I'm curious just how many here do rope drop to close with kids (especially older kids, say 8+)? Or do you prefer rope drop, afternoon break and evenings? Days only? Evenings only? Rest days? Go every day? How do you do Disney?
It has really changed for us over the years as DS has grown. A few times, we've done really long days, but that's been when were were in FL visiting relatives and just went to the park for a day. I don't know how people do it multiple days in a row!
When staying on site when DS was little, we'd do rope drop to mid-late afternoon, and called it a day. He was an early-riser no matter what, so that worked best for us. We also took a rest day in the middle.
Now that he's a teen, we've been favoring late start-late end days, and over the years, we've even thrown in a few half days and mid-day break days as well.
I never used to like the mid-day break strategy, because it seemed like wasting a lot of time on transportation, but sometimes, it's just the ticket. (For example - if you're staying at AKL, late afternoon is a great time for the animals! And if you have different stamina levels in your group, everyone can go together in the morning, and then just those who want can go back for the evening.)
Disney Touring Potpourri? lol.
I like the idea of afternoon breaks, but I know my kids prefer not to. For my daughter (ASD), it's just too much transitioning back and forth. So for us it'll either be like a 9-4 or a 1-9 type thing.
The great thing about FP+ is that either of those are fine now! I'd just plan based on which is generally your family's more energetic time of day at home, and whether the evening shows are important to your group or not.
And don't be afraid to split up for part of the time! Sometimes families get it in their heads that they have to spend every second together, but really it's OK for the group to split up occasionally to get everyone what they want/need.