Rope Drop with young children

[KathleensKid]

Everyone is different, but if we don't make rope drop, I get very antsy!! In March we got to DHS and Epcot over an hour before they opened (which worked out great b/c they opened early both days). I try to get to each park at least 30 minutes early.

We shower the night before (either before we head to dinner or right before bed) to get the park grime/pool chemicals/sunscreen off and make mornings easier.
I also pack the kids clothes and mine in ziplock bags. They are dated. Super easy.
I also have our snack bags packed and dated in ziplock bags.
At night, while the kids are showering, I empty the stroller and park bags and repack them for the morning, and I set out our bags of clothes for the next day.
I get up at 6:30 (just like at home), make coffee, get dressed and wake dh and the kids. While he shaves and I do my hair and minimal makeup, the kids eat cereal and get dressed. Dh slips on his clothes, and we're out the door in 30 minutes tops.
We get to the park, set up at a turnstile, put on sunscreen, have more snacks, take turns running kids to the potty if needed and are ready to go.
We stay super busy and get all of our "must do" things finished by 11:30 and have ann early lunch. Then we do a few more things and go back to the resort to swim.
We always go back to a park in the evening, but it is a stress free time b/c we've already done everyone's faves in the morning.

 

[KimK2006]

Great tips, but DH loves a sit-down breakfast. Do you rarely do sit-down breakfasts? Or do you get up super early on those days?

We eat in the room most days. It saves SO much time. I wouldn't get up earlier for a sit down breakfast. You just really have to decide what is most imporant to you....sleeping, eating big breakfast, or getting to the parks early. There is no wrong answer!

 

[KimK2006]

One more question:

Do you have a personal order of which parks are more important to get to at rope drop? Or do you find them all equally important to get there early?

Is there any park you think wouldn't be as bad to get to in the late afternoon and stay until evening? This is what we did last August: after a day of swimming, we took our time to get to the parks. But wee went right after the hurricane hit, so the parks were pretty empty. I think we were spoiled last trip, and don't want to make the mistake of swimming all day and have us waiting on lines all trip this time.

We make sure and hit each park at least one time for RD. That way, we can ride the most pouplar/crowded rides while everyone else is sleeping! We then leave the parks early or mid afternoon and head to the resort for a swim (or just to relax). You might try switching your parking and swimming. Parks early, swimming afternoon. If nothing else, it is much nicer to be in the water when it is the heat of the day.

 

[Wiloughby1]

If the sit-down breakfast is a requirement, and DH won't budge, you're probably out of luck. We don't eat big breakfasts, and when we do, we almost always skip lunch. Our schedule of this year-

Sun- RD Ep
Mon- RD HS
Tues-RD AK
Weds- 8:10 Crystal Palace, RD MK (there's our only big breakfast)
Thurs- RD Ep
Fri- RD MK
Sat- RD MK
Sun- RD AK
Mon- Take our time.

We never ever miss it. I have 2 little kids that have internal timers set between 6:55 and 7:05. We have everything preset- showers the night before, bags packed, clothes laid out. I also keep bags of snacks. Moving slowly? Your breakfast is a juice box and a bag of cereal. If we have a late night the night before, DH and I will still shower at night, but it's really not the end of the world for the kids, especially the under 8 set. Wash them down with a warm washcloth in the morning and they're good as new as long as they get one the next night. Well, maybe in July it's different. We're spring/fall types. Get up 10 mins earlier and rinse them off in the shower.

Doing hair? Eh. It's Disney, not a pageant. Braid girls' hair the night before so they just get fresh, easily brushed ponytails in the morning. My daughter gets daily pigtails with bows. It takes me 5 minutes. My hair is either blown out at night to wear down, in in a ponytail if it's curly. No makeup.

6:45 I wake up, get dressed, put breakfast on the table (condo) Cereal or eggs or waffles
7:00 DH is up
7:05 March kids to bathrooms. Dress before they leave the bathroom
7:15 everyone eats together
7:40 Sunscreen and ponytails
7:50 Out to the car
8:00 on the road

When we are onsite, much the same thing. Except cereal or pop tarts are the breakfast and we only wake one kid at a time since there is only one bathroom.

 

[ChristineOH]

Another tip for the getting the kids ready... though I'm sure some of you will be horrified, lol... If your kids generally wear "comfy" clothes (ie knit shorts or gym shorts and t-shirts) shower them at night and let them sleep in the next day's clothes. I have done this for VERY early flights, but never at Disney. This is standard practice for my sister, though.

I think the key will be if YOU are willing to get up early, get yourself ready, and then get the kids up. Where are you staying? My husband and I would get up early, and get ready, then DH would run down to the CS place at our hotel and get breakfasts "to go" and bring them up to the room for us to eat quickly before we left. Meanwhile, I'd be getting the kids up and dressed and packing the backpack. When he returned, the kids were ready to eat quickly and go. If the sit down thing is just for a relaxed feeling on vacation, this probably isn't the best, but if it's because DH prefers to eat bacon and eggs over nutrigrain bars or cereal, then it might help.

 

[Madzac]

Like everyone else says, it is up to what your priority is. We have four kids now, and have been when we had one, then two and then three, will be doing it with four this fall! We hit rope drop almost every day. For us, the advantage of fewer people in the parks and the amount of rides we can do early is huge for us!! Its so worth it. If we plan to be out super late, we will go back for a nap/rest, if it is an earlier close, we just stay.

We also avoid parks with AM EMH when staying onsite, so usually the parks open at 9am... we try to be there 30-40 min prior to the opening, so in previous trips that meant heading out to the bus around 8am. We also do showers at night except for DH. He showers while I help the kids get ready(we also pack outfits in gallon size ziplock bags for the kids and it works great!!!) and then we all have something quick in the room. We choose one morning of the week where we do a sit down character breakfast, usually a night when we were out late the night before and we plan a later morning, so we schedule the breakfast at like 10 am. When you eat early, you are ready for lunch earlier which works out well in terms of crowds... we also are ready for supper a little earlier, again better crowd wise.

I would talk with your family and your DH... I personally dont think sit down breakfasts AND rope drop are possible every day! For us, the advantage of being there before it gets busier is huge, especially with kids!!!

 

[cuchu2005]

Great tips, but DH loves a sit-down breakfast. Do you rarely do sit-down breakfasts? Or do you get up super early on those days?

We usually accomplish this by having a sit down breakfast... In the car. Cup of coffee and muffin on the go. Unfortunately, rope drop takes some sacrifice, but in my opinion it is so much worth it...

Mx

 

[Balt ravens fan]

One more question:

Do you have a personal order of which parks are more important to get to at rope drop? Or do you find them all equally important to get there early?

Is there any park you think wouldn't be as bad to get to in the late afternoon and stay until evening? This is what we did last August: after a day of swimming, we took our time to get to the parks. But wee went right after the hurricane hit, so the parks were pretty empty. I think we were spoiled last trip, and don't want to make the mistake of swimming all day and have us waiting on lines all trip this time.

I think Magic Kingdom is the best park to get to late. You can go to Adventureland and get a FP for Jungle Cruise and then do everything else without much of a wait. And then if you hit Fantasyland during the fireworks / parade, etc... the line are pretty short.

We usually do one early day at Magic Kingdom (Tomorrow land stuff) and then 2 or 3 late days. (Sleep in days )

DHS is the most important for getting early especially if you want to do TSMM and Jedi training, it also helps for RnRC and TOT.

I would say EPCOT is a very very close 2nd, because of SOARIN mostly and then Test track.

Of course in both cases you could get to the park at 10am and get FP for SOARIN or TSMM, you might just be riding late, which could conflict with an ADR or night time show.

I think Animal Kingdom is important to get into early as well for the animals, but I could see you doing Animal Kingdom late, because you can get FP for Safari and Everest later - although Safari does sometime run out early.

In any case, if those rides aren't important, you can do ANY park late.

My problem is I am an early riser, and the rest of my family is not, but they do do it for somedays because they know how valuable it is. The other days, I get antsy and my wife is ready to smack me sometimes... but we survive I am trying to work on relaxing in Disney

 

[Niebz]

We are huge Disney fans - have taken taken many trips to both world and land - and we have never, not even once made a rope drop! We are not morning people and we love the parks at night. I've got 2 little ones and we let them sleep in so that they aren't cranky all day. We love the fireworks and nighttime shows/parades. They are the highlight of our day and we couldn't imagine missing them. We find we are able to accomplish lots in the evening. Just another perspective for you to consider. Do what makes your vacation most enjoyable for your family. For us that means taking our time.

 

[TinyDancer]

Everyone is different, but if we don't make rope drop, I get very antsy!! In March we got to DHS and Epcot over an hour before they opened (which worked out great b/c they opened early both days). I try to get to each park at least 30 minutes early.

