How Early Should You Arrive at Disney Parks

Illustration of a girl and guy on their Disney vacation in their PJs waiting to go into the park.

Parks Planning

How Early Should You Arrive at Disney Parks? 3 Reasons Why It’s OK to Get There Late!

Lindsay Pietroluongo July 4, 2023

When I was a kid and my family went on Walt Disney World vacations, my mom would ask me how early we had to start the next day. The answer to “how early should you arrive at Disney parks?” was obvious: When the park opened.

I couldn’t imagine not being in Disney World — if we were in Orlando and the parks were open, how could we possibly not be in one of them?

She’d say, “How about 9? Can we leave around 9?” And I’d firmly shake my head. (FTR, my parents didn’t do that bargaining-about-everything-with-the-kid thing, but on WDW trips, they wanted to give us the most magical trip possible.)

When I went for the first time without my family, the notion of starting late — like afternoon late — was wild. “Are we allowed to do that?” I thought. And then Mike and I looked at each other and went, “This is our vacation! We can design it however we want.”

Ever since that first trip together, we’ve been devoted late-arrival Disney park go-ers. The earliest we’ve been there is about 9 or 10 a.m., and that’s only because a fire alarm at our Airbnb woke us up at 7 o’clock and we couldn’t get back to sleep.

We show up to the parks any time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. usually, and we’ve gone as late as 3 p.m. if it’s a night when the park’s open late. We often stay until closing, but not always. And we’ve never left a park or a Disney trip and thought, “We didn’t do enough.”

Here’s why you may want to sleep late in Disney World and advice for night owls who are wondering, “How early should you arrive at Disney parks?”

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Is Rope Drop Worth It? Not to Everyone!

We’d never knock Disney World rope drop — it definitely has its appeal. Those park pictures where nobody’s around? To die for.

But for two night owls who like to sleep in, rope drop won’t feel like a treat in any way. You’ll have to force yourselves out of bed to exhaustedly wait with a crowd of people, and then you’ll be overtired by the time evening comes around, which is probably your favorite time to be in a Disney park.

You have to ask yourself if rope drop is better than an Epcot or Magic Kingdom late arrival. If the answer is “yes,” awesome. Enjoy it!

But if it’s “ugh, no,” then give yourself permission to create your Disney vacation the way you want it.

Starting Late Helps You Avoid Some of the Florida Heat

Spaceship Earth at night to help decide how early should you arrive at Disney parks. — Source: Brian McGowan via Unsplash

Arriving between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. doesn’t mean you’ll skip over the strongest heat of the day, which climbs from noon to 3 p.m. However, arriving late to a Disney park does let you limit your daytime hours overall.

You can also plan accordingly. Since you know that you’ll be arriving and spending the first few hours of the day while it’s extra hot, prepare for a lot of indoor time, possibly including a sit-down dining reservation.

Before you know it, that midday heat will have burned off and the sun will start going down. You can then spend the majority of your Disney park day in cooler weather — or at least the coolest weather you’ll get, considering Florida can be a humidity hellscape. 🥵

Insider Tip: Planning a trip for the fall or winter, when the sun goes down early, is the best way to limit sun-up park hours.

You’ll Still Get Plenty of Disney Park Time

So many Disney vacationers feel that if the park’s open, they want to be there. And I get it. Even when you accept the fact that you simply prefer late arrival to Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, etc., it can feel strange not to take full advantage of the park ticket you already bought.

At what cost, though? An open-to-close park day can be 12+ hours long. Body aches, utter exhaustion, suffering in extreme heat… Who needs it?

Your Disney World trip should be as enjoyable as possible. You can’t avoid some Disney headaches, like screaming children, long lines and disappointing snacks that cost $20, but you can design your park day however you want.

If you got a super-late start and did a Magic Kingdom late arrival at 3 p.m., you’d still have 7 hours there on a day it closes at 10 p.m. That’s not counting Main Street, which stays open a bit later than the rest of the park.

We’ve found that 6 or more hours is the sweet spot for a Disney park day. You may not get everything done in that time, but as kid-free Disney adults, you don’t have to get everything done!