Can you be spontaneous at WDW?

[jfeasel]

We are frequent visitors and actually have a trip planned between Christmas and New Years this year. However, we will be in Orlando in late June staying offsite and are debating on if we should hit a park for a day. My fear is though with the FP+, we wouldn't get much out of a one day ticket. Can you go to a park and be spontaneous anymore?!

We will be in Orlando for 3 days so we were already planning on going to Downtown Disney (or whatever it's called now) for a day but would consider hitting a park too. It will be me and my daughters ages 20 and 24 and we're all Disney fans.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Personally, I think it's all about the planning nowadays. Disney has taken away all spontaneity...

 

[bumbershoot]

Can you go to a park and be spontaneous anymore?!

Of course. Why wouldn't you be able to do that?

But you're going to be revisiting the days pre-FP, when the only option was to wait in line. At least now there are apps to track wait times unlike having to walk to the ride to find out. And you can do same-day FP+s if you wish.

 

[momof2n2]

Yes. For sure. But you may not get to do what you want... Planning seems to be more necessary than ever.

 

[Texas Mickey]

FPs are 3 hours of a day at worst, less if you get on the app and speed them up. I wonder what people do the other 21 hours?

 

[Iheartdreaming]

I think you can still make a spontaneous trip to Disney. We actually prefer to travel that way. Make sure that you are willing to be flexible through. Of course you are not going to be able to get into the most popular dinning places like Be are Guest, but there are plenty of other places to eat. I suggest using this trip to explore the "underrated" attractions that you might otherwise skip over. Looking around and eating at quick service options at World showcase are my favorite. Enjoy your trip!

 

[missnic]

Of course you can, especially if you're frequent visitors. It means that you don't necessarily HAVE to do everything. Prioritize what you really want to do, and catch the other stuff next time.

We frequently (even after fp+) go down for a day or two with just a few days notice. I'll set fastpasses, and decide if there is anything that I MUST do. I've never had any issues with getting fps for everything except A&E and 7DMT.. and even they pop up once in awhile.

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

I agree that if you just go with the flow and do the "overlooked this before" things instead of the popular stuff you can have fun of it.
My husband and I actually are planning the Scorcers scavenger hunt thing as we have never done that. When I went solo, I decided to do some of those "never done things" and they ended up being more fun than the popular stuff. Especially since you are all adults.
When I went back with my husband we did those "never done things" together and I had fun watching him see new stuff.
Those for me were "Carousel of Progress" "Tom Sawyer Island" "Incredibles Dance party" "Cinderella's Carousel".
Yes I know probably others are saying "Wow you never did that?" but I hadn't because the past trips I focused on the popular stuff.
It can be fun just sitting and watching the others stress, fire works and parades.
Ok ya I'm talking MK but even Epcot there is so much I did on my solo trip that I never saw before. Poking in places and talking to people that work in the countries. I keep saying I want to do a picture in each country with a CM and ask them about their country. Get their autograph. Maybe the next trip I will actually do it. DH will be there to take the picture too. LOL

 

[cakebaker]

We are frequent visitors and actually have a trip planned between Christmas and New Years this year. However, we will be in Orlando in late June staying offsite and are debating on if we should hit a park for a day. My fear is though with the FP+, we wouldn't get much out of a one day ticket. Can you go to a park and be spontaneous anymore?!

We will be in Orlando for 3 days so we were already planning on going to Downtown Disney (or whatever it's called now) for a day but would consider hitting a park too. It will be me and my daughters ages 20 and 24 and we're all Disney fans.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

It depends on what you consider what "getting much out of it is". Are you planning on buying your tickets at the gate? If so, depending on the park, atttractions will be somewhat to a great deal limited. If you're visiting the MK, you won't get A&E or 7DMT without a load of pixie dust- just about everything else should have sdfp availability- at least first thing in the morning. I'd go straight to a kiosk and book 3 fp's- after that, the day is yours to do with as you choose. With only 1 day, you'd probably want counter service (at least I would) so adr's aren't a worry. If you use rope drop to ride a few things you could even get in SDMT- or alternately- head to the other side of the park and ride line free for an hour or so.

At HS and Epcot- chances are you're not going to get all the headliners, but even buying your tickets the night before would help in that regard. Again, rope drop is essential to me with a 1 day trip and no planning.

I still believe a spontaneous, unplanned trip is quite possible. You simply have to adjust for the changes that fp+ brought. If you are willing to, you can still have a great time!

