Is sleeping in on a disney vacation wasting time?

[RI Disney Clan]

When I was a kid, Circa 81', my parents used get me up at sunrise so we could get to the park (yes...I said park...singular...there was only one then) when it opened and I hated it. At the tender age of 6...I just wanted to sleep!!! Especially after a late night of video game playing at the Family Fun Center at the Contemporary. OK..Who remembers the original game room from 20 years ago???

Fast forward 20 year's later (wow, I'm getting old) and I have a DS6 and DD9.

Do I rip them out of their AKL bunk beds as the sun rises to drag them to a park and sentence them to a day of walking?

Or should I say, the heck with it. It's their vacation too and the parks aren't going anywhere. We get there when we get their. Even if it's 11am.

I'm really not sure how to handle this one. But before anyone chimes in, let me say I myself like good nights sleep and seldom get it thanks to the stresses of a demanding job and being a parent of two kids. You all know what I'm talking about!!!

Anyway, I also don't like to waste time. I'm usually the last one up but always the first one ready.

How should I handle our May trip?

Thanks All...
Jwill

 

[NancyK]

Everyone has their own idea about what constitutes a vacation. I have always found that we can do more attractions between 9 and 11 a.m. then we can during the entire afternoon. So, we are usually there as close to rope-drop as possible. Only you can decide how your family will react to getting up early. I must say, that we usually set aside one day in the middle of the trip as a "non-park" day. Allows DH to sleep in at least one day. Have a great time!

 

[Jingle]

I would yank everybody out of bed and be there by rope drop!

 

[Callymum]

The First Time we went to WDW we got up at early and walked the parks for hours, since then we have mellowed and I enjoy my family taking things at an easier pace.
I do pools in the morning and then Parks in Afternoon or vice versa.
There are times were I will make a point of early rises for booked excursions or Specific parks but I dont make a Strategic plan of the Holiday now.

Each to their own plan and anything goes. Whatever you decide make it Fun and not too Stressful.

 

[Disneygirl 792]

I plan on rope drop every time we go. My DS is almost 7 so I if he is up when the alarm goes off we make rope drop, if not, I let him and DH sleep a little longer....no biggie.

 

[Robo]

Is sleeping in on a disney vacation wasting time?

Maybe we could set up a definition...

"Time" in this sense (to me) means "KIND of time."

The 60 minutes between 9AM and 10AM is a different KIND of time than, say, the 60 minutes between 1PM and 2PM.

The first hour after park opening will find far fewer other guests standing in attraction lines in front of you.
And, the temperatures should be cooler early in the mornings on otherwise hot days.

At home, I manage to get up early to go to work all the time.

I figure that on vacation I owe it to myself to take advantage of unique
opportunities to have extra fun in the morning.

 

[Alsobrook]

I honestly don't think it matters all that much....except if you want to go to Hollywood Studios. Second on that list is Animal Kingdom, but only because the park tends to close earlier because animals need rest too.....

In most parks, FPs are available, throughout the day, and when parks are open in the late evening and night, I think going later is often a great way to do Disney.

Hollywood Studios - if you want to do it - is worth getting up early and getting there at the beginning. If you don't, you will find it incredibly frustrating to navigate the park and do what you want to do. FPs for rides are eaten up by noon. And you will find if you get there at 11, and you grab FPs for rides, you'll have a return time of late in the day or early evening.

I find that AK is best in the morning anyway....animals are out and busy. Later in the day, especially if it's hot....is not the best time to go.

For Epcot and MK, I just think you go when you go, and you can make it work.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Sleeping in at Disney is a waste.

Here's why:

It is STATISTICALLY PROVEN that you can get more done in a Disney day when you arrive at RD than if you roll into the park, say, around 10a.

A lot of the FP will be gone, the crowds will be higher, it will be hotter, and you'll be running around the park at break-neck speed in an attempt to complete a bunch of things in a short amount of time.

Compound that with higher levels of crowds (spring break, festivals, etc) and you'll be losing several hours just in the queue.

If you take the bus, you have to figure on 45-60 to get to AND from the parks.

I know you're on vacation, but get up early, be there for RD, and make the most of your way.

 

[jobro912]

As others have said, getting to the parks earlier in the day can be a great strategy. My son is 18 now but we are still at a park for opening. We find that we can accomplish a lot from opening till about noon. When he was small, we would arrive early, and then head back to our resort for the afternoon for naps. I still like that part. He however will go full throttle the whole day now

You know them best, so do what you think is going to work for them.

 

[clm10308]

While I do think getting up early one day for a breakfast in the park befor the park opens is a neat experience, if no one else wants to get up early, it isn't worth the hassle.
I have done the trips where we get up early every day, and it was horrible. Neither of my kids or my DH are morning people, so I spent all my mornings fighting to get everyone ready. By the time we actually got to the bus,every one was angry.
The last trip was much more relaxing. Got to the parks just in time for our lunch ADRs. We did the less popular attractions in the afternoons when it was more crowded, and we stayed in MK until 1am one night. We got ride almost everything we wanted.
Yes, we did miss some things this way, but IMO we had a much happier trip this way.
If I thought we were only going to have one trip to DW I would probably think diff entry, and try to cram in as much as possible, but we own DVC so we will be back someday.

 

[Bullseye]

Maybe we could set up a definition...

"Time" in this sense (to me) means "KIND of time."

The 60 minutes between 9AM and 10AM is a different KIND of time than, say, the 60 minutes between 1PM and 2PM.

The first hour after park opening will find far fewer other guests standing in attraction lines in front of you.
And, the temperatures should be cooler early in the mornings on otherwise hot days.

At home, I manage to get up early to go to work all the time.

I figure that on vacation I owe it to myself to take advantage of unique
opportunities to have extra fun in the morning.

I pretty much follow this philosphy also. I think much depends on how long your trip is also. We usually do 10 days and are at the parks early for 8 of them. I actually like early start and then afternoon respite so you can recharge and get back to the parks for some nightime fun.

 

[Karlzmom]

Please, sleep in daily......we need people willing to make that bold! [Can the rest of you imagine how crowded RD would be if everyone made it in time? ]

 

[sharadoc]

Depends on what you want to accomplish.

For us, we try to mix it up with some early and some sleep-in days. We have never gotten there right at rope drop, but we've been close. Those mornings really are great, especially when you go in the summer. Cooler, less crowded and everything is so bright and coming to life first thing.

Other days, we sleep in, have breakfast and go out when we want. Sometimes that means just pool and resort time until going out after an early dinner.

We go twice a year on average, so we don't feel we have to do everything every time, so we can take it slower. We estimate we spend about as much time doing resort stuff as we do park stuff. We like family bingo around the pool, Wii bowling tournament (DD won last year), water balloon catches, etc. We like miniature golf, swimming and relaxing on vacation too.

I've described a Disney vacation as either 1. a great theme park adventure or 2. a great resort vacation. Your schedule should be determined by which one of those you want to have. If it's theme parks, then you should do rope drop as much as you can.

 

[bytheblood]

You need to do what is enjoyable for you on your vacation. You are paying for it, so make it a vacation that you will enjoy!

 

[kristennn]

It depends if you like waiting in line. Would you prefer to sleep in and then spend most of the day waiting in long lines and going on fewer attractions?
Sleeping is *not* wasting time while at Disney - but your prime hours for going on more rides are the morning hours - so take an afternoon nap or go to bed earlier.
You can always pick a day as a late start day and then plan on just going on minor attractions or watching the parade etc. and maybe picking up 1-2 fastpasses for bigger stuff if they have any left. or make it a world showcase day ...

 

[KristiKat]

Depends on how late your talking. Consider the money spent. If the little one is sleeping through the entire morning and your not getting in the parks till lunch time then I consider it a waste of money. Morning hours are also the best time to get more rides done. On our trips we got up early for RD and headed back to the room later for lunch and down time. Sometimes during down time the kids nap and sometimes they wanted to swim or we did both. We tried to head back to the parks around 3 or 4. That is a great tip to follow if your going during the summer, that way you are not out in the heat the hottest part of the day.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I tend to look at my Disney vacations as a vacations, not missions. I visit the low crowd park/s each day/night, makes for a relaxing visit.

 

[minnie mum]

I am NOT a morning person- ask my DH. But I hate wasting time and money too. And for me, sleeping in at WDW is both. Every hour of the morning that I am not in the park is part of my ticket down the drain. And a valuable part at that, since we can get more rides in during the first couple of hours than any other time of the day. And by going back to the resort for just a couple of hours during the hottest part of the day when touring the crowded parks is least practical, we get a chance to recharge our batteries so that we can enjoy the evening hours.

We always schedule a non parks day in the middle of our week's stay to sleep in, swim or golf etc, and usually sleep in on our last day as well. (We drive so our departure day is not a park day either). Once we're home, I revert to my normal routine gratefully, but I don't mind those RD mornings one bit.

I realize that everyone has their own style of vacation. Some are commando style, while others spend most of their time at their resorts. For us, if we want a resort week we'll head for the Caribbean. WDW means parks for us. But you have to do what you have to do. So do what's right for you.

 

[kaligal]

If you get to bed early, you shouldn't have to drag anyone out of bed.

If you stay out late, you should sleep in.

Other than illness, the surest way to wreck your vacation is to fight through it while tired and crabby. That goes for adults and kids.

Have fun!

 

[m3retired]

So....if so many people are posting and saying they go back to the rooms for pool/nap time in the early afternoon....why are the line so long at that time????