We shower the night before (either before we head to dinner or right before bed) to get the park grime/pool chemicals/sunscreen off and make mornings easier.
I also pack the kids clothes and mine in ziplock bags. They are dated. Super easy.
I also have our snack bags packed and dated in ziplock bags.
At night, while the kids are showering, I empty the stroller and park bags and repack them for the morning, and I set out our bags of clothes for the next day.
I get up at 6:30 (just like at home), make coffee, get dressed and wake dh and the kids. While he shaves and I do my hair and minimal makeup, the kids eat cereal and get dressed. Dh slips on his clothes, and we're out the door in 30 minutes tops.
We get to the park, set up at a turnstile, put on sunscreen, have more snacks, take turns running kids to the potty if needed and are ready to go.
We stay super busy and get all of our "must do" things finished by 11:30 and have ann early lunch. Then we do a few more things and go back to the resort to swim.
We always go back to a park in the evening, but it is a stress free time b/c we've already done everyone's faves in the morning.

Great system.
This year I'm going to do the ziplock bag thing.. I'll have four children ages 7, 5, 2, & 1.. so it will take lots of planning & organizing on my part. We have been to WDW with just the older two before, and that was fine.. I love to make RD every day. I have only one character breakfast planned, and I'll make it as early as possible so we can go on into the park.

 

[TwistGrl101]

I am loving everyone's advice. I think I will compromise and do some rope-drop, some sleeping in. DH feels that if we are on vacation, he should be able to sleep in and enjoy a sit-down meal. I, myself, am NOT a morning person, but I think I will take the advice of the PPs and:

-do at least one rope drop per park
-pack ziplocs and lay them out the night before
-showers at night

We always order from Garden Grocer anyway, so we will try to do more grab-and-go breakfasts, and then a sit-down lunch, then swim.

BTW, we stay at BC.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I think Magic Kingdom is the best park to get to late. You can go to Adventureland and get a FP for Jungle Cruise and then do everything else without much of a wait. And then if you hit Fantasyland during the fireworks / parade, etc... the line are pretty short.

We usually do one early day at Magic Kingdom (Tomorrow land stuff) and then 2 or 3 late days. (Sleep in days )

DHS is the most important for getting early especially if you want to do TSMM and Jedi training, it also helps for RnRC and TOT.

I would say EPCOT is a very very close 2nd, because of SOARIN mostly and then Test track.

Of course in both cases you could get to the park at 10am and get FP for SOARIN or TSMM, you might just be riding late, which could conflict with an ADR or night time show.

I think Animal Kingdom is important to get into early as well for the animals, but I could see you doing Animal Kingdom late, because you can get FP for Safari and Everest later - although Safari does sometime run out early.

In any case, if those rides aren't important, you can do ANY park late.

My problem is I am an early riser, and the rest of my family is not, but they do do it for somedays because they know how valuable it is. The other days, I get antsy and my wife is ready to smack me sometimes... but we survive I am trying to work on relaxing in Disney

If you get to MK late then you miss the opening ceremony! Me. dh and the kids love this and wouldn't miss it for the world! it is one of my most fav. things about WDW!

 

[kristennn]

Rope drop isn't convenient but it IS worth it.
If it wasn;t kind of a hassle to wake up and get going super early - then everyone would do it and it would be mroe crowded and not worth it.

We love sleeping in and having a leisurely morning too - but we also hate crowds and standing in long lines.

I would say make sure everyone is showered at night - and in the morning make each adult ready for getting themselves and one child ready. Have everyone's clothes ready to go and have your park bags packed and ready. All you should need to do is brush your teeth, fix your hair get dressed and go.

If you like to have a sit down breakfast (i love breakfast foods) either make an early ADR at 8:00 before the park opens OR make your ADR for the last breakfast time -like 10:30 -11:00 at the park you will be in - and then be there before rope drop and go on rides for the first 2 hours and then have your sit down breakfast.

Or sleep in and wait in longer lines and go on fewer rides. Either way it's a trade off.

 

[Mkrop]

Honestly? It all depends on your priorities and how YOU want to do your vacation.

It is certainly possible to miss rope drop every day and still have a wonderful vacation. But again ... it depends on what you all want out of your vacation. If you think everyone will complain if you get to Fantasyland and the lines are long, then you may need to ask your husband to forego a sit-down breakfast one morning and make it to RD at MK. If you all want to ride TSMM early in the day with a minimum wait time, then you'll need to go do that first and maybe have breakfast a bit later. Planning a trip to a destination like WDW is all about choosing what is important to YOU and making the compromises you need to make to work it all out.