That all said, if your definition of "getting much out of it" is riding the headliners multiple times in a day or not using standby at all- especially in June when it will be busy- then I'd hesitate doing it. Because no, you're not going to be able to do that.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[itchin2go]

We are frequent visitors and actually have a trip planned between Christmas and New Years this year. However, we will be in Orlando in late June staying offsite and are debating on if we should hit a park for a day. My fear is though with the FP+, we wouldn't get much out of a one day ticket. Can you go to a park and be spontaneous anymore?!

We will be in Orlando for 3 days so we were already planning on going to Downtown Disney (or whatever it's called now) for a day but would consider hitting a park too. It will be me and my daughters ages 20 and 24 and we're all Disney fans.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

If you go at rope drop, I think you can have a good day. We went last Thanksgiving and got SO many rides done at rope drop. We used some of our FPs, but several of them weren't even needed. If you're not early morning people, consider staying later at night. I am one who doesn't think a successful trip rises and falls on FP (legacy or the new system). Now, successful for us is riding the stuff we want to at least once. Everybody's definition of successful is different.

Do book whatever FPs you can as soon as possible, but I don't think they will make or break your day. Don't despair!

 

[Austintatious]

Remember, you don't HAVE to have FP's. You can still use the regular lines. Some people think the posted wait times are exaggerated and that you won't really wait that long. Like the poster above just said, Rope Drop is your friend. People don't like getting up early on vacation and it still shows at the gate. I would also use the app to pull up and check wait times throughout the day, shoot for the ones that are normally very long but sensitive to park events like parades and fireworks where you might be able to take advantage of short windows with low wait times.

 

[samsteele]

Rope drop is absolutely your best bet. However, which park you go to will also make a difference. Magic Kingdom's headliners such as 7DMT and even Peter Pan will be hard nuts to crack. Epcot's Soarin' is tough later in the morning but at rope drop is absolutely doable. Animal Kingdom is easily your best choice. I would go at rope drop and head straight for Kili Safari. Maybe even ride it 2x in a row before moving on.

 

[gschon]

I'm usually pretty spontaneous about when I use the water slide at the hotel. It usually happens after I spontaneously have 2 beers at the pool bar.

 

[gschon]

I usually wont wait in a line that is posted over 30 min. However, I will consider a longer line when it is pretty obvious that the people near me showered that day.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I think it depends on what you want to do. If you want to do A&E, Mine Train or TSMM, you will probably be looking at some long lines. If you get there early enough, all other rides will probably have some FP+ availability. If you don't care what you ride or where you eat, you will be fine! We go to WDW a lot and keep it spontaneous for the most part. In fact, on our last trip, I cancelled all of our remaining ADR's on our 3rd day and winged it from there. We had a lot of fun and still managed to find food to eat without rushing around everywhere!

 

[itchin2go]

Rope drop is absolutely your best bet. However, which park you go to will also make a difference. Magic Kingdom's headliners such as 7DMT and even Peter Pan will be hard nuts to crack. Epcot's Soarin' is tough later in the morning but at rope drop is absolutely doable. Animal Kingdom is easily your best choice. I would go at rope drop and head straight for Kili Safari. Maybe even ride it 2x in a row before moving on.

SDMT will be a long line no matter what. That's how it goes with the newest, shiniest thing. On the other hand, I think Peter Pan is eminently doable at rope drop. Later in the day, you won't catch me there without a FP!

 

[larryz]

As soon as you know, get some tickets and sched some FP+s...

 

[Sparkly]

You still can, really. I did a solo morning at MK and managed 6 attractions from 9am-1pm, 3 of them FP. I found I had plenty of time between windows to do other stuff too. I could have done at least 8, but I skipped Big Thunder, Pirates, the Treehouse and Dumbo because I knew we would do them later in the trip.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

We are frequent visitors and actually have a trip planned between Christmas and New Years this year. However, we will be in Orlando in late June staying offsite and are debating on if we should hit a park for a day. My fear is though with the FP+, we wouldn't get much out of a one day ticket. Can you go to a park and be spontaneous anymore?!

We will be in Orlando for 3 days so we were already planning on going to Downtown Disney (or whatever it's called now) for a day but would consider hitting a park too. It will be me and my daughters ages 20 and 24 and we're all Disney fans.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Sure you can. Especially since you're not going with tiny kids or special needs individuals who can't handle waiting in a line...you can absolutely go to Disney for a day, do things, and have fun. Honestly all FP+ does is cut down on your line waiting time; it's not the only way to get on a ride. There are a few rides that may have long lines, and it's up to you whether you want to wait in them or not based on how much you like that particular ride, but I think the idea that you can't have a good day at Disney without 6+ months of planning is really overblown.

 

[MatzoBelle]

Rope drop, same-day FP+, and attractions like Tiki Birds and Hall of Presidents could make for a good day, but you will probably need to miss some headliners. If you are flexible as to park, Epcot might work well.