What kind of Disney guest are you?

[JIMINYCR]

For the majority of our trips weve gone 14 days. That gives us plenty of time to accomplish all our plans and more. I'm an early riser and even on vacation I dont sleep in. I'm at the parks at rope drop just to be able to get the most popular rides done before crowds build and stay to see it close down. I hate standing in long lines. We do park hop most days, especially to get a break from a more crowded park, and plan on doing one park in the am and a different park to play and dine in in the pm. DW does take a break and goes back to the resort to rest ( medically neccessary ) mid day and then mets up with me later. Because we are far away and a Disney trip isnt always available to us every year, we want to get in as much fun time in as able. We plan our days out and usually do what we plan but sometimes have to be flexible and change things up. When the trip is over we are happy with all we got done and always look forward to the next one to come.

 

[CLEtoWDW]

We typically rope drop our park entry mostly due to the fact that our kids are early risers . We will stay in the park until about noon or so and then head back to the resort to relax for a bit before reentering the park around 4:00.

 

[MissViv]

Years ago, when my daughter was younger, we went from rope drop to closing.

Now that I am in my 60's, I still go early (not rope drop) and leave a little after noon and come back in the evening. That's why I like the monorail resorts - easy access to the resort to rest.

 

[mergatroid]

We have Annual Passes even though we live in the UK. So if we buy an AP in Oct 2018, we'll go again in Sept 2019 using the same pass and then buy another in Oct 2020. Having been going to Orlando regularly since being a child in the mid 70's, I no longer stay in the parks from opening til closing like I used to.

We stay offsite each year for either 2 or 3 weeks and having AP's means we go into the parks whenever we want. We usually take one of the following two options on our visits.

# Get there before park opening with 3 morning FP's and leave around 1pm having used the FP's and ridden several other attractions using standby.
# Get there about 4 hours before park closing with 3 evening FP's and leave at closing time having used the FP's and ridden several other attractions using standby.

We can alter the above two options such as arriving at rope drop and then staying til 3pm and having lunch in the park, though we don't often do that. We've also been known to just pop into Disney Studios unplanned if we've just watched a movie at Disney Springs and just walk about for 20 minutes, have an ice cream and then just leave. We also have time limits in our minds that pertain to certain attractions, so for instance we'd never queue in standby for 'It's a Small World' for more than 15-20 mins as we know that we'll see it shorter on another day, or if not do it the following year instead.

 

[Think Tink]

My husband isn’t the biggest Disney fan but goes every year happily since he knows how much I love it. To compromise and not overwhelm him with walking all day, our days typically looks something like:

• Wake up and head to club lounge for breakfast
• Head to the first park around 9-9:30
• Eat lunch in the park around 1-2
• Head back to the pool for a couple hours to relax and husband will take a nap
• Head to park 2 between 4-5
• After leaving park 2, grab dinner (we eat really late even at home)

 

[cjack300zx]

I have to get up early every day for work so when I'm on vacation I like to sleep in a little so I have never been to a rope drop at any park. We park hop and try to go to whichever park is open the latest. I would like to do rope drop at Magic Kingdom at least one time if I can convince myself to get up and go

 

[Dreaming of Disney World]

We live in MA so have to fly. We've been 3 times since 2015. We usually get to the parks just after opening and stay until 8-9. I would stay later, but we have young kids who need to get to bed.

 

[John park hopper]

I am an early riser and the wife sleeps in late, if I had my way we would do rope drop every day but going with a grumpy wife puts a damper on my day. Our stays are usually 7-10 days so in that time we get to do everything any way

 

[Red Wench]

I'm afraid age is a terrible thing.

We used to stay from rope-drop until we were almost thrown out at the end of the day. We would try to do everything as quickly as possible for crowd avoidance, for as long as possible, drag ourselves back to the hotel, collapse in a heap on the bed, up at the crack of dawn, grab our stuff and do it all again in the next park.

But as we get older, we are having to pace ourselves. We spend as much time in the park as possible, but we tend to slow down and if we can't see or go on something, we reserve special catch-up days to make sure we do. We have gone from two weeks to sixteen days as we have slowed down and break up the time for a little "chill-out" now and again. We have a few option days where we don't plan anything and maybe spend a little time shopping. We just can't do the things the way we used to.

On my last vacation my parents allowed me to stay in the parks by myself for the first time. They went back to the resort for a rest and some pool time as I continued on riding rides at the Magic Kingdom that day. They joined me back later for dinner and the evening Happily Ever After Fireworks and then we all headed back to the resort.

 

[Jimdalva]

We first visited in the early 70's. Just the wife and I, (Tix were $23.) We stayed from rope drop until late, we would watch fireworks from the exit plaza , then beat the crowd to the car.

After 2 kids, we made the family trip from NY every year for 25 years in a row. With kids we did rope drop, but added the mid day resort pool break, then back to the parks.

When the kids were old enough, we became Disney Commandos, MGM Studios was now open and we would Hop to all 3 parks in a day. (Hopping was free then). When AK opened we Hopped all 4.

Now we are in our 60's and we have slowed way down. We have retired and moved to Central Florida. Having visited so many times, on our next visit we will hit the new stuff (Pandora, Star Wars) and then see what we can, no hurry.

 

[Red Wench]

@Much-Pixie-Dust : It sounds like you have some nice vacations when you go.

@Dreaming of Disney World: You sound you have some kids even though you do leave the parks at 8 or 9 that they are really good and love it to make it that long.

@John park hopper : I suppose compromise is the best thing.

