Changing from rope drop to nighttime touring?

[ChimneyJim]

Funny that this came up. We are changing our style for this trip. Kids are now 10 & 11 and want to sleep. For our upcoming August trip we are doing the DIS Pandora party and figured that'd be a great excuse to tour later in the day the preceding week. FP+ and ADR really make it a non-issue I think. My only concern is in regard to room checks and sleeping in while still getting housekeeping and undisturbed sleep.

 

[Samantha Morgan]

I did open to close for our trip last June with a 5 and 9 year old. It was perfectly fine. I didn’t understand why people needed to leave mid-day. We sat to have a couple snacks Throughout the day and dinner around 4:45 and were totally ready for the evening.

 

[ArielSRL]

We do both rope drop and touring til close...but we take about a 4 hour midday break. We do this because midday is the hottest and most crowded so we like to avoid it. My kids are younger though: 4 and 7. I do prefer night over any other time of the day so we do have two late starts on our 9 day June trip.

 

[eagle1992]

We are doing this for our week long trip this April. We only have one day that we will get up early for butcall the rest are sleep in days (we are also doing two DAHs).

My wife really wasn’t keen on the whole go go go RD thing the last time we did this and was looking for Moreno of a leisure trip. And with my kids 12 and 11 they are also becoming more capable of being night owls and sleeping in.

So I built our days and FP+’s that way.

So happy wife...happy family...happy life.

 

[mamaofsix]

How are the crowds doing this compared to rope drop? I'm considering this for Animal Kingdom one day but I'm worried about it being really busy in the afternoon. Are you able to see everything you wanted?

We have experimented with both and I can definitively say that rope drop has less crowds and and you get more done than sleeping in / going later. We were sorely disappointed with how little we got done, even with lots of fp's, when we did late arrivals. This was probably because even the fp lines were long and it just took longer to walk everywhere due to the crowds. I would say the majority of people visiting Disney don't even think to arrive 45 minutes before official opening. Most get here around 10 or 11, hence the crowds. Rope drop is a popular concept on these boards, but not one known to the general public.

I would say, if you have lots of park days (7-10) with multiple visits to each park - sleeping in and staying up late is totally do-able. If you only have a few park days (we usually do 4 - one at each park), then rope drop is really the only way you're going to get in all of your favourite attractions. Neither method is right or wrong, it just depends on the length of time you have at Disney and what you are hoping to accomplish.

Until we have enough $$$ to afford 7-10 days of Disney tickets for our party of 10, rope drop 'til close will be our strategy in order to get the most bang for our buck. But I can see this changing as we get older and have more time and money available for trips.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I would love this touring plan. This is the plan when I retire next year, and my DH and I go for extended trips. The problem is when we go with family. For example, this Thanksgiving, we are going for four nights/three park days (with PH). The reality is we will not be able to get a lot of the popular FP, so RD will probably be a must on at least two of the days with some late nights, too, in order to ride some right before closing. With shorter trips, RD is a necessity.

 

[Mome Rath]

I think it is doable depending on your party's makeup and just how late you can stay out. Touring styles that make the most sense are those that fit the best to the nightowl/earlybird makeup of the people going. I'm up before the sun every day, I hate staying out late and it ruins the next day for me, so I just don't tour til park close (unless it's like 8 then I go from rope drop to close).

Another option I don't see mentioned which I have done before is switch it up depending on what I want to do and the hours available and who is in my party. If I go with people that stay late, it's nice to do that at least one night, but I plan it. So one day it's rope drop and then to bed early, and then the next is to breakfast at hotel, lounge around, and then go to a park later and stay later than I normally would. Sleep as late as I can the next day and taking that day easy, early to bed, rope drop next day, etc... So you flip-flop strategies.

Either way you go the refresh strategy for FP's can make it work.

 

[jrt1176]

We've never been the "commando" or "rope drop" type people...

Of course, I've been going as a kid, so we had seen everything and would go see the new stuff and visit the favorites. We knew we would be back, so we took our time and if we missed it, or it was closed, we could hit it next time.

