Are you ready for your next trip to Disney World? Picture this: you’re planning your family’s next vacation to Disney World. You all want to eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table (one of the most popular restaurants in Disney World), ride every ride in Magic Kingdom with minimal waiting, not have any hang-ups for transportation, minimize family drama, and, of course, you gotta have your coffee.

But how do you actually manage to achieve ALL that, and have the perfect Disney vacation? Well, you might have to start getting used to waking up by 6 AM, even on vacation. Follow along with us as we go through a sample morning leading up to your vacation and once you’re finally at Walt Disney World! We’ll provide you with six 6 AM habits we do to ensure everything goes to plan.

Getting Up to Make Reservations

Before we even drive under the Walt Disney World arch and are officially on our Disney vacation, you’ll find us up at 6 AM EST, 60 days prior to the first day of our trip. We get up this early to make our very first dining reservations!

Disney allows you to make dining reservations 60 days in advance of your trip for the length of your stay, up to 10 days. Reservation windows open at 6 AM EST, and it often makes a big difference to be up and making these reservations ASAP. Many restaurants sell out of reservations quickly, especially new locations, so if you want to get the good dining times, we suggest waking up early 60 days out.

We will also wake up at 6 AM to book our Lightning Lane reservations! These become available at 7 AM EST, either 7 days out for Disney hotel and select other resort hotel guests or 3 days out for everyone else. We get up early so we have time to get onto our My Disney Experience app and get into the right window for booking Lightning Lanes.

Many Lightning Lanes at Disney World sell out VERY quickly, so it’s definitely beneficial to be logged on early and ready to select your rides and arrival times right at 7 AM EST. You are able to book three Lightning Lane Multi Passes in advance and one Lightning Lane Single Pass, or purchase Lightning Lane Premier Pass.

Start Moving for Rope Drop

Now that we have our dining reservations and have booked our Lightning Lanes, we’re finally getting ready to go to the park! For many people, that means rope dropping. Rope dropping is when you get to a park early enough to get in right when it opens. Previously, you could get into the actual park prior to opening, and then you would wait inside the park at a designated point where they would literally drop a rope for you to head to the rides.

Nowadays, the rope is less literal and more metaphorical, but the point is still there. In order to rope drop, you’ll want to get to the park 30 to 45 minutes BEFORE its official opening time. That means getting up and moving by 6 AM or earlier!

Have a System for Getting Ready in the Morning

If you’re getting up by 6 AM to get ready and start moving for rope drop, you’ll want to have a system in place to do so, especially if you have a full hotel room. You’ll likely only have one bathroom, one (maybe two) sinks, and one shower. This means you’ll need to have a plan in place to share these spaces with the others in your room.

We like to stagger our wake-up times, so the younger kiddos can sleep a little longer while the grown-ups quietly begin their morning routines. Whatever you think will work for your family, should probably be discussed the night before, so come 6 AM, you’re not fighting for the toilet and shower.

Checking on Your Mode of Transportation

Now, you’re finally ready to go. While you wait for the rest of your family to finish getting ready to rope drop, you start confirming your mode of transportation. If you’re staying at a Disney hotel with Skyliner access, you might want to check the weather and the Disney World app to ensure it’s operating. If you’re planning on taking a bus, you might want to confirm the bus schedule at your hotel.

Since Disney transportation does not run 24/7, you’ll want to double-check the starting times for whatever option you’re using, especially if you’re rope dropping.

Getting Breakfast Ready To Go

If you’re planning breakfast, you have several options to consider, and you might want to make this decision the night before. You can stop at the quick-service location at your hotel to grab a bite, wait until you’re in the park, or have pre-packaged items in your room that are easy to pack and eat in the park.

We particularly like to pack something in our park bag. This ensures that we have something easy that we don’t have to stress about finding food in the park (especially during Early Entry), and we don’t have to take more time at a restaurant when we’re trying to boogie to the park. If you’re planning to do this, make sure you’re packing it in your bag by 6 AM!

Figuring Out Our Coffee Situation

Finally, our last step in the process to get to the parks is COFFEE. Yep, we’re coffee junkies because coffee is life and energy for the long day ahead. A few questions we ask ourselves as we prepare to find our coffee are: Where is the nearest quality coffee? Is it open? Do we need to plan to bring our own? Do I need to set up a brew-timer? Do we have a gift card locked and loaded? What are the easiest drinks to order for minimum barista wait time?

Coffee is serious business that might take pre-planning. If you plan to use your in-room coffee maker, it might be important to consider that it may only make one cup at a time, and if there’s more than one person needing coffee, this could take a lot of extra time. On the other hand, do you want to take precious ride time stopping at Joffrey’s or Starbucks in the park? Check out the My Disney Experience app to help you make your coffee game plan.

Now that we all have our reservations, breakfasts, and coffee, let’s start moving to rope drop those Disney parks! It’s going to be a great day of riding rides, watching live entertainment, and more. Of course, you don’t have to be up at 6 AM to have a great time at Disney World, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to be prepared early.

For more Disney tips and tricks, keep following DFB!

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How do you get ready for a day at a Disney park? Let us know in the comments!