I've never done a park open to close - question (s)

[Farro]

All my trips we've never done a park from open to close. That's weird, right?
We always have hoppers, so we do one in the morning and one at night. Now with fast pass plus sometimes we hang at resort and make fast passes in afternoon and stay until close.

When you do open to close, do you mean you don't leave at all to go back to resort for a break? Do you just find a spot to relax in park?
Do you schedule sit down meals? More than one or does that take up too much time?
Do you find you get on most of rides in doing it this way? Do you take the time to wait in the longer lines since you are there all day?
Do you watch all the shows, etc?

Thanks! Maybe we'll try this next trip to. Maybe DHS with Galaxy's Edge...I'm not sure I wouldn't start to get bored being in same park all day though.

 

[kj2mom]

We open and close parks almost every time we go. We like to RD but we also like the night shows and how the park typically gets quieter after the night shows. The way I set up the day is quick breakfast on the go before RD, get as many rides/attractions in in the am as possible, sit down TS lunch to regroup, all 3 FP after lunch then add more as possible and at some point get a QS dinner (not quite as important as the lunch for us since we typically go in the summer and we need that AC break in the middle of the day in a BIG way) and then keep hitting attractions as the time allows (also staking our night show spots an hour or so before).

Some parks we can get in almost everything (my children still remember one of our trips when we were able to do everything in HS except the Dis Junior stuff that they felt too old for and often talk about how we did almost everything that day) while others we can't (we could never do MK in one day I don't think). Yes, we do watch shows and try to strategically place those and use them kind of as a break (I would be lying if I said I didn't close my eyes in COP at least once !).

 

[Farro]

Very helpful @kj2mom thank you!

 

[nkereina]

We don't typically do open to close, but we have had long days in the parks. Since its just DH and I, we will schedule a TS lunch in the park where we can sit and relax for a while. Depending on the park, we might also stop for a drink to relax mid-afternoon. We like doing this at Baseline (DHS), Nomad Lounge (AK), and Rose & Crown (Epcot). For us, sitting to relax and re-charge for lunch or a drink has the same effect as going back to our resort without the commute hassle. When we take mid-day breaks at the resort, we may lay around or nap, but sometimes we will go for a swim which can be tiring too. The only upside to going back to our resort is that we can freshen up before going out for the evening. If we're there in the summer, I will shower during this time and put on fresh clothes because I can get sweaty or even wet from a downpour!

 

[winnieofpooh]

We open to close almost every time we go because we like to feel like we're getting our money's worth, lol! We never left the park to go back to rest. We typically visit in February, so the heat is never a huge issue so it's much easier to do all day with no breaks. We schedule maybe one sit down a day or every other day. We almost always schedule a dinner just because it feels more "date night" to us. I wouldn't do more than one in a day because they do eat up a lot of park time.

We can ride basically every ride in every park, some multiple times. We still get bored waiting in line so we won't wait in a line over 30 minutes. It's still fairly easy to get 4th, 5th, 6th FPs so there really isn't a need to wait that long anyway. If we're in HS, we'll watch the shows because there isn't much else for us to do. In all the other parks, we typically don't. We just stroll around or ride the rides.

 

[Roscoe18]

All my trips we've never done a park from open to close. That's weird, right?
We always have hoppers, so we do one in the morning and one at night. Now with fast pass plus sometimes we hang at resort and make fast passes in afternoon and stay until close.

When you do open to close, do you mean you don't leave at all to go back to resort for a break? Do you just find a spot to relax in park?
Do you schedule sit down meals? More than one or does that take up too much time?
Do you find you get on most of rides in doing it this way? Do you take the time to wait in the longer lines since you are there all day?
Do you watch all the shows, etc?

Thanks! Maybe we'll try this next trip to. Maybe DHS with Galaxy's Edge...I'm not sure I wouldn't start to get bored being in same park all day though.

I'd say generally that's our strategy for parks - open to close. We had hoppers last time (a requirement to qualify for free dining, which we had that trip) but we didn't really use them.

That's probably how we'll tour for the May trip, although staying at the Poly gives us some flexibility in going back to the resort. To answer your questions, I think most days we didn't leave the park all day for a break, but we had one sit down meal in there (sometimes for lunch instead of dinner) that broke up the day. With the kids, this was often a character meal, which took up extra time but was a great experience. Getting a snack and just sitting somewhere, as well as going to some shows to break up the standing. I don't think we were more or less willing to wait any longer in line than any other time. We used refresh and worked our way around the parks that way. Usually after dinner we would scope out a spot for the nighttime show.

