What time does everyone wake up?

[eljojo]

I'm a little concerned with five of us in a room taking showers in the morning. What time do other families wake up in order to get to the parks promptly upon opening (we won't do the extra morning hour)? How about bedtime - we like to stay for the fireworks?

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Well, I've gone with three other adults but not with children so it is different but we just had a time that we were going to leave ... from that we told each other how long it would take each of us to get ready and planned from there. Some of us took showers at night before bed so we would cut down on time in the AM.
I'm sure some folks with families of children will com by and help you out more with this

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

It depends on what time you want to arrive. When we first started going to Disney, I wanted to do early entry so I became military mom and we were up by 6am at the latest every day but the Epcot days. I had the children bathe the night before. Now that we have been to Disney over 10 times we relax more We spend alot more time in Epcot and always stay at an Epcot hotel for the majority of the time we are in Disney. Sometimes we go in as they are dropping the rope fot the countrys( 11am) as that is what we enjoy the most. We still do one or two early days, usually to MGM for the rides and MK because I like to go in early. We exit out of the parks early and go back to the resort to relax and then switch parks later in the day.

The more times you go to Disney the more you relax!

 

[skiwee1]

We usually don't climb out of bed until around 9am. We are on vacation and like to relax. We also watch the fireworks at night but generally get to sleep by 11pm at the latest. DD, and I always bath/shower the night before so having to share a bathroom in the am isn't an issue for us.

 

[travellady]

I have my 10 yo DS shower the night before to help reduce the time it takes to get ready in the morning. I'm the first one up in the morning so I take my shower and then go get breakfast and bring it back to the room. By then, my husband has showered so we all sit down and eat breakfast and then head out. I realize there are only 3 of us but at one time we had 3 kids - the 2 oldest are now grown. The kids have always showered the night before, it just reduces bathroom time in the morning.

 

[decker96]

Don't know the ages of everyone in your room, but I agree with having the kids bathe or shower the night before. We did this and then the kids could sleep in a little bit while DH and I showered and got ready. Usually he got up and showered first, then got the kids ready while I showered and got ready. It depends on how long it takes everyone to get ready obviously, but we needed to be up about an hour and a half before we wanted to get on the bus. 45 minutes to get ready, 1/2 hour for breakfast in the food court and 15 minutes travel from room to food court and bus stop. Have fun!

 

[CamColt]

Id estimate Im usually up about 6:00. Or at least thants when I want to get up. Being in WDW seems to give me an extra jolt to wake up before the call every morning.
At home Im up at 4:45 so even 6:00 is sleeping in for me.

Im first because I take the longest, then DH gets up, then we work on the kids together, or DH will make a food/drink run while I get the kids ready. They do their showers daily after we swim so they only need a quick splash of water to the face, teeth brushed, hair combed, and clothes changed. DH & I shower after we swim and again inthe mornings.

 

[marksor]

My crew and I were usually up by 6:00am for a run and out the door after breakfast for the parks and the day's activities by 8:30a - 9:00a. We usually wrap up our day in the Epcot area where we always stay and hit the room about 10:00p - 10:30. We usually cannot stay awake any later than 11:00p even if we wanted to. Six in the morning may be early to wake up considering it is a vacation but we feel like we've wasted time if we stay in bed much later than that. However, we don't have that "gonzo" mentality that you hear/read about. The late afternoons are always available for a return to the room for a nap or the pool.

 

[Kimickey]

When in Disney we usually wake about 6am or earlier. There in the past have been three of us DH, DD and I. Now that it's four of us DH, DD, DS (5months) and I we will probabaly get up about 1/2 hour earlier. We like to get to the parks early to do early entry, then come back to the room to swim and nap then head back out to another park and dinner.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

As early as possible then we "Commando" tour our park of choice all morning. We hit the EE and go nutz, running from ride to ride. It's crazy, hectic, and a blast. We follow the Unofficial Guide book to a tee and never miss a beat.

 

[cboudre1]

I set the alarm for 7am. I get my DS up at 7:15 when I am out of the shower. We are out of the room by 7:45 and at the bus stop by 8:00. We eat danish or muffins that we got the night before for breakfast. I lay out our clothes before we go to bed. Most days I wake before the alarm goes off.

 

[snowglobe girl]

I'm with the majority here, usually up around 6:00am - but its only me and DH. I always take my shower the night before, so I'm getting ready while DH is in the shower (because he's ready to leave in 10 minutes and it takes me 30 to get ready). We also do early entry nearly everyday. To save a little time in the morning - you could also bring breakfast that can be taken with you like poptarts or cereal bars. I usually eat my breakfast on the bus over to the park and it saves time that I would have wasted in the room. I'm a little opposite that Skiwee1 - I feel that I'm loosing time in the parks if I sleep in and tell myself that I can sleep once I get home (no offense Skiwee1). I'm just such a Disney nut that I can't bear being in the room for a second knowing that something is going on at one of the parks and I'm missing it! We also stay in the parks late and watch fireworks...but even if you do that, you should be in your room by 11 and getting up at 6 or 7 wouldn't be too bad. You're there to have fun...sleep when you get home!

