Sleeping In is No Longer an Option in Disney World

Ah, vacation…a time to sit back, relax, and enjoy a stress-free environment.

Beach time!

But NOT at Disney World! Sure, you’re on vacation, but that means something different in Disney WorldWe wouldn’t say it’s a super relaxing environment  (unless you’re at one of the spas at the resorts).

So while a big part of a normal vacation is sleeping in for a change, that might be a thing of the past in Disney World. We’re here to tell you why!

Rope Drop

Rope dropping is usually the most effective way to knock out a few attractions at Disney World before the majority of guests roll into the Parks. You’ll arrive at the park before it opens (early in the morning, unless you’re going to EPCOT) that way you can be one of the first people in the park!

Rope Drop Crowds

You can book it (walking — no running!) to a ride you really want to experience, and it should have a lower wait time than it usually does throughout the day. People commonly do this for Flight of Passage, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Test Track, Frozen Ever After, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

Beat the line and rope drop popular attractions!

A hot tip (and maybe a controversial one) is to bypass those popular rides, and head to others you want to experience. In the time it takes other rope droppers to wait in the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train line, you could feasibly get 3-4 other rides under your belt (and likely see some relatively empty areas of the park as well).

Click here to find out how to rope drop in Disney World like a pro

Breakfast Reservations

If you absolutely have to dine somewhere like Cinderella’s Royal Table (inside Magic Kingdom) or Topolino’s Terrace (atop Riviera Resort) for a popular character breakfast, sometimes your only option is a reservation early in the morning. 

Cinderella’s Royal Table

An early ADR gets your day started, but you definitely can’t sleep in. Waking everybody up, getting ready, and traveling to said restaurant can take a while, and Disney transportation is not always reliable.

Assorted Breakfast Pastries

On the plus side, if you’re up early to dine, you get to have the meal you wanted; on the down side, you have to wake up at six in the morning on your vacation to make it happen. It’s a trade off!

Click here to see the best places for a fast breakfast in Disney World

Genie+

Ah, Disney Genie, you have confused so many people! But don’t worry: we broke everything down for you here.

©Disney

Genie+ has replaced the FastPass+ system in Disney World. You’ll pay anywhere from $15-$35 per day, per ticket to use the system, and you can only select one ride at a time to hold a pass for. The pass lets you use the Lightning Lane during your designated time slot, and you get to use a much shorter line to get onto the rides more quickly.

©Disney

But here’s the sunrise struggle: rides will become available to select through Genie+ at 7AM. So you’ll need to be up to get your first choice for first thing in the morning, or you could be left with slim pickings. And while you can do this from your hotel room, if you select an early time, you gotta get to the park to get on the ride you selected.

©Disney

If you absolutely must get more sleep, you could wake up, pick a time a few hours from then, and go back to sleep for a little.

Click here to read more about Genie+

Virtual Queues

Virtual Queues for TRON Lightcycle / Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (and any other rides that may use Boarding Passes/Virtual Queue in the future) drop at 7AM, and you HAVE to be on the app right at seven for any chance of getting a boarding pass. The next time isn’t until 1PM, and you have to be in the park for that, so it could be tricky depending on your plans.

TRON Lightcycle / Run

But the good thing is: you can get a boarding pass from the comfort of your hotel room instead of inside the park, so you can literally just roll over, get on your phone, grab a boarding pass, and go back to sleep if you want!

Click here to learn more about boarding passes

Transportation

Disney transportation is busy in the mornings, so if you want to guarantee getting to the park quickly, you have to rope drop transportation.

Monorail!

The Skyliner station at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is very busy in the mornings (it’s the hub for the entire Skyliner system), so get there as soon as it opens to avoid having to wait a long time.

Disney Skyliner

You’re also going to want to use the Disney buses early in the morning; by mid-morning, they don’t seem to run as frequently, and lines are longer. You don’t want to be stuck waiting an hour just for your bus.

Click here to see the worst time to use Disney World transportation 

Temperature

Typically, as the day goes on, the temperatures rise in Disney World. Especially in the warmer months, getting up early can let you have a few hours in the parks where you’re not sweating profusely. By late-morning and certainly into the afternoon it can become uncomfortably hot in the Parks.

EPCOT

Basically, the best way to avoid the worst of the day’s heat is to get to the parks as early as possible. Alternatively, you could plan to stay in the parks later, but then you run the risk of running out of time to experience the attractions on your must-do list.

Click here to see our best tips for staying cool in Disney World

While sleeping in is a hallmark of a relaxing vacation, Walt Disney World vacations aren’t your usual sit-back-and-relax kinda getaways. Early mornings can be your friend when you’re in the Most Magical Place on Earth!

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Do you still sleep in during your Disney vacation? Let us know why in the comments!

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3 Replies to “Sleeping In is No Longer an Option in Disney World”

  1. I’m on holiday. There’s no way I’m getting up before 7am to book rides. I don’t even get up that early on a work day. 8-9am is more like it.

  2. We must take a rest day when we are there. We can go, go, go for 3 days and on the fourth day we stay at our resort. We sleep in, have a slow breakfast, sit by the pool, take a nap, and sometimes we’ll make dinner reservations at another resort. But, yes, we do take a day to sleep in and rest up!!

    1. Absolutely agree. I’ll do 2 days in the parks, then a rest day, then 2 more days. Rinse and repeat for the duration of the trip. Rest days are usually either pool days or Disney Springs.