Rope Drop or Sleep in?

[StraightToDumbo]

Whether it's the first hour or the last of the day, the effect is quite similar. Low crowd levels and tiny lines.

 

[Accidental Magpie]

Rope drop - get in the couple of 'musts' and then everything else is gravy.

 

[stenmarks]

We always rope drop, but we are all early birds and used to waking up early.

 

[clarklink]

Since becoming an adult I have always been there before rope drop, but on slow weeks it didn't really matter much. Now that I have a wife who isn't a morning person and a special needs child who eats breakfast at 9AM we'll be arriving at the parks between 10:30-11AM during a slow week. The only exception being one day at DHS when we need to sign up for Jedi training. Between Fastpass+ and DAS we'll be able to do everything we want without dangerous schedule changes.

 

[cheerupem0kidx0x]

We aren't morning people so we usually shut the park down rather than rope drop. But last trip we did a PPO breakfast at mk and I will admit it made a huge difference in how much we got done that day. By like 2pm we had accomplished everything we wanted to do and had the rest of the day to relax and enjoy without trying to fit it all in. Ended up being our fave day of the trip. So in the future we will probably incorporate a few early mornings at least.

 

[Parker Clan]

We RD because we go in August and mid day breaks by the pool are KEY
So it goes ---RD, pool, dinner and back to parks!

 

[ncc1701]

Rope drop or shortly afterwards. We no longer spend all day in a park & head back to the resort after lunch to relax by the pool (it's only DH & I). If we feel like it depending on dinner plans we may go back to a park at night (always get hoopers). We are now of the mindset it is a vacation so having fun & not being tired going back to the real world is what matters

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Grandma is 80 now and does better if she sleeps in. We only get about 6 hrs a day in the park. I might plan one or 2 rope drop days in our next 2 week stay.

 

[Kellykins1218]

We'll sleep in when we're dead. Rope drop!

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I would rather rope drop that way I am not fighting the crowds to get out of the park

 

[Tinkerfan2005]

My kids and I are early birds so it was rope drop for us most days.

 

[NicoleLarson]

It honestly depends on what time of year we are going. May through october, RD are a must because it's incredibly hot. If it's the cooler months, espically January...crowds tend to be down so we get to the parks a bit later because mornings are too "chilly" ( we're Floridians so 50 is cold)

 

[princessabz47]

Rope drop all the way! Nothing better than early morning EMH. Mid-day break at the resort (when parks are most crowded) and then back at it around dinnertime til park close!

 

[katytrott]

Rope drop all the way! Nothing better than early morning EMH. Mid-day break at the resort (when parks are most crowded) and then back at it around dinnertime til park close!

I would love to know how you manage this? I know this type of touring makes sense as it's the quietest hours, and would love to do this with my family, but I'm wondering how you get up so early after going to bed so late. Just seems with my family it's one or the other.

Am trying to work out our august schedule and am thinking of putting in mixture of both RD and night touring, but to do this there will have to be one late eve leading to next day RD and was wondering if you had a secret to it!?

Thanks

 

[TraceyPoppins]

We love the first hour when the lines are short and you can actually see the park! We get the best photos of Main Street and the castle first thing in the morning. Our kids are teens and this is the only time hey willingly get up early! We all have pretty good stamina so we can usually make it to 10 pm or so.

 

[Simba's Girl]

Depends...upon when we wake up.

Fps are made for the 11,12 and 1 hours but if I'm up and/or a kid/DH is up for RD then we'll do it-most likely at a different park then we have the Fps for. We will usually head back for a midday break and snacks at our hotel but we'll be back to close a park later. This is the beauty of having teens and a tween. I love the story of Wishes going off when we were riding BMTRR and heading back to the hotel and our then 8 year old told me how magical that night was. It was just her and I and our middle DD. Nighttime can be so special and it's important to honor the natural variation in the sleeping patterns of teens who tend to stay up later and sleep in later.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...not to mention I'm not really a morning person. I like to take my time in the morning.

 

[mchowell73]

Oh my word!!! SLEEP IN!!! In my humble opinion, the rope drop was not all that special. If it's your first trip and you want to get up early, by all means, DO IT! We got there 30 minutes early in April, after going to Disney for 13 years. Yes, we went 13 years without going to the rope drop. Once I experienced it, I thought to myself, the entertainment in the park was sooooo much better and not worth getting up early for. BTW, I'm a morning grump...

 

[Snavinsky]

What do you do and why? Trying to weigh sleep VS Rope Drop.

We are going to try and rope drop every other day