Going with NO LL or smartphone!

[slo]

I tip my hat to you OP - I really do and I hope it works out well for you.
I have wonderful memories of days past when I would make an itinerary for each day, and carry that paper around with me - it had parade times, ADR confirmation numbers and more. But in 2026, it's not that simple anymore. To answer your question, we have not tried it, and to be honest, it's not for us to do it that way anymore. We like to see all the ride times, do mobile food orders on our phone and more. Yes, you are on your phone a lot, but we are ok with that - my DD22 and I take turns so we aren't both doing it. My advice, even though I know you aren't looking for advice, is to be open minded to using your phone. Don't be to stubborn about it, because you may end up not having as a delightful of a trip that you are hoping to have. I hope that is not true, and that you have a wonderful time with lots of great memories

 

[lovethattink]

I tip my hat to you OP - I really do and I hope it works out well for you.
I have wonderful memories of days past when I would make an itinerary for each day, and carry that paper around with me - it had parade times, ADR confirmation numbers and more. But in 2026, it's not that simple anymore. To answer your question, we have not tried it, and to be honest, it's not for us to do it that way anymore. We like to see all the ride times, do mobile food orders on our phone and more. Yes, you are on your phone a lot, but we are ok with that - my DD22 and I take turns so we aren't both doing it. My advice, even though I know you aren't looking for advice, is to be open minded to using your phone. Don't be to stubborn about it, because you may end up not having as a delightful of a trip that you are hoping to have. I hope that is not true, and that you have a wonderful time with lots of great memories

OP posted on the previous page that it worked out for their family.

 

[slo]

OP posted on the previous page that it worked out for their family.

Thank you - I didn’t realize this was from last year.

 

[elvispursley]

We to did our trip last August without LL. We did. however. take our phones. We mainly just toured the parks and if we wanted to ride something and the standby time wasn't too bad for by our standards, we hopped in it. If it was too long, we'd circle back to it later. We had family with us who didn't want to do any TS restaurants so we would play meals by ear. It was kind of how it was back in the "old" days, with the exception of not everyone was in the standby queue

For our trip in July, we'll probably end up buying LLs as we don't know how the park crowds will be (arriving right after 4th of July). But for late August/September visits, we'll save our $$ and go sans LLs again.

 

[pindecisive]

...
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.
...

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.

10 years ago in 2015 I used the app but it wasn't really required. These days having no phone will handicap your family to a pretty significant degree as some spots are Mobile Order only (as in, you cannot walk up and order at all).