It made for some long days, but they didn't seem as long while they were happening because there was always something else to do next!

 

[butterscotchcollins]

The only park I've ever done open to close is Magic Kingdom but I love it - it means you can do everything you want to do, most things twice, with plenty of time for breaks to rehydrate/eat/shop/just poke around exploring and you don't feel stressed about having to rush anywhere else. Highly recommend!

 

[Calee]

We have gone to WDW twice so far in the last couple of years and have only taken a mid day break one time lol. We eat breakfast on the go or PPO in the park. I do my FP early so I can be looking for more. We do a sit down meal at lunch time usually. 4th (and more) FP in the afternoon. Shows during the hottest part of the day. QS dinner. Rides during fireworks/nighttime shows if my kiddos aren't interested in the fireworks.

We do not stand in long line just bc we are there all day. If I can't get a FP we don't do it. Ha!

 

[JimmyBean42]

If on property I do enjoy a mid-day break of a nap or swim. The first time I did the nap it was to get my then 2 yr old DD1 to rest (and b/c DW said we had to take her back to rest. Napping the stroller never worked for that one). I was so annoyed we had to go back but let me tell you - I ended up loving it. Even though she only napped for a little bit, felt more refreshed at night at the parks. And the swimming instead of napping was even better. Also have done the full day and while I can do it, I find it does wear little ones (i.e. anyone under 10) down pretty early in the night and they'll be tough on those last few hours of the park.

 

[gatorlisa]

We have only taken a break outside the park (resort or going off site for lunch or something) a few times. Most of the time we open a park, stay until after we've eaten lunch, then hop to another park and stay there until they close. We don't do sit down meals. "Breaks" if we want some time off our feet or extra time in AC are usually shows (Mickey's Philharmagic, Hall of Presidents, Pixar Film Fest, in the past Universe of Energy (RIP), Finding Nemo, Indiana Jones or Frozen Sing-A-Long). And the time spent on transportation between parks (bus/boat/monorail) we also consider break time.

 

[MomOTwins]

We plan lunch and dinner at the park and initial fastpasses in the morning and leave afternoon to decide day of. If it is hot and crowded and we aren’t feeling like staying duck back to the hotel for some pool time before dinner. If we are still feeling good in the afternoon we might stay and keep cool with indoor shows.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Never do open to close. 8 hours in a row is usually my limit. That being said I would probably be able to do it at MK. It’s very easy to fill the time there, especially if you book a table service in there.

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

We typically don't rope drop, but even if we did we wouldn't break. My sister (3 years old) can easily fall asleep during a show with AC in the middle of the day and then we find a shaded spot and put her in the stroller to nap. My mom (who isn't a fan of thrill rides unless cool tech is involved) will normally stay with her and my dad takes me to go on thrill rides. It's pretty easy to find some relaxing spots in Disney!

We normally QS lunch and TS dinner. I wouldn't do more than one TS.

Can't speak from personal experience for the third problem because my parents were never good planners and I only just got into Disney planning this spring and that was for DL. I'd say that it depends on the park though. MK, probably not all but as good as you can get in a day if you plan well. Other parks probably, but can't say for DHS in the near future because of FP+ changes and SWGE. I wouldn't wait in a line over 30 minutes unless it's the last ride or two of the day and it doesn't really matter.

I love shows and wouldn't have a park day without at least two but you may feel differently.

 

[sponica]

I have a kid so I don't do open to close like in the pre-kid days.

But I used to do from just after rope drop to about closing...i'd usually grab some sort of midday food. Pre-husband days, whatever counter service was nearby when I got hungry. With the husband it's only table service (also his desire for table service only is making the DxDDP look like a value...)

I don't really remember staying all day in ONE park. with the exception of new years eve one year. We got to Epcot in the morning and we stayed ALL day until the fireworks. (Also the world showcase with people under 21 is not so fun, had we all been old enough for the bar crawl, it would have been a more interesting day)

I don't have an issue waiting in lines for rides, because it's what we USED to do in the days of paper FP. Although my limit is probably about 30 minutes. I rarely wait in long lines for characters though...that one is non negotiable.

 

[FastPasser.]

All my trips we've never done a park from open to close. That's weird, right?

If you're weird so am I, I've never done it either and doubt that I ever will.

 

[poooh]

I usually do open to close. I don't like taking the time to go back to the resort. We tend to schedule a late table service lunch around 2pm. This way we can relax during the hottest part of the day and our main meal is lunch instead of dinner, which saves a few dollars. We do QS for dinner mainly.

