Disney without a plan, crazy?

[chrissyb2411]

I just tentatively booked a 6 night stay at CSR for February. This would be our third trip, second at this time of year. The first time we were half scheduled with an almost 3 year old, we had DDP and reservations for about half our stay. Second time was with our then 5 and almost 2 year old. DDP again. I had us scheduled pretty much every day with some sort of reservation, and didn't love the stress of needing to be somewhere at a specific time. Yuck.

So, this time kids are 9 and 6. We are going to have tickets for disney parks 3 days, no hopper, and want to visit universal (not sure yet on 1 or 2 days for that, if anyone has an opinion). No dining plan. We would maybe like to do one character meal, but otherwise will likely stick to quick service with maybe one or 2 sit down dinners. We are not foodies and sitting through lengthy dinners is not a strong point for our kids.

I don't want to plan this visit out, I really would like to just go and say "let's go to my tomorrow" or "today seems like a good day for Hollywood Studios". Does anyone do that anymore? Just go? Any tips on how to relax and go with the flow for a previous planning junkie?

 

[btk2333]

I just tentatively booked a 6 night stay at CSR for February. This would be our third trip, second at this time of year. The first time we were half scheduled with an almost 3 year old, we had DDP and reservations for about half our stay. Second time was with our then 5 and almost 2 year old. DDP again. I had us scheduled pretty much every day with some sort of reservation, and didn't love the stress of needing to be somewhere at a specific time. Yuck.

So, this time kids are 9 and 6. We are going to have tickets for disney parks 3 days, no hopper, and want to visit universal (not sure yet on 1 or 2 days for that, if anyone has an opinion). No dining plan. We would maybe like to do one character meal, but otherwise will likely stick to quick service with maybe one or 2 sit down dinners. We are not foodies and sitting through lengthy dinners is not a strong point for our kids.

I don't want to plan this visit out, I really would like to just go and say "let's go to my tomorrow" or "today seems like a good day for Hollywood Studios". Does anyone do that anymore? Just go? Any tips on how to relax and go with the flow for a previous planning junkie?

I could never do that- it would be too stressful for me! That being said I'm sure it can be done!

 

[heidiboo]

On our first day when we arrive we just grab the first park bus that shows up! That way we don't have to whine about the so and so bus not showing up. Then we pretty much plan the rest! Have fun!

 

[msmama]

I would say that the only problem with not planning would be your kids. Are they going to be okay waiting an hour for a ride that you could have gotten a FP+ for?

If everyone is go-with-the-flow, I see no problem with it. But if you actually want to ride a lot and see a lot of shows and get a lot of things done then some planning is probably in order.

My family (my son and I only) are very go with the flow. I generally know which parks I'm going to hit each day (at least start with if I have hoppers) and maybe make some meal reservations, but we are very go with the flow, too. That said, if you don't have hoppers and you decide to go to Epcot, but it turns out it's super crazy busy...you're stuck.

Personally, though we haven't had a FP+ trip yet, I think it'll work well for our touring style.

 

[GatorMama]

We haven't had a FP+ trip yet. But I'm DEFINITELY a planner. DH is not. He begged me to throw my plans out the window for two days on our last trip and by then middle if the second day, he was fine going back to my plan. The kicker for him? Waiting two hours for TSMM because the line was long when we got there because he wanted to sleep in. He HATES standing in lines. I win!

Soooo my suggestion would be to plan. But then throw out your plans one day and see how you like being free...

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think it sounds great
But I think with FPP and the crowds, I would at least try to pick parks using a crowd calendar and grab the FPs at 60 days. It doesn't have to take that long. Then let the rest happen.
I think minimizing ADRs is a good way to reduce some of the over scheduling
Have fun either way!

 

[anniemae]

I think it will be fine. If you have no expectations, you won't be disappointed. If you are go with the flow type people, you can just adjust your plans. "Oh Soarin is an hour wait? Shall we wait or come back?" Then just go from there. It actually sounds kind of nice, I don't like the stress of planning and having to be somewhere at a certain time, running around for our appointed times, too much like work.

