Going with NO LL or smartphone!

[Pluto777]

My family and I are planning to go with a handwritten pre-planned tour of the parks, no LL's, no smartphones, just some paper notes and a couple of meal reservations. If we catch a long line or two, we will just go to something less crowded. Not sure how it will pan out, but I hate the idea of spending even more cash on LL's and even worse being stuck with my nose in a phone screen all day. We want to enjoy WDW the same way we did 10 years ago and will spend extra time in our resort, take it easy and give it a whirl. Anyone else tried this?

 

[ucf_knight]

My family and I are planning to go with a handwritten pre-planned tour of the parks, no LL's, no smartphones, just some paper notes and a couple of meal reservations. If we catch a long line or two, we will just go to something less crowded. Not sure how it will pan out, but I hate the idea of spending even more cash on LL's and even worse being stuck with my nose in a phone screen all day. We want to enjoy WDW the same way we did 10 years ago and will spend extra time in our resort, take it easy and give it a whirl. Anyone else tried this?

I’d keep my phone to check wait times, mobile order, pictures etc. you can use your phone as much or as little as you’d like but I wouldn’t go in the parks without one nowadays. Even with reservations it’s helpful to check in on the mobile app when you’re getting close en route to your meal time.

 

[stevelle]

We just went Mar 8-15 and didn’t do any lightning lanes. We skipped rides we didn’t want to wait too long for, and did single rider for Rise of the Resistance (three times!). We did still take a phone for checking wait times and mobile ordering of food though.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yes, it can be done and enjoyed but likely will not be as efficient as being able to check wait times. You will likely spend more time in lines and get less done but if that’s your preference then it will work fine.

You will also wait longer for food most times as mobile ordering is often more efficient.

We don’t find we’re in our phones a lot because we choose not to be. We check wait times, make a plan then put them away. Some choose to look and modify plans often but that is not us.

The thing is, you will have no idea what your waits are in comparison to others or what the options are so if you’re okay and that’s your preference, you’ll have a great time!!

 

[brockash]

My family and I are planning to go with a handwritten pre-planned tour of the parks, no LL's, no smartphones, just some paper notes and a couple of meal reservations. If we catch a long line or two, we will just go to something less crowded. Not sure how it will pan out, but I hate the idea of spending even more cash on LL's and even worse being stuck with my nose in a phone screen all day. We want to enjoy WDW the same way we did 10 years ago and will spend extra time in our resort, take it easy and give it a whirl. Anyone else tried this?

Honestly that sounds really nice. I will say last week I felt like I was on my phone constantly booking and trying to get better LL times. - My 10 year old got annoyed by it and even said something. We're starting to rethink our touring style and may not use LLs anymore or even RD. - With the LLs, I just feel such a need to get my monies worth that it becomes a chore and RD success is so dependent on things out of our control (transportation, security, rides not being down etc) that we just started feeling like we're putting in a lot of work and starting the day with anxiety to rush to this, rush to that, that I think we'll at least cut down on RD.

 

[Narcoossee11]

My family and I are planning to go with a handwritten pre-planned tour of the parks, no LL's, no smartphones, just some paper notes and a couple of meal reservations. If we catch a long line or two, we will just go to something less crowded. Not sure how it will pan out, but I hate the idea of spending even more cash on LL's and even worse being stuck with my nose in a phone screen all day. We want to enjoy WDW the same way we did 10 years ago and will spend extra time in our resort, take it easy and give it a whirl. Anyone else tried this?

Be prepared. WDW is NOTHING like 10 years ago.
Enjoy what you can. Just have a plan B if crowds are too much. Be open to the changes.

I agree that it is a shame you have to pay for LL and more. But you don't want to 'waste' the money you have spent already for tickets.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I understand no LL, and perhaps REDUCED smartphone time. But no phone will only make for a really inefficient day. Without access to the estimated wait times (except for the few boards they have posted around the parks), you could be wasting a lot of time when skipping one long standby line looking for something else that might be (or might not be) shorter.

 

[LisaDKG]

OP isn’t asking whether anyone thinks this is a good idea or not - just has anyone else tried it?