You have to plan much more than when I was a kid; back then you just picked your dates and hotel! Everything changes and taking my niece on a couple of trips I tried to go the early route because I wanted her to see everything!

I have taken my niece for 2 week long trips, so she has seen a lot of Disney, but there is always new stuff. From now on, I'm making sure that we sleep in and go at our own pace like when I was growing up and we went as a family. She and I actually did just about all of MK once it got dark on the 1st night of our last trip! Of course, it's easier when they are older as well.

But, to each their own! Some like to have it all scheduled and hit the parks at rope drop. Whatever works for you and your family.

 

[Micca]

I can understand the appeal of nighttime touring but in August isn't the heat a concern? If you're headed to a park in mid afternoon you're going during the hottest time of the day. Sunset is 8-ish in August, so you're looking at many hours of touring in the hot sun. I guess you keep hydrated and schedule frequent Mickey bars.

 

[DLgal]

That's how we do WDW. We travel from California, so it also helps with jet lag to sleep in and stay out late. Our kids were 12 and 14 on the last trip and we didn't even enter the parks until after 5pm every day. We did pool, water parks, Disney Springs, and Surrey bikes in the late mornings/early afternoons. It also helped us avoid the daily thunderstorms. We would usually be in the room showering after the pool or water park and getting ready for the evening. With parks open late and 10 day tickets, we were able to do everything we wanted multiple times. Crowds were always so much smaller also. We planned our FP+ for after 6pm each night. Loved it. That was our second trip using this strategy. The only downside was we almost missed breakfast several times and had to run to the CL lounge and grab stuff before they closed. My kids were still out cold at 9:30-10am.

 

[Klayfish]

How are the crowds doing this compared to rope drop? I'm considering this for Animal Kingdom one day but I'm worried about it being really busy in the afternoon. Are you able to see everything you wanted?

If you know how to use the FP+ system, you'll be absolutely fine. We get to do anything we want and never "miss" anything...only exception is FoP (though we did get a FP+ for that, so it's not impossible). Remember, the parks empty out late in the day. So, it's really just rope drop in reverse. When you rope drop, there's no crowd when you arrive but it builds. When you do an evening, there's a crowd when you arrive, but it goes down as the night goes on.

I have no doubt that we get every bit as much done using FP+ and refresh as a rope drop person does.

 

[jenhelgren]

Has anyone tried an afternoon strategy in May with shorter park hours? We all love to sleep in but always push ourselves on Disney trips because I have always viewed rope drop as the best strategy. I am starting to plan a trip the 1st week of May and would love to make a late morning arrival plan but the parks are only open until 8:30 or 9 so I am wondering how much we will be able to accomplish with a later arrival time

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We have experimented with both and I can definitively say that rope drop has less crowds and and you get more done than sleeping in / going later. We were sorely disappointed with how little we got done, even with lots of fp's, when we did late arrivals. This was probably because even the fp lines were long and it just took longer to walk everywhere due to the crowds. I would say the majority of people visiting Disney don't even think to arrive 45 minutes before official opening. Most get here around 10 or 11, hence the crowds. Rope drop is a popular concept on these boards, but not one known to the general public.

I would say, if you have lots of park days (7-10) with multiple visits to each park - sleeping in and staying up late is totally do-able. If you only have a few park days (we usually do 4 - one at each park), then rope drop is really the only way you're going to get in all of your favourite attractions. Neither method is right or wrong, it just depends on the length of time you have at Disney and what you are hoping to accomplish.

Until we have enough $$$ to afford 7-10 days of Disney tickets for our party of 10, rope drop 'til close will be our strategy in order to get the most bang for our buck. But I can see this changing as we get older and have more time and money available for trips.

We find the opposite to be true. Rope drop is just too crowded and stressful for us. Fortunately, those guests will tire out and leave early, leaving the parks less crowded in the evening.

A good example is Flight of Passage. On a recent day, Tourng Plans reported waits of 240 minutes shortly after the park opened and 30 minutes shortly before the park closed.

You can get a lot more done in the evenings in you know how to refresh for additional FPs and know why and when Disney inflates the posted wait times.