@Jimdalva : It sounds like you have experienced a lot at WDW. That is great. I hope one day I can experience the parks with kids and then later in life do exactly what you are doing have a relaxing vacation at WDW.

 

[thomas998]

The beauty of Disney is that things rarely ever change... so while we did the rope drop crap years ago, after a few trips you realize you've already done everything at least a dozen times so you stop trying to cram everything in... You start showing up after you wake up and leaving when it gets too hot... if you feel like it you might come back in the evening. Nothing is as rushed. Of course after a few more trips you skip days at Disney and go to Universal where everything is new and you do rope drops there.

 

[Red Wench]

The beauty of Disney is that things rarely ever change... so while we did the rope drop crap years ago, after a few trips you realize you've already done everything at least a dozen times so you stop trying to cram everything in... You start showing up after you wake up and leaving when it gets too hot... if you feel like it you might come back in the evening. Nothing is as rushed. Of course after a few more trips you skip days at Disney and go to Universal where everything is new and you do rope drops there.

That is so true. I am still young and I will be going on my 16th vacation to WDW the end of this year into 2021. Now some of those vacations I was very young and don't remember at all, but most I do. I like you said have done The Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion it seems a million times. Even Splash Mountain and Space Mountain a ton of times. It is more about trying to experience the new things and I guess just the love of Disney that keeps me fresh ever time I go.

 

[Sandersfeld]

im a "go with the flow" kind of guy,, whats so nice about staying on site is you can do what you want when you want and be able to get the "spare of the moment" urge you want,,, could easily spend the day chilling poolside plotting my next eating desire or just spend the day casually strolling a park shopping,snacking,riding or enjoying easy conversations with fellow guests,,ive spent days going on rides at one park or just park hopping for the rides i feel like hitting,, thats what makes staying at Disney so relaxing and accomodating,, no matter the guest it works for all guests..

 

[Red Wench]

im a "go with the flow" kind of guy,, whats so nice about staying on site is you can do what you want when you want and be able to get the "spare of the moment" urge you want,,, could easily spend the day chilling poolside plotting my next eating desire or just spend the day casually strolling a park shopping,snacking,riding or enjoying easy conversations with fellow guests,,ive spent days going on rides at one park or just park hopping for the rides i feel like hitting,, thats what makes staying at Disney so relaxing and accomodating,, no matter the guest it works for all guests..

I am all for staying on property. I love it.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We always stay on property, and take advantage of early rope drop. Just like JIminy Cricket, we are early risers; up each am by 5am, so early works for us. We stay at one park until after lunch, usually around 1 or so. Then back to the resort for a much needed rest. (we are seniors so we need it At around 3 or so we decide where we want to go for the pm. If we have reservations, we go to that park. If not, we wing it. We do adr's less and less. We like to be spontaneous and eat when and where we want, rather than having fixed reservations. We have found that you can usually check on reservations the night before or the day of and get good reservations. We did this on our last trip. We usually only book 1 or 2 adr's that are must-do's for us.
Being flexible on the evening hours is a lot of fun. If we want to visit more than one park,, we can. If we want to go back to our original park for the day, we can. We are older so we don't have to run to all the attractions (like we used to. We take our time and do what we want.

 

[Red Wench]

We always stay on property, and take advantage of early rope drop. Just like JIminy Cricket, we are early risers; up each am by 5am, so early works for us. We stay at one park until after lunch, usually around 1 or so. Then back to the resort for a much needed rest. (we are seniors so we need it At around 3 or so we decide where we want to go for the pm. If we have reservations, we go to that park. If not, we wing it. We do adr's less and less. We like to be spontaneous and eat when and where we want, rather than having fixed reservations. We have found that you can usually check on reservations the night before or the day of and get good reservations. We did this on our last trip. We usually only book 1 or 2 adr's that are must-do's for us.
Being flexible on the evening hours is a lot of fun. If we want to visit more than one park,, we can. If we want to go back to our original park for the day, we can. We are older so we don't have to run to all the attractions (like we used to. We take our time and do what we want.

With the reservations my family also likes to wing it from time to time and we have found we have come upon some nice surprises that we may not have tried if we wouldn't have winged it like Trattoria al Forno on the Boardwalk.

 

[networkpro]

Our trips are usually 3 times a year (AP holders) Flower and garden, Food and Wine + MNSSHP in September, and then December for Candlelight and MVMCP each for a week or so for the past 20 odd years. How long we stay in the parks is based on what we have planned for that day... some days its just early enough to get to lunch and leave early afternoon, others (like MNSSHP first villans Sinister Souire in 2013 it was) rope drop to the last guests out of the park on the last Monorail at 2am.

 

[Red Wench]

Our trips are usually 3 times a year (AP holders) Flower and garden, Food and Wine + MNSSHP in September, and then December for Candlelight and MVMCP each for a week or so for the past 20 odd years. How long we stay in the parks is based on what we have planned for that day... some days its just early enough to get to lunch and leave early afternoon, others (like MNSSHP first villans Sinister Souire in 2013 it was) rope drop to the last guests out of the park on the last Monorail at 2am.

Wow, 3 times a year and you hit the right times to go with the Flower and Garden, Food & Wine/MNSSHP, and the Holidays stuff. You seem to have this down to a science.

 

[networkpro]

Wow, 3 times a year and you hit the right times to go with the Flower and Garden, Food & Wine/MNSSHP, and the Holidays stuff. You seem to have this down to a science.

By now we know what we like