Non rope drop ppl - what’s it like??

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I don't know about this late at night thing...I have done the 7:55 get in line at FOP (8:00)closing) and waited an hour, twice.
I have also RD for 9:00 opening: got there at 8:00, was off the ride at 8:45(!), and had virtual walk on for anything else for over an hour after.

I checked the FoP stats from yesterday just for fun. About 15 minutes before closing time, the posted wait was 85 minutes with a reported actual wait of 34.

We like to visit earlier in the summer when the hours run a little later though. An 8 pm close wouldn’t feel like a full day for us.

 

[DISNEY1975]

My wife is not a morning person. We don't get in the parks until almost lunchtime. We count on FPs and ADRs to manage our days. Granted, my wife tends to get us extra FPs so we've yet to wait in line for anything. We've done a few of the evening magic hours and parties to lessen the crowds. She can't has to take frequent breaks so we're not rushing from place to place anyways.

Ditto!

 

[YawningDodo]

I wouldnt call 8pm late night but . im guessing the person who manages 4 rides in a row on he big rides are talking about midnight finishes for MK and 10pm for AK . i think late night rides are only good during last night show or if park is open a few hours after .

Yeah, the 'during last night show' part is key. If you've got midnight EMH at MK but HEA is at 8:00, the time after HEA is not necessarily going to be all that quiet--it wasn't when I did a night like that in January 2018. If I'd been willing to skip the fireworks there almost certainly would have been shorter lines then, but it never really cleared out until 11:30 or 11:40.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I wouldnt call 8pm late night but . im guessing the person who manages 4 rides in a row on he big rides are talking about midnight finishes for MK and 10pm for AK . i think late night rides are only good during last night show or if park is open a few hours after .

I'm not sure if this proves or disproves your point, but here's what we got done on a recent MK visit from 8 pm to midnight without any FastPasses. This happened to be a morning EMH day so there was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park when we arrived. 16 rides in 4 hours isn't too bad.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
7D 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.

 

[Juventus]

I'm not sure if this proves or disproves your point, but here's what we got done on a recent MK visit from 8 pm to midnight without any FastPasses. This happened to be a morning EMH day so there was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park when we arrived. 16 rides in 4 hours isn't too bad.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
7D 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.

Can I ask what time of the year this is? I've been 5 years in a row the first 2 weeks of March and they have been shortening the park hours (both normal opening and closing times) so normal AK closings were 8 or 9, and MK 10 I think. That is a terrific list of rides you accomplished! I don't think that is possible when I go...I wish! In fact, the wife and I did DAH the first Thursday in March last year and MAY have accomplished what you did!!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Can I ask what time of the year this is? I've been 5 years in a row the first 2 weeks of March and they have been shortening the park hours (both normal opening and closing times) so normal AK closings were 8 or 9, and MK 10 I think. That is a terrific list of rides you accomplished! I don't think that is possible when I go...I wish! In fact, the wife and I did DAH the first Thursday in March last year and MAY have accomplished what you did!!

The first week of June. This is a good time for us as hours have been extended but the full summer crowds haven’t hit yet.

We been doing this for several years now and always feel like we gets our money’s worth.

My kids would probably feel cheated if they didn’t get multiple rides on the headliners every visit.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The first week of June. This is a good time for us as hours have been extended but the full summer crowds haven’t hit yet.

We been doing this for several years now and always feel like we gets our money’s worth.

My kids would probably feel cheated if they didn’t get multiple rides on the headliners every visit.

This is why we go for 8-10 days. My kids "need" to ride ToT, RnRC, Splash and many others multiple times a trip.

We've had good luck with late nights. We have done TSM multiple times in one night. One night we did ToT a few times late at night and were actually the last ride of the night. The CM's were in full character and made it very fun. We've done BTMRR during the fireworks along with a few other headliners in MK around closing or during HEA.

We still like to do RD a few times but we really like the late nights too.

 

[calismic]

If my family had their way, we wouldn't leave the room until 2pm. As it stands I have trouble pushing them to the parks by 11am. Between 3 phones I have become an expert at finding fast passes in line, LOL. I've managed to score all of the big ticket items multiple times, minus Slinky Dog. (I swear that one is hard coded to never show up if you're physically in the park!) While I'm the planner, they are all more go with the flow. So I 'let' them flow around the park while not so casually directing them to whatever I've scored next. Its 110% doable to hit everything without doing a rope drop. Hell I just did a convention ticket (5pm entry) on the 14th at MK and road pretty much every ride minus Peter Pan. I could have done Peter but its my sons favorite ride and I promised him I would wait until our October trip to go on with him!

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

If your 2 y/o can last until close, the last hour of the day is my favorite time for Fantasyland. Usually everything except 7DMT becomes walk on after the fireworks are over. You know your child best. We prefer that time specifically because most of the younger kids are tired and cranky and their parents have taken them back to the hotel. When mine were younger, we’d try to get to the parks around 10, leave about 2 for lunch and a nap, back after dinner and stay until close.

 

[Miffy]

Non-rope-dropper here. My sister and I get up early but we hang out at the resort and leave in time for our first FP+s of the day. We always get to do everything we want. Of course, we book our FP+s at the 60-day mark and that helps. But we move things around, too, and book many 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc., FP+s during the day.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

I don't know about this late at night thing...I have done the 7:55 get in line at FOP (8:00)closing) and waited an hour, twice.
I have also RD for 9:00 opening: got there at 8:00, was off the ride at 8:45(!), and had virtual walk on for anything else for over an hour after.

