I’m Only a Morning Person at Disney World

I truly hate getting up in the morning.  It’s painful and miserable and sometimes cold and sometimes dark and always dreadful.  I am the queen of the snooze button.

I am a night person, frequently getting a second wind around 9 o’clock and then working until 11 or 12.  But even when I get myself to bed at a decent hour I still hate getting up in the morning.  I seriously feel like I’m going to die.  My family calls me a slug.

But at Disney World?  Oh, but at Disney World it is an entirely different story.  I set the alarm on my phone for bright and early o’clock and bound out of bed in a cloud of pixie dust.  I get myself all ready for the day, pop down to fill my resort mug to the brim with Nescafé and then try to wake the family, enticing them with the magic that lies ahead if they would only GET UP!  Come on, you guys, GET UP!

Why this incredible change in my habitually lazy morning routine?  Two words—Rope Drop.

Rope drop is what separates a great Disney trip from a MAGICAL one.  It is what makes it possible to see most of Fantasyland before 10 a.m. and ride Splash Mountain five times in a row after that.  It’s what gets you coveted Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania or Soarin’ then hopping on the ride from a non-existent stand-by line.

Rope drop is what gets you chilling out at an early lunchtime seating with the Princesses at Akershus when most people are waiting in 60+ minute standby lines at Test Track (which you zipped through earlier).  It is also what gets you out of the park to relax and swim at your resort just when the throngs of late arrivals flood the turnstiles while the sun is at its hottest.  You are refreshed and ready for a pleasant evening of dining and fireworks, having experienced headlining attractions in the morning at your leisure!  Why is this?  Rope drop!

Many of you may be asking a couple of questions—1) What the heck is rope drop and 2) Why the heck do I want to spend my vacation getting up so bleeping early?

Let’s address number one—what is rope drop?  The short explanation of rope drop is that it is the official opening of the theme park.  The term comes from the fact that Disney Cast Members stand at the entrances to each of the “lands” in Disney World from the main Castle hub holding ropes across the paths until the park is officially open.  Additionally, the four Disney World theme parks had little celebrations each morning in honor of the park opening.  Recently, however, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom have abandoned their opening shows in favor of “soft-openings,” meaning that guests are allowed to enter the park a bit earlier than official opening time to help curtail bottlenecks, a practice which, in my opinion, has definitely been successful, especially at Hollywood Studios.

The Magic Kingdom still celebrates its opening each morning with a fabulous opening ceremony complete with singing, dancing and characters.  It is one of my favorite things to see when I am in Disney World and I have to admit, it always makes me cry (much to my children’s chagrin).  I even get verklempt watching the youtube videos of it.

Moving on to the second question—why the heck would we want to get up at the crack of dawn while we’re on vacation?  Okay, the first thing to note is that a Disney World vacation is not the same as a Caribbean beach vacation during which you mostly lie in the sun and consume rum drinks.  While there is definitely room for that at Disney World (and hitting the parks at rope drop will only make it more likely that you will have time to relax in a lounge chair with a rum drink!), the majority of people who invest in a Disney World vacation would like to maximize their time in the parks.

Yes, in order to arrive at the parks at park opening you must get up and get going early, especially if, like most, you will be using Disney transportation.  When we want to arrive at the Magic Kingdom for a 9:00 opening, we are up around 7:00.  We eat a quick breakfast in the room and aim to be waiting for the bus or boat by 8:00.  This usually gets us to the park entrance by 8:30 or so.  If we’re headed to Hollywood Studios, we push it up a bit so that we’re there by around 8:20 as they tend to start letting guests in around 8:45.  The pay-off is that we’re greeted by a park that is far, far less crowded than it would have been had we slept in and arrived at 10 or 11 thus enabling us to enjoy all of the big name attractions with minimal wait times in the cool morning hours at a leisurely pace.  That is more of a vacation to me than wasting hours waiting in hot lines when I could be enjoying a rum drink back at my resort’s lovely pool while my children are entertained by the ever-talented Disney Cast Members playing “critter roundup.”

If you care to do a little research you will find all sorts of opinions out there regarding the pros and cons of rope drop.  (Touringplans has a basic rundown on rope drop procedures here).  Clearly I am in the “pro” camp, however, I am also a firm believer in “everything in moderation.”  A trip to Disney World is still a vacation, and hitting the parks hard every morning at rope drop may not be the best approach either.  It’s nice to spread out your rope drop mornings throughout a week-long visit to Disney World, balancing some early mornings with some late evenings and allowing for mornings spent relaxing at the resort followed by an afternoon park arrival, dinner and fireworks.

So where do you stand?  To rope drop or not to rope drop, that’s the question here, folks!  Tell us about your experiences!