Is this madness??

[mum]

I'm trying to plan our itinerary for our trip which will take place the last week of June 2011.I am planning for worst case scenarios and assuming that everyday of our 7 day trip will be VERY busy no matter what park we go to and that it will be VERY hot .
So with this in mind I thought it would be lovely to take advantage of evening emh's and use the hottest part of the day as down time in the resort and head to the parks with evening emh's as the sun would be going down.

However , all advice seems to be get up early and do rope drop to take advantage of that small window before the crowds arrive and before the heat really builds.

If I was to do evening emh's are we just going to arrive to packed parks , no more fastpasses and long waits for everything?

Has anyone honestly gone against all conventional advice and toured at evening or night time successfully?

 

[BYC]

I think this really depends on who you all are (Any kids? What ages?) . Some people are sleep in-stay up late vacationers, and some are not. Myself-I can get up very early in the morning, but don't ask me to stay up late. So, your idea would not work for me. My kids are old enough to go do what they want at night. There would not be any fast passes left for you if you showed up in the evening, in most cases.

 

[ChocoKat]

We have toured the parks during pretty much every time of the year with different party configurations: Only 2 adults, a group of over 10 adults, a huge family group with more than 4 kids under 6 and teens.

What we have found works incredibly well is to get up early, do EMH in the morning, get back to the resort, do lunch *at the resort* or somewhere in the park before leaving, hit the pool, take a nap, refresh.

Go back out when the sun is starting to come down a bit and either go to a park where there will be fireworks we want to see or where we have made ADR's for dinner. If there are no ADR's made and no fireworks or shows we want to catch, we just go for EMH and try our luck with lines.

The naps and pool time tend to help everybody keep from melting down, plus when it is hot I really need to get a change of clothes since the humidity can be so icky. Going back for the night to the parks refreshed is great! And you don't feel like you have been burning the candle at both ends.

Also this gives a chance for early birds to stay at the resort and rest or do something else if they want to instead of joining everybody back at the parks, and it lets the late night owls join the party for the second half of the day.

It helps keep the sanity in large family groups. It did wonders for our last family outing. DH and I are very energetic so we did both rounds no problems and pre-opened and closed the MK with my nieces and nephews while my SIL's and the teens rested back for the afternoon at the resort and had much needed relaxation. They really loved it and we all had a blast.

 

[aidtrismommy]

I agree with PP about the fastpassess. I think they would run out on you if you went in the evening. In my experience and opinion, the parks are open pretty late in the summer time so lots of people plan to be at the park that is open late as it is sometimes the only choice. It can be pretty busy still, even at EMH. The early morning hours are better IMO because all those people staying out late the night before are probably sleeping late and that means more rides for me!

 

[d1gitman]

It will be very hot and most likely very crowded. As much as we like to sleep in and hit the parks late, staying till close and based on an early July trip we did years ago, I would do what others are suggesting. Hit the parks at open, enjoy the cooler morning and start collecting FP's for the evening.

You will be able to see attractions in the AM with little to no wait and getting FP's for the evening will be key. I suggest doing the attractions that do not have FP's in the AM, that way you can focus on FP attractions in the PM. It's a strategy that will allow you to maximize the amount of attractions you see each day but also in a more efficient, less frantic way. Whether you're a "commando" or "smell the roses" type tourer, this strategy works.

Not sure what your dining plans are, but this is what we would do:

Breakfast - we are not big breakfast people so we always eat in the room (cereal, b-fast bars, donuts, etc).

Lunch - make an ADR at a TS restaurant. Use lunch as the ending of your AM park time and the beginning of your down time. It keeps the 'magic' going but you start to wind down a bit. It won't really matter where your ADR is. One thing we did on our last WDW trip was to make lunch ADR's at various resorts. This allowed us to try some of new eateries and explore resorts we hadn't seen yet.

Head back to the room for a break...swim, nap, do laundry, play arcade, shop, whatever suits your fancy. DW and I could always take a nap but the DS's are too wound up, so we don't set napping as an expectation.

Dinner - QS in the parks. Since you will be heading back at 'sun down', the evening flies by fast with parades, fireworks, etc... We love the night time in the parks. We used to do ADR's for dinner in the parks but for us, it felt like it cut into our attraction and fun time too much.

Anway, that's what we would do.

 

[nigel-bigel]

d1gitman, I really like your approach, especially about having a TS meal at lunch and freeing up your evening hours with at QS.

Nicole

 

[Arenita]

Yes, I have gone late and missed FPs and fought the crowds - still had fun, of course! For me, getting to the parks early and leaving mid-afternoon works better. (I could go back every night to close the parks but I have learned that my commando enthusiasm is not contagious! SO...sometimes, we go back and sometimes, we don't.)

The main key for me is to have a definite plan for the first few rides/events and then let the rest happen as it will.

 

[DebbieB]

I've gone in June and am a big advocate for getting up early, do morning EMH, head back to the resort after lunch, relax, head back out in the evening.

 

[jerseygirl16]

I've gone in June and am a big advocate for getting up early, do morning EMH, head back to the resort after lunch, relax, head back out in the evening.

I agree. I've been to the parks in the summer 5+ times now (including the 4th of July). We always got up early, hit morning EMH, hung around until lunch, hit the pool in the afternoon, napped, refreshed, and headed out for our ADR and then evening EMH. Depending on park hours the crowds can pretty low, particularly for MK when EMH are from 12 - 3.

By the way we're a group of 2 adults and 4 teenagers.

 

[mum]

Thanks guys for all your replies.
So it would seem that conventional wisdom is the way to go.
We are 2 adults 2 teens (18,16) and a 12 year old so we don't have small kids to worry about .
I guess rope drop here we come.
Thanks again

 

[mousireid]

Just wanted to say that if you got up for rope drop, collected Fastpasses along the way and did whatever your headliners were in the AM, had a nice ADR lunch and headed back to hotel for swim/resort time and nap, you would be refreshed for eveinging in the park and THEN you could use those fastpasses for the evening. If you decide to stay up late you can still take a down day (at LEAST one) where you might end up sleeping late, hitting up a water park, or downtown disney etc. After a few days you DO need to CHILL out! You would be surprised how many people are able to enjoy an afternoon siesta too. It HOT, great pool weather, great AC weather! If you stayed from rope drop until you could no longer go then you might hit an early night - but with the heat and crowds it nice to take a break and know you have fastpasses to just relax with when lines are an hour long.
I guess it also depends on what parks you are doing. You may take two days for Epcot for example (FW and WS) and WS would give you a day when WS doesn't open until 11am (hey THATS a long lie!) and you might stay until after Illuminations. Next Epcot day is early for FW, collect fastpasses as you go and either go until you can't anymore or take that refreshing resort break, returning at night.
Ok, I am blethering now!