How many of you stay from open to close?

[Minsc]

When the kids were young, we did rope drop and then left after lunch for a break/nap. We would head back to the park around 2pm, where we had schedule all of our FPs for early/mid-afternoon. Then we would close the park down, which usually meant hanging out for an hour after official close. Now that the kids are older and FP is gone, we rope drop our scheduled park and then hop to the park with the current lowest wait times after 2pm and close that park down. Rinse and repeat.

 

[ttintagel]

I like to go from open to close, but with a long break in the afternoon.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I like to go from open to close, but with a long break in the afternoon.

That would then be open and close. Not open to close. Haha, big difference.

 

[RNTeacher]

In summer, we always take a break. It is too hot to stay in the middle of the day so we go back for naps in the middle of the day. In winter, we will often stay all day because it is cooler and park hours are shorter.

 

[pixiedust2u]

We have… unexpectedly, on several occasions, with our young kids. It only works when they get a good stroller nap in mid day. I think this also depends on time of year, our Spring trips we def can go park open to close. But summer months no way.

 

[Bullseye]

I like to go from open to close, but with a long break in the afternoon.

Yep, you read my mind!
That afternoon nap in the chilly hotel room is as good as any ride experience I'll have all day. That hottest part of the day, I don't know how people do it and then stay the rest of the evening too. And back in the day the park would be open like 15 -16 hours.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We used to be open-close types, but after 20+ years things have evolved. For the most part, my wife and I like to get out of the parks before any nighttime spectaculars (I'm looking at you, MK). Joining in with the insane crowds at exit is not our idea of fun. Sometimes we will do attractions late and then linger as the park empties. One thing we do most days also is to schedule a table service meal; that break helps a lot no matter what we decide to do at/before closing

 

[tguz]

We usually go in the Summer and rope drop, mid afternoon break to relax or swim, and then back to a park until close. I wonder if we will do that mid afternoon break everyday this time since we are going in December and it will not be so hot. We have never been to Disney in December before.

 

[Chief Powhatan]

When my daughter was younger and my wife went on trips with us, we would take longer trips (7+ days), and really pace ourselves. Currently, my wife is over Disney, so my daughter and I take shorter trips (3-4 days) by ourselves and go continuously from the earliest park opening to the latest park closing.

 

[DVC-Don]

Since our first trip in 1990, we've never ever gone all day in a park.

 

[Bahamontes]

Rope drop to fireworks, every day. In August, started at AK because my pal HAD to ride FoP. Of course, we were done every ride and lunch by 11, so we were forced to hang at Stormalong for 3 hours before we could hit Epcot.
There are a lot of pools at home in Atlanta, there’s nowhere else in the world that I’d pay BC money for a hotel of BC quality. It’s my favorite resort, but it’s a Westin at St. Regis pricing with a great-smelling lobby.
The parks are magic; I’ll rest at home!

 

[jvz82]

If it were just me, I would be there from open to close every day! I love it! Disney gives me crazy amounts of energy and I will run around that park from morning until night with no problem.

Unfortunately my husband is not on the same page there lol. This actually works out well though, because then he will leave earlier and bring some children back to the resort to go to sleep and I will stay with an older child or two (whoever can handle it).

 

[goofy4prez]

We use to be open to close park commandos. Run from there to here and back again. Run, run, run. Take a quick moment, shove some refueling down our throats, hope we don't choke on it, and repeat all over again. Now that I'm older life has changed. We still do rope drops since we are early bird people. But now we just enjoy a nice leisurely pace. Take in so many of the things we used to run right past. Almost always enjoy a nice signature dinner somewhere, often at the end of the day. There is no way I can make it well into the night anymore. Heck, I have a hard time staying up until 10:00 PM anymore. I'm only a couple of years shy of 60 and hate to think about that.

 

[jschlaud]

Love rope drop to close! I want to enjoy every minute I can in the parks. My kids are troopers and we take time to sit down for lunch/dinner/snack in the parks to rejuvenate. Always do a resort day in the middle of the trip to relax.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

<sigh>. I remember the days… I made my first trip to WDW in 1994, just about a month before my 40th birthday. Travelling with DH, and two athletic DDs (19 & 17 yrs old) we had energy, stamina, and plenty of excitement to carry us along. We had a 2 week vacation, there were only 3 Disney parks, and we had 7-day hopper passes, which included the “extras”. Our hotel was close by, but not on Disney property.

We did a timeshare presentation for hugely discounted SeaWorld tickets, which turned out to have a 2nd day free, so we did 2 SW days, as well! We burned the candle at both ends and a bit in the middle, I’d say. Rope dropped each park at least once, and only once went back to our hotel. That was the hottest day, and our younger DD was done in by the heat. The rest of us went back to the nighttime parade and fireworks.

Our park-free days were spent at TL, and even a visit to River Country, and we enjoyed Pleasure Island on several evenings. Not a single table service restaurant for us, and we packed picnics for our TL days. I think we took in every attraction and show at east twice. I only wish we’d been able to track steps on that trip!!!

The next few trips were just DH and me, and we did not push for rope drop, but got into the parks between 9-9:30 am. Our hotels were further away and we got into the practice of using TL for an afternoon break each day. We’d have a swim, and relax under a tree for a couple hours before cleaning up, grabbing a bite somewhere and heading back to a park until it closed.

Aaaah… those were the days!

 

[pooh2001]

When we were younger we did AM to PM
Now when we go back after everything is clear and no masks in our 60’s and fully vaccinated we may take a mid day break
That is why it maybe the Contemporary or Boardwalk resort for our next adventure

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I have been since I've been on a scooter and the park hours haven't been as long when I've gone. Being on one takes everything longer. And I'm not as exhausted physically although I'm pretty wiped out mentally from trying to avoid all the people who don't watch where they are going.

I do take a nice long hour to hour and half lunch in a sit down restaurant which helps with the mental exhaustion. We usually go for long weekends only since that is all we can spare.
My next trip in December we are taking time off from the parks and going to Disney Springs during the day and going to MK for the party in the evening. That is going to feel strange since it's been years since we've done that.

 

[diskate10]

When with the kids we always open the parks and close them down, but with a nice long break in the early afternoon. I need a nap/they usually go swimming. I'm hopefully going with my sister in in a few months for a very short girls trip and we plan on going open to close each day! We shall see if that actually happens...

 

[fla4fun]

Back in the mists of time, when I was a young whippersnapper, I would be waiting outside the gate before opening and be on the last bus/monorail back to the resort at 1:00-2:00am. Those were the days!

Now, I am doing good if I spend six hours per day in a park. I generally get to the park 11:00-12:00, and head back to the hotel 5:00-6:00. If there is a specific reason to be at the park early or late, I can do it, but I still won’t spend more than the six hours in the park. For example, I went to MK on Oct 1, got there a little before 8:00 and was back in my room a little after 2:00. On my check in day, I had a late Remy preview window, so I didn’t head to Epcot until 3:00.

 

[jrsharp21]

We always tell our friends who come with us, if you are going to hang with our gang, you have to be ready to go from open to close. We usually head out to a park an hour before the park opens and stay until close. If you need a nap, better get your rest in on IASW or Bear Country Jamboree. If Disney Springs is still open, we will head there to eek out some more Disney time before heading back to the hotel. Repeat each day of our trip.