No planning...just go??

[Googelibear]

Yep, this November, we are going without a single reservation for meals. We want to go back to the way things were. I hope this isn't going to backfire.

 

[Spoiledraf]

Last year we called late Sunday night to get a room in September and got a 35% off discount for BC FOR the next 2 days. Went to MNSSHP that night and MK the next day then drove back to Atlanta Wednesday. I don't remember if we ate TS. It was fun to get the kids up early and tell them "Hey. You wanna go to Disney?"

 

[drp4video]

Just checked and lots of available rooms in value and moderate levels. So doable as far as room is concerned. You may pay full price, and as far as dining, probably have to eat at odd hours for TS; certain rides you won't get FP+ for, but there is always standby.

 

[gap2368]

I have done this a few times booked a room about an hour before I got to disney. I got really luck with a FP for 7DMT ( ai had a friend get 3 people in to BOG )

Disney has so many rooms I think I heard if you want to spend the night in each one it would take ( I am not really sure but something like 30 years maybe shorter or longer) with that many room there is sure to be some and anyone notice the sign right out of the MK that says too call this number to book a room they have it there so people do not have to drive home when they are so tired and they will stay.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Is it even possible to do this?
If we decided to wake up one morning, pack a suitcase, and drive to DW without a single resort Res, DDR, or FP...what are the chances we could find a room on property, eat in the parks or at a resort, or get a FP for a few of our fav rides?? No reservations...just show up!?

1. Yes.
2. High probability you'd find onsite availability. Near 100% if you are willing to stay offsite. It is even near 100% you'd find something reasonably priced and within 5 miles of WDW, probably even something quite nice.
3. 100% you'd be able to eat quick serve in the parks and resorts. Near 100% you'd be able to eat at a TS if you aren't picky, but are willing to use MDE when you arrive. Many restaurants will turn you away if you ask for a table at the podium without making an ADR, but a few places are almost always available. WDW gets a great many business travelers, so the convention hotels almost always have something available. The Swan and Dolphin- technically not onsite- also almost always have something available. Your odds of finding offsite dining are near 100%, including most hotels. when we eat offsite, we don't make ADR's. There are tons of great restaurants just off WDW property. (and some terrible ones) You'd also have strong odds of being able to eat at Disney Springs.

4. This is impossible to answer, especially since you don't list what rides you'd want. You can't walk up to any ride and just get a FP for it any more. Same day availability is greatest in the morning, but disappears as the day progresses. Still, I think FP availability for the teacups almost 100% certain right up until park closing almost every day of the year. It really depends what you'd want. You probably wouldn't be able to get most e-rides though.

Some FP don't typically have same day availability, so you'd have to wait in the standby line.

 

[poppinspenguins]

Besides the hotel, you should be fine.

We have day trips while vacationing in Tampa (so no hotel) many times, but we do very few table meals and go in lower crowd periods so fp, while nice, doesn't make or break trip.

To paraphrase Casablanca...maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but sometime the insane ninja style planning disney wants is gonna come back and bite disney in the butt. Lol

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We did last minute trips like this when we lived in Florida and were Annual Passholders. Sometimes I'd book a hotel on a Friday for that Saturday night - we usually had good luck finding a value or mod. (Or, if not, the Holiday Inn in Celebration always had availability).

We were always big fans of walking into Epcot guest services and taking whatever reservations were available on the sign out front. I'm not sure if this is possible any more, but we discovered some great restaurants that way! (In fact, our first trip to Yachtsman Steakhouse was on the suggestion of an Epcot CM, and it was a day-of ADR.)

 

[loves to dive]

As other's have said, yep, it's possible although I agree I'd book the resort before I left home. We never make ADRs before we go, like previous poster we just go to GS in the park we are in and let them find something for us or I jump on MDE while we are walking around and find something. You might not get a last minute FP for SDMT or Soarin but you should be able to get something and you can always stand in line, we do it all the time.

