Help me learn from our past mistakes!

[donac]

We just got back in Nov from a 8 day adults only trip. The first three days we only had 1 ADR. We played it by ear and did a lot of counter serve. The last 5 we were on the dining plan. We only had 1 ADR per day. We had a big breakfast and then snacked in the middle of the day.

My FP+ I kind of grouped them together. I did Splash and then an hour later BTMRR. This way we could take our time getting there and hit the 2 of them one right after the other. We always went back to the room to cool off. DH would take a nap and I would swim. There was one day we had a 4 ADR so we spent the entire day in the parks and after dinner went back to swim.

This is our 3 adults only trip and we loved it.

 

[hooch11bear]

I wouldn't stress about the ADR's. Our trips usually revolve around eating at several different places. We always schedule our ADR's and then plan our days around that. We don't usually hop between parks though. We will visit a park in the morning and then head out for a rest and back to the same park. We prefer to do that. Some don't like planning their days like that. We usually arrive at RD and schedule our FP's starting around 11:00 or so. Just so you leave enough time in between parks for travel on the day that you have two ADR's, you should be fine. We always rent a car and never have any issue with travel time.

 

[tink9702]

I feel less rushed about if I schedule FP+ all in a row. So early lunch then 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 FP+ OR 11, break for lunch 1,2. I'd definitely plan the FP+ for the three things you want to do the most and the first & second ride of the day the same so that's 5 things you'll definitely be able to go on. That's assuming your big meal of the day isn't lunch. If you have a lunch ADR I'd plan for 2 hours after that for a FP+. I also try to put rides that are together with FP+ on the same day in a row. So I'll group Thunder & Splash, Buzz & Space, or Peter Pan & Mine Train for example.

In Epcot I just schedule my FP+ for morning because I want to head to world showcase in the PM so the afternoon is very relaxed and unstructured. At the studios I feel like I'm rushing around no matter what because of all the show times they have. At AK I plan on rotating around in a circle either clockwise or counterclockwise and plan quite a bit of time between FP+. For example RD Safari, Kali at 11, Everest at 12, lunch, Dinosaur 2 or 3pm OR RD Everest, Kali at 10, Safari 1pm, Dino 3pm with the Lion King always following Safari. I've never done EMH though so that would mess it up I'm sure!

 

[srauseo]

I am doing a lot of ADRs on my next trip when it is just me and my sister - but that's what we really wanted to do! I was taking this as an opportunity to try out the places we never get to try with kids in tow. Also, we have been to the parks many times and plan to go back next year so we won't be devastated to miss something. I've got an arrival night at Jiko, brunch at Kona and dinner at San Angel the next day, BOG breakfast and HBD dinner the next, Boathouse the next, and Akershus breakfast and Via Napoli lunch on our departure day. As PPs have said, two people get around a lot faster than a group (especially with young children) and neither of us are strollers - we both walk super fast all the time. It's an effort for us to slow down for everyone else! We'll be hopping all over the place to our hearts' content.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Just from seeing reviews/posts/blogs a recurring theme I see when it comes to feeling rushed is the location of the person's next destination, whether that was for an ADR or for a FastPass+...and depending on your wants you may end up going from one side of the park to the other or from one park to the next.

That being said if you want to utilize your FastPass+ options for specific rides/attractions but they are not close together I would suggest spacing them out enough so you have ample time to get to them without feeling the bad rush. This goes the same for ADRs..if your restaurant is at one end of the park and your next FastPass+ is at the other end make sure you left enough time (and a lot of that depends on anticipated crowds and the pace of walking you want to do) to get there without feeling like you have to run there.

Most people will suggest you put your FassPass+ choices timewise and locationwise close together and that works for a lot of people but that depends on what you really want to use your FassPass+ for and if it's that important to you to increase your liklihood of getting a 4th pass-i.e. why use a FassPass+ for a ride you really don't want to go on but it was close by to your last ride you went on with FassPass+ so you booked it.

 

[autkidd]

Didn't read like the comments so sorry if this has already been stated.

1. Be flexible. Only have a few must do's each day.

2. We scheduled our adr's for dinner and typically around 7 or 8. That gave us a chance to be at the parks till around 3 or 4 and gave us plenty of time to grab a quick power nap and not be rushed to make the adr. Doing this all week we only missed one ride we wanted to do and that was Toy Story though we could have fit it in if we wanted.

3. Schedule a wild card day in the middle of the trip. We ended up just touring the resorts and did not enter a park. This was probably my favorite day as we spent time at the monorail resorts and just found some couches and sat and relaxed. It really helped us to still feel like we weren't being lazy by just staying at our resort but also allowed us to recharge our batteries to hit the back end of the trip hard.

 

[loves to dive]

I've been going with my adult son since he's been an adult (he is 35), we went when he was little too but for adult purposes here is our schedule. Wait for it, wