Although the show is fun to see, the real reason to wake up early and be at the park for opening (aka Rope Drop) is that the first few hours each morning have the lightest crowds of the day.

By using a combination of FastPasses and hitting your favorite attractions first, you can cover a lot of ground in the first 2 hours that the park is open.  As you get closer to noon the parks really start filling up and by early afternoon during the busy seasons, the parks can be near their capacity and the waits for attractions are their longest.

During early afternoon, you are best served by heading out of the park to swim in your Resort pool or take a leisurely lunch, or even a nap.  Then head back to the parks in the evening to enjoy the attractions at night.

This approach will allow you to see and do more than you could ever accomplish if you got to the parks at 11:00 AM and stayed until closing.  It really is amazing how much you can see and do in the first two hours that the parks are open.

One last tip: To really make the most of your morning avoid the park that has Morning Extra Magic Hours.  Although the park does open an hour earlier, it drives a larger number of people to that park and you may actually accomplish less even with the extra hour due to the additional crowds.