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

Not quite that last minute, but we have done trips with just like 2-3 weeks' notice. When we've done those trips, we don't bother with ADRs and usually just do CS meals. The minimally-planned trips are just me and DH, not with the kids. We get whatever FPs we can and just do rope drop and/or late nights. We've been enough that we can skip some rides if needed. DH and I did a quick 2-night trip in December... got an email about seriously CHEAP flights on Spirit, checked room availability and with like 2-3 weeks' notice was able to get flights for like $79/person RT (from Dallas) and a room at All-Stars for under $100/night (discounted). We did do one ADR TS because we wanted the CP package. It took a lot of trying/checking but did manage to get something. DH and I are going without kids again in October (F&W festival) and aren't planning on any TS meals. Just F&W booths and CS.

 

[tsme]

That sounds awesome to just pack up and go on a whim.

 

[BookGirl305]

q

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

There is a trip report over on that board right now about a family who booked their hotel as they waited on their flight. They seem to have no problem securing ADRs and FPs.

 

[bringmethathorizon]

one of our favorite trips.dw had her birthday as a holiday ( teacher).we got up the morning before went to work and while i was at work i made the decision .made a call to disney told them we would be there by 8/9 that night.dw got home from school we threw a couple of things in a bag and was gone.no planning ,no fast passes no nothing. we had a ball,if we got to ride something ,great if not we just walked around and enjoyed being there.

 

[minera]

If we didn't pay so much to go, I would totally do this! We love doing things on the fly, but when we spend so much money to go, we like to be sure we get what we want so we plan ahead! I am sure it is totally doable, as we saw many people why we were there that seemed to be going around with no plan since we encountered so many people asking basic questions. Good luck, and report back how it goes!

 

[mrzrich]

I am sure it is totally doable, as we saw many people why we were there that seemed to be going around with no plan since we encountered so many people asking basic questions. Good luck, and report back how it goes!

There is a big difference between OP who is going on the fly, but is knowledgable and the people you are describing. Those people book a flight and a room and think that when they arrive they can just get a walk up table to eat in the castle.

 

[k5thbeatle]

Is it even possible to do this?
If we decided to wake up one morning, pack a suitcase, and drive to DW without a single resort Res, DDR, or FP...what are the chances we could find a room on property, eat in the parks or at a resort, or get a FP for a few of our fav rides?? No reservations...just show up!?

You know, it would be really interesting for someone to do something like this and then write a full report on how it went. My bet is you wouldn't get far?

 

[SaintsManiac]

You know, it would be really interesting for someone to do something like this and then write a full report on how it went. My bet is you wouldn't get far?

Why wouldn't they get far?

 

[disneysteve]

We pretty much do this every trip. The only exception is we do book where to stay in advance, but not all that far in advance. As little as a few weeks sometimes. We rent a house offsite so that isn't something you can just show up and do like you can with a hotel. Other than that, we don't plan anything. No ADRs. No FPs. We don't plan out every moment of every day with military precision. We make it up as we go along.

It works perfectly fine. We just got back from a 12-day trip on Thursday and had a great time. This trip was a bit unusual as we were attending the DIS Unplugged 10th anniversary for a few of the days so there were a few planned events as part of that, but the rest of the trip was totally unplanned.

What we typically do is each night, decide where we want to go the next day and get 3 FPs. A couple of days, we didn't get our FPs until the same day. For example, on 7/20 we volunteered at GKTW in the afternoon. Afterwards, we decided to go to DHS so on the drive back from GKTW DW booked a couple of FPs to use when we got there.

We much prefer doing it this way rather than trying to plan everything out weeks or months in advance. That just isn't our idea of vacation.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

Possible yes... for me no. I just couldn't let go of the planning....

 

[RhodyChief]

While not quite as similar my wife and I decided to completely change our vacation plans to Disney two weeks before we'd go. I'm sure a little bit of luck was involved but we ended up staying at AoA-Little Mermaid which we really enjoyed, got all of the fastpasses we wanted and just about every dining reservation as well. It took some persistent checking but it worked out great and was one of our better trips!