Are the days of strolling the parks..

[Cyrra]

gone? Hubby and I plan on heading back to the World next fall for Food and Wine. This will be our first trip ALONE and I was hoping for a more relaxed, easy paced adventure this time around. I'm starting to read posts about FP+ and ADR's 6 months out and I really want to know...is doing Disney by the seat of your pants gone for good?

We would be 2 adult travelers in our 40's who would like to experience the parks very un-commando style, eat good food when were hungry, not by our watch. Is this possible?

 

[Planogirl]

That depends.

If you don't feel the need to ride the really popular rides or eat at the really popular restaurants and also avoid the super busy times you can probably still tour in a relaxed way. We are much like you and enjoy the simpler attractions and also have good luck dining at many of the resort restaurants without ADR's. It can be done but I don't know if the parks can ever be taken at the leisurely pace that we used to take them. Crowds are just too huge.

 

[jdrais]

If you are flexible you can make it work. If you don't have a problem waiting in lines you don't need to do FP+. Eating you might not be able to get into the more popular places or have a long wait. If you do more counter service then you can get by.

 

[amg35]

We are two adults, 40, also going in October.

Food/wine will be crowded, but you can certainly eat and stroll your way through that. We plan to.

We are only making two or three ADR's and then plan on taking our chances with sit down dinners. We are super flexible with times, willing to try new places, and will sit at the bar for appetizers/cocktails for dinner if offered. We think we'll do pretty good with that plan.

We are lucky that we are there for 9 touring days and staying at Beach Club, so I think we can afford to be more leisurely with our touring. We do plan to hit each park once for rope-drop, then utilize fast pass for a different park in the evening.

We also want to just look at all the places/things in the parks that we usually rush past.

We plan to hang at the pool, resort hop...drink.

I still think it can be done leisurely, it just depends on your priorities. We certainly plan to ride all the rides that we want to, just more spread out throughout the trip.

And to be honest, maybe fast pass will be different come October.

Knock wood it works out for all of us!

 

[larryz]

F&WF can be an easy stroll from food venue to food venue.

If you concentrate on Epcot and DHS, you can always spend time in the parks, then walk over to WS in Epcot for dinner.

If you don't mind a bit of a trip to eat, you can plan ALL your meals around WS, and do all your park touring based on finishing your day at Epcot. Of course, that means you'll need APs or PH'ers...

 

[Cyrra]

Let me know how it goes Amg35. You just described "our" style of vacation. We do plan on doing 10 days, so I'm hoping that will lead to the more napping/drinking/lounging/eating style we are looking for this time around. All our other trips we felt we had to pack as much in as possible since we traveled with others and didn't want them feeling they missed out on something, but this time around we swore we'd do it our way. I want to eat good food (ie Ohana's), see the main shows (ie Wishes, Fantasmic), catch the main rides (even if its just once), but mostly smell the flowers kind of trip.

I understand that most peeps come to these boards to find ways to maximize their limited time, but I was getting kind of spooked seeing ALL the extremely advanced planning threads.

Thanks!

 

[minnie mum]

While I completely agree that a leisurely vacation is possible, and strolling thru Epcot during F&W is doable, I would add a couple of cautions. F&W coincides, in the beginning at least with free dining, historically. This can reduce the number of tables available for walkups. But it doesn't eliminate them all. Also, if you want a more relaxed experience, I'd avoid Epcot on the weekends. WS tends to be a madhouse.

 

[amg35]

Let me know how it goes Amg35. You just described "our" style of vacation. We do plan on doing 10 days, so I'm hoping that will lead to the more napping/drinking/lounging/eating style we are looking for this time around. All our other trips we felt we had to pack as much in as possible since we traveled with others and didn't want them feeling they missed out on something, but this time around we swore we'd do it our way. I want to eat good food (ie Ohana's), see the main shows (ie Wishes, Fantasmic), catch the main rides (even if its just once), but mostly smell the flowers kind of trip.

I understand that most peeps come to these boards to find ways to maximize their limited time, but I was getting kind of spooked seeing ALL the extremely advanced planning threads.

Thanks!

Will do! Honestly, October can't come soon enough, having a terrible week!

Also, we will be there during the last week and half or so of October arriving 10/21, so I agree with the poster above me, we will probably avoid food/wine Friday and Saturday.

