Parks in the afternoon only?

I’ve been sharing my “Late Night Tips” here for years and I still don’t think many believe them, which is good for those of us that know how the parks operate.

Most guests still believe the posted wait times when they see them at night.

Fair enough, but I think most people want to head over to get in place to see the nighttime shows rather than riding rides at the park closing time, which is probably why the lines are short then. On our upcoming trip in August, shows all pretty much coincide with the end of the night, so it is a tradeoff because if you want to ride the rides right up until park close, you'll probably miss the part of the show.

MK: HEA 9:15 / Park close 10pm
Epcot: Illuminations 9pm / Park close 9pm
Hollywood Studios: Star Wars 10pm / Fantasmic 9pm and 10:30pm / Park Close 10:30
AK: Rivers of Light 8:45 / Park Close 8:30
 
Is this a crazy idea?

My DH agreed to a quick trip after I found super cheap airfare, but his caveat is sleeping in and not rushing in the morning. We will be there during the first week of August, so I know it will rain in the late afternoons. But will it be a complete washout? Will we regret this? The plan is to not get to the parks before noon, and stay until park closes. Thoughts?


We’ll be there at the same time. We are also skipping the early mornings, opting to sleep on, and take things a little slower. Have a great trip!
 


Just curious, do you go for long trips? What time do the parks close when you typically go?

We’re aph so we go year round... usually Dhs and Epcot are a 9-10 close, and our sweet spot for MK is 11-12. A 10 close is just a little close to fireworks, IMO. We don’t visit dak that often. It’s a hard one to close because a lot of the shows and stuff end prior to park close.
 
Nope, definitely not just the mornings. The last hour the park is open is a great time to do rides. Many of the popular ones are either straight walk on or less than 15 minute wait. I haven't rope dropped in years, but I can tell you we get a ton done on the nights when we're there near park close. We walk right on just about anything.

Does this apply to nights with earlier closings? We’re going in November, so parks close at 8 or 9.

I imagine there won’t be the same mass exodus with sleepy kids hitting the wall as there are on nights the parks are open to 10, 11, etc.

My kids would be so excited to take more down-time in the middle of the day, if they could walk on rides before close.
 


Fair enough, but I think most people want to head over to get in place to see the nighttime shows rather than riding rides at the park closing time, which is probably why the lines are short then. On our upcoming trip in August, shows all pretty much coincide with the end of the night, so it is a tradeoff because if you want to ride the rides right up until park close, you'll probably miss the part of the show.

MK: HEA 9:15 / Park close 10pm
Epcot: Illuminations 9pm / Park close 9pm
Hollywood Studios: Star Wars 10pm / Fantasmic 9pm and 10:30pm / Park Close 10:30
AK: Rivers of Light 8:45 / Park Close 8:30

We were there over the first week of June when the hours were a bit longer than August. We had plenty of time for all of the headliners that we wanted and saw each of the evening shows too. Never once did rope drop though. It’s just too crowded and stressful.

Here’s an example of a 4 hour visit to MK from 8 pm to midnight. We did all of this without any Fast Passes. It happened to be a EMH morning so there was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park when we arrived.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.
 
Afternoon is the worst time of day to be at the parks in August. Hot, and prone to rain and/or lightning. At another time of year that would be fine, but I don't see it working out well in August.
 
Does this apply to nights with earlier closings? We’re going in November, so parks close at 8 or 9.

I imagine there won’t be the same mass exodus with sleepy kids hitting the wall as there are on nights the parks are open to 10, 11, etc.

My kids would be so excited to take more down-time in the middle of the day, if they could walk on rides before close.

Pretty much, yes. Most people tend to leave before the park actually closes for whatever reason. If it's an 8pm park close, you'll find people streaming for the exit by 7pm. We were there last November and December. We don't close the parks every night, our "sweet spot" is anywhere between 10am and 7pm (we don't stay that long ever, but will go anytime in that window), but we had several nights where we closed the parks. We got on plenty of attractions...it's our favorite way to get on TSMM.
 
Pretty much, yes. Most people tend to leave before the park actually closes for whatever reason. If it's an 8pm park close, you'll find people streaming for the exit by 7pm. We were there last November and December. We don't close the parks every night, our "sweet spot" is anywhere between 10am and 7pm (we don't stay that long ever, but will go anytime in that window), but we had several nights where we closed the parks. We got on plenty of attractions...it's our favorite way to get on TSMM.

Thank you!
I guess many people leave early to try to avoid the crush of crowds at closing time. Trying to get on a bus after fireworks can be very stressful.

Since were doing a split stay that includes the swolfin, we can easily close Epcot or HS without waiting a year for a bus afterwards.

I really want to build in some chill time this trip. Last year, we did Universal, and the unlimited express pass let us do all the rides we wanted, and still be able to take our time on non-ride experiences, and enjoy the excellent pools. It felt so much more like a vacation than the commando days we did on our last Disney trip.
 
I’m going to try really hard to do this on my next trip with my bf. He’s not a morning person, but last time we tried to get there early each day.

