What time do you get to the parks?

[missastrocat]

When I was younger, my family would get to the parks as soon as they opened because we didn't stay on property. As I've grown up, I've become a night owl and despise waking up early. Waking up early on vacation is not a very 'vacationy' thing for me to do.

I usually get to the parks 10-11am and then stay late until closing or wherever closes last. I'm a park hopper so we'll go to wherever the EMHs are happening. The only day I end up getting up early are the days I go to DAK. My habits are also partially due to the fact I only go with my DH and we don't have children, so we don't have to factor in their sleep/eating/napping times.

I like going after the parks open, but I know which areas to stay away from until the little ones go back to the resorts. What do you all do?

[Itchy]

Most of the time we try to get to the parks early and use the extra magic hours. We then take a break and turn in early or just enjoy a quiet evening..:mickey:

[SBETigg]

We don't have a set M.O. Sometimes we'll get there for opening, sometimes we'll get to the park much later. The first few days of vacation, we're usually in parks within twenty minutes of opening time. After that, we slow down a bit, sleep in, don't worry about rushing here and there.

[PETE FROM NYC]

Now that we are DVC members, we eat bfast in, and pack in sandwiches for lunch, we usually get to the parks around 10-10:30. But then we usually close the parks at night. Once, we left EPCOT so late, that when we went out the gate, we could see our car among the few left in the lot.

[Gator]

I wish that I could make it to the parks for opening at least half of my visits to the parks. But that's impossible with a wife who prefers to sleep and then won't move very fast once the day starts. Only once, ONCE, in my 44 days at WDW parks have I made it in time for a rope drop show. That was DHS, which I really liked, and from what I'm hearing has been discontinued.

We usually get there around 9:30-10am. If I get there after 10, I feel like the day has been wasted.

[AllDisney]

We are pretty much there when the parks open. We are on the go all day long and don't want to miss a thing:thumbsup:

[Kairi_7378]

We are pretty much there when the parks open. We are on the go all day long and don't want to miss a thing:thumbsup:

Us too!

[faline]

I'll get up early if I have to (if I've booked an early morning breakfast, a tour - something like that) but, otherwise, I will often go when we wake up and get ready. Since we get up really early most mornings at home, we often still get to the parks not long after opening (which still feels like sleeping in to us)!

[CuteAsMinnie]

I wish that I could make it to the parks for opening at least half of my visits to the parks. But that's impossible with a wife who prefers to sleep and then won't move very fast once the day starts. Only once, ONCE, in my 44 days at WDW parks have I made it in time for a rope drop show. That was DHS, which I really liked, and from what I'm hearing has been discontinued.

We usually get there around 9:30-10am. If I get there after 10, I feel like the day has been wasted.


Awwww:(

If it was up to just DH and I, we'd be there at rip drop every, well almost, morning. There is nothing like the feeling of walking into an empty park! We usually end up waiting for DD so I'll say we get there as early as we can. For our trip next summer,
we've told Dd (20 then)' "Hey, if you wanna sleep on, it's okay!! We'll meet you at lunch!" :secret:

Our very best MK days is to either arrive early for EMH at MK or go early the morning AFTER evening EMH. Truly a magical time!

:mickey:

[Lindsey310]

Tomorrow we are leaving and we are going with first timers. I told them be downstairs for breakfast at 8am because we are arriving at the parks right when it opens at 9 lol.

When DH and I go alone, we do like to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast and then head to the parks. We pick and choose attractions and then head back to the hotel for a swim or nap then head out around dinnertime, usually going back in the parks when the crowds have thinned out. I love going to epcot around 6:30 pm and walking around the countries. It is one of my favorite things to do. :beer::marg::eat:

[Disney Doll]

It kind of depends. If we stay up for fireworks we generally sleep a little later the next day and arrive maybe by 10am. If we had an early night the kids are usually up and raring to go so we'll get there by 9am. Our kids are still little so we always take a midday break and are generally done for the day around 8 or 9 pm.

[Aurora]

Last few trips we've tried to get to whatever park at opening, which usually means 10 to 30 minutes after the gates have actually opened, no matter whether it's EMH or not.

We did manage to make it to DHS last year before opening to get FPs for Toy Story Mania, and that was quite a scene. But we were so glad cause our family got to ride the new Star Wars first thing, and FPs for TSM were gone before 10:45 a.m.

