To all my fellow non rope droppers...

[BK2014]

If we are not at rope drop, it is usually because we have a breakfast/brunch ADR.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

How do you typically spend your mornings?

Sleeping!

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Do you have to set an alarm or do you naturally wake up early? I think that is what makes the difference if you read through the posts. Some of us just aren't morning people. We may have to be as far as our careers are concerned (I have to get up at 3:30 am to make it to work by 6:00 am) and that makes it even more important to us on vacation that we listen to our bodies and get the rest we need. I naturally wake up between 9:30 - 10:30 if I don't set an alarm, so for me to hit rope drop, I would have to set an alarm.

THIS!!!
I can stay up/work/cook/clean for two days but I cannot wake up easily before 9:00 a.m. even on a 'normal' to bed by 9/10 schedule. Why is that normal, anyway? Bed at 9 p.m. or 2 a.m. > up at 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Just programmed that way.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

I feel your pain. I am SO not a morning person. I wish I was, but I'm not, and I never will be. Left to my natural devices, we would not get to the parks until after lunchtime, and then I'd feel like we wasted the day. So I make some exceptions to my "no early mornings" policy:

• Flights, especially if we're going somewhere fun (although I'll usually schedule a later flight if I can)
• Rope drop at Disney
• Skiing
• Port excursions on a cruise

We don't rope drop every morning, but we also don't much like crowds and lines, so sometimes it's a sacrifice I just have to make. Luckily I don't have to get up particularly early for work most mornings (by most people's standards, anyway), so I'm not completely desperate to sleep late on vacation.

You are so lucky that your child is also a late riser! I tried that for awhile with my oldest, but it just didn't work.

Worst part of the Disney Cruise. The out-worldly disembarking time.

 

[Klayfish]

Rope dropping means shorter lines, less crowds, get more done. That is more valuable than sleep.

Wanna bet on the "get more done" part? (this is all in good fun, not angry) I would bet you a dozen donuts that...with the exception of the two or three busiest holidays of the year (Xmas to New Years, etc...)...I can do just as much as a rope dropper if I show up at 9:45am. That's the beauty of FP+. I truly don't count, but in a day when we're in the park from 10:00am to 3:00pm, I'd bet we go through 7 or 8 FP+, plus the few things we do without FP+ (i.e. Living w/Land) and time for lunch (we pack our own, so it doesn't take long).

Yes, there are plenty of ways to do WDW. Rope dropping isn't wrong, but nor is not getting up with the roosters.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Wanna bet on the "get more done" part? (this is all in good fun, not angry) I would bet you a dozen donuts that...with the exception of the two or three busiest holidays of the year (Xmas to New Years, etc...)...I can do just as much as a rope dropper if I show up at 9:45am. That's the beauty of FP+. I truly don't count, but in a day when we're in the park from 10:00am to 3:00pm, I'd bet we go through 7 or 8 FP+, plus the few things we do without FP+ (i.e. Living w/Land) and time for lunch (we pack our own, so it doesn't take long).

Yes, there are plenty of ways to do WDW. Rope dropping isn't wrong, but nor is not getting up with the roosters.

I doubt you'll get many takers on that bet. There are better ways than rope drop to get a lot done.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We only go early maybe 2 times. Once at MK and once at Epcot when we book a pre park opening ADR. That gets us right next to FEA and 7D for short lines but other days we take it easy. If you stand at the rope for 45+ minutes before park opening, rush to a E ticket ride to wait 10-15 minutes what's the difference in just waiting an hour later in the day?

 

[puffkins]

I only rope drop for Magic Kingdom...if I'm in the mood. Otherwise, I enjoy eating breakfast and spending a little time at the resort. Life's too short to set an alarm.

 

[ols386]

I’m a wanna-be rope dropper, but I’m just not. I always think I’ll get up real early for rope drop, but it just never happens.

 

[puffkins]

I’m a wanna-be rope dropper, but I’m just not. I always think I’ll get up real early for rope drop, but it just never happens.

Yup. I usually plan to rope drop for MK before we arrive in Orlando and then that plan goes out the window. I've only seen the opening stage show dozens of times. Gooooood Morning, Good Morning!

 

[Arielfan98]

I am simply not a morning bee. I am a hard-core night owl. With that said, I recognize that I am on an expensive Disney vacation with my family. We compromise by waking up around 9-9:30am and having breakfast then heading to the parks. We stay for EMH at night so it is worth it for my family, especially since me waking up at 6-8am would cause me to be grumpy for the whole trip.

 

[kalynn]

I can't imagine being there at rope drop, especially for an 8am park open. Why would you want to get up at the crack of dawn on vacation? Simply makes no sense to us, especially with the current FP+ system. In our opinion, a rope drop person really won't get much...if any...more done than we will...but we'll get a little extra relaxation and not have to rush around at 6am.