Also, RD at MK I can do BTMR (twice if both sides open), Splash, Jungle, then back to Pirates in an hour or so, and still have 3fps ready to go.

I prefer RD, use my fps, leave the parks, return in evening using refresh. Best of both worlds I guess.

This is definitely what we did when we were young and full of energy - haha. Now we’re old, tired parents jk, sort of.

We’ll have a 2 YO so we won’t be trying to do headliners, except for grabbing a FP+ for FoP for DH since he hasn’t done that one before.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

I checked the FoP stats from yesterday just for fun. About 15 minutes before closing time, the posted wait was 85 minutes with a reported actual wait of 34.

We like to visit earlier in the summer when the hours run a little later though. An 8 pm close wouldn’t feel like a full day for us.

Yeah, the 'during last night show' part is key. If you've got midnight EMH at MK but HEA is at 8:00, the time after HEA is not necessarily going to be all that quiet--it wasn't when I did a night like that in January 2018. If I'd been willing to skip the fireworks there almost certainly would have been shorter lines then, but it never really cleared out until 11:30 or 11:40.

Can I ask what time of the year this is? I've been 5 years in a row the first 2 weeks of March and they have been shortening the park hours (both normal opening and closing times) so normal AK closings were 8 or 9, and MK 10 I think. That is a terrific list of rides you accomplished! I don't think that is possible when I go...I wish! In fact, the wife and I did DAH the first Thursday in March last year and MAY have accomplished what you did!!

Yeah the parks won’t be closing super late most nights we are there (late Oct/early Nov) which has me a little worried. But we’re only trying to go for the small, no height or under 35” rides so hopefully that won’t be too bad, even with 8-10pm closing times?? Fingers crossed!

 

[MilitaryMouse]

If your 2 y/o can last until close, the last hour of the day is my favorite time for Fantasyland. Usually everything except 7DMT becomes walk on after the fireworks are over. You know your child best. We prefer that time specifically because most of the younger kids are tired and cranky and their parents have taken them back to the hotel. When mine were younger, we’d try to get to the parks around 10, leave about 2 for lunch and a nap, back after dinner and stay until close.

That’s what I’m hoping for! I assume most younger kids need to go to bed at a reasonable hour. We’re coming from the west coast so staying up until midnight EST will be the norm for DD. We’ll probably just ride IASW over and over again the last hour

 

[YawningDodo]

I think as long as you go in expecting that the park will stay busy right up until the end, you won't be disappointed no matter how it turns out. I think it really depends on the time of year (and day of week, and whether there's EMH, etc., etc.) how well the crowds clear out in the last hour or so of the park being open. I set my expectations that way on my last visit, strategized to get on my favorite rides, and was satisfied with the visit even though it was crowded. I will say that the strategy of getting in line for a headliner right at closing seems to work for getting a relatively short wait, regardless of whether the time leading up to it was crowded or quiet.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

My family and i are rope drop junkies at DL. Our first trip in November to WDW, I am planning on non-rope drop because of the time shift, can't imagine waking up at 4am our time through out the trip. Planning on hitting multiple Christmas parties and one after hours event to help balance out the lack of rope dropping. Will see how it goes.

 

[Shughart]

17 minutes?? That's amazing! I've spent my whole Disney life being that person waiting outside a locked gate. And then was always too tired to close out the park. My life is forever changed now

I hope you make it to close at MK, the kiss goodnight is absolutely my favorite and it makes all the planning and craziness worth it. If you don't know, don't look it up. Just wait for it!

 

[Harambe]

We always did rope drop when our kids were little - just on EMH days at the EMH park - my family used to call it "0dark:30" when we headed out. We got TONS done, then headed out of that park late morning and hopped to another non-EMH park.

But NO MORE! Just DH and me this upcoming trip and we are old - LOL! We are planning a late start to the parks and plan on staying later. All this advice makes me feel better about our approach.

There is that underlying want to get as much value out of those expensive park tickets, that we will have to learn to ignore. I want to have a relaxing time, not end up in a back brace after the trip - haha . . .

 

[MilitaryMouse]

My family and i are rope drop junkies at DL. Our first trip in November to WDW, I am planning on non-rope drop because of the time shift, can't imagine waking up at 4am our time through out the trip. Planning on hitting multiple Christmas parties and one after hours event to help balance out the lack of rope dropping. Will see how it goes.

Good luck! Rope drop at DL is the best! After reading this thread, I think my family will really like the more relaxing, non rope drop style of doing the parks in WDW - hopefully you guys enjoy it too!

Love the idea of adding parties - we’re doing that too!

 

[MilitaryMouse]

I hope you make it to close at MK, the kiss goodnight is absolutely my favorite and it makes all the planning and craziness worth it. If you don't know, don't look it up. Just wait for it!

I’m so excited to see that again! It’s been so long - I’m usually asleep by then

 

[MilitaryMouse]

We always did rope drop when our kids were little - just on EMH days at the EMH park - my family used to call it "0dark:30" when we headed out. We got TONS done, then headed out of that park late morning and hopped to another non-EMH park.

But NO MORE! Just DH and me this upcoming trip and we are old - LOL! We are planning a late start to the parks and plan on staying later. All this advice makes me feel better about our approach.

There is that underlying want to get as much value out of those expensive park tickets, that we will have to learn to ignore. I want to have a relaxing time, not end up in a back brace after the trip - haha . . .

I TOTALLY am right there with you. The “get my money’s worth” is such a source of anxiety in the back of my mind. This thread has helped a TON though and it’s not worth it to ride every ride 100x and have my family tired and angry at me