Are you an early riser or a night owl or both?
Are you an early riser or a night owl or both?
We like to get there at opening and we hardly ever close a park. We're good for about 7 hours and then it's off to the pool!
We did stay until midnight at the P&PP in April and sometimes we can close a water park but that's about as close as we get. I think the last time we saw Fantasmic! was in 2005; everyone is always too tired!
Our strategy is a bit different in that we seldom do two days in a row actually in the parks (not counting BB and TL)...so on theme park days its often a double extra magic hour affiar....opening someplace early and then closing someplace late.
We usually like an easy morning so get to the parks a bit late. But we almost always close a park. Love the evening hours at the parks as the lights start to come on. And, of course, the fireworks!:fworks:
We generally get to the parks mid-morning and stay until close. I would happily open and close both, but getting 3 kids - I mean 2 kids and a husband - ready in time for park opening never quite works out.
Well seeing as I have had CM's tell "Sir we are only open for guest with breakfast reservations" and "I am sorry sir but the store is closing." in the same day I would have to say both.
There is always time for sleep when I am not on vacation.
Our schedules really depend on what we are trying to accomplish that day. I really love being one of the first families in line at the turnstiles for the park opening. I do see some advantages to being in the park close to closing time as well (especially on the EMH days). So, I guess the best thing would be to be there for park opening...go take an afternoon nap....then be back for the late night EMH.:thumbsup:
Generally, we are at the park at or within 1 hr after opening and we are leaving with the herds at the close, often lingering in the shops until we are told we must leave. Who needs sleep?
We are totally night owls!:moon: But what else would you expect from me since I am a night shift worker? :nurse: My DH and my DS are all about sleeping in, so we usually head out around 10am, play for a few hours and then come back to the resort to relax/swim. Then we will go back to the park with EMH and often stay until that is over, creating the viscious cycle of needing to sleep in the next morning. :sleepin: That's a true vacation for us--rest and relaxation. Every now and again we stray from that if we have a breakfast ressie or want to catch a park opening for a particular reason.
in the past 4 years we have hit the parks before they open and stayed until about 2pm then its the pool until about 5 or 6 we usually head back to a park to catch some fire works but some nights we are just exhausted - next year however the kids will be 8 and 15 and we are taking my sister who will be 23 so our plans will change to include some sleeping in and being night owls
We get to the Animal Kingdom early but usually hit the other parks around 10. We'll leave mid afternoon and sometimes return to another park in the evening.
We are always at the parks before they open and we are one of the first ones in. As for when we leave, we typically will close the parks about 6-7 times during a 10 day vacation
We try to get there at opening as early as possible and stay as late as the kids can take it, close to closing. We take an afternoon nap/break though because we go during the summer months.
:ditto: Our plan is to get to the park early, but I am happy if we make it within 1 hr of park opening. We almost always close the park, often the one with EMH. A couple days of our week long trip we will head back to the resort for an afternoon swim and maybe one day we will sleep in a little late. (normally after a really late night.) I come home totally exhausted and love it and wouldn't have it any other way!
We try to be at the parks for the "opening ceremonies" especially the Magic Kingdom. We also like to stay late for the fireworks and the great feel to the parks at night. So I guess we fit both catagories.:D
We went to the Crystal Palace for breakfast (prior to park opening)pretty fantastic to be there with no one else around, this is now a must do for every trip.
We arrive maybe an hour or two after park opens and leave midday for rest and then return to stay until park closing. Our kids know that it is a benefit to rest midday so they get to stay up way past their bedtime. They love it. The parks are so gorgeous with the lights and everything that this is what we like to do.
We generally open up a park and leave around 1or 2 for a swim and afternoon nap about 3 hrs then it's off to dinner whereever we've made reservations then back to a park. May be the same one we left that morning or an entirely different one. Depends on our mood and emh's.
well for me and dw it's out about 7:30 am to goto our breakfest ADR'S at differnent resorts, then it's off to whatever park that we'll be doing for that day, and we will not leave until park close, i mean afterall we are on vacation right, we are going to milk every minute of the day enjoying our WDW experince. when dd was coming with us we would of course do things a bit different like going back to resort in the afternoon for a swim and nap, but now since she's married and it's just me and dw we do the above part of this post. our feeling is let's do as much as possible.
Victor
We usually arrive at the parks at about 10am & stay until the fireworks & shows are over each evening.
I am usually there at park open and as for leaving it depends what time security drags me out kicking and screaming ;)
Seriously though usually open to close I might not make every morning EMH but usually stay until the end of the Evening EMHs.
This just reminded me of a funny story back when they had E-ride nights. My friends decided to head back to the hotel a little early and I said I wanted to ride a few more things before heading back so I stayed. I just finished up a rideon POTc and when I tell you I was the only on the ride I'm not kidding. I could see another person in my field of view even looking back. After Pirates I headed to the from of the park grabbed a soda and a snack and noticed something going on at the Castle Stage. It was a show so I sat on a bench and watched the show and then sopmething strange happened the show started over again. I sat watching for a little while longer and notice there were no other guests in site. Near the end of the second show a man is a suit jacket approached me and said can I help you. I said nope just watching the show. He said well the parks closed an hour ago :blush: This a dress rehearsal for the new show starting soon. And he kindly escorted me to the the exit. At this time all the buses had stopped so I had to walk to the Contemporary catch a bus to DTD and them back to Riverside.