I do think you should do a little planning if there are any "must-do's" for the group. You mentioned a character meal, so I would book that. You can always book some fp's for days you may be in a certain park for the big rides, no harm in booking them, you don't have to use them.

 

[hopemax]

We're not allowed to make FP reservations in advance, so as a result, we don't do a lot of pre-planning. But, I still make sure that we're visiting a park on a non morning EMH day. And if I had the option to book TSMM in advance, I would. I do visit kiosks at AK and MK, if we can find one with no line, otherwise everything else is on an "educated" whim.

So it's possible, but you do have to be limited in your expectations. If something is really important, go ahead and pre-plan that one or two rides.

 

[ms tom morrow]

It can definitely be done, and I'd guess that most visitors to WDW still do it this way (contrary to what the DIS would have you believe!). Part of the fun for me is planning the trip, but we had the opportunity to join friends for a last minute trip in March. I'm talking last minute... as in finding out 2 days before check in! I looked at the crowd calendars just to know, but once we were there we decided to do it completely spontaneously. We probably didn't do as much as normal, and definitely did some different things than normal, but it ended up being one of my all time favorite trips!

I think the key is to be flexible. For us, this was kind of a "bonus" trip, so we weren't focused on any must dos. If your family does have any must dos, I would go ahead and make FP+ reservations for those. The worst that can happen is that you don't end up using them, right? Think of the reserved FP+ as an option, but not the end all be all of the trip.

Hope you have a great time!!

 

[999DoomBuggies]

Oper,

A year ago this would be no problem. Nowadays a plan is a must to get the top tier rides. Make sure to open and close parks because it can be really hard to get certain fast passes the day of a park visit.

 

[Dano13]

It would b very tough to do with FP+. At least if you want to get on Soarin, toy story, etc.

 

[KimBean]

I just tentatively booked a 6 night stay at CSR for February. This would be our third trip, second at this time of year. The first time we were half scheduled with an almost 3 year old, we had DDP and reservations for about half our stay. Second time was with our then 5 and almost 2 year old. DDP again. I had us scheduled pretty much every day with some sort of reservation, and didn't love the stress of needing to be somewhere at a specific time. Yuck.

So, this time kids are 9 and 6. We are going to have tickets for disney parks 3 days, no hopper, and want to visit universal (not sure yet on 1 or 2 days for that, if anyone has an opinion). No dining plan. We would maybe like to do one character meal, but otherwise will likely stick to quick service with maybe one or 2 sit down dinners. We are not foodies and sitting through lengthy dinners is not a strong point for our kids.

I don't want to plan this visit out, I really would like to just go and say "let's go to my tomorrow" or "today seems like a good day for Hollywood Studios". Does anyone do that anymore? Just go? Any tips on how to relax and go with the flow for a previous planning junkie?

The only problem I see with your plan is the character meal. You probably won't be able to just walk up to this. So you would have to plan an ADR for that, which means at least for that day you would have to plan which park you are going to be in since you won't have park hoppers. Other than that there is no wrong way to do Disney. Everyone should do it the way that makes them feel like they are having fun. I just think a disproportionate amount of people here on the Dis are planners (such as I am) I think a lot of us are here planning because it is fun to us. So if planning isn't fun for you, you should do as little as possible!!

 

[SillyFamily]

Sometimes not planning can be a blast. As an avid planner i love to know where i am going and what i am doing. That being said i have had a great time doind almost nothing at disney but people watching while my sister draws. Since this isnt your first trip you know u dont have to do everything. I say go for it. think of silly things to do if you dont wanna wait for that ride. Get ur faces painted or how about a henna tatoo. How about prepping a scavenger hunt for every park? Lines shouldnt be terrible in feb just avoid the tour groups and youll be fine.


Ohhh actually i like the scavenger hunt idea. I think ill start a thread about that.

 

[aggieob1]

I think a mix of planning and free wheeling is probably best. On our last trip we planned everything, and while we never waited in line, or very long for a meal, it was lacking some spontaneity.
I think limiting your long meals is a good idea, but I think you should have a couple of those things planned ahead.
We booked fast passes early mornings thinking we could get more as the day went on, but frequently they weren't even needed. So in the end we had more fun on days we booked later fast passes, instead of stressing about missing our reservations early.