open to close/almost close?

[sbkline]

When you stay on property and do nothing but Disney, do you do any of the parks from open till close (or at least dark)? Or do you take breaks through the day and go back to the hotel?

This will be our first time on property and, previously, we would stay at the Super 8 in Kissimee and do Sea World, Busch Gardens and other things as well as WDW. We would get 4 day parkhopper passes and set aside a day for each park, although we would do AK and MGM in enough time to hop over to EPCOT or MK. But when you stay for a week or so, do you ever set aside a whole day to spend at MK or EPCOT, arriving at open and not leaving until 9 or 10? Or do you do each park in little spurts and spend good amounts of time other places throughout the resort, or even off property?

 

[Aurora_25]

It depends on who I am with. If I have my kids, we tend to get there an hour or so after opening and stay till almost close so that we can see the fireworks and everything. If I am with my DH- we like to stay from open to close, but generally we end up park hopping so we aren't in one park the whole day but 2 different parks. If I go with my whole family (mom, dad, kids ect.) we do what everyone feels comfortable with.
Now, I don't feel the need to go all out in the parks because I know that in 6 months to a year I will be back again so we don't go crazy trying to see everything in one trip anymore.

 

[sbkline]

My wife always complains that I "drag her around" too much and that she is totally worn out by my "go go go" attitude at the parks. :lol: She wants to take things a little slower and even be able to go back to the hotel to rest at some point during the day. In theory at least, that is very doable, since previously, we only had 4 days at the WDW parks and had to get in the car to drive back to Kissimmee at the end of the day. This time around, we have a full week and are staying on property. We will check in on Monday (in April)....just guessing around noonish or so, but that's only a guess. So we will have all of Tues-Sat. Sunday will be our "take it easy" day, where we sleep in, go to church, go shopping (on property and off), play some mini-golf (either on property or off), eat at Chef Mickey's and possibly not even step foot in a theme park that day, and then check out Monday and head for home. So check in day, I am leaning toward going into EPCOT to eat supper and bum around there for a little bit and maybe play some mini-golf that day, too. So basically 5 full days to do the parks at our leisure. Theoretically, we can sleep in and take breaks throughout the day, but I still like to go go go and make sure that we get a chance to do everything and enjoy everything in the parks. So I want to do an open to close at least once, but I also want to accomodate my wife.

 

[luvGoofy]

We never seem to make it to park opening. We are more like 11am to close. With all the walking the little ones are so tired I don't dare wake them up and by the time we are ready to go we end up getting there around 11 or so and then we stay till park closing. For us though with the time of year we go park closing is anywhere from 8-11 so we usually just stay at the same park all day. We'll be back there in December

 

[David]

We are open to closer's. I do all the planning for our trips and this year there will be 3 families. They already know the times to be at the bus stops so we can be at the parks for EMH, dining reservations, firework and parade times, etc. We'll stay all day, but we may change parks a couple of days.

 

[Tigger1988]

Heres what we usually do:
-Open till about early afternoon
-Break at the hotel
-Hit another park around 4pm/5pm

 

[KrazyKemp]

We usually never make it to the opening of any park...

(It is a vacation, after all...sleeping in feels great sometimes!)

But usually around 10:00am, we make it and stay until closing.

 

[hrmom26]

hi
depending how long your staying and if you will have kids or not makes a big difference to the answer. i went with two kids and i recommend, sleep late, relax, have breakfast, and then go for a swim. go to the park after lunch and stay till late see the fireworks, each park has a great show. don't over do it or you will be to tired in the end few days to enjoy anything. each park is large and walking the whole day takes a lot out of you by the end of the week

 

[CoffeeJedi]

I like to park hop to avoid the crowds. The Magic Kingdom is crazy in the morning, so i generally avoid it until after lunch when the kids are getting tired and people retire to their rooms for a nap.
MGM is always dead in the morning for me for some reason though. I remember going on ToT about 5 times in less than an hour once. But by noon~ish, a line had formed so i moved on.

 

[sbkline]

I like to park hop to avoid the crowds. The Magic Kingdom is crazy in the morning, so i generally avoid it until after lunch when the kids are getting tired and people retire to their rooms for a nap.

That is opposite my experience there. Usually, when we arrive at MK at open, we can walk right onto Space Mountain and the first several rides, as the crowds are still trickling in and making their way around to the rides as well. By noon, however, the place is packed.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Rope drop 'till kicking out !!

 

[KnK]

We are take you time sorta folks. Of course we go in September ( 3 days away) for 10 days and the crowds are not bad. We usually head back to the hotel around 2 each day for pool time. Then decided during pool time what we want to do in the evening.

 

[DigitalDisney]

At WDW, I always go from open to closing/past closing, with a park hop as a break. I also take breaks in the park by having a cold snack or taking a longer meal break.

I don't have a wife or kids with me, but I don't go to WDW to spend time at the hotel. I can sleep when I get back home. When the parks are done, I take my time walking out so I can enjoy the park at night. Given the right conditions, I also like to go to a resort at night.

At the end of a trip, I'm exhausted, but it's all well worth it.

 

[raven]

Not only do I go open to close without breaks, but I stay in the park as long as I can after closing. You can get some really good photos at night with no other guests to obstruck your view. :wave:

 

[Gorjus]

Personally, I think it depends on what time of year you go. If you go during peak season when the parks are open till midnight or later, coming in the morning and taking a break is a do-able thing.

However, during off peak times, the parks are often only open from 9-6. Taking a break during the day is a little less of an option, depending on the length of your stay.

Hey, big shout out to all those who sleep in and come to the parks around noon.:wave: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. You are the reason I can get up at 6 AM and be on a bus at 7 AM and be in a park when the rope drops at 8 AM and have a lovely morning of almost zero crowds. My sister and her husband LOVE to sleep in, so whatever kid (1 niece, 2 nephews) feels like getting up and heading out with Auntie is welcome to do it. We have our fun time and when the rest of the family arrives and wants to go on a ride that has a longer wait time, we can wait, or hang out and relax with ice cream. It's all good.

 

[goofyfamily]

We tend to sleep in and by that I mean whenever we get up which is usually after 8 on vacation. We then have a small breakfast snack and head out. We usually dont come back to our room until the end of the night, but we do hop around different parks. We are usually there for at least 8 days , so after seeing each fireworks show,we then just go were we feal like it, and of course sometimes it depends on our dining choice. We do go all day but we dont rush we just go with the flow. Now this year I am trying to do our first day from our time of arrival in just the MK, and our second whole day at Epcot and then whatever we decide for the rest of the week.

 

[celticdog]

We're the sleep-in type. We usually have the food court to ourselves or with very few other guests. We usually get to the parks by 11:00 and stay till the last guests are gone. On many occasions, we have been the only ones on the bus back to the resort.

 

[nksteckler]

I have never spent an entire day at one park. I will usually arrive at one park when it opens, then park-hop two or three parks a day, depending on what we're interested in seeing. My family often splits up too, on our last days, so everyone can fit in the last few things they wanted to experience. It seems every day I end up at MK in the afternoon b/c we stay in the Contemporary and it's just a short hop away. Plus, nothing gives me warm fuzzies like seeing the Castle as it gets dark outside and the lights come on. Love it!

I think it would be exhausting to spend an entire day from open to close at one park, especially if you're staying on-site. Park hopping for me has always been the way to go! But that's just me, other people can make it through the whole day and enjoy it.

 

[PintoColvig]

It is rare for my family to return to the room during the day once we've left it. Unless we're wanting to clean up before going out to a nice restaurant (typically Boma), we stay at the parks all day and rarely leave until closing or just before. It's also rare for us to make it to the park at or before opening. With two kids under six in tow, it's hard to push them out of bed early (and stupid!) if they stayed out at a park til closing the night before.

 

[Pongo]

I don't ever stay on property since I live an hour away, but I almost ALWAYS try and get to the parks before opening and stay until well after closing.

Then I have the hour-long drive home. Which isn't so fun after exhausting yourself for 14+ hours at WDW.