There is nothing wrong with sleeping in, having sit-down breakfasts and getting to the parks late. But if your group is going to then spend the rest of the day complaining about lines or heat or how you're not getting on enough rides to make the ticket price worth it, then getting up early, having some muffins, and hitting RD is probably worth it for you. If your group is perfectly happy with whatever you do and are just planning a "whatever strikes our fancy" kind of trip, then rising early is less of a "must".

But truly -- it's all up to you.

This post sums up how I feel.

We do not do Rope Drop but we are there for opening or maybe 5 minutes after opening. We have never seen a opening ceremony but we have always gotten there in plenty of time to ride with no lines and to get FPs. We have never encountered a stampede either.

Kids get showers the night before, kids eat cereal in the room, DH and I grab a bagel or english muffin, we order from Garden Grocer or buy in the store at the resort.

DH does like a sit down breakfast but he really does not like lines, so we make a few late breakfast ADRs, and make that brunch.

We also do not do EMHam every day, sometime getting there at 9am to the nonEMH park works out well too.

My kids might be grumpy in the morning to get up but they would have been grumpier to wait in lines later in the day

 

[Moomduck1]

If you get to MK late then you miss the opening ceremony! Me. dh and the kids love this and wouldn't miss it for the world! it is one of my most fav. things about WDW!

When we were there at the end of Jan/beg of Feb, they had done away with all of the opening ceremonies at all of the parks. I missed them!

 

[Minnesota!]

We have never had an issue getting our boys up early - before 7 am. On school days, non school days, vacation, etc.

We are all too excited to sleep in WDW!

I think rope drop at MK is a must see (brings a tear to my eye no matter how many times I experience it!). And we love getting to AK at rope drop, too...the park is SO peaceful in the AM when it's cooler out, etc.

There are 4 of us...and it takes us a max of 30 - 45 minutes from wake up to out the door...and that's with minimum 2 showers (DH and I have to shower in the AM) and up to 4 showers.

It can be done

 

[Mkrop]

I am loving everyone's advice. I think I will compromise and do some rope-drop, some sleeping in. DH feels that if we are on vacation, he should be able to sleep in and enjoy a sit-down meal. I, myself, am NOT a morning person, but I think I will take the advice of the PPs and:

-do at least one rope drop per park
-pack ziplocs and lay them out the night before
-showers at night

We always order from Garden Grocer anyway, so we will try to do more grab-and-go breakfasts, and then a sit-down lunch, then swim.

BTW, we stay at BC.

DH felt this way too until he notice how much we got down before 11am, then he was sold. Like I mentioned above I book some big breakfast bc he really wanted the breakfast food more than needing it first thing...the man wanted his bacon, sitting down with a cup of coffee, so he gets that he just gets it at 10am instead of 7am!

 

[blessedby3]

On our last trip this past June, we had DH, myself, DD21, DS16, DD13, DD4, DDfriend 21, DSfriend 16, DD friend12. We made rope drop every morning
I wont say it was easy every morning...as the days wore on I got more resistance but the kids sucked it up and kept moving in the am. I had most everyone showered the night before so all but 1 or 2 were clean for the am. We packed all park bags the night before and I had breakfast stuff in the rooms. If the kids got up and moved quickly enough, they could go to the food court and get more of a breakfast while others were still getting ready. Some days they did, and other days they had a pop tart or granola bar.
I agree with other posters who say you need to decide what works best for you. I am thankful my DH will move throught the morning with a pop tart in hand...makes things go more quickly. I dont know what I would do if he insisted on a sit down meal in the am. We try and plan 2 breakfasts during a 10 day trip, but I plan them for 8:05 (or before opening) in the parks and we are ready to hit the park before the crowds are let in. This has worked well for us.
We all enjoy the walk ons during the early morning hours...so it is SO worth it for us to get up and moving. Now at the beach...we all sleep in because the sand and surf are a whole different ball game. At WDW...we get up by 6:30-6:45

 

[loveysbydesign]

When we were there at the end of Jan/beg of Feb, they had done away with all of the opening ceremonies at all of the parks. I missed them!

I believe they still have the one at MK but the other 3 they do not.

 

[goodferry]

For us it makes a huge difference, especially in August when the heat is so unbearable in the middle of the day. I do make sure that more than half of us shower the night before and breakfast is usually something light in the room (we do DVC so we do have a kitchen) Then come 11:30 we have an early sit down lunch to get us out of the heat. By that time we have done what we want to in the park and can head back to the resort to swim or nap.
I actually have a harder time now that I have teens than I did with toddlers (we have four kids of varying ages) Our compromise now is that we do at least one rope drop per park. We do one sleep in day when we hit just World Showcase in Epcot and a late start Animal Kingdom day.