I commend you and your family, OP! I wish I had the gumption.
The caveats to your plan that everyone is suggesting are by Disney design and would absolutely make things more efficient - but at the cost to your goals for this trip.

For us, going so often, and knowing we’ll get there again has definitely helped with reducing time on the phone as we are fine with skipping things or pivoting when we encounter a line we’re not up for.
BUT when we’re taking new people who’ve never done Disney like we do, and we really want to show them a good time, I sacrifice myself to be constantly on my phone to do all the pivoting behind the scenes. I can make it look pretty flawless - but it takes a ton of money, and time and technology.

I would really love a report back as I think we all would to even vicariously experience the nostalgia of a trip how we all used to do it.

Please let us know and have a great time, you intrepid groundbreaker, you!

 

[_19disnA]

I think you will be fine. Zig/zagging from one end of the park to the next just because you think some ride has a shorter wait time will add a lot more miles to your visit and may accomplish nothing. We tend to do one section of a park at a time and clearly some rides will always have longer wait times than others. The most popular rides tend to have the longest wait times but even those can be down for some maintenance issue or due to bad weather.

Disney parks are a lot more crowded then 10 yrs ago, so it will take longer to do the same amount of rides/shows than in the past. We tend to find that the posted wait times at the entrance to rides are all over the map. Some posted times clearly too short, while others obviously too long for the rate at which the line was moving. If that same information is what they use to populate the Disney phone app, doubt it will be any more accurate. Also, if some ride shows a low wait time, by the time you get there, others using their phone who saw the same thing might also have arrived before you did making the line longer.

 

[kwdw]

I really think you can be fine without LLs, but I think you need some phone use. You don’t have to constantly use it, but understanding wait times a bit is important. For example, you could be at Laugh Floor, thinking, hey, let’s head over to POTC, and not know that POTC is down or because Tiana and JC are down, POTC has a 75 minute wait. Now suddenly, that 35 minute wait at Buzz doesn’t seem so bad. You can quickly get frustrated if you don’t have a grasp of what is happening around the park. You don’t need to be constantly on the phone to do this.

And as much as I personally despise mobile order because I’m almost always solo and nobody is holding a table for me, I have to admit that it works well if your family can manage to use it. I use it at off hours when I know it won’t be challenge to get a seat after I pick up my food. On my last family trip, it was so useful. The lines move SUPER slow now because they are full of folks who don’t know the menu, have special requests, don’t have their credit card easily accessible, and frankly, it’s just unprepared newbies so the ordering time per party takes forever.

I hate the phone dependence, too. I hate the extra money for LLs which used to be free. But Disney always has more people in the parks now, and the tools it’s made do help you maximize your time and minimize your steps.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I’d want at least one phone in the group because of ride breakdowns. Every park except AK, will reliably have rides down every day and there are only a few in park wait time boards. If your crew spends even one day walking from broken ride to broken ride they are vividly going to remember the misery of that. And yes, multiple rides do go down at the same time, or have delayed opens. One phone and when you’re about to do a longer cross in a park you can peak real quick to make sure the rides are actually open.

You can absolutely still do the park without LLs as long as you have good planning. Completely phoneless? Sure, don’t know it will be a good experience but you know you’re gonna miss things and have accepted that so that’s good. Completely phone-less and have it feel like 10 years ago? No. Today is today. The parks have changed, the lines are longer, ops struggles during peak times with keeping rides running. Enjoy it for what it is, don’t chase it in your mind for what it was.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I’d keep my phone to check wait times, mobile order, pictures etc. you can use your phone as much or as little as you’d like but I wouldn’t go in the parks without one nowadays. Even with reservations it’s helpful to check in on the mobile app when you’re getting close en route to your meal time.

I tried to check in at Plaza in person and the CM literally wouldn’t do it. She told me to do it on my phone and when I said my app was having issues (it had been) she said get my phone out and try again and then proceeded to tap the screen on my phone to “show me” how to check-in

 

[wendlle]

I am going and not buying the LL, can't afford them for a family of 4.
But I will have my phone because it is my camera - I have to have my camera

Have a great time!!

 

[robinb]

Good luck with that.

