last 2hrs vs first 2hrs ride lines ?

[Thecouch]

what are the last couple of hours like for ride line times compared to first few hours for nights were parks are open later then 9pm . does you strategy change with missing first part of the day and staying to close with fastpasses and eating times

have a trip planned coming up for me and my 15yo son and with a few days with early starts for disney runs Im thinking we will need a few days to recover and probably prefer a sleep in compared to early start . Ive always been a rope drop type of person and normally have younger kids with me . After night shows we normally try and get out as quick as we can to get back to hotel for the kids to go to bed .

 

[Klayfish]

We never rope drop, so I can't speak to the opening hour or so. The nights can depend on the park and the specific attraction, but generally speaking they really empty out. AK, with the exception of Pandora, is very quiet. You can ride pretty much anything with no wait. Epcot also really gets quiet between 8-9pm, with TT being the exception. I remember one time in MK we rode Small World around 10:30ish, with an 11pm close. We were literally the only ones in the boat, and the boat in front of us was empty. It was a bit creepy.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We find rope drop to be way too crowded and stressful. Lines are generally much shorter in the evening, just keep in mind that posted wait times are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders.

Here's an example from a recent summer visit to MK from 8 pm to midnight. We did all of this without any FPs:

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

 

[gharter]

It depends on what park and what rides you want to do.
If you plan to RD a very popular ride, FoP, SDD, you need to be at the tapstiles about 45-60 minutes before park opening.
At MK, they don't let you into the lands early, but you still need to be there early if you plan to do 7DMT or PP. We arrived 5 minutes early and only had a 5 minute wait for Space Mountain (most of the crowd was headed to Fantasyland).
At the end of the day, the lines tend to be shorter, especially if its a night the park is open later.
It really depends if you're a morning or evening person.

 

[goodeats]

If I'm doing my trip right, we try to do both! It involves resting at the hotel midday, but it is possible. We also take at least one break day, but we're naturally early risers so rope drop, even though we're coming from the west coast, is generally not too difficult.

We found hitting rides during fireworks a much better use of our time. I don't care for crowds, and my kids and non-Disney loving DH were blown away by the fireworks going off while we rode Big Thunder!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

After night shows we normally try and get out as quick as we can to get back to hotel for the kids to go to bed.

This is why a late night strategy works so well as a vast majority of guests do the same thing.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The only people who can really answer your question are the crazy folks who do both early and late hours. If someone only goes for one or the other, then they can't really compare the two, especially if you want to know about relative crowd levels.

Luckily, we do both.

In short, both the early AM and late PM hour crowds vary considerably, but compared to prior years, the parks just don't have many late night hours. As such, expect them to be crowded. Probably very crowded. In years past, late night hours were super, but now they can be very crowded.

Every guest is allowed 3 pre-booked FP, so many folks are happy to arrive late. If you arrive at 11am just know you'll arrive during peak crowds.

In winter, it can sometimes pay to arrive a little late because early mornings can be quite chilly. In summer, it can be a bit of the opposite- 11am-4pm=peak heat.

No matter the season or park hours our eating pattern stays about the same. We try to avoid eating lunch at noon. Otherwise, we eat when we want. About the only limits are if you wish to see something like a special dinner show (fixed times) and whatever time the parks close (if eating in the parks).

Much also depends on the weather. If there's a heavy storm, the parks often clear out. the person who said they covered many rides in the PM didn't mention the weather that day. If it was June or July? It was likely at least 90 in the afternoon;real feel over 100, and afternoon (and even all day) downbursts have been frequent this summer.

Ultimately, my advice is to do what works best for your family. You can always try something for a day or two, then adjust.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Note that people reporting good night results are all talking about times later than 9pm, like when the park is open until midnight.
I'm going in January, with 9pm closings every night, except one late EMH at Epcot. I expect we still stay until closing with all four kids. And the lines will not be short.

 

[Disneyliscious]

We’ve thought about going late to DHS in Oct. We’re night owls and just don’t want to deal with the mobs.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Note that people reporting good night results are all talking about times later than 9pm, like when the park is open until midnight.
I'm going in January, with 9pm closings every night, except one late EMH at Epcot. I expect we still stay until closing with all four kids. And the lines will not be short.

That’s not necessarily correct. We hopped in to Epcot one evening last summer just before 8 pm and rode Test Track, Soarin and Frozen all before the park closed at 9. We still had just enough time to make it to Illuminations.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I first posted this story here in 2009 when Toy Story Mania was by far the most popular attraction on property.


Here's my favorite Rope Drop story:

I had a co-worker recently telling me about her trip to Disney World. They seemed to be pretty good planners and tried to maximize their time the best they could.

She was very excited to tell me about her experience riding Midway Mania without a Fast Pass. The got up really early, got to the gates about 45 minutes before they opened and waited in a pretty large crowd. Then they hurried as fast as they could to the ride and the wait was *only* 15 minutes. By the time they got off the line was almost an hour long. There were people all over the place.

I rode the same ride 4 times in about an hour late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

 

[kniquy]

RD can be good but it really depends on what rides you are talking about. At MK we have RD the most there and if you head towards 7DMT that is where the masses are going so it is busy, but if you go towards Adventure and Frontier land it is like a ghost town. Pretty much goes for the headliners at the other parks - SDD at HS and I am sure SW land once it opens, FOP at AK.

If you can skips night time shows/fireworks and stay until close then you probably might fair better. Keep in mind if the park closes at 10:00pm as long as you are entering the line by 9:59pm they will let you in, so typically it shouldn't be too bad of a wait or at least less than the lines are all day long.

If you can get FP for the headliners you want then RD or evening time can be a good time to hit the lesser attractions without using FP or waiting in long lines.