We sleep until we're ready to get up. Usually not that late, probably around 8am or so. Get a shower, have breakfast, a little coffee and head out. We'll get to the parks around 9:30am, maybe 10:00am. Why rush it??

I am not a morning person at all. Well, except when it comes to Disney. And my kids (now tweens) are not morning people either. The reason we do it is to avoid lines and make the most out of our time at Disney. Getting there at rope drop makes such a big difference. I mean, look how empty the park is!

 

[disneyseniors]

I’m a wanna-be rope dropper, but I’m just not. I always think I’ll get up real early for rope drop, but it just never happens.

I'm a wannabe non rope dropper LOL. I would love to be able to sleep in, just a little. However, I can never seem to sleep past 6am, no matter what!
It's just the way I'm wired.

 

[dvcdisney]

Although I don't typically sleep in, my family always does. So we don't make rope drop, we barely make it into the parks before 11am.

As I said, my family loves to sleep in. While they're sleeping in, I have a coffee and spend time catching up with my emails. I also do laundry when we stay at a 1 bedroom villa.

However, several times, I would need to wake up my family for a breakfast reservation (which is usually booked for 9:30am or 10am).

It may seem like we don't do rope drop because we've been to WDW so many times, but we've actually never attended a rope drop in WDW. Our first family trip was when my son was 2. He's not an early riser, so we always slept in. It wasn't until he had 6am hockey practices that he woke up early...even then, when there's no practice, he would sleep in. My son will be 19 this year and both he and my daughter would sleep in on vacations. I would need to wake them up at 10am because I wanted to get on with the day.

 

[LSUmiss]

Rope dropping means shorter lines, less crowds, get more done. That is more valuable than sleep. I can sleep when I’m dead.

But to each his/her own. There’s no wrong way to do Disney as long as one is having fun and capturing the wonder and magic of that special place!

If park hours are later like they used to be in summer, we stay out in the parks very late & don’t take breaks. Often we are in the parks longer then the rope droppers I know. I sleep in the morning b/c we go to sleep late at night. Often I’m sleeping less hours than my rope drop friends. So I’m not just wasting my day sleeping. My friends get up at 6 for RD but go to sleep by like 10pm. I might sleep til 9 but went to bed at like 3am.

 

[Oneanne]

I live on the west coast and keep pretty early work hours, so when I'm at WDW my body clock naturally wakes me up at a time where I can be at the park at or just after RD, with out much effort at all.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I don't RD everyday. We try to RD each park once. And RD to me doesn't mean arriving 45 minutes before park open. We get there about 10 minutes before opening, if that. Sometimes we get there right at 9 am. On the days that we don't RD we sleep in, maybe get a late TS breakfast or go to the pool. It really just depends. I don't sleep really late. My body is used to waking up around 5 am so I sleep until 6-7 am at the latest. Even when we go out late and I'm home by 3-4 am I'm up by 9 am.

 

[lambdabeta]

We only go early maybe 2 times. Once at MK and once at Epcot when we book a pre park opening ADR. That gets us right next to FEA and 7D for short lines but other days we take it easy. If you stand at the rope for 45+ minutes before park opening, rush to a E ticket ride to wait 10-15 minutes what's the difference in just waiting an hour later in the day?

That's exactly what I was thinking about rope drop. I have never done it but I have heard so many people rave about how you can get on the big rides multiple times. We have been at the parks near opening 9am and they were already getting crowded. For those of you who RD, is it really that less crowded? I have seen videos and it seems like a lot of people getting into the parks in the morning. Is it really worth it to get up early? I'm not a morning person but thought I might try this on our next trip. DH is an early bird.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

That's exactly what I was thinking about rope drop. I have never done it but I have heard so many people rave about how you can get on the big rides multiple times. We have been at the parks near opening 9am and they were already getting crowded. For those of you who RD, is it really that less crowded? I have seen videos and it seems like a lot of people getting into the parks in the morning. Is it really worth it to get up early? I'm not a morning person but thought I might try this on our next trip. DH is an early bird.

Once you get into the park the crowds disperse. The lines are really short. When we go in August, for us, it's important to get there around 10-15 minutes before RD due to the heat. I'm not a fan of getting their 45 minutes before RD. 15 minutes is my limit. Those 30 minutes the other people have will give them the one up on me for one ride IMO. They won't be that many steps ahead of me. Unless we're talking RD at AK to specifically ride FOP first but I would never do that.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

That's exactly what I was thinking about rope drop. I have never done it but I have heard so many people rave about how you can get on the big rides multiple times.

I'm not so sure about that. For example, I've heard from late nighters that have been able to ride FoP twice during the last hour of operation. I've never heard of a rope dropper being able to do that.