[BrerGnat]

What's a "rope drop?" ;)

I sleep in as much as my kids will allow. Even when they wake up early, DH prefers to workout first thing, so we just hang out in the room until he's done, then we grab breakfast together around 9-ish, then head out. We usually end up in a park around 10-11. Sometimes we swim in the morning and don't get to the parks until well after noon. Our kids don't nap, so we don't typically do the midday break thing, but we only spend about 4-5 hours in park each day. We turn in early (keep to their schedule for the most part).

When I'm there without my kids...I sleep in. I usually miss breakfast. :blush:

[indytraveler]

We are definitely a rope drop family. And a close the park down, with no rest family.

Most of the time wehen we were coming to Disney we were off property to start. We have a place at the beach in Cocoa and would drive in and try to be there for the opening. So figuring 75 min drive to the parking lot, 5-10 min to find a spot, 5-10 min to catch tram from parking lot. At this point I would remind my family we were still not in the park. So arriving at parking lot at 9am didn't count.

In all the years coming to the MK we would always see "how we did" in arriving. How many rows of cars were ahead of us. And when we left we would check to see "who had more fun". How many cars were still in the lot.

[missastrocat]

In all the years coming to the MK we would always see "how we did" in arriving. How many rows of cars were ahead of us. And when we left we would check to see "who had more fun". How many cars were still in the lot.

I love this! We used to think we did wdw better because we were one of the last to leave. I think the later it got, the punchier the CMs speaking on the tram microphone got. Great memories. Thanks for sharing!

[Mousemates]

We are an opening show/rope drop family on our park days.

[Gregandmel]

Our family doesn't like to get up early either, however, when we are at Disney.....we can't WAIT to get out the door! We are usually at the bus stop by 8:10am and arrive at the parks about 1/2 hour before they even open. We love being towards the front of the line when the park opens and we can get so much done the first 2 hours, then enjoy a more leisurely pace the rest of the day. That being said, we typically only stay until around 3pm or so. We enjoy getting back to the resort, swimming, relaxing, having a nice dinner, and going to bed refreshed so we can get up and do it again. It works for us, and guess that's all that matters. I know people who can go ALL day long, but that just wears all of us out and then we start getting grumpy around 5pm. :mickey:

[wdwfansince75]

I am trapped (voluntarily) in a marriage with a late riser! (Will celebrate our 49th just before our next WDW trip.) Usually, I head for a park, usually the EMH park, for opening, sometimes with several of the DK's and/or DGK's. We plan a rendezvous place and time. It works for us.

[EJS-Houston]

When I was younger, my family would get to the parks as soon as they opened because we didn't stay on property. As I've grown up, I've become a night owl and despise waking up early. Waking up early on vacation is not a very 'vacationy' thing for me to do.

I usually get to the parks 10-11am and then stay late until closing or wherever closes last. I'm a park hopper so we'll go to wherever the EMHs are happening. The only day I end up getting up early are the days I go to DAK. My habits are also partially due to the fact I only go with my DH and we don't have children, so we don't have to factor in their sleep/eating/napping times.

I like going after the parks open, but I know which areas to stay away from until the little ones go back to the resorts. What do you all do?

I do the exact same thing you do. When I'm taking a vacation in The Rockies, for instance, I'll be up early to hit the trails. But when I'm at DIsneyWorld, I wanna sleep in and stay up late in the parks.

[eandrsmom]

We used to be a rope drop family when the kids were little. We'd get to the parks early, ride rides and see attractions, then have lunch and leave for an afternoon nap. Now that I have teenagers, we do the total opposite. We sleep late. After a nice brunch, we shower and get to the parks around noon. We ride and see what we want. If it's particularly hot or crowded, we try to watch an indoor show. Around 2:00 or 3:00 we have "lunch" which is nice, because there are fewer crowds. We stay in the parks until they close. It's much more relaxing than it used to be. (Probably because we don't feel that we have to see EVERYTHING.)

[WDWgoofy]

Im always at the rope drop:mickey:

I always say, I can sleep at home!

[ANG]

When it was just me and DH, we would go shortly before lunchtime and stay out late. The 2 times we've been with DS1, we got there about an hr after opening. This will be our first trip with both our sons and we hope to be there at rope drop