Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

DH and I approach vacation a little differently.

One of us thinks that we should take our time and not rush to the parks. The other thinks we should get there early.

How do you do it?

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

As soon as we get up, we head to the parks. The early the better but with 2 kids that may not always be the case and we go with their cue just to make it easier on everyone!!!

Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

We went in January, it was not crowded. We woke up when we wanted and took our time eating breakfast before heading to MK and it was perfect

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

We like to get to the park for the rope drop...we also try to stay until close...

Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

Before opening

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

The question I would ask...do I want to stand in long lines or do I want shorter lines and see more? If you are a party of adults only and don't mind that everything is 30-90 or more waits you can certainly sleep in. If you don't care so much what you ride or how long you wait you definitely can sleep in. With kids esp young ones getting up early is important. Dh anf I used to get to park at or at least close to rope drop. We could get about 1/2 the park done. We would then head back to the hotel swim maybe nap or watch a movie and relax. Then head back for dinner and we would stay until the park closed. We tried sleeping in but found the parks to be packed with the headliners we wanted to ride on 60-120 min waits. So we found going later and staying until park close was less relaxing than getting up, hitting the parks, then just relaxing mid day. Another thought ...midday is the hottest time. Not as much fun standing in long lines at the hottest part of the day. We also had breakfast in the room so we could roll out of bed, eat quickly in the quickly in the room and go. So we actually got up later than at home.

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

I used to get to the park early in the morning (right after opening) and stay all day. Then we bought DVC.

Now we get there when we get there. If the lines are long, we don't wait unless we REALLY want to. We also go off peak when the crowd levels are low.

If I thought it would be our one and only trip to DW or one of just a couple of trips, I'd go early.

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

IMO, with kids I think you need to go by their schedule.

As much as the adult in me would love to get up early and go, if my kids need to sleep in, they need to sleep in.

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

We've only been to Disney once so far a year ago and planning to go again in a few weeks so not sure if this was just when we went or what but, we found from 7-close to be the absolute best time at the parks. We literally did all of fantasy land over and over again with no lines whatsoever! We would stay out until close, sleep in and then get to the parks 1-2 do some fast pass rides and eat lunch and then do the parks until close. We really got to everything we wanted too. Even the character meet and greets that were over an hour wait all day long we just walked right in after 9pm. But, it depends on your kids and how they do with late nights! Mine sleep in so it's all good!

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

Posted by BargainMama

Posted by Karen

IMO, with kids I think you need to go by their schedule.

As much as the adult in me would love to get up early and go, if my kids need to sleep in, they need to sleep in.

Are there really kids out there that sleep in? Please send them to talk to my kids!

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

We we up for rope drop & stayed til closing. I would relaxingly get up first, then go get coffee & hot cocoa for the family to wake them too. My girls typically sleep until 7:30/8, but a little earlier was fine.

Our very first morning, we were picked to open MK! so after that there were little complaints to be up early

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

def rope drop - i got more in - in the first 2 hrs of the park then I did the whole rest of the day!

Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

We are late starters and didn't get to the parks until 11am, it was fine. People were eating lunch and we didn't wait on too many lines, we did fast pass a lot and walked around a lot. We stayed every night until 10 or 11, so we got our moneys worht

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

I will have little ones, so I would never wake them up. They usually get up early, but if they are exhausted they will sleep.

We are going in February. During the slowest time. So I wonder if I even need to worry about this.

Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

As early as possible! With LO we can't do all day and all night anymore, and we don't get as much done as we want, so we go when the lines are shorter. DH is a teacher so we can't really go at off peak times.

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

When the gates open.

You get so much more done this way. We would hit all rides in 3-4 hours with no lines, hit the restaurants for lunch, then spend the rest of the afternoon watching the park's shows before heading home.

Doing this allows us to get back to the hotel/resort and spend some leisurely time lounging by the pool before dinner starts.

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

We always try to go fairly early.

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?

I am not a morning person at all. We got to the parks before opening and were able to do and see everything we wanted to in one day. It made Disney a much more enjoyable experience for all of us. I will never do a theme park differently from now on. We used to go to Disney and theme parks later on and have a leisurely morning, because after all we were on vacation. Honestly, that in NOT the right mentality to have for theme parks. There are just too many people in the middle of the afternoon who are at the parks with you for it to be enjoyable waiting over 2-3 hours in line. I would rather spend my time better. What we do is make sure to come home on a Saturday to have Sunday to relax before the work week. It has made an enormous difference in the enjoyment of our vacations. OH FWIW my DH gave me the benefit of the doubt by going before rope drop and he now agrees with me 100%.

Re: Disney.....what time do you get to the park?