Poll:How many hours a day do you actually tour the parks?

[maddiesmom0116]

We usually go from a little after rope drop until 6ish then we go back and change and head out to dinner at a resort. If we are eating at a park for dinner then we usually stay all the way through to closing. My daughter is a trooper, she never wants to leave and she doesn't get cranky at all. She is 7 now, but when she was 4 she happily did rope drop - MNSSHP and we left the park after Hallowishes.

 

[humboldthny]

I'd say 6 is minimum for us...I think we usually average 9 or 10.

 

[mom2rtk]

So maybe we've done rope drop EMH through to the end of MVMCP a time or two......... It's one of the consolation prizes for your kids growing up! We stay at the value resorts because the room really is just a place to lay our heads at night. It drives me nuts to be that close to the parks and not be IN them!

 

[macraven]

i'm there from opening to closing time.

 

[ZoZo]

Usually anywhere from 8 to 10 hours per day. I can't imagine going all the way to WDW (and spending that much money on tickets!) without spending tons of time in the parks. But I only get to go every couple of years, so touring the parks is my #1 priority. Might be different if I lived close by and got to go more often.

I often take a fairly short mid-afternoon break, often to go back to the resort, take a quick shower, and change my clothes. I go during a hot, sweaty time of the year, and it's nice to take a short break. Might even take a quick dip in the pool, but not for long!

 

[21hearts]

We tend to go in the cooler months (December & February) and spend about 5 and a half to 6 hours a day in the parks. We may do more if the kids are up to it but we don't want to kill them.

 

[nblake05]

We are there all day! But sometimes we take a break IN the park. We'll use the time waiting for a parade to rest... or we'll grab a snack and people watch for a bit. That way we can take a load off (so to speak) without going tot he hassle of leaving and returning. Also, you can go swimming at your resort or rent the watercrafts and get a break from the crowds of the parks but still feel like your making the most out of your vacation. Just a thought.

 

[maryj11]

We dont get there at rope drop but arrive around 10:00 or 10:30 and stay til about closing. We use our table service meal to rest and take a break.

 

[softballmom3]

We are a family of 5 (3 children) and we almost always do rope drop and shut the park down. We've been at MK until 2 am a couple of times.

I do have to honestly say the first time we went my children were a lot younger and we did the early a couple of times.

Also....EPCOT kicked our butt . We ended up stopping in Canada for a break and my 14 yr old sat beside me and within a couple of minutes I actually heard her snoring LOL and it was only 3 pm. It was a very hot day though and we pooped out after that and ended up not staying for fireworks due to everyone getting wore out. Just wasn't worth it.

Go with the flow...take breaks if you need them and don't feel as if you HAVE to stay til it closes.

 

[BigGreen73]

We were always the rope drop to close people. Not as much now that we have done pretty much everything at the parks so there really aren't any more must do's for us anymore. If we don't get to do something on a trip, no big deal because we've already done it or we'll just get it next trip. Plus, I found that rope drop isn't a necessity anymore either. We've been doing more breakfast ADR's so we really don't get in the parks until after open, usually around 10am etc. We found that even getting to the parks after open, we're getting in everything that we want to.

BUT we still do open to close days as well. Last Sept we did AM EMH at MK and stayed right through MNSSHP. I think that day was about 17hrs. Got to the park by 7:30am and didn't leaves until 12:30am or so. It was a great day and we were ready for more!

 

[WDWLODGE]

If the park closes by 7PM, then we are usually there from rope drop until closing, unless we plan on hopping to a park with later hours in the evening. If we plan on staying out later then a typical day is rope drop until 1PM, then swim/nap until about 3PM and then we head back out.

 

[gcferg]

On average, I'd say we are actually IN the parks 8-10 hrs a day, but we, too, are hard core park fans. There have been some WDW vacations where we don't even get in the pool at the resort because we'd rather be in a park.

There are pools at the resorts? We are in the parks from rope drop to closing. The only time we have taken a break was when our youngest DS was 2 and it was very hot.

We try and schedule our sit down meal around 2 pm to get a break from the heat and the restaurants are not typically as crowded as they are for dinner. That is typically all the break we need.

 

[rotlex]

We are usually in a park from rope drop, until they kick us out.

Seriously. Sometimes I wonder why we even bother to get a hotel room!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

We go RD till about 1-2pm then break till about 5-6 and then close down the parks. But we usually go when the parks are only open till 9/10pm with the occasional midnight thrown in.

 

[ShuisFan584]

I would say maybe about 7 - 8 hours a day. We usually get to the park early in the morning and stay for 3 - 4 hours. Then we take a break and head back at night for another 3 - 4 hours.

 

[SPAM]

Rope drop till 9pm or close. We take a 2-3 hour break from park exit to park entrance in the afternoon.

 

[klmall]

It think it depends on the following factors:

1. when you are going
2. who is going (young kids, elderly)
3. how many prior trips
4. length of the trip
5. purpose of trip (special ticketed event?)
6. dining plan or not
7. stamina

I know for our 9 family trips we started out going almost from dawn to park closing but now we rarely all go early and rarely stay late. I may start early by myself and tour with them for a few hours then we all often quit after dinner. We no longer feel the need to see Illuminations in particular. We like to repeat the MK night fireworks and shows but skip the others.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We RD until lunch then we have lunch in the park before heading back for a nap/swim in the pool then we head back to the park for dinner and the night time activities.

 

[RobDIS]

On our trip we would be there 30 minutes before RD until we'd leave for a dinner ressie, then usually back to a park after dinner. On our MK day, we did all our meals on the fly and were touring from the 8AM RD until about Midnight. I wouldn't be able to do that day after day, but it was our last full day in the world so we went for it.

 

[Planogirl]

No small kids here but we still often take a break even if it's just to go offsite and get something cold to drink or to sit in a cool resort lobby for a little while. I think that the crowds get on my nerves more than the heat and it's nice to get away from them for a little while.