How To Plan Your Day At Disney If You Wake Up Late

When searching for tips and tricks on how to make the most of your Disney vacation, you might frequently come across the advice to wake up early and get to the parks as soon as they open. For many guests this is good advice, but what about guests who aren’t morning people? You can still enjoy your Disney vacation and have a wonderful time even if you don’t wake up early. If you and your family tend to wake up later, you can still enjoy the Disney parks just as much as someone who got there for rope drop. Here are some of our tips on planning a Disney day if you wake up late.

Eat Lunch At The Park

Rather than spending more time at your resort in the late morning or early afternoon, plan on eating lunch as soon as you enter your park of choice for the day. Enjoying lunch at the parks is a great way to feel like your day has begun, and is part of the Disney park experience. Most quick-service restaurants at the parks will open at 11am, with the lunch rush not starting until closer to noon or 12:30. If you eat lunch right at 11am you can take advantage of less busy quick-service restaurants and start your day off with delicious food to fuel you.

Book Lightning Lane Reservations

When you get a later start to your day at the Disney parks, it is not secret that the lines will be a bit longer. As guests come in, the lines fill up. By arriving late you miss the opportunity to rope drop major attractions and wait in shorter queues. By booking Lightning Lane reservations and purchasing Lightning Lane Multi-Pass, you can experience these attractions with a shorter wait time than if you were to wait in the standby line.

Don’t Park Hop

If you know you’ll be arriving later in the day to the Disney parks then it’s probably for the best that you don’t purchase the Park Hopper option during your stay. Park hopping takes time, and if you aren’t arriving first thing in the morning then you’ll be cutting your time quite short by hopping to another park. If you’re someone who gets up late, then plan on spending just one day at each park.

Stay Until Closing

If you can’t arrive early to the parks then be sure to stay until they close! Just as the crowd is thinner in the morning, the crowd becomes thinner in the late evening once again as families with small children leave for bedtime. If you’re a night owl then you can enjoy staying at the parks until the very last minute. One tip that we love to share is to not rush to the exit as soon as the park closes. Wait 20 minutes or so for the initial crowd surge to go first and then take your time exiting the very empty park!

Do you hit the parks early? Or do you prefer to sleep in? We want to hear from you in the comments below!

Featured Photo: Megan Woodard