Can I just show up at disney without a plan?

[Andrea]

I know this sounds weird, I have been reading about all the planning going into everyone trip and I love it. My husband will be working an event for his job in October, he has to be there for 10 days.

I was thinking about driving down on a Thursday night and spend Friday and Saturday in the parks by myself. Then drive home on Sunday.

Can i still just buy my tickets online and just "wing it". It will be the first or second week of October.

 

[danceintherain]

You seem to have been around here for a while, so I think you could probably handle it.
It really depends on what you plan to accomplish. There are Single Rider lines for most of the rides with FP, but some notable exceptions. e.g if you want to ride the Mine Train, you'll want to buy your tickets in advance and book a FP for it.

 

[Andrea]

I haven't been to any of the disney parks since all the changes took place. I normally go to universal at least once a year. I was thinking about Hollywood studios for sure.

 

[HulkBuster]

You seem to have been around here for a while, so I think you could probably handle it.
It really depends on what you plan to accomplish. There are Single Rider lines for most of the rides with FP, but some notable exceptions. e.g if you want to ride the Mine Train, you'll want to buy your tickets in advance and book a FP for it.

There are only 3 single rider lines

 

[Alesia]

There are Single Rider lines for most of the rides with FP

Nope.

There are single rider lines for Test Track, Expedition Everest, and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. That's it.

 

[LOL!]

Can i still just buy my tickets online and just "wing it". It will be the first or second week of October.

Sure you can. Disney hasn't eliminated lines you don't need a reservation for.

 

[magicbob]

Sure you can. Disney hasn't eliminated lines you don't need a reservation for yet.

Fixed it for you.

 

[danceintherain]

Nope.

There are single rider lines for Test Track, Expedition Everest, and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. That's it.

Sorry, I knew that...my brain glitched. I'm currently planning a trip with small kids so my brain is connecting that we won't need FP for the rides that we can't take the kids on, because we can single rider it to FP in general.

 

[MomofKatie]

You definitely can just go to WDW without planning. Most people, even since FP+, vacation at Disney parks having done minimal or no planning (DISers are a very, very small fraction of visitors to Disney parks).

Will you have an *optimal* experience, doing every attraction possible with little or no waiting, eating at your first choice TS restaurants, and having experiences that not everyone knows about? Perhaps not- but you will still have fun.

IMO, if I were you, I would do a tiny bit of planning- maybe reserve a FP or 2 each day, make an ADR for your very favorite restaurant (you can always cancel later), and make a rough decision which parks you'd like to do on which days. You will still be able to "go with the flow" if you want, but you will have a loose plan to make touring a little easier.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, you can wing it! Once you are there, if you want FP+, you can schedule them in the parks at a kiosk or even do it online on MDE. If you want to meet A&E, go on 7DMT or even ride TSMM, you may be looking at long lines, but if you don't care about those, you will be fine. I would suggest still trying to get FP+ for Soarin', ToT and any of the roller coasters if you want to ride them with shorter wait times (you will most likely be able to schedule these day-of if you don't care about the times available). We go several times a year and wing most of our days. I find it is much more relaxing!

 

[Andrea]

Thanks everyone I just looked up the park hours for October and it looks like the parks open about 9:00am and close around 7:30pm also. I know there will be a ton of conventions going on when I go. I will look into booking some FP+. As far as booking meals I am ok with just grabbing small stuff and keep going. I really think I want to do Hollywood studios and not sure about which other park. I might just do one disney park and one day at universal.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[jpeden]

My wife and I got off a HORRIBLE (non-Disney) cruise in Feburary this year. We were scheduled to fly out of Fort Lauderde that Thursday but the morning of we decided "why not go to Disney?" We had not been since we were both Children (over ten years ago) and I didn't even know FP+ was a thing (or MDE for that matter). So, imagine me trying to self-disembark a cruise ship while on the phone with Southwest changing flights to Orlando, tying to rent a car, and find a hotel. We had no plan whatsoever. Got to the airport, got in the car, and drove to Orlando. Checked in at the Hilton Bonnet Creek, bout tickets on MDE and picked them up at Guest Services at EPCOT.

All that to say, we had a BLAST!! Did the first day at EPCOT and the next day at MK. We had hardly any FP's and no ADR's. It actually renewed our love for Disney and we are going back this September for our anniversary. You can definitely go without a plan. Don't worry and have a blast!!!

 

[Hootch]

I looked at FP availability for the next day before our recent trip just to understand how easy it would be to switch our plans. Most of the attractions were available. Some had limited availability. You can still reserve FPs late in the process.

We split up some at Epcot. Our son was old enough to go out on his own. My wife and I split time doing the Phineas and Ferb game with our daughter.

I enjoyed just spending time looking at the details. Our Disney World vacations now involve seeing my in laws going to and from, visiting Disney, visiting Universal and visiting my mother at the beach. I welcomed the opportunity to just to experience the atmosphere.