Can I plan a trip in 3 weeks or am I crazy??

[mrsgthatsme]

My husband unexpectedly has been given some vacation time in three weeks and will not have any more time off for a considerable amount of time due to the opening of the facility where he works. As a result, he will not be able to take a summer vacation with us. We have been talking about going back to Disney for a while now, and so we have been throwing around the idea of being uncharacteristically spontaneous and going on a last minute trip to WDW during this unexpected time off. Flights and hotels look good, but wondering if it would even be possible to plan a trip in that amount of time in terms of the parks. We haven't been since fast passes were eliminated, so I wasn't sure if advanced planning was more or less crucial with the current system. We are not big foodies, so don't have a lot of must do's in terms of dining reservations. For background, we will be traveling with two teens. Is this a decent option or just plain crazy?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Some of our favourite trips were last minute trips! Go for it!!

I would recommend d reading this thread to help guide you through some of the changes.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/planning-tips-for-your-disney-world-trip-start-here.3873895/

 

[Minnie1222]

It's much easier now to plan a last minute trip with Genie+, Individual Lightning Lanes, and the new ADR system.

 

[fly girl]

I say go and have fun!!

Flights/hotels look good, G+ you cannot book until night prior, and ILL the day of ... so the stars are aligning for your trip.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I would go for it! You will have a blast even without a ton of planning.

 

[luvallprincesses]

We also just decided to go four weeks from now. I am a type A huge planner for our Disney trips but decided to just wing it this trip: no meal ADRs, no planning which park per day (yay to no park reservations needed) and am totally looking forward to the spontaneity for a change!

 

[BeachMouse1]

Go for sure. If dining is your thing it seems to me reservations and easier to get almost anywhere these days. Go don’t stress and just enjoy being there. Everything else will fall into place

 

[shosh1530]

Most of my trips are fairly last minute. Flights are usually the biggest hurdle, so if that is aligning, go for it!

Some dining reservations maybe booked up but even on our first trip to WDW last spring break (planned about a month in advance) we were able to get most places we wanted.

I found watching youtube videos about how to use Genie+ very helpful. Also read up on the process for virtual queues if you want to ride things like Tron and Cosmic Rewind. It was all very doable.

 

[nighttowll]

Definitely, possible. We leave this weekend, and we only decided to go about a month ago. I even got all the adr we wanted, and I have my customized detailed Touring Plans ready.

I’d say the main thing is to learn about Genie+ LL, ILL, and VG. Basically, all the different ways you can now book a ride in place of FP. Some are paid; some are free. Genie + LL bookings were the hardest thing for me to wrap my head around. I finally found a blog post on Touring Plans that explained it where I understood exactly how it all works. The thing is you can’t book any of it ahead of time, so you’ve got plenty of time to read up. You can only make ride reservations day of, so it makes last minute trips now way easier than when you needed to figure out FP in advance.

I also figured out that the way they do it now, makes it where it might not even be worth trying to get “FP” on certain days depending on when you are going and what you want to ride. I guessed before I researched that I’d pay for Genie + every day, but I’m actually only going to do it for one park, and even then, I think it’s only going to help with 1 maybe 2 rides.

 

[mrsgthatsme]

Thanks for the encouragement! We booked it!

 

[TinkAgainU]

Hooray - you'll have a blast. Just download the Disney World APP (My Disney Experience - for WDW) on your phone and play with it - it shows TIPS (standby and genie+ time for rides for example) with a great map - even a pull down for where you are relative to the nearest Restrooms. Make sure you know how to Mobile Order food (you can play with that ahead of time to see how to check Menu's) - and as mentioned above, know how Virtual Queues (only a few rides - but Good rides) and Genie+ work. If you read a couple articles on VQ and G+ and play with the App, you'll know more than half the people there already lol.

 

[disneydreamer781]

Sure! I've done it in about 3 weeks. DH would be starting a new job and we knew any significant time off would not be forthcoming that year so off we went. It was a bit hotter than we had originally planned to go but we had a great time. We went in early June and stayed at POFQ.

 

[slo]

OP….your post reminds me of our 2021 trip. My DH surprised me with a WDW trip for my birthday and we had about 3 weeks to plan (our last trip was 2012). This trip was a month after Genie+ started, so I had to plan the trip and learn about Genie+ in a short amount of time. Everything went smooth and we had a great time. I’m sure you’ll have a great trip too.
Have fun

 

[GoingSince1990]

I loved the pre booked FPs, but the flipside is that their demise makes a last minute planned trip much easier. And it’s actually kind of fun not having ADRs and just seeing what becomes available on the app during the day; you may end up trying somewhere you’ve never been, and liking it.

 

[Upatnoon]

My husband unexpectedly has been given some vacation time in three weeks and will not have any more time off for a considerable amount of time due to the opening of the facility where he works. As a result, he will not be able to take a summer vacation with us. We have been talking about going back to Disney for a while now, and so we have been throwing around the idea of being uncharacteristically spontaneous and going on a last minute trip to WDW during this unexpected time off. Flights and hotels look good, but wondering if it would even be possible to plan a trip in that amount of time in terms of the parks. We haven't been since fast passes were eliminated, so I wasn't sure if advanced planning was more or less crucial with the current system. We are not big foodies, so don't have a lot of must do's in terms of dining reservations. For background, we will be traveling with two teens. Is this a decent option or just plain crazy?

I'm confused, you said you are planning a last-minute trip but then you say it's not for 3 weeks?

Since you have already been, you already know what you'd likely want to see, so you'd know where to start if you arrived at WDW tomorrow. The strategies of rope drop and hitting big rides before park close are still the same.

With 3 weeks to go, you have plenty of time to decide if you are interested in paying extra to skip lines and learn how the Tron and Guardians of the Galaxy lines work. For your style of touring, you may not even need to skip lines. Knowing your options will out you ahead of the game, of course.

For places to eat, you can look at what quick-service places interest you and what reservations are available right now. Also, reservations open up all the time, so keep looking. You also have time to explore online ordering, which may not have been around when you last visited.

Some people love to plan out every minute of their trip, but that can also bring a lot of needless stress when things go a bit sideways.

Have a great time on your trip!

 

[saraheliz]

Glad to see you booked it! It's totally doable, even more now with dining reservations easier to get and no pre-booking of FP.

 

[Giraffe_Zen]

I've planned two past trips in less than two weeks and they were some of the best trips ever.

Have fun!

 

[foolish-mortal]

Last minute, unexpected trips are the best!