We have been doing WDW all wrong!!

[Networth]

If only I could convince my better half to try RD. Neither of us out morning people particularly while on vacation. She usually wakes up before me when were home but at WDW that's reversed haha.

Glad you had a great trip.

 

[lizabu]

Glad you enjoyed it! I'm an avid rope dropper but I don't mean to be. I'm so spastic when I'm at WDW that I never set an alarm, I wake up every morning at 6:30 hyper and ready to roll. I actually tried to sleep in on my last solo and I couldn't make it past 7:15, how do people relax enough to sleep in at WDW?

Lol...OMG! This is so me. How can anyone sleep? You're in Disney World!

 

[poeticdiabetic]

I am happy that you've discovered the magic of rope drop! When I went to rope drop the last time (in 2008), they used to give us those cool passes that we can use for different rides. I thought that was really cool!

However, we are also definitely NOT rope drop people! We are late-night EMH people and we simply cannot do both! Therefore if the place is so packed that we have to stand in long lines in order to ride the rides we want to because the Fastpasses were all out, we either did it or we waited until the next trip… or we try to get in during the evening EMHs.

So FP+ actually works for me because I can sleep in and still ride the rides I want to… at least once. In other words, I would only have to stand in a long line for one ride if it's tiered. That's better than nothing because for the past 2 visits, I haven't ridden Test Track and only rode Splash Mountain once. Fastpasses were all gone by the time I get to the parks.

 

[2Tiggies]

We tried so hard to be rope drop people, but we can never manage it. One day all three of us adults slept through three alarms! Good for you though, ride one for me

Don't worry, we do rope drop but aside from being at WDW, we are not morning people. My 12 year old offered a very logical explanation for rushing yesterday to get to school on time

Mom, it's not just the mornings. It's the clocks that are a problem. I don't understand the numbers so early in the morning

It's great to read still positive reports about rope drop as some question marks have been thrown in on the strategy with FP+ but from what I am reading, this plan of attack is still very worthwhile.

 

[SeaShelley]

I've never done RD, but this year will be different! Can't wait to experience the thrill of walking in as the park opens!!

 

[rlh75]

My MIL is like..."I am not getting up that early on vacation" but...

I at least want to Rope Drop at AK for the safari...I have her talked into that one (thank you animals! LOL!)

And I think I really want to rope drop at MK....I think DS will LOVE the opening show. And we can get a lot in and then fastpass and go slower in the afternoon.

 

[FLchick415]

I always have been, always WILL be, a rope drop commando. Those first two hours in the park are absolutely wonderful for getting on as many rides as possible (especially when you're solo). I am a sleeper. When I'm at home, if I don't have to get up with an alarm, I just don't get up until my body says so. But when I'm at Disney? Forget it, I'm up before the sun! LOL It's like that Disney commercial with the kids "I'M TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP!"

 

[JRawkSteady]

Huge proponents of rope drop here!!! But the last few days of vacation, we'll take it easy, sleep in, mosey into the parks, and just roam around.

This way it ends on a very relaxing note!

 

[sunkissed4]

I keep telling friends who ask advice on their trips that RD really is a huge game changer, but they usually don't listen!

Glad you enjoyed your trip OP, we have an hour drive to the parks and still make RD every single trip.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I know....it's kind of hard to describe how great it is!

We are West Coasters and getting up for RD at 7 am was, to our bodies, actually getting up at 4 am....which was really hard after going to bed the night before so exhausted we thought we were going to die (extremely happy )

BUT we did make it to rope drop one day at the MK, and I did rope drop at Epcot by myself one day. And all I can say is this: If you want the magic back just like 20 yrs ago, if you are missing the feeling of having "Walt" in the parks with you, if you are frustrated because the joy seems to be gone, GET THERE AT ROPE DROP!! I can guarantee that you will walk right into the WDW you had thought you'd lost!

This is what I'm trying to get ready for! I'm wondering if I can start going to bed at 7pm and get up at 3am before we leave home!

 

[wookiebeck]

I'm not paying 400 bucks a night on a room so we can SLEEP. Let's go, let's go. Get up! The day is half over! You're gonna miss the sunrise.

We hit RD at all 10 of our ten-day ticket last trip (and hit 3 waterpark RD's the other days). Beautiful thing is that the teenagers didn't mind because they saw the value in it.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

My MIL is like..."I am not getting up that early on vacation" but...

I at least want to Rope Drop at AK for the safari...I have her talked into that one (thank you animals! LOL!)

And I think I really want to rope drop at MK....I think DS will LOVE the opening show. And we can get a lot in and then fastpass and go slower in the afternoon.

My parents weren't too sure about rope drop, but one MK morning convinced them. That morning there was also a light rain until about 9:30 a.m. We felt like the only people in Fantasyland. Even when the weather is beautiful, the difference between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. in Fantasyland is incredible.

 

[jhaig]

Rope drop is the only way to go. And if you can get to MK early enough (like an hour or more) you may have a shot at being chosen as family of the day, which happened to us in both 2010 and 2011.

 

[Sparkly]

Meh. I prefer late at night. The parks are so beautiful all lit up. When they close at 12am or 1am they almost clear out towards the end anyway.

 

[mollybug2]

We were at rope drop for every park on our last visit. It meant we were at our resort by 7 or 8 and had early bedtimes, but we got SO many of our must-do rides multiple times, it was well worth it!!

 

[ptcbass]

Rope drop is the only way to go. And if you can get to MK early enough (like an hour or more) you may have a shot at being chosen as family of the day, which happened to us in both 2010 and 2011.

So if you get to RD and are picked as family of the day what does that mean?

 

[bjscheel]

So if you get to RD and are picked as family of the day what does that mean?

It means you get brought in before opening, take a ride in the fire truck up to the castle for pictures, come back to the train station and hang out with someone (like the Mayor- and the dancers). When the welcome show starts, you walk through the train and join the characters and dancers for the countdown. At least this is what happened to us in 2011.

We are rope droppers too. DH wakes naturally about 4:30 or 5:00...the kids and I don't have that internal alarm, but we get up because we all know it's worth it. We don't do a lot of late nights then, but that's okay. Then the late night people can have their time!

 

[frozengurl]

Love rope drop! On our shorter trips we rope drop every day... On our longer trips we do take a few days that we sleep in... But those days we mainly focus on nighttime entertainment knowing that we won't get as much done!

 

[cseca]

We were never the RD people until DS came and decided that waking up every morning at 6am is mandatory.
So now our trips to WDW consists of RD every morning almost and naps in the afternoon. Evening plan is always a gamble. Depends on whether everyone got enough rest or not.
But usually we get most of the big rides done in the morning and evening can be relaxing.
Unless MK opens late then it might be another busy night

Welcome to the team!

 

[frozengurl]

Rope drop is the only way to go. And if you can get to MK early enough (like an hour or more) you may have a shot at being chosen as family of the day, which happened to us in both 2010 and 2011.

Do they pick a family of the day at Morning EMH? I've always wondered how that would work