I think he’d enjoy it more if we took it easy. That’s definitely how I’m trying to sell him on the trip. Staying at Riverside, so hopefully that should be fun to hang around at.

And he’s been now, so I know what he likes and doesn’t. I hopefully won’t feel the need to try to do everything again.
 
We got on plenty of attractions...it's our favorite way to get on TSMM.

We strolled up to Toy Story a few weeks ago around 7:30 pm and found a 70 minute posted wait. The few other guests that were arriving at the same time turned around and left because they "didn't want to wait that long". It was pretty obvious that the wait was nowhere near that long as there were very few people milling about.

We were on the ride in 3 minutes. We get pretty competitive on Toy Story so it's nice to be able to ride it over and over again with little to no wait. We've been doing this since the ride was new so this is not a recent phenomenon.
 
We did this in April-enjoyed the pool until after lunch and then went to the parks staying until we were ready to leave.
Sorry, huge difference between arriving late-morning in April and arriving late-morning in August.

To OP, the simplest answer is for you to try it, see how it goes, then make adjustments as you see fit. Much depends on the weather you happen to get, and how you personally react to it. You both might react well, or you might collectively decide to adjust your approach after you experience the trade-offs of sleeping later.

Since you are asking, touring during thunderstorms = a significant trade off. A number of rides shut down, especially at AK. No EE, no animals, no P Whirl, no Triceratops Spin, no Kali, and NO swimming in the pool. It also can be a bit daunting to move around WDW during heavy downpours. WDW gets deep puddles that are 2-3 inches deep and so wide they are unavoidable. Also important to know: shuttle boats stop running.

In August, you simply can't expect to be able to go swimming every afternoon. (Then again, you might also get lucky.)

We've been to WDW many times, and we've tried every approach. Our technique might not be yours, but for us, we find it best to make seasonal adjustments to how we tour. Our SPRING approach is different from our WINTER and SUMMER approaches.

For us, SUMMER = early (for a few early hours?), take a break, return 5pm-ish/post-storms, and stay until park close/we feel like leaving.
 
Thank you!
I guess many people leave early to try to avoid the crush of crowds at closing time. Trying to get on a bus after fireworks can be very stressful.
Yes, but in August many folks leave before park close because:

1. the heat can be very tiring.
2. there's a downpour and they got drenched.
3. they feel gross.
4. they simply don't have 14 hours of endurance: blisters, sore feet, sunburn, mobility issues, just aren't in shape
5. they want to enjoy the amenities at their resort
6. they want to shower/refresh/dress up before an ADR
7. it is there regular habit/there's a big game/a favorite show or big news event
8. they need to work: answer emails, check in with co-workers, etc.
9. they have plane to catch
 
One more thought, WDW has free transportation. The two of you don't have to spend every minute together, and meeting up in the parks is very easy. You can very let him sleep late while you get an early start, even if you just go for an early swim or early morning breakfast at your resort. It can actually feel very luxurious to enjoy WDW at your own pace for an hour or so if you decide to try it.
 
I plan on doing this a few days on our next trip. We’re mixing it up with RD (we arrive ten minutes before opening only) and late starts.

Last trip we closed out DHS twice and ride TSMM multiple times in the last half hour along with ToT. We were actually the last ride one night on ToT. The CM were in complete character. We loved it!
 
I plan on doing this a few days on our next trip. We’re mixing it up with RD (we arrive ten minutes before opening only) and late starts.

Last trip we closed out DHS twice and ride TSMM multiple times in the last half hour along with ToT. We were actually the last ride one night on ToT. The CM were in complete character. We loved it!
This is another solid approach to WDW in general: alternating between early days and sleeping in.

We rarely arrive before RD. Though sometimes you can get in a few minutes early,we find it more relaxing to avoid the RD burst and some of the a-type personality folks rushing to be FIRST.

We usually try hard to use the night hours though. I absolutely agree with everyone who says the lines are shorter at night.

I dare say though, when it comes to WDW, we have yet to fully master what other folks call a slower pace.

In addition to thinking about sleeping later, we find it also helps if we don't have many ADR's, and if our ADR's are at our hotel. Some days we also just do a kind of quick breakfast on the go and have an early QS lunch. Those early morning lines in the food courts aren't relaxing.
 
Yes, but in August many folks leave before park close because:

1. the heat can be very tiring.
2. there's a downpour and they got drenched.
3. they feel gross.
4. they simply don't have 14 hours of endurance: blisters, sore feet, sunburn, mobility issues, just aren't in shape
5. they want to enjoy the amenities at their resort
6. they want to shower/refresh/dress up before an ADR
7. it is there regular habit/there's a big game/a favorite show or big news event
8. they need to work: answer emails, check in with co-workers, etc.
9. they have plane to catch
They have little ones that need to go to bed.
 
I plan on doing this a few days on our next trip. We’re mixing it up with RD (we arrive ten minutes before opening only) and late starts.

Last trip we closed out DHS twice and ride TSMM multiple times in the last half hour along with ToT. We were actually the last ride one night on ToT. The CM were in complete character. We loved it!
They usually are happy because they will get to go home soon :rotfl:The CM's I mean.
 

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