We are a couple in our 30s with 2 boys (Ages 4 & 7) It’s our first trip to Disney as a family so we are trying to make the most of our time and do as much as possible (while still having reasonable expectations. We’re taking long breaks every day). Am I crazy to think we can Rope Drop every day? Quite a few days are Early Magic Hours which means leaving our resort around 6 AM to get there at 7 AM for 8 AM EMH. We are all used to waking up at 5:30 or 6 on a normal “school/work day”. But, of course, if given the option would love to sleep until 7 or 8. BUT! This is Disney and I’m ok with waking up early if it’s really worth getting in those rides without as much of a line. My plan is to Rope Drop 5 days in a row. Every day I have scheduled a break where we leave the park around noon to nap (or swim) and return to the park around 4. Then we stay until 8 or 9. No dinners planned past 7:00 so when we leave the parks at 8 or 9 it will truly be to go to the hotel and sleep. Also good to note: I am planning to have a stroller for each of my boys, even though they dont use one at home, just to save their legs some walking during the day.
Which parks are you planning on getting to an hour before an EMH ropedrop? I’m thinking that might be a little overkill for MK and Epcot. 30 minutes is probably enough for an EMH day.
We are planning on early mornings as well with long breaks. I’ve got two mornings of EMM scheduled, a star wars tour that starts at 8am, a PPO breakfast at GG on our first day and AK on our last day. When I say it all like that, I get a little overwhelmed, but I’m hoping the mid-day breaks will do us some good.
I’m also planning on taking a lyft or minnie van at least to HS on the early day so we don’t miss a bus.
Even when my kids were small and early risers we did not rope drop every single day. Most days for sure - they were up anyway! - but not every day. Even with long breaks we found we needed at least one day totally off and at least one late start in our week
Also font forget leaving park at 8 or 9 means at Resort at 9 or 10, and in bed after that most likely
You’ll probably want a regular Lyft for that. Minnie Vans are hard to come by at peak hours (park open/close)
Good idea about the Uber/Lyft. We arrive a day before our “day 1” and leave the day after our last park day. So we’re not traveling on Days 1 and 5 as listed below obviously. We’re there for a total of 7 days.
Day 1: Epcot EMH
Day 2: MK EMH
Day 3: Animal Kingdom EMH
Day 4: MK- 8:00 reservation to BOG
Day 5: HS- no EMH
So at least days 4 and 5 will be “later” arrivals at 7:45 ish.
My plan for Epcot was to Rope Drop Frozen Ever After and then head to Character Spot. Think getting there at 7:30 is good enough to RD Frozen?
As far as MK- I am SOOOO overwhelmed trying to figure out which fast passes and I haven’t even made a Touring Plan because I can’t figure out how to break it up between 2 days. So I guess I thought getting their early would be a must. I’m officially a crazy Disney planning mom.
What I would do, as far as the 2 MK days, is break it up and maybe do one side of the park one day and the other on another day. We are going to be in MK for 2 1/2 days, first day we are doing the EMM - Fantasyland, so we will do all we want in Fantasyland, then hit Liberty Square and do some in Tomorrowland and Main street. The 2nd day we are in MK, we will do Adventure land, Frontierland with a few things through out the park. The 1/2 day will be where we go back and do things we would like to do again. Doing the EMM - Fantasyland does help but we would have just done things.
Something to also think about, doing FEA for a RD, you might want to, if you can, go in thru the International Gateway, as it is closer, from what I remember.
Yeah…I’m a little nervous about this. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed. It may be that we don’t go back to the parks a couple of evenings. And that’s ok. But I have paid for the stuff in the morning. Going to be hard to give that up!
Good to know, thank you!
An option we have availed ourselves of at least twice LOL! Sometimes you get back to that resort and get comfy and cool and all swimmy and stuff and you just don’t feel like going back - and that’s okay!
Is it possible? Sure - I do it every trip, frequently at mEMH parks. And I stay pretty much until closing every day. And I rarely take mid-day breaks. But I’m in my 50s, with no kids. Only you know what your kids are up to, so there’s really no way to make a blanket statement.
Possible? Yes. Would I advise it? No.
And if I was going to do it, I would want to be staying on property at a convenient resort so I could go back to resort for a long afternoon rest.
…and I lied. I forgot we are doing Fireworks dessert party on Day 2, so that means a late night and then waking up early to Rope Drop Animal Kingdom which is a MUST for FOP! ahhh!
We did 5x RD’s (one EMH) and 2x 10:00 starts in December. It was rough, but we were jet lagged from CA. There were a number of days that the kids (DS9, DS7, DD5) were done after dinner and one that they were done after lunch. We made use of the stroller to keep them off their feet and napping if they wanted to. That said, it was nice to drop them off with the grandparents and then head out with my wife for some date nights.
I wonder if there is a way to switch the days around or to move the dessert party to another night.
If not, definitely plan to do Pandora and then go back to get naps and stuff. You’ll need the rest after doubling back like that.
I like to think of WDW being in its own time zone - as long as you adjust your sleep/wake schedule to be in line this new time zone, you can easily hit RD every day. For example, if you were traveling to Europe you would not insist on getting up at 7AM Eastern Time because that is when you get up (or later than that because you are “on vacation”); instead you adjust your schedule to local time. Just tell yourself that you need to get up at 6AM Disney TIme every day and adjust your schedule accordingly.
Where people run into problems (especially with kids) is trying to do RD to close every day or following up an eEMH day with a mEMH day - it’s not the fact that they are getting up early that is causing the problem, it’s that they are not getting enough sleep.
Yeah that would never have worked with our kids. Our first trip, they were 8, 8 and 4. They are typically awake by 6/7am pretty much everyday. Our last day we rope dropped MK with EMH at 8am. We had gone to bed early the night before. My kids were cranky by mid-afternoon. We cheered everyone up with ice cream, but I decided our next trip we would do rope drop at the beginning of the trip and sleep in /do later days at the end. We just went this past May and they were 9, 9, and 6. It worked out so much better. We also don’t do mid day breaks. We tried that the first trip and it just didn’t work for us. My kids would not rest.
Now this is an interesting idea. A sort of progressive trip, wherein you gradually start out later and later as the trip progresses. You have me thinking now…
Yes, we actually thought it worked out well and I plan on doing the same when we go next year. We did do a rope drop to close in the middle of our trip (my kids and DH love HS) and slept in the next day. We didn’t go to AK until after lunch and stayed until 8. Then every day after was sleep in, late breakfast and then go to a park until closing or close to it. Everyone seemed more rested and happier.
We kind of do this in reverse due to the 3 hour time change. Start out later the first few days, and then gradually add in some earlier mornings. The time change from the west coast is a killer! Seems for people used to the Eastern time zone, or coming from Europe, it would work better to start early and gradually start later as the trip progresses. Our last family trip over spring break, we slept in like every 3rd day or something and it was the least tired I have ever felt there.