Plus, there are things you can accomplish in the evenings that you could never do in the morning no matter how early you arrive.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

Our first trip (YEAH!) will be this November. We are flying from CA, and I am considering not trying to acclimate to the time zone difference, miss rope drop and stay til closing. Do a few after hours parties and the like. I figure that during the more packed hours, we will be busy just seeing everything and exploring. Everything will be new to us so there will be a lot to cover.

 

[Mousefan mom]

We do a lot more night time touring. The first few days of the trip we will do both (break mid day), but as the week wears on and we get tired, we do sleep in and night time tour. Here is the thing though--the year before last, Disney park hours were short in the summer (even MK closed by 9-10) and it was packed during the evenings as the parks were not open later. Last summer, Disney kept it open late and it was wonderful to have this plan. Unfortunately, you won't know how late the parks are open until after you do your FP's so you take a chance. I'm hoping for late nights this summer...but I've already noticed DHS no longer has evening EMH listed, etc....

 

[karensi]

So let me ask, if the park closes at 9 and we get on line at 8:50/8:55pm would we be allowed to remain on the line if it gets to be 9 and we haven’t yet ridden?

 

[ArielSRL]

Has anyone tried an afternoon strategy in May with shorter park hours? We all love to sleep in but always push ourselves on Disney trips because I have always viewed rope drop as the best strategy. I am starting to plan a trip the 1st week of May and would love to make a late morning arrival plan but the parks are only open until 8:30 or 9 so I am wondering how much we will be able to accomplish with a later arrival time

Those hours will most likely be extended...at least for MK. Possibly AK and DHS but maybe not. Just keep watch. Disney usually extends hours the month before, early or mid month on a Friday. They did it this past Friday for March.

So let me ask, if the park closes at 9 and we get on line at 8:50/8:55pm would we be allowed to remain on the line if it gets to be 9 and we haven’t yet ridden?

Yes.

 

[Peppermint Ice]

We never understood why people would leave the parks for a break until we unexpectedly needed to head back to the hotel one day around lunchtime. My husband took a nap and I read a magazine on a chaise lounge near the pool, under the palm trees. It was the best! We felt very relaxed and energized from the experience and enjoyed that evening in one of the parks mire than ever. We haven’t skipped our afternoon breaks since that first try.

I did open to close for our trip last June with a 5 and 9 year old. It was perfectly fine. I didn’t understand why people needed to leave mid-day. We sat to have a couple snacks Throughout the day and dinner around 4:45 and were totally ready for the evening.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

So let me ask, if the park closes at 9 and we get on line at 8:50/8:55pm would we be allowed to remain on the line if it gets to be 9 and we haven’t yet ridden?

You can get in line up to 8:59 and they’ll close the line right at 9. All already waiting will be allowed to ride.

Keep I mind that posted wait times are intentionally exaggerated at night to discourage late riders, so don’t expect to wait as long as advertised.

 

[QueenElinor]

We do a lot more night time touring. The first few days of the trip we will do both (break mid day), but as the week wears on and we get tired, we do sleep in and night time tour. Here is the thing though--the year before last, Disney park hours were short in the summer (even MK closed by 9-10) and it was packed during the evenings as the parks were not open later. Last summer, Disney kept it open late and it was wonderful to have this plan. Unfortunately, you won't know how late the parks are open until after you do your FP's so you take a chance. I'm hoping for late nights this summer...but I've already noticed DHS no longer has evening EMH listed, etc....

This exactly what we do. My kids are all young adults now and DH was always hard to get going in the morning, even when the kids were little.

So we start out with RD, sometimes even EMH because I know the first day I can get them out of bed. But then they inevitably stay out much later, and the second day is harder. By day #3 we are looking at later starts and by day #4 often a whole day of just hanging out at the resort or going to Disney Springs.

Disney After Hours is really great for the very late start days- you don't even need a ticket so that's a huge plus for us. Unfortunately, I doubt they'll be having them on our next trip (in May) I do think they'll be extending hours, though.

We've noticed that around dinner time there is sometimes a lull in the action. We also use touringplans because it will show us places to go at times that are sometimes surprising. There are definite patterns to traffic flow later in the day, whereas earlier it's more obvious what to do and not do.