How to Properly Start Your Day At Every Walt Disney World Park

wdwmagic

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By Brooke Schuldt, Aug 23, 2016
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Opening the parks used to be easy. You’d show up and separate your family into groups, with some people running towards the FastPass machines for the most popular rides and the others grabbing a table at a breakfast restaurant or saving spots in line for a different ride. Once you agreed on your missions, you’d separate and run through the parks, hoping to get a coveted Toy Story Mania FastPass before they all sell out, which tended to happen as early as 10 minutes after park opening.

Now that Disney uses their new FastPass+ system, you have to schedule your passes weeks in advance, forcing you to give more thought to your morning instead of scheming up an itinerary on the way to the park. As a former cast member, I know that it is easiest to get thing done in the morning at Disney, when the lines are the shortest and there are typically less people in the park. That is why I created a fool-proof guide to opening every Walt Disney World park, so that you can get the right FastPasses for your family despite having to plan your morning weeks in advance.

There are three components to having a picture perfect park opening. You need to know when the opening show starts (if there is one), figure out which FastPasses to schedule at what time of day, and figure out where to eat breakfast that will both fuel you through your morning and put you as close to your first FastPass as possible. Read on to learn my tricks on how to get the most out of your mornings at Disney, so that you can fit in everything your family wants to see in one day with ease, no matter what time of year you visit.

Continue reading at http://www.wdwmagic.com/articles/23...-your-day-at-every-walt-disney-world-park.htm
 

worldfanatic

Well-Known Member
1. Sleep til 9
2. Stumble into the bathroom for a couple of Advil
3. Load your mug up with coffee and stumble further out to your resort's jacuzzi
4. Drag yourself back to the room around 11 to shower & get dressed
5. Have a table service lunch at your resort restaurant
6. Grab a bus, boat or monorail to your chosen park and arrive just in time for your afternoon Fastpasses

Perfect start to the day!!!!!
 

rob0519

Well-Known Member
1. Sleep til 9
2. Stumble into the bathroom for a couple of Advil
3. Load your mug up with coffee and stumble further out to your resort's jacuzzi
4. Drag yourself back to the room around 11 to shower & get dressed
5. Have a table service lunch at your resort restaurant
6. Grab a bus, boat or monorail to your chosen park and arrive just in time for your afternoon Fastpasses

Perfect start to the day!!!!!

You obviously don't have children, but it's a good plan other than that.
 

yfd326

Well-Known Member
Sleep late....I'm on vacation. If I wanted to get up early....I'd go to work.

Been doing the Disney thing so long we have decided it is better to relax and enjoy the hotel and amenities they offer.

I'm not saying never get up early and run to a park. Just want to be relaxed doing it!
 

Deno

Well-Known Member
Sleep late....I'm on vacation. If I wanted to get up early....I'd go to work.

Been doing the Disney thing so long we have decided it is better to relax and enjoy the hotel and amenities they offer.

I'm not saying never get up early and run to a park. Just want to be relaxed doing it!

That's us! We sleep until around 11 on many days (well my wife and two boys do, and I wish I could too ;-) then either do something at the resort, go to a water park, get in the car and go explore etc. Have lunch in the meantime then hit the parks late afternoon until closing. To me, the evenings are the best, so much more 'magical'.

We sometimes do early mornings if we've had a previous early nights sleep but 12pm to 5pm is pretty much a 'no no' to us most days in any of the 4 parks. Way too hot for us in August which is when we have to go to WDW In the school holidays
 

KCheatle

Well-Known Member
We are definitely early risers and afternoon nappers. We love getting to the parks at opening, taking siestas and swimming in the afternoons, and going back to the parks around dinner time. That's been our MO for 10 years now, and I don't see any interest from my DH or kids (11 and 7) in changing it. ;) We never set alarms. It's just that we all have super strong internal clocks that wake us up, and since we all wake up around the same time at home, we all wake up around the same time in WDW. Works for us! :)
 

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
You obviously don't have children, but it's a good plan other than that.
lol Hey this is a plan with kids.
We tried rope drop one year.... My kids called their grandma and said they wanted to come home and my husband not so nicely explained to me that if he wanted to get up at the crack of dawn he would have stayed home and went to work.

Now with fp's made in advance we don't get to the parks before 10 am. We are breakfast eaters so it allows everyone a chance to get a good breakfast and I no longer have to play Madame Drill Sargent to get everyone moving.
 

Janir

Well-Known Member
Nice article Brooke, thanks for sharing it!

Wife and I ( no kids) still get up for almost rope drop, even with our fastpass+ set for later in the afternoon. We figure we're gonna get as much of the parks as we can get in. We can sit pool side just about anywhere. Can't go ride Pirates or 7 Dwarves mine Train just anywhere. :)
 
We are definitely early risers and afternoon nappers. We love getting to the parks at opening, taking siestas and swimming in the afternoons, and going back to the parks around dinner time. That's been our MO for 10 years now, and I don't see any interest from my DH or kids (11 and 7) in changing it. ;) We never set alarms. It's just that we all have super strong internal clocks that wake us up, and since we all wake up around the same time at home, we all wake up around the same time in WDW. Works for us! :)
Our kids are 17 and 13 and we still do it like this. An afternoon nap or time by the pool is crucial in making sure that no one gets too overheated during a long day.
 

DiSnEyF@n

Well-Known Member
Magic Kingdom days are the only early morning -ropedrop must dos for our family... however, we have a 4 year old and a 1 year old so we’re up early and we are always psyched to get the morning started at any park.
 

EricPZ

Active Member
Magic Kingdom days are the only early morning -ropedrop must dos for our family... however, we have a 4 year old and a 1 year old so we’re up early and we are always psyched to get the morning started at any park.
We're planning to rope drop DAK on our trip in a couple of weeks only cuz we couldn't get FP+ for FoP and have to ride swap cuz we have a toddler & 2 pre-teens.
 

John park hopper

Well-Known Member
No kids, trip coming up -eat breakfast (bring from home) rope drop all the parks (I am an early riser) may have to leave the wife in bed (not an early riser). Leave the parks by 11: 00 am head back to resort take a swim eat lunch (bring from home) go back to the parks (with wife) 4:00 pm stay till it closes
 
My husband and I (no Kids) we get up around 10am get ready and try to catch the buss my 11am to the nearest park. As soon as we enter the part we hit Starbucks for breakfast. We lesurly Park hope all day. Go back to the room around 7pm Get ready for an evening at Downtown Disney.
 

TheDuke

Well-Known Member
I don't know why anyone would act like making fastpasses on your computer is harder than getting up super early and then sprinting through the park trying to get paper ones.

That is if FP+ is working and not down for an entire day like it was recently, but that's another story.
 

Fox&Hound

Well-Known Member
Article must be old since it says that the only ride at AK where you need a fastpass is the safari. Clearly Pandora changed all of that =)

I agree that fastpass+ has changed our morning rush in the parks to get paper fastpasses- so much more enjoyment now...
 

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