I think the crowds will be pretty good when we go. Earlier in the month is more crowded due to fall breaks for schools and Columbus day.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

For character meals and popular restaurants like O'hana you will want adr's. If you are going during a free dining time, you'll want adr's.

Otherwise I'd think you could wing it. Good luck!

 

[rustyanchor]

Honestly my boyfriend and I found that FP+ worked to our advantage in a big way and made touring MORE relaxing for us on our most recent trip. No more rushing around for fastpasses, and when I felt like changing a FP+ to another ride or time I was able to do it easily. It felt unreal to be able to arrive at Hollywood Studios in the afternoon and walk on to Toy Story with our FP+.

I don't see how the FP+ would make any difference at all when it comes to Food and Wine. But I do agree with others on avoiding it on the weekends. We went on a Saturday last year and the crowds were practically unbearable by late afternoon.

As far as the ADRs, to me (and to many others, apparently) it seems like they are much easier to obtain now that there is a penalty for not cancelling the day before. Now people aren't able to "hoard" ADRs unless they want to pay for it. If I were you I'd pick 2 or 3 restaurants that you KNOW you definitely want to eat at and make ADRs for those. You have until the night before to cancel if you change your mind. Then there are plenty of restaurants where you should be able to walk up for a table if you want to, especially if you go at a less popular meal time like a late lunch or early dinner.

I think you will be fine, especially if you're already going into it with a relaxed attitude.

 

[ashg8r]

See, I think this is the type of vacation FP+ is perfect for. My DH and I did this last Oct, and even though FP- was still an option, we only used FP+. Just select FP+ for 1, maybe 2 rides you know you want to do (Soarin'?) and if you don't use them no biggie, but it gives you the opportunity it gives you the opportunity to ride a couple things without a wait.

 

[morethananyonex]

I agree that a vacation where you don't want to do too much riding and more strolling is probably going to be better than in the past with FP-. The ADR issue has been around for years, if anything the new credit card policy has made dining more flexible as of late as well.

You do need to be able to at least pick a FP window that you can reasonably make if you don't want to do stand by, but you don't need to do it 2 months in advance. You're not going to be able to walk up to a ride whenever you feel like and ride with little wait, but you couldn't do that before either.

If you have a specific popular restaurant you want to eat at, one that you'd be upset if you missed, I would make an ADR for that too. 6 AM 180 days out really isn't necessary for most things, it's just the super popular ones that you'd want to do that for.

 

[dvczerfs]

Let me know how it goes Amg35. You just described "our" style of vacation. We do plan on doing 10 days, so I'm hoping that will lead to the more napping/drinking/lounging/eating style we are looking for this time around. All our other trips we felt we had to pack as much in as possible since we traveled with others and didn't want them feeling they missed out on something, but this time around we swore we'd do it our way. I want to eat good food (ie Ohana's), see the main shows (ie Wishes, Fantasmic), catch the main rides (even if its just once), but mostly smell the flowers kind of trip.

I understand that most peeps come to these boards to find ways to maximize their limited time, but I was getting kind of spooked seeing ALL the extremely advanced planning threads.

Thanks!

been doing it for years now. we go in September, I make an adr for every night for diner. we are early risers so we hit rope drops, am emhs and hit the head liners. only take you about two hours to hit most of them. by 10-11, we find a bench.around 12-1pm we head back for a nap, sit on the balcony at okw and just breath in the florida air. I make our adrs for around 6-7 but a lot of the time if you feel like eating around 5, most places can squeeze you in. we have been going down at least twice a year and last year it was four times so for us if we don't get on peter pan, we will hit it next trip. have a great trip!!!!

 

[Wendybird55]

After having been to Disney 20 or so times, I prefer the leisurely route. In fact the past few trips have been more on the leisure side and we have a now 7 year old son!

F&W is less hectic in the afternoon..it gets more crowded in evening. The past 2 years we enjoyed F&W afternoons. We enjoy the rides, but do not HAVE to go on all of them. There are some favorites we do in the morning, but the rest of the time we go with the flow and go on those attractions with short wait times. Instead we enjoy just soaking in the Disney spirit and seeing enjoying things a they come.

