Rope Drop or sleep in?

[Jimmy Mouse]

Ok, so i am going to go against the grain here and say we NEVER use RD. We have kids similar to yours, they had no problem making it to the end of MNSSHP a couple of years ago when they were 5 and 2. Everyone rolled their eyes and acted like we were crazy for thinking our kids wouldnt be like the majority and fall asleep at 9pm, but thats not our family. We close down the parks every single night at Disney. Due to that, i tend to set an alarm and get up at 8, and have to wake the kids around 8:45 to get to the parks to 10ish. We use TP to plan our entire trips, and when we went in september/october, we NEVER waited more than 20 minutes for anything. We followed our personalized plans and got the FPs we wanted and never had an issue seeing everything we wanted with large blocks of open time at the end of the evening for us to fly by the seat of our pants, so to speak. I think if your family likes nighttime and not so much mornings, i say travel the way its best for youa nd skip the RD.

sounds just like us. Our kids never sleep lol

 

[slpeters]

We rope dropped, headed back to the resort for a nap, and then closed out a park each day. We even did EMH every day. I think that's how we will do it when we go back as well. Partly because it seems like the most effective way of avoiding the crowds but also partly because that's how we relax at home too. We're much more likely to take a nap on a lazy Sunday than we are to actually sleep in on that same lazy Sunday. Sleeping in is nice, I suppose, but nothing's more decadent in my mind than taking a well-earned nap on a Wednesday.

 

[Davey Jones II]

We rope dropped, headed back to the resort for a nap, and then closed out a park each day. We even did EMH every day. I think that's how we will do it when we go back as well. Partly because it seems like the most effective way of avoiding the crowds but also partly because that's how we relax at home too. We're much more likely to take a nap on a lazy Sunday than we are to actually sleep in on that same lazy Sunday. Sleeping in is nice, I suppose, but nothing's more decadent in my mind than taking a well-earned nap on a Wednesday.

When it comes to short wait times, which was better, early magic hours or evening magic hours? And at which parks was each most effective?

 

[BrookieM2001]

When it comes to short wait times, which was better, early magic hours or evening magic hours? And at which parks was each most effective?

We always ALWAYS use evening EMH. I know common recommendations is to avoid the parks that have EMH like the plague but when we have a good plan for the day we dont have a ton to see with the EMH and they work best for us. We also prefer the feeling of the parks in the evenings, after dark. We didnt get to see ROL for our last trip and only saw a couple of the tree awakenings. So we are super excited to spend as much time in AK as possible after dusk. However, my mother really likes Epcot in the evenings. The world showcase has a very special feel at night, it feels less like a park of random country snipits and begins to feel more like the actual countries. I think the dark kind of camouflages the fact closeness of the next country. That said, we dont usually ride a ton of rides during EMH. MK is probably best for riding rides during evening EMH because there are enough rides to spread out crowds. I also think you get a ton of really fun pics from the photographers, especially those on Main Street, have the time to do interesting poses as well as there being special magic shots only available at night. Sorry, I feel like im rambling, but we just really enjoy the evening EMH a lot. Everything feels so different and when the parks arent as full its nice to have the opportunity to ride or shop or even just eat a cupcake and look at the castle with the feeling that its almost just you and the magic, especially if your family is like ours and can make it to the end.

In the interest of full disclosure, we have never used the morning EMH, even when i was a kid. I assume there is probably a ton of stuff you can get done, and if youre taking a short trip that might be worth it. When we go, its 8-10 days in parks and so we have the time to spread our rides over 2 days per park and not rush. A big part of that is a really well organized plan, and once you know what you want to see and how long you have to do it, the evening EMH can be free time to let the kids take the lead or relax and not feel the need for every second to be full of running from ride to ride.

 

[slpeters]

When it comes to short wait times, which was better, early magic hours or evening magic hours? And at which parks was each most effective?

We were there for a week and had a PM EMH at MK and at Epcot. One morning EMH each at MK, DHS and Epcot and two at DAK. I thought they were all wonderful. In the interest of full disclosure, we park hopped so whichever park we did EMH at we were only there for that half of the day. I agree with Brookie that there is something really magical about the parks at night and I definitely enjoyed that aspect of PM EMHs but I have to say if you are looking at them as a way to avoid lines and crowds I think AM EMH has it hands down.

Again in the interest of full disclosure we didn't do the absolute headliners during EMH--we were there for a week and we had FPs for all the headliners (with the exception of Na'vi if you want to call it a headliner--we did two days of FOP FPs instead). So we arrived at the beginning of EMH--I don't think we ever got there more than five minutes before the designated time. So, for instance, during AM EMH at MK we walked right in to Talking Mickey and Peter Pan, walked over and did Buzz and Space Mountain and the Teacups and made our way over to Frontierland before park opening. On our DHS day we were pretty far back in the pack and still were literally the first person to meet Chewbacca (we got a little certificate and a printed photo), met all the Star Wars characters with no wait whatsoever, took a while to enjoy the displays (dh is a Star Wars nut) and still managed to do TSMM twice before the park opened--and it was a 10 that day. But I think perhaps the best EMH is DAK AM. FOP just absorbs everyone. Pretty much everything was a walk on for about an hour and a half. On the morning we did Na'vi (which, again, was a 10 crowd wise) we arrived about ten minutes late (wardrobe malfunction while getting ready) and we still walked on to Na'vi. Both mornings we did AM EMHs at DAK the whole rest of the park felt empty, empty, empty--and it was glorious.

Have a great trip!

 

[monorailsilver]

We are rope droppers, especially AM EMH - and then we’re Park Hoppers, Afternoon Nappers and Evening Park Goers.

That’s what works best for us.

My suggestion, give it a try. If the new touring strategy doesn’t feel right or work best for your fam, throw it out the window and go with what you know.

Your definition of sleeping in is 8 or 9 so it’s likely not to be a huge change to your routine to get a wake up call and hour or two earlier. Now if you were sleeping in until 11 or noon, my advice would be diffeeent.

I could of written the same post! We too love rope drop, AM EMH, mid day break/nap, and return to a different park in the evening.

We are out the door between 7-7:15 and already ate breakfast since we eat in our room.

 

[85glht]

We always close the park and yes the lines are really short. 2016 me and my 6 year old (5 at the time) rode 7DMT back to back 3 times once at park close. The last time was past closing and the CM motioned us to go back on. We were the very last to ride. It's a rare thing to be the only ones on 7DMT! Glad I got the pic

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That’s awesome!! There is no way my wife and I would ever make park closing... we are just too exhausted from all the fun during the daylight hours.

 

[MainMom]

Just got home today. We never RD. Now thT the kids are older(12) and (9) closing is much easier. Did EMH on wed (park open until midnight) and rode so many rides

Can you tell me about your experience? We are doing an evening EMH in MK in 3 weeks until 1am. Kids are super excited about it. I see mostly reports on AM EMH so am curious how many rides you got in. Thanks!

 

[Chef Louis]

The problem with RD is everyone has to commit and you need to be to the park 30 minutes plus before opening, plus transportation time and if you miss that bus have fun pacing as the time ticks away. I've done it and now that we've seen most of it rode most of it, we just want to relax and enjoy our time together and that means late nights and sleeping in.

Since you are staying CL I would sleep in and purchase the extra FP+ program. It's very good deal compared to the dessert party's and what not and adds another layer of relaxation.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

The problem with RD is everyone has to commit and you need to be to the park 30 minutes plus before opening, plus transportation time and if you miss that bus have fun pacing as the time ticks away. I've done it and now that we've seen most of it rode most of it, we just want to relax and enjoy our time together and that means late nights and sleeping in.

Since you are staying CL I would sleep in and purchase the extra FP+ program. It's very good deal compared to the dessert party's and what not and adds another layer of relaxation.

We plan on purchasing the extra FP.

 

[VFL]

Can you tell me about your experience? We are doing an evening EMH in MK in 3 weeks until 1am. Kids are super excited about it. I see mostly reports on AM EMH so am curious how many rides you got in. Thanks!

We did the dessert party that evening (which I highly recommend). Arrived around 6:45 and then headed to reserved area to relax and watch fireworks which were over around 8:15 or so. We were able to ride splash mountain, BTMT, small world, pirates, barn stormer, dumbo, space mountain and buzz light year. Seemed like alot of folks left after the fireworks. We were exhausted but I would highly recommend it.

 

[FortForever]

The only time we bother rolling out of bed before noon is when all the parks are closing early. If there are any with EMH or late hours, we'll get there eventually and stay until closing. Or not. We just do whatever we feel like doing really. Don't care what we ride, don't care where we go or what we eat. We just chill and wing it.