The last few years we have went for SSW and have spent 4 days at the World, 2 of which are dedicated to DHS for SSW (which we arrive for at approx. 3-4 am - yes we are crazy, but we love our soaps). So the other 2 days are used for MK, AK, and EPCOT - so needless to say we open the parks and close them down and hardly even stop to eat more than a quick snack. Gotta make the most of it....I can sleep at home....
We are morning people. We like to be there for park opening and try to do a few EE's but not everyday. We enjoy the lower crowd levels and the morning before it gets too hot. We try to stay until 1 and go back swimming then back to a different park in the evening. We will stay until 10-11 and head back to the hotel. We did stay for the P&P party last summer until 1am and do an EMH at the MK until 1:30am but then the next day was a day off from the parks.
We are always up crazy early due to overwhelming excitement. Therefore, we are usually one of the first groups waiting for the parks to open. Around 2 we leave to relax in the pool or nap. It usually ends up being swimming. We return near 5 or so and stay til close. For some reason, we never feel remarkable tired while there. If a park closes early, we will either stay til close or take a break and then hop to MK for the evening.
The only time we get up early is for breakfast ressies at the MK before park opening. Other times we won't get around till 10-noon. We have closed a few parks before, we try to go to the park with evening EMH and stay at least most of that time.
Both. Even-though i hate waking up early. I do it for the rides. haha
We travel west to east, so we're usually still going pretty strong at 3:00 a.m. the first few days.
When I'm solo, I'll usually arrive close to park opening the last four days, take a break, then do late nights.
With my BFF, we'll usually make it to parks around 10 or 11 those last few days.
With her DD and DGD, it was more like 2 p.m. at the earliest. They closed down the food court and slushie machine every night! They do not change their west coast night owl habits at all! *LOL*
as many others, my family and i usually get to each part atleast 30 min. before it opens, possibly earlier if we have a breakfast reservation. And we usually stay til closing :mickey:
I am there from open to close when I go to one of the parks. Maybe with the exception of AK. There is just to much to do with so little time.
We arrive at the parks right before or just as they are opening. We leave after lunch, like around 1-2PM, go back to the hotel to relax, swim, nap, etc... then return to a park around 6PM for dinner and fun.
We like to sleep in, hit the parks around lunch time and stay 'til they close (especially if there are magic hours to take advantage of).
My DD6 and DS2 are very early risers, so we are always at the gates at park opening. We usually stay until after lunch and then go back to Pop to swim and nap. When it cools off in the late afternoon, we head back for a few hours.
On a solo trip I will be there at opening and go until closing! Once went to the MK from 9am until 10pm, only leaving for lunch at the GF.
When traveling with the family (DD5, DD3, and DH) DH makes me slow down! We get to the park at opening (EMH if possible), leave around lunchtime (lunch at the resort is always less crowded), take a nap, eat dinner, and then return to the parks for a couple of hours. We are often back at the resort by 8pm, because the kids are so little. Usually we'll tuck the kids in (DH too, often) and I will head back out to the parks for EMH.
Kathy
Some days we arrive for opening,go for 5-6 hours,pool time,dinner,then a few hours at whatever park has EMH that night.Other days we head out a little later,catch lunch on the go,stay for closing,especially Epcot for Illuminations.
Get there when it opens and leave when it closes! :thumbsup: :mickey:
We get to the park around 10am. We like to sleep in and we dont like to rush. We do what we can and what we cant its like "hey there is always next time" so we havent left WDW feeling incomplete. We leave for our resort after the parade to rest and eat and maybe a little bit of swimming. Then go back to the park and leave after the fireworks(fantasmic, illuminations, wishes). We don't do the extra magic hours. But hey I guess thats just us lol, but we always manage to have a blast:mickey:
We try to get there early, usually between 9 & 9:30. Typically we'll stay until at least dark. It's not uncommon to be there until closing - especially at Epcot.
Usually, if we leave early it's to go to another park where we stay until closing!
:yes: This is us! Almost every day, this is our routine. During that break time we get either lunch or dinner from the food court & eat poolside. Then we're refreshed & ready to head back out! We have only done the evening EMH once & we waited about an hour to do Star Tours, and when we returned to MGM/DHS the next morning at opening, we walked on with no wait! We tried one trip to stay for the EMH at MK & younger DS then 8 was actually in tears because he was so tired after Spectro & Wishes & asking if we really had to stay? :( Of course we said no & promptly returned to the resort so tired guys could get some rest. It's no fun for anyone when you're that tired & hit "The Wall"! So needless to say it works out better for us to open & close parks, regular operating hours, & take that break in between! We do usually plan at least one sleep in day, like the day that we're doing the Epcot WS, we sleep in, swim & eat & head off to Epcot around 3 & stay until after IllumiNations! I try to plan this mid week because by then we're all ready for a break! :alarm: :silly:
We are at the parks for opening and still there when they close. We usually hurry to the buses after closing, to try and beat the crowds. It seems that never works and we end up standing in line for quite a while, so I'm thinking this year, maybe I'll stick around in the shops and see if that helps with the buses.
We like to get to the park when it opens (esp MK) and get on as many "good" rides as we can. Around lunchtime we go back to the resort and relax, nap swim etc, then go back to whatever park we have ressies for dinner, do some rides and stay until close.
My kids are early birds (always awake by 7) and can also party all nite (ds9 and dd6) I think my ds only sleeps 6 hours a nite. My dh only sleeps 4-5 hours a nite. I am the only one who needs a good 8 hours, BUT it is disney and I can always catch-up at home!:mickey: