What time does your family wake up at Disney?

[Godaime]

I see so many people going for rope drop and I was just wondering...what time do you and your family wake up while on vacation at Disney. It doesn't seem much of a vacation if you are setting an alarm for 6 am everyday!

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Of course depending on a) where you are staying and b) if you want to eat breakfast before arriving or at Disney. I like to eat before as at rope drop I want to get right to the rides. So I get up around 7-7:15 and stop at a McDonalds (yeah I know, gormet dining, but I'd rather get a fast bite and a coffee which McD's actually has a good brew, and eat lunch and dinner inside or at a nice restaurant). So I get to the park at 8:15 for MK and 8:30 for the others. That way I am at the gate at 9 when they open.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Depends on what you consider a vacation. For us, we take advantage of Rope Drop every day to get on many attractions before the park gets crowded. That gives us more time later in the day for the pool and resort activities. We can get up at 7a and still make a 8a EMH (just depends on where you are, your transport and your group).

We get more done between rope drop and lunch than the whole rest of the day.

I always tell newbies that Disney is not the most relaxing vacation but it is the most fun.

 

[LSUfan4444]

We usually stay at one of the deluxe resorts so we can either walk to MK or Epcot/Hollywood Studios.

If it is a park that we need to bus to, we usually wake up about 6:15 and head out the door about 7:15.

It doesn't seem much of a vacation if you are setting an alarm for 6 am everyday!

Why not?

7 hours a sleep a night is plenty for us. I normally wake up about 4:15 am, the wife about 5:15 and our daughter about 5:45. Waking up early gives us way more flexibility throughout our day and trip so we get a great value out of the dollars spent.

 

[Goofy30JHQ]

We are early risers...vacation or not. We were up at 5:30 - 6:00 when we were there a few months ago.

 

[RustManFan]

We have never set an alarm. I do want to get going well before most of my family members. Made rope drop at MK once... we don't miss opening by much at any park however

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Out of a 7 day vacation, we only set our alarm to wake us 1-2x so we can get to the parks just after opening (and that's usually near the beginning of the trip). The only time we've ever made RD is when my girls had a YES class and we HAD to be there. FP+ works great for us because it allows us to schedule our must-dos over the course of the week. It's not a vacation for us either if we have to wake everyday at 6 am. I know that works for a lot of people, though.

 

[willowsnn3]

I see so many people going for rope drop and I was just wondering...what time do you and your family wake up while on vacation at Disney. It doesn't seem much of a vacation if you are setting an alarm for 6 am everyday!

We usually plan our park days around EMH. Not really to see the opening show or anything, just like to have the xtra time to get more done. We like to arrive at the entrance maybe 10-15minutes after the big rush, lol.
We always drive so we don't have to make xtra effort to get to the bus stops early. Driving to the parks saves time for us.
Altho we are usually early risers anyway, we usually plan a day off from the parks so maybe sleep a little later that day.
Disney is not really a relaxing vacation for us but sure is fun!

 

[hunter1722]

WDW for us is like no other "vacation" you can take. I always tell family and friends that you will need a vacation after your WDW vacation. If a relaxing, restful vacation is what you want then WDW is not for you. The beauty of Disney World is it overloads your senses and emotions but this is not very restful. However, this vacation is also very expensive so in order to get your money's worth you have to either hit rope drop each morning or stay out very late. If MK opens at 9am, we wake up at 630am to get out the door by 745am. This year we are going Christmas week. I am expecting MK to open early at 7am so I plan on waking up at 5am. In order to do this we are not staying out late the night before the 7am rope drops and are taking naps/breaks every afternoon from 12-4p when the lines are too long anyway. This is just our strategy since we hate waiting in long lines. Some people don't mind and that is ok too.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I love rope drop as between 9-11 you can ride a lot of rides before the crowds build. I found in July another good strategy is to arrive mid afternoon and stay until closing (in summer that is 11 or 12) the crowds dwindle as the night progresses.

 

[Mikie]

For my family, any other vacation would include lots of mornings without alarms and a leisurely breakfast in our jammies. . . . However at WDW we set alarms for about 7am daily. Most parks we get there right at official opening time (we don't arrive 45 minutes early and stand around). We stay at value resorts mostly and use the buses. Hubby and the kids shower at night and go grab food court breakfast in the morning while I get ready to go & just have a granola bar & coffee on the go.

I always say WDW is an "adventure" not a "vacation"

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

It really depends on what our plans are for the day.

If we are trying to make rope drop, we do get up early. Like 6am. Blech.

On days that we aren't trying to make RD, but we are still going to the parks, we get up around 7.

On days where we aren't even going to the parks, my husband still gets up early. But the rest of us get up around 8 or 8:30.

My husband never sleeps in. He naturally wakes up, without an alarm, in time for work that starts at 7.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

We usually make RD without an alarm. We do set it for 6, but get plenty of sleep to be up before the phone rings (wakeup call). I prefer not to sleep through my vacation, but totally understand that others definition of vacation is relaxation. Disney just isn't the best spot for that. We do always have a day off and usually one other day that we start out later in the day, but are still up early even on those days.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

We go during Christmas week, so we're usually early to rise.

On some days, we'll wake up around 7:30am and head to the parks by 8:30. Although this year, we're planning on showering at night rather than the morning to save time..

We'll do that for the big days - Christmas morning, etc. We skip breakfast and pick something up at the parks. We leave the park around 1 or 2pm and grab a nap back at the hotel before heading to dinner around 5 or 6pm.

We'll usually have a few days that we wake up later and relax during the day. For example, on days that have late EMH, we'll sleep till 9 or 10am. We head to the park after dinner and will stay till 2am or so.

I'm not a morning person.. so I like to sleep.. but I also understand that this is not the vacation for sleeping. I like to get up and get out.. as hard as that may be!

 

[DisDreamsAshley]

Our wake up time varies throughout the vacation. We try to hit rope drop as often as we can. Usually this means I wake up around 6:30, and DH rolls out of bed 10 minutes before we are out the door. If we are out late the night before, we usually don't get up till 8 or 9. Just depends on our mood.

 

[Godaime]

we are staying at AKL and I'm not sure if its a better idea to eat breakfast before or after arriving in a park. I did not reserve any breakfast ADRs because I'm afraid we will miss it except Ohana at 10:55am lol

Of course depending on a) where you are staying and b) if you want to eat breakfast before arriving or at Disney. I like to eat before as at rope drop I want to get right to the rides. So I get up around 7-7:15 and stop at a McDonalds (yeah I know, gormet dining, but I'd rather get a fast bite and a coffee which McD's actually has a good brew, and eat lunch and dinner inside or at a nice restaurant). So I get to the park at 8:15 for MK and 8:30 for the others. That way I am at the gate at 9 when they open.

 

[vfalkner]

We just got back yesterday from a 7 day trip and while I wanted to get to rope drop each day - we never made it once! We were out too late at night (9:30-10:00 each night at dinner, parks or the pool.

We did make it right after opening though and did get in a good amount of rides in the first hour (including doing Peter Pan, BTMRR twice, Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear twice between 9:30-10:30). I am not a morning person but was waking up each day by 7:00 out of pure excitement! I would shower and get ready and then wake the others around 7:15 - 7:30. We ate breakfast in the room (we had yogurt, cereal, fruit, etc. in the room) or on the go (pop tarts or zone bars). We left by 8:30 most days at made it to the parks right after the 9:00AM opening and the lines really are shorter.

Now I am going to take a nap to recover from my "adventure"!

 

[cattywampus]

We are coming from the west coast and have ZERO plans to make rope drop. Instead, I booked MVMCP 3 nights and we will stay til midnight to ride rides (9 pm our time).

I also see that,a lot of RD folks return home early, in order to get up the next day. Night time is the best time for us.

 

[CariCloud]

I haven't been to WDW with a child as my son is only 19 months and we are planning his first trip for the summer after he turns four but I have been to disney with my husband and I have gone with my family when I was younger. I always wake up early on vacation...any vacation. Disney, Universal, my honeymoon in Ireland. My husband and I are early risers. We "sleep in" on weekends if we make it to 7. So far the baby seems to be following suite prefering to wake up bright and early. So if that is any indication when we make it to WDW I suspect there will be many rope drops in our park visits. However, if you are a late sleeper then there is no point forcing yourself to get up super early. What is the point of getting to the park at 8. Sure you get to ride more rides with less wait time but you'll be cranky and miserable. So whatever fits your normal patterns is probably best!

 

[KimK2006]

Depends on what you consider a vacation. For us, we take advantage of Rope Drop every day to get on many attractions before the park gets crowded. That gives us more time later in the day for the pool and resort activities. We can get up at 7a and still make a 8a EMH (just depends on where you are, your transport and your group).

We get more done between rope drop and lunch than the whole rest of the day.

I always tell newbies that Disney is not the most relaxing vacation but it is the most fun.

Ditto. We plan on getting to the bus stop (or head to car if we are driving to the park) about 45 minutes before RD. Everyone decides what time they need to get up to be ready at that time. DS15 usually wants to head to the food court for a Mickey waffle. The rest of us aren't big breakfast people, so, we opt for breakfast bar in the room so we don't have to get up earlier.

Disney ISN'T a relaxing vacation. It is SO worth getting up early for the low morning crowds. We do relax at the pool/resort while everyone else is waiting in long lines!