An iced coffee in the afternoon is a life-saver. If I feel like I need a rest after/before lunch, we'll do attractions like the tiki room or a show in HS.

Touring this way doesn't really affect the time we're willing to wait for a ride. However, because we're there all day, if the wait for a ride is too long at one point in the day, we'll keep looking at the app to see if it goes down and then we'll head over. Being there all day doesn't mean we spend more time in line per ride, but we do have time to loop back around and hit it at a lower wait. Last time in MK, the wait for Jungle Cruise was 45 minutes and that was too long for us. Instead, we relaxed in the Tiki Room and by the time the show was over, JC was down to 20 minutes. If we weren't staying in the park the whole day, we probably would have skipped JC altogether.

 

[raraavis]

I've only ever done rope drop to close (as an adult that is). We would be there at opening and stay at the park (or park hop) until close, never left to take a break, and have never done a sit down lunch or dinner. Our breaks were maybe sitting on a bench with a quick snack or the bus ride to another park.

We'll have our 5 yr old on our next trip, so I doubt we'll get away with that.

 

[sharonabe]

We intentionally travel during the "cooler" months, because we like going open to close. Now, open to close during these months is usually 9-9 and sometimes 9-11 with an EMH here and there. AND we are 4 Disney adults. When the boys were preschool age, we always did a break back at the resort.

We always have hoppers and we use that hopping time for our downtime. Traveling from one park to another means we're in an air-conditioned mode of transport with our feet up.

We do get to do all the attractions we plan and we see most of the shows. We eat in the parks, both QS and TS, but mostly QS. Eating is usually enough time to rest up and recharge for us.

 

[BadPinkTink]

We open and close parks almost every time we go. We like to RD but we also like the night shows and how the park typically gets quieter after the night shows. The way I set up the day is quick breakfast on the go before RD, get as many rides/attractions in in the am as possible, sit down TS lunch to regroup, all 3 FP after lunch then add more as possible and at some point get a QS dinner (not quite as important as the lunch for us since we typically go in the summer and we need that AC break in the middle of the day in a BIG way) and then keep hitting attractions as the time allows (also staking our night show spots an hour or so before).

This basically my touring style too. I visit Disneyland California every June, park hours are usually 8am general opening to 12pm, with the headline shows Fireworks and Fantasmic / World of Color between 9pm and 10pm.

8am to lunch time Im go go go. Peter Pan and Fantasyland is usually first, the rides here dont have Fastpass and get really crowded with young kids from lunch time onwards. After Fantasyland, its usually Pirates, another ride with no Fastpass which gets really long wait times.

Lunch time I usually book a table service meal.

In the afternoon heat to about 3.30pm I check out the shops, go to shows and generally try to stay inside and sit as much as possible. I will also get Fastpasses from the free kiosks for the afternoon and evening time

5pm I start again with rides, use any Fastpasses, then check which rides have low wait times

around 7pm I get quick service or counter service food

I usually do Fantasmic on one night, on the other night I will do rides during the Fireworks and Fantasmic / World of Color as there is a sweet spot of about an hour when the headliners are less than 10 minute waits. I pick a land to be in about 15 minutes before the fireworks and then do all the rides in that land, while the Fireworks and Fantasmic / World of Color eat people.

After the fireworks, while the mass exodus happens I move to the final land of the night, usually in the opposite direction to the mass exodus.

I usually leave the park around 11.30pm, again to avoid the mass exodus.

My most recent trip was a few weeks ago, this is my trip report https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...any-firsts-mixed-with-old-favourites.3758518/

Day 1 Disneyland Main Park - was in line at 6.45am for 8am opening, left the park about 11.10pm, approx 16 hours

Day 2 California Adventures- walked into the park at 8.05am, left the park about 8pm, approx 12 hours

Day 3 Disneyland Main Park- was in line at 6.45am for 7am early access opening, left the park about 11. 10pm, approx 16 hours

 

[CynBeth]

I have family members with food allergies we are adults with no kids so pretty much eat all 3 meals at TS. Usually we are at one park from open or close to open until close but once in a while may park hop and one night we always go to DS for dinner. We usually visit every few years around Thanksgiving or the beginning of Dec. We are not big thrill ride people and only see some shows so usually on our 9 day trips including a day or 2 at other area attractions we get to do just about everything we want. We find lunch and dinner is our time to relax and recharge.