With a child, I do make ADRS at the 180 day mark as he enjoys some of the popular character dining. But I also found over the past few years that we were able to easily change ADRS and book other places at the last minute while at Disney. As PP said, if you're not overly picky about where or when you eat, you should be able to get some nice sit-down meals. I've found places like Kouzzina and Marakesh (in Morocco) are usually not over crowded and tend to have walk up availability. More than once were able to get into Via Napoli as a walk up with no wait time during lunch. If you want the VERY popular restaurants you need to book ADRs, otherwise, there is always someplace to eat a Disney - you won't starve.

My favorite way to enjoy Disney is to have a basic plan with ADRS for those things we REALLY want to do and then be flexible and let the days come as we want and enjoy. I think sometimes people feel they need to see and do everything Disney has to offer that they forget to take the time to relax and just enjoy the Disney experience.

If you're flexible you'll be fine and will have a great time.

 

[bcrook]

While I completely agree that a leisurely vacation is possible, and strolling thru Epcot during F&W is doable, I would add a couple of cautions. F&W coincides, in the beginning at least with free dining, historically. This can reduce the number of tables available for walkups. But it doesn't eliminate them all. Also, if you want a more relaxed experience, I'd avoid Epcot on the weekends. WS tends to be a madhouse.

Yes on all of this. Double yes on the bold.

I was there during Columbus Day week this past year, and the only really "light" days at Epcot were Wednesday and Thursday. Kidani was completely booked for the week.

We had a difficult time finding walk up tables.

Restaurant Marrakesh is always available (and I am glad because I love it).

 

[Cyrra]

Thanks everyone for the input, I didn't realize that there is now a penalty for not cancelling your ADR's. I agree that probably does open up more availability since peeps will be less apt to book and no-show. I'm ok with booking a few ADR's and building my day around that. I was probably just getting caught up in all the FP+ frenzy that's going on right now. Hubby has already stated that mid-day is for napping and hitting the pool so I figure if we get moving in the am, rest in the afternoon, catch an ADR and the evening shows we will have the Disney experience we want. We will be going for 10 days AND staying on property so hitting F&W during the week will be easier to do.

Thanks bunches!

 

[PJ]

I think you specifically mentioned Ohana? If so, I'd definitely make an ADR for that one. We've been here for the Winter and had to cancel our Ohana ADR in December for illness. Even with 3 more months down here haven't been able to snag another one (unless we eat at 8:30 - too late for me for that much food).

 

[disnut8]

Thanks everyone for the input, I didn't realize that there is now a penalty for not cancelling your ADR's. I agree that probably does open up more availability since peeps will be less apt to book and no-show. I'm ok with booking a few ADR's and building my day around that. I was probably just getting caught up in all the FP+ frenzy that's going on right now. Hubby has already stated that mid-day is for napping and hitting the pool so I figure if we get moving in the am, rest in the afternoon, catch an ADR and the evening shows we will have the Disney experience we want. We will be going for 10 days AND staying on property so hitting F&W during the week will be easier to do.

Thanks bunches!

Quite honestly, we don't make any ADRs during the Food and Wine Festival because we just eat all day long at the booths. We once went during that time and met with my father and stepmother for their last day (we had just arrived). We toured Animal Kingdom in the morning and my father wanted Rainforest Cafe for lunch. So, to make him happy, we went and had a nice meal. Then they left and we moved over to Epcot and the Festival. We couldn't enjoy anything there since we were still stuffed from the lunch. Since then, no ADRs!

Also, we tend to avoid the Festival on the weekends as well but if you want to see some interesting things, go on a Saturday night, don't eat at the booths but at the countries' counter service (recommend Lotus Blossom Cafe) and just have fun watching what people do. It's not for the more conservative people but if you know what you are getting into, it's an experience you will never forget.

 

[dvczerfs]

Quite honestly, we don't make any ADRs during the Food and Wine Festival because we just eat all day long at the booths. We once went during that time and met with my father and stepmother for their last day (we had just arrived). We toured Animal Kingdom in the morning and my father wanted Rainforest Cafe for lunch. So, to make him happy, we went and had a nice meal. Then they left and we moved over to Epcot and the Festival. We couldn't enjoy anything there since we were still stuffed from the lunch. Since then, no ADRs!

Also, we tend to avoid the Festival on the weekends as well but if you want to see some interesting things, go on a Saturday night, don't eat at the booths but at the countries' counter service (recommend Lotus Blossom Cafe) and just have fun watching what people do. It's not for the more conservative people but if you know what you are getting into, it's an experience you will never forget.

we like to call Saturday night at f&w amateur night. some of the best entertainment you will find!