Getting up and going in morning

Any tips for getting up and going to the parks? For kids, husbands. I want to be able to get everyone up and out on time with the least amount of stress. Thanks!

I’m the most morning person in our family, and I was super excited about our trip, so I got up first and got my shower out of the way. Then I walked to the CS food court to get breakfast for everyone. When I returned, I banged into the room very loudly and said “BREAKFAST!” It worked like a charm. My 2 boys took turns showering (they’re morning shower kids) and eating, and by the time they were finished, by husband was ready to roll out of bed. Then I got the boys dressed and the backpack checked while we waited for Dad.

I do suggest packing your park bag the night before, and make a little list of what needs to be done in the morning before leaving. If your brain is foggy in the morning, this can help a lot.

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Thanks Sally. Good tip about packing the park bag the night before.

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If you are not normally early risers, prepare yourself by switching over to “Disney Time” several days in advance. Get up at the time that you are planning to get up at WDW, and go to bed at a time that will allow you sufficient rest. Essentially, treat it as if you are in a different time zone - don’t base your actions on what time it actually is, base it on “Disney Time” - for example, you may go to bed at 11:00 and get up at 7:00 in the real world, but at WDW you are in a different time zone so you go to bed at 10:00 and get up at 6:00.

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I second Sally’s suggestion of packing your park bag the night before! Much less stressful to not have to worry about making sure you have everything in there the morning of. I also agree with going to bed at a decent time if you want to get going in the morning. We stayed relatively close to our home schedules and our kids did great getting up, but we always go in January so don’t have the late park nights like summer. Set out clothes the night before for everyone, even have your hubby do it too.

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Such great tips! How much time do you actually find you need to get ready in the morning. We are a family of 4, and I need to get better on leaving enough time.

I got up at 6 or 6:30, woke the boys up no later than 7, and tried to be out the door no later than 8:15. This was in February during a low-crowd week. We felt like we made RD - more or less - but I know purists would say we were at the back of the pack. We live 2 time zones West of WDW though, so 7 am at WDW is 5 am for us.

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We’re normally morning shower people, but after a day in the parks, we feel disgusting, so we take our showers at night. This really helps speed up the morning routine. We’re from Central Time Zone, so it’s better for us to do as much prep as we can the night before. We also have easily portable breakfast (granola bars, bananas, nuts, yogurt, etc), that can be eaten on the way to the bus. I’m up the earliest, so I’ll make a quick run to the food court for tea and coffee while DH and DD19 get ready.

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Make sure everyone lays their clothes out in the evening before, that way you’re not dealing with everyone digging through suitcases or drawers trying to find a missing pair of socks or that shirt that someone just had to wear that day.

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Yes to packing your park bag the night before, having everyone’s clothes out and ready to go, having breakfast easy and accessible.

But now I’m going to admit to something that may sound a little crazy: sometimes with my kids, when I wake them up at WDW, if I put on the tv they turn into zombies, so instead of having two little insane creatures bouncing around the room and slowing me down, I turn on the zombie-maker-machine, and while they are focused on the screen, I dress them quickly. (We’re talking ages 2 and 6 here.) This gives me some peace to get everything else ready quickly. :slight_smile:

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I am not a rope drop purist. For my kids, lack of sleep is tantamount to behavior problems. If they are sleeping soundly, I usually let them go until at least 8. I do the airplane mask approach - get up and get myself and all of our stuff ready, then wake them up and hurry them along. We get dressed right away, eat cereal in the room, brush teeth, and get going. We can typically get to the bus by 8:30. Also, by letting them sleep in a bit, I don’t feel as bad about staying out past normal bedtimes.

Edited to note that while the kids eat cereal, we adults always grab something quick that we have in the room or on the way to the bus, like a granola bar or piece of fruit. We usually pack a large supply of stuff like that, but if you don’t want to do that, I would recommend swinging through the cafeteria when you return from the park at night to grab some fruit, yogurt, or whatever quick thing you could eat for breakfast.

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Ditto on having clothes and park bags ready the night before. For my girls, if they made it to the shower the night before, I braid their hair before bed to save time in the morning. I also shower & get breakfast before waking anyone up but send dd11 to shower when I leave for the food court if she didn’t shower the night before. Most important though is to be sure you plan enough sleep time. Don’t plan RD after being out late for an EMH evening, and allow at least 10 hrs sleep time for kids. It’s much better when they are ready to wake up, not being dragged out of bed!

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I always got up about 1 hr and 15 min before we wanted to leave. That was plenty of time to get my hubby and myself showered and ready, got the kids up about 45 min-1hr prior to leaving. We had enough time to get ready, eat breakfast (always stay off-site) and get sunscreen on and out to the car with plenty of time to make rope drop.

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I agree with everyone talking about pre-preparation the night before. No matter how tired we are, we get out our clothes for the next day, make sure packs are restocked and ready, set out the mouse keeping tip, and make sure all bathroom supplies are where we need them. This makes the morning routine predictable and stress free. I also pack enough quick breakfasts to cover each day that’s scheduled for RD.

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Showers at night always. Clothes picked out and bags packed/restocked. Tickets and other stuff like that set. Basically I wake up and dress and do makeup within 15m. Kids take no more than 5. Grab coffee and if desired hot breakfast on the go to bus stop or wherever. Do kids hair and mine on bus or lining up to get in park. It’s allllll about multitasking and organization!

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Normally we are morning shower folks but at Disney, we use the evening shower plan too. Plus, it feels good to shower and get clean before going to dinner. Then come morning it’s face, teeth, hair up and OUT! DH (teacher) motto: Early is on time. On time is late. Late is left. Although, I’ve never let him leave anyone!

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