What to do about late risers?

[SwanVT2]

I’m a morning person but DD and DH are not. It takes them until 10 to get out of the hotel room and they don’t eat breakfast. The issue is that On our next trip DD wants to do more parks but I know that we can’t get on all the rides without rope drop and strategy. Last year DD and I did AK because DH isn’t into spending the money and doesn’t like the crowds. I know we could stay at the park later but I’m not a night person! Is there any strategy that can work in the parks with this kind of family dynamic? Thank you!

 

[mikalkwin]

I’m a morning person but DD and DH are not. It takes them until 10 to get out of the hotel room and they don’t eat breakfast. The issue is that On our next trip DD wants to do more parks but I know that we can’t get on all the rides without rope drop and strategy. Last year DD and I did AK because DH isn’t into spending the money and doesn’t like the crowds. I know we could stay at the park later but I’m not a night person! Is there any strategy that can work in the parks with this kind of family dynamic? Thank you!

I have the exact same "issue" with my family. I only planned 1 day with an early start (AK with the 8:45 Africa trek). But for the rest of the trip, I bought G+ for the whole stay and will make use of evening stacking as much as I can and will make use of the extended evenings. I bought H20 glow tickets and MNSSHP tickets and will fight my circadian circles to stay late in the parks...

 

[SwanVT2]

I have the exact same "issue" with my family. I only planned 1 day with an early start (AK with the 8:45 Africa trek). But for the rest of the trip, I bought G+ for the whole stay and will make use of evening stacking as much as I can and will make use of the extended evenings. I bought H20 glow tickets and MNSSHP tickets and will fight my circadian circles to stay late in the parks...

Glad to know I’m not alone!

 

[mikalkwin]

Glad to know I’m not alone!

Our last WDW trip was in 2017 (we had planned a 2020trip but...) and my daughter was only 3 and an early riser so my DH had no choice. But now that DD is 8 and likes her lazy mornings it is my turn to adapt...

 

[nicksinger8]

I would recommend an unofficial guide touring plan - you can personalise them over at www.touringplans.com. You can input your start time and it will give you the best order to do rides.

 

[pens4821]

I don’t know how old your child is but just put it out there that the earlier you get going the more you get done. I take my nephew every 2/3 years and he’s always been ok with getting up. Even this time at 14. He’s not a morning person and hates getting up, but understands to do as much as we like he has to do it.

As a compromise I take 2 of our 6 park days as later start days. We are lucky to have a longer trip with that many park days, not sure if yours works that way or not too. We take two days mid week to get a later slower start.

Another thing we do is everyone does what they want. If someone else doesn’t want to go, they don’t have to (once again, dependent on age). For the most part we stick together, but if you and your daughter are ready but not your husband, just meet him somewhere later.

 

[DaviVascaino]

with the current level of crowds, and the fact one member does not want to get there early and the other one does not want to stay until park closes, not much option other than ride what you can and/or wait in line for hours

 

[lovethattink]

Same. I’m a morning person and dh and ds are night owls. We have AP so we’re ok with not accomplishing much in the parks. But if we were going to try to maximize our time, I’d buy genie+ and try to stack attractions for the evening if that is still possible.

 

[Upatnoon]

I’m a morning person but DD and DH are not. It takes them until 10 to get out of the hotel room and they don’t eat breakfast. The issue is that On our next trip DD wants to do more parks but I know that we can’t get on all the rides without rope drop and strategy. Last year DD and I did AK because DH isn’t into spending the money and doesn’t like the crowds. I know we could stay at the park later but I’m not a night person! Is there any strategy that can work in the parks with this kind of family dynamic? Thank you!

The strategy for late risers who want to do a lot without waiting in line is to buy Genie+ and lightning lanes and stack them.

There is a cost to do this, which you can show everyone, including your husband who is motivated by savings. After seeing the cost, he may decide it's "worth it" to get up early.

Show your daughter how much more she can do if she gets up early. Get her excited about all she can do. If two people agree to get up early, the third will probably go along.

Another strategy is to create some kind of incentive reservation or activity to get people going. It has to be something more specific than just "rope drop."

For example, "if we get up early we can go on FOP with almost no wait, then have time for that sit-down lunch you always wanted to do"

Good luck!

 

[RoseGold]

If you don't want to get up early, don't want to spend money, don't want to wait in lines, and don't like crowds, maybe WDW is not the right vacation choice.

The other options might be to buy something like a Halloween/Christmas ticket instead and make the most of those hours. Or, stay deluxe and use the deluxe after hours. Or, you could do the ILL$$$ ride in the afternoon and be content with that. I have seen people stacking up Genie+ for the afternoon, but it was a miserable failure when I tried it last week. G+ was a complete let-down to me, and I wouldn't plan on it working well for you. It was particularly bad in HS, just because the rides are so limited, constantly breaking, and ToT is currently half down.

 

[RocketChk]

Ya'll are better than me. Last August was our first time in FL since I was 6 years old. Spent a week there at USO on site, did the cursed Boo Bash night that rained everybody out, Disney Springs, Medieval Times, Seaworld...whole nine yards. Went to bed late and up at 5 every morning to get ready, out the door by 6. I spent a lot of money to be there. If they want to sleep, that's fine, but I got stuff to see and do. Transportation comes every 15 minutes or so in the morning and we all had phones.

I left them. I'll sleep when I'm dead, but not while I'm in Orlando.

 

[DaviVascaino]

Ya'll are better than me. Last August was our first time in FL since I was 6 years old. Spent a week there at USO on site, did the cursed Boo Bash night that rained everybody out, Disney Springs, Medieval Times, Seaworld...whole nine yards. Went to bed late and up at 5 every morning to get ready, out the door by 6. I spent a lot of money to be there. If they want to sleep, that's fine, but I got stuff to see and do. Transportation comes every 15 minutes or so in the morning and we all had phones.

I left them. I'll sleep when I'm dead, but not while I'm in Orlando.

Exactly how I feel lol. it is so expensive nowadays to go to Disney, that you need to make a sacrifice to really make your money worth it.

 

[SteveH]

If you don't want to get up early, don't want to spend money, don't want to wait in lines, and don't like crowds, maybe WDW is not the right vacation choice.

Blunt, but honest advice. This is one of the many reasons we're not planning on any Disney trips for the foreseeable future. I have no desire to be forced to wake up early to plan my day on a vacation.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

My family is the same way and we have done trips where we rope dropped every day and trips where we slept in. The important thing is for everyone to be on the same page and also to give some concessions. If we rope drop a lot, we usually take an early afternoon break at the hotel and I’ll pick one day mid week to sleep in (usually an EPCOT day). If we sleep in, we commit to staying at the park until with no breaks. It helps that my night owls are so tired there’s no argument about going to bed every night.

 

[lovethesun12]

I’m a morning person but DD and DH are not. It takes them until 10 to get out of the hotel room and they don’t eat breakfast. The issue is that On our next trip DD wants to do more parks but I know that we can’t get on all the rides without rope drop and strategy. Last year DD and I did AK because DH isn’t into spending the money and doesn’t like the crowds. I know we could stay at the park later but I’m not a night person! Is there any strategy that can work in the parks with this kind of family dynamic? Thank you!

Are you onsite? You sound like the Disney lover in the family. If it were me, I would go at rope drop by myself and do everything I could without genie+, while stacking genie+ for rides with them later. They get to enjoy sleeping in.

Get them to text when they wake up (or go back around when you think they would) and then re-enter with them.

We are mostly early risers but during our last trip I went back for the evening hours by myself and can't lie, it was pretty magical to do and go whatever I wanted for a few hours at Disney.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm an early riser, always have been, my son was when he was younger but like all kids grew out of it. I was a single mom so we pretty much had to go on his schedule until he was about 10. Then, I'd get up and do whatever, long walks around the resort, go to the parks - and he would sleep in. He knew he couldn't leave the room until I got back. After he became about 13 or 14 I would just leave a note as to where I was going to be and he would meet me (this was before cell phones, I'm old). He's an adult with his own family now so he is having to go on his baby's schedule. Mama's revenge there.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

A little out of the box here, but consider doing a Disneyland vacation in California? With the time change, everyone in your family will be an early riser! At least for a few days. Which is all you really need anyways.

 

[mikalkwin]

A little out of the box here, but consider doing a Disneyland vacation in California? With the time change, everyone in your family will be an early riser! At least for a few days. Which is all you really need anyways.

Good option. if they are not like DD and DH who need less than 24 hours to align with a new timezone (we live in Europe and we experienced it when we went to Florida, Japan, Bali etc)

 

[RocketChk]

Are you onsite? You sound like the Disney lover in the family. If it were me, I would go at rope drop by myself and do everything I could without genie+, while stacking genie+ for rides with them later. They get to enjoy sleeping in.

Get them to text when they wake up (or go back around when you think they would) and then re-enter with them.

We are mostly early risers but during our last trip I went back for the evening hours by myself and can't lie, it was pretty magical to do and go whatever I wanted for a few hours at Disney.

This right here is the answer. My family tapped out at 3pm one day and park didn't close until 7pm. That's FOUR HOURS of stuff you can still squeeze in. I told them to go back and they were SO worried about leaving me alone, but I loved every second of it....to the point that I can't wait to take a solo trip.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Good option. if they are not like DD and DH who need less than 24 hours to align with a new timezone (we live in Europe and we experienced it when we went to Florida, Japan, Bali etc)

I envy them!! It takes me a week to acclimatize. At which time its usually time to go home... and acclimatize again lol.