Rope Drop or late night?

[Phil'sFrontier]

I voted to stay late. I like the lights and the opportunity for night photos. I also felt a different energy in wdw when we were there after hours.

 

[kailuagirl]

Do youhave kids going with you? makes a huge difference I thought the late night was awesome for crowds until we went at rope drop. Rope drop was way better. I'd do both and take a nap in the day when it gets really crowded.

 

[kiwitravel]

Ditto for opening, rest and then thru to closing...Also did DL one day then got a bit of a sleep in the next to do CA which has a later opening...

 

[Huff]

Do youhave kids going with you? makes a huge difference I thought the late night was awesome for crowds until we went at rope drop. Rope drop was way better. I'd do both and take a nap in the day when it gets really crowded.

We're going with girls ages 8 and 12. They are usually horrible trying to get going in the mornings and love to sleep in. But when we get to the parks late they complain about the long lines everywhere but love the late night. Trying to figure out a way to get them to the parks early at least one morning.

 

[kkmcan]

We usually get there for rope drop, stay until 2 or so and then head back to room for a nap/rest. Return to park around 5 and stay as long as we can physically last which is usually around 10 if it closes late that night.

The few times we've made it all the way to a late closing we actually had to plan for it- not head back to park until 7, take a real nap with jammies on, under covers, dark room etc. No 20 min nap is going to help me make it til midnight. Has to be like 2 hours of sleep. Ya, I'm old, I know.

 

[frank808]

Why sleep? Go for the rope drop and when lunchtime comes, leave for lunch and a nice siesta. Then come back at 5:00 pm and stay till it closes. You get the best of both worlds!

 

[wvnative]

Luckily I travel with late teens/early 20's. I am an early bird, the kid is a night owl. We compromise and both go without sleep. lol We're up early for rope drop and we stay til right around closing. No naps.

 

[luvsmickey1968]

I opted for rope drop one day and late night another!
My family has never been successful at napping! I don't know how everyone does it! Even when my children were under five and still napped at home, we could never convince them to nap at the hotel. We just gave up and just let them fall asleep in the stroller.
I am an early bird and love getting to Disneyland early when it is all fresh, clean and uncrowded. Unfortunately, my family are not morning people!
I do like Disneyland at night as it feels so different and I prefer some rides at night!
So we go for the compromise but truthfully there are more late nights than rope drop!

 

[taaren]

Not an option... but I'd vote for:

Rope Drop - Nap - Late night!

Yep this is us, too. Hoping this year to squeeze in MM - Pool break & Nap - Close the park! Really works well if you're staying in walking distance/on property, when we stay off-site we usually wake later, then try to stay later.

 

[jetskigrl]

For WDW, we went with the start early, nap, stay late routine because we were staying on site. But for DLR, it is a day trip for us so we go the start early, collect FPs ASAP, leave when tired route

 

[D*sneyace]

I always feel it is best to start out early in the day and then just see how you feel as the day progresses. If you can stay till close, fantastic! If not then you were able to by pass crowds in the morning rather than regretting not coming early in the morning. Plus like a lot of people have said, it is really easy to leave for a nap midday and come back. I don't do that myself, I am more of a just power through the full day person and then see how I feel after fireworks. Sometimes I stay, sometimes I call it a night.