 

[Micca]

When there were four in our party, and we wanted to make the 7:30 EMH at MK, I would get up about 5:50 to shower, get dressed and make a juice/coffee/roll run while the other three got ready to go. We always made it on time

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by snowglobe girl
I'm with the majority here, usually up around 6:00am - but its only me and DH. I always take my shower the night before, so I'm getting ready while DH is in the shower (because he's ready to leave in 10 minutes and it takes me 30 to get ready). We also do early entry nearly everyday. To save a little time in the morning - you could also bring breakfast that can be taken with you like poptarts or cereal bars. I usually eat my breakfast on the bus over to the park and it saves time that I would have wasted in the room. I'm a little opposite that Skiwee1 - I feel that I'm loosing time in the parks if I sleep in and tell myself that I can sleep once I get home (no offense Skiwee1). I'm just such a Disney nut that I can't bear being in the room for a second knowing that something is going on at one of the parks and I'm missing it! We also stay in the parks late and watch fireworks...but even if you do that, you should be in your room by 11 and getting up at 6 or 7 wouldn't be too bad. You're there to have fun...sleep when you get home!

No offense taken. I guess it depends on what kind of trip you are looking for. Since we spend 30 days a year at the Poly we feel we don't have to do anything commando anymore. I hated when we did rush from here to there and never stopping to relax and see what Disney has to offer besides attractions. We are beyond those days thankfully! LOL! We spend half a day at a park and the other half at the Poly pool. Staying at the Poly is a huge part of the trip. Now if I were staying at a mod or value then yes I would spend as much time as I could at the parks but staying at a deluxe just makes one feel like kicking bakc and relaxing. At least it does for us. We too are Disney fanatics but we enjoy everything including the resorts and the parks.

 

[BrerMama]

We're planning to set the wake up call for 6 am. At home, we're up at 5:45 am, so we'll get to sleep in a bit. Neither my dh or I take a lot of time to get ready. I've got short hair and am not planning to blow dry it. The kids will take quick showers and then we'll be off. We're just a no fuss, get to the parks kind of family. We chose to stay onsite this trip to take advantage of EMH. Last trip we stayed offsite but were always at our park for the day at least an hour and a half prior to opening. We decided if we were going to get there that early, we might as well pay the extra to stay onsite and get into the park!

 

[dreamflight99]

I'm surprised by how many of you sleep late...As many others usually want to get a head start on the day, etc. We always SLEEP-IN on vacation...as we get up early the rest of the year. SO, we go to be between 12:00 midnight, and 3:00 am most eves, and awake at 11:00-1:00pm! We literally STAY on California time while in Orlando, so we are REALLY going to bed at 9:00 am-midnight, and waking at 8:00-10:00 am. It always works well for us, as we are on vacation for more than 7/8 weeks during the summer. We have PAP's (& AP's to US/IOA), so we can go see the sights at our leisure. Since we visit DL with AP's during the rest of the year, the only time we truly visit the MK in WDW is on E-RIDE nights! We take it nice and slow...and RELAX. The entire trip is like this..and we seem to enjoy everything so much more.

 

[LiLPrincess]

We don't set an alarm while on vacation. I tend to be a morning person, but my High Schooler's are not! LOL! I figure this is their vacation as much as mine, so we take it easy.

My daughter enjoys seeing the sights, but she also enjoys being lazy in the room or beside the pool. Seems life at home can be so hectic that it's nice to have that break when there's nowhere we have to be at a certain time.

As far as rotating the showers, we only have 1 bathroom at home, so we have a routine of sorts. Can be tricky on school mornings with a 16-year old girl! haha. Sometimes my son will shower the night before and that definately helps.

 

[tinkerb]

thankfully, NO alarm clocks on vacation...not even in WDW......we sleep until one of us is awake........usually around 9 am......... so that is exactly why we love the late extra magic hours......

 

[sters]

I'm an early riser (6:00) and a light sleeper. For whatever reason, I would wake up around 4:30 most mornings. Not wanting to disturb the rest of the family and too antzy to sleep, I started going to the quiet pool. There was something very soothing about the lights inside the pool and floating on my back looking up at the moon and stars. One morning, I had the pleasure of a sunrise. Twice, I did laundry as the facilities were right there.

It's crazy, I know, but being a commando-style tourist and always wanting to maximize my time, I was pleased with this unexpected gem... a way to relax and refresh myself before a busy day (and catch up on the laundry). Naturally, this glorious "alone" time didn't last. DS7 started joining me!!! I soon had a new treasure.. spending some quality time with just my oldest child.

I'd wake the others at 6:00 after a quick shower, and head over to the food court. My hubby got coffee and breakfast in bed every morning!! So, while he thought I was completely insane and should be committed, he saw the benefits. Did I mention that DH is NOT a morning person??

 

[jbwolffiv]

Our 3 yo DD get up at 6, so we do too. That is also when we would get up prior to having a child. We always hit the early openings. We all will shower and bathe in the evening so there is nothing holding us up in the AM. This has worked for us real well.