 

[loves to dive]

I have never bought a LL of any kind and always enjoy my trips. I do have my phone with me since I sometimes will mobile order food and sometimes feel like a TS meal so I hop on MDE to find what is available that night. I rarely look at wait times on my phone, I just sort of do a circuit of the park (whichever I'm in) and look at the physical line. If it looks too long, I walk on by. I have my Kindle app. on my phone and use it to read while in line so do have it with me for that and the occasional picture.

 

[buzzrelly]

You don't have to purchase LLs. We rarely purchase anymore and get plenty done with other strategies, especially rope-dropping.

But I absolutely wouldn't go without your phone, if not for mobile orders and checking wait times, then just communicating with the other party(ies) in my family if we get separated or choose to split up for a ride or bathroom break. You don't have to be on it all day, but why make your life harder than it needs to be?

 

[TikiRob]

I’ve only entered a park without a plan once and it was nice for a bit. Thankfully we had a phone to check wait times, order food, and check the weather. I get no LL, but I wouldn’t go without at least one phone.

Also, when are you going? That could easily make your plan a terrible one if it is a holiday/break.

 

[Miffy]

My family and I are planning to go with a handwritten pre-planned tour of the parks, no LL's, no smartphones, just some paper notes and a couple of meal reservations. If we catch a long line or two, we will just go to something less crowded. Not sure how it will pan out, but I hate the idea of spending even more cash on LL's and even worse being stuck with my nose in a phone screen all day. We want to enjoy WDW the same way we did 10 years ago and will spend extra time in our resort, take it easy and give it a whirl. Anyone else tried this?

I haven't tried this, but a couple of things:

1. I take my phone and I'm not looking at it all the time. I'm looking at it for wait times, to take photos, to mobile order, and to see when the next parade/fireworks/show happens. There's zero need to have one's nose buried in it

2. I laughed at your "catch a long line or two." Unless you're there at a very very very not-busy time (maybe mid-August?) you are going to catch more than a long line or two. More like all the most desirable attractions, some with 2- or 3-hour waits.

Your only hope for riding the top-tier attractions is to (a) utilize Early Theme Park Entry--if you're staying on-site, that's 1/2 hour before park opening, which means leaving your resort room about 90 minutes before ETPE in order to be at the front of the line. This strategy will help you ride perhaps one or, if you're very lucky, two top-tier attractions at each park.

And (b) stay until park close and get in line for the biggest draw at each park shortly before closing time or during the fireworks show at MK or Fantasmic at DHS.

You haven't been in 10 years, so you haven't been to Pandora at Animal Kingdom and experienced Avatar Flight of Passage, arguably the best ride in all 4 parks. The line for this can be 3 or 4 hours long.

You also haven't seen Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at DHS. Star Wars Rise of the Resistance is an amazing attraction with innovations not seen before at WDW. The only way to ride this without a long line is at park opening, when it's sometimes not open yet, or at park close. Sure, you could do single-rider line, but that line skips two of the most fun parts of the attraction. I advise against it.

At Epcot, without ETPE you are going to stand in line forever for Frozen Ever After and/or Remy, two rides that are super popular and both have the most boring queues at WDW.

Surprisingly, even lower-tier attractions like the People Mover can have very long lines these days, depending on when you're there, what time of day, etc., etc., etc.

These are just a few examples. I hope you are researching what it's like these days at the WDW parks and planning accordingly. With a plan you can do this even without LLs. But without a smartphone? That seems like a way to ruin your park time.

 

[rdaky]

I have not tried it and I would not. Your plan sounds lovely and nostalgic. But the world has changed. Disney has changed. Technology is everywhere and Disney uses it heavily.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I have not tried it and I would not. Your plan sounds lovely and nostalgic. But the world has changed. Disney has changed. Technology is everywhere and Disney uses it heavily.

For us, it's all about Disney putting things behind a paywall that were included in the price of admission for years, while still continuing to increase the gate price at essentially the same rate they always have or even greater per year. We go to the parks. We do what we can, and we leave. We spend very little money in the parks anymore, and that's Disney's fault. They made what they believed were strategic choices, as did we.