TSM! I've got to see what all the buzz is about with that ride...

 

[elastigirl]

It depends on what you want out of the vacation. We've done both. But on the more 'sleep in and relax' vacations, we know we are taking the trade off by maybe having to skip some of the things we would otherwise like to do and we really have to be fleixible. And we're cool with that, because we know we will be back and can catch it then. On other trips, depending on who we are with, getting to all the attractions and seeing everything is a higher priority...so we get up early and crank everything out and then (hopefully!) nap.

 

[d1gitman]

That puts me in the I am at work place

Exactly

 

[DebbieB]

It depends on when you go. When I've gone during the summer, it was important to be there at rope drop. Crowds really increased later in the morning, plus it got hot. In the offseason, we try to be there by 9:30-10:00.