To all my fellow non rope droppers...

[randumb0]

How do you typically spend your mornings?

 

[oceanmarina]

As we go every August - the pool.

Sometimes we do a 9:30 breakfast at the parks.

 

[anniemae]

We are not rope droppers. We just enjoy sleeping in too much. This is our typical day: We sleep until we wake up, have a leisurely breakfast at food court while sipping coffee. Back to room to brush teeth, put on sunscreen etc. Head out to park. We don't like rushing and we get to the parks when we get to the parks, it's usually late morning. Gasp. The rope droppers just fell over. LOL!

 

[reluctantredhead]

Sleeping. I wish I could say I was naturally an early riser, but I'm just not, and never will be. Before we had our D, my H and I would set alarms and get there at rope drop and struggle through the foggy brain and crankiness. But when we started taking our D to WDW at around age 2, we started working around her schedule (she's not an early riser either), and we found we could still get to do everything we wanted...we just had to plan/strategize differently (we often adopt the "vampire strategy" from Allears.net in the hot summer months). Once we made this discovery, there was no going back to being rope-droppers for us...H and I have to get up early most of the rest of the year, so we really enjoy not having to on vacation.

But I totally envy the people like my sister who are up at 5 am with a smile on their face every day, weekend or not, raring to go!

 

[Disneylover99]

I get up early, drink lots of coffee and relax or explore the resort while my family sleeps.

 

[HopperFan]

We stay up late, we sleep late, we eat in room and then head to parks.

 

[LSUmiss]

Same here. Stay up late & sleep late.

 

[Rach73]

We usually show up between 9:00 and 10:00 after breakfast in our room. We do a mid day break and then back out until closing. We love the parks at night, cooler weather and typically crowds start to thin out a bit the later it gets. We never rope drop and still manage to do all that we want. I get why it's beneficial but just not our thing.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

I sleep in, have a tea, eat a nice lazy breakfast and then wander over to the parks.

I’m not one of those people who needs to ride every ride or I won’t feel like I’ve gotten enough bang for my buck. For me, rope drop makes my vacation feel like a task - so I just don’t do it lol some people swear by it and I’m happy to just keep out of their way

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I long to join you someday. Right now, dedicated RDer (kids with bedtimes who get up early, you know). The idea of sleeping until 10 and then closing down a park each night is definitely appealing. I would love to get a room at AKL so I could sit on a balcony with coffee and enjoy the view. I would even spring for park hoppers (which we don't do) and consider a summer vacation when the hours are longer.

Someday my kids will be teenagers and we'll be on the same schedule ...

 

[Animal]

Wake up just in time to get to POFQ food court by 1055 (switches to lunch at 11). Eat breakfast. Back to room by noon to load the strollers and be at bus stop by 1230 to get to park by 1.

 

[JanBlessed]

I dream of doing rope drop one day...but we stay and sleep until 8:00 or 9:00 because it's part of enjoying vacation for us!

Then we take 1/2 to 1 hr getting ready as we drink juice or have a pre breakfast snack (something very small). After that, we head to a big breakfast before hitting the parks

 

[kalynn]

I couldn't imagine not being there at rope drop. I've been going to Disney parks since 1985 and have been to rope drop every time... with the exception of a tour that I was on in Tokyo.

 

[MagicKingdomDarling]

My fiancé and I both work 2nd shift in a massive 24 hour reference blood bank. I don't get off until 2:30 in the morning, which means I don't ever wake up before noon unless I'm at Disney. I remember our first trip, we were all gung-ho to wake up at 5:30 and do rope drop every single day and spend open to close in the parks! Haha, that didn't last more than a couple days! We are much happier waking up around 9 or so and moseying down to the park at our own pace. No reason to rush for us, we have fun no matter what! Plus I really enjoy the parks at night, much more than in the early morning, personally. Such a magical feel to them, even more so than the daytime.

 

[Danadanes]

The real problem for us is that I am an early morning riser, as is my young son, while DH and our teen like their sleep. We typically do the coffee run and then make enough noise to get them slowly moving. We compromise with 2 rope drops and 2 late days a trip, with other played by ear. On those days, we get to a park within the first hour.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We love going to the pool for the morning. We usually only go to one park per trip. It depends on our fast passes how early we get there, but usually 12p is the earliest we arrive at any park. We just love soaking up that Florida sun, and its so peaceful to do this is the morning while everyone else runs to the parks.

 

[fla4fun]

I couldn't imagine not being there at rope drop. I've been going to Disney parks since 1985 and have been to rope drop every time... with the exception of a tour that I was on in Tokyo.

Do you have to set an alarm or do you naturally wake up early? I think that is what makes the difference if you read through the posts. Some of us just aren't morning people. We may have to be as far as our careers are concerned (I have to get up at 3:30 am to make it to work by 6:00 am) and that makes it even more important to us on vacation that we listen to our bodies and get the rest we need. I naturally wake up between 9:30 - 10:30 if I don't set an alarm, so for me to hit rope drop, I would have to set an alarm. I'm not saying I NEVER set an alarm on vacation. Sometimes there is a specific reason to (perhaps a passholder preview of a new attraction, or something like that), but generally I am getting to the parks around 1pm. Granted, back in 1985 I was young, so rising early was easier than it is now, and we didn't stay on property for the first time until 1986, so when you stay off property I think it makes more sense to rise early so you miss the worst of rush hour driving in.

As far as what happens in the morning, I wake up when I wake up, check the news and weather (tv if I wake before 10, iPad if I wake after 10), have breakfast in the room, have a leisurely shower and dress, straighten up the room and secure any valuables, and get to the transportation stop (bus, boat, monorail) around noon-ish. Depending on how long I have to wait for transportation, and how far I'm traveling, I get there 12:30-1:00 and usually have my first FP booked for the 1-2 window.

 

[Klayfish]

I couldn't imagine not being there at rope drop. I've been going to Disney parks since 1985 and have been to rope drop every time... with the exception of a tour that I was on in Tokyo.

I can't imagine being there at rope drop, especially for an 8am park open. Why would you want to get up at the crack of dawn on vacation? Simply makes no sense to us, especially with the current FP+ system. In our opinion, a rope drop person really won't get much...if any...more done than we will...but we'll get a little extra relaxation and not have to rush around at 6am.

We sleep until we're ready to get up. Usually not that late, probably around 8am or so. Get a shower, have breakfast, a little coffee and head out. We'll get to the parks around 9:30am, maybe 10:00am. Why rush it??

 

[Timothy02359]

We are out the door around 9am, Hit Dunkins for coffee and something to eat then go to parks.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My sis-in-law and I wake fairly early and go down to the hot tub. After an hour or so of soothing our achy old bodies, we go back to the rooms and shower. By then, the kids are up, so we help feed them breakfast and get ready for the day.