The Importance of Rope Drop

Waking up really early is not something I enjoy, except if it is to wake up in order to begin the trek to Walt Disney World.  Going on vacation is exciting and merits an early wakeup call; however, many people do not like to wake up early on every day of their vacations.  That is completely understandable; it is supposed to be a vacation after all.  Although I do not relish being an early riser on vacation, the benefits outweigh my desire for my sleep. 

When you embark on a Disney World vacation, you should follow at least this piece of advice.   Wake up early!  If you wake up early, you will be present in one of the parks for rope drop, which is key if you want to accomplish everything in a particular park.  If you have never been to WDW before, rope drop is a term that refers to the time that the park officially opens to guests.  Often times, castmembers will escort guests into the park (depending on the park) to a certain location, and there will be a rope and various castmembers preventing guests from entering the park until the official opening time.  So, the rope literally drops for the guests to enter, hence the term rope drop.  Sometimes, castmembers give guests some pixie dust to sprinkle as the park opens, and some parks have full-blown welcome shows.  The Magic Kingdom welcome show is by far the best and most entertaining.  You will miss these types of shows if you arrive to the park too late.

 In addition, the earlier you arrive to a park, the more you will see and do throughout the rest of the day.  Attractions that have terribly long wait times later in the day are virtually walk-ons in the early morning with little or no wait.  If you have a desire to see and do everything in a particular park or you are limited on time, rising early is vital.  If you get to a park early in the day, you will not feel guilty going back to your hotel room for a mid-day break or a dip in the pool.  You can refresh yourself and your family, but you will still have the rest of the day to play in the parks.  Most parks stay open late, and it is a good idea to go back to you hotel room in the middle of the day, and then tackle the parks during these late operating hours.

Another benefit of waking up early involves extra magic hours.  If you are a Disney resort guest, you can enter certain parks on various days an hour before other park guests.  This extra hour will allow you to do so much more than if you were to arrive at the parks around mid-day.  Also, the weather in Florida is no secret.  It is hot most of the day, most of the year.  The earlier you arrive in the parks, the more of the heat you can avoid.  Most of the time, heavy rain showers occur in the afternoon, so if you return to your hotel for a few hours of recharging time, you will avoid being wet and miserable. 

I know that you want your vacation to be relaxing, but if you want to get the most out of your Disney World trip, you really should make an attempt at least for a few of your days to wake up early to experience all of the perks that a little less sleep will provide while you are visiting the World.  Until next time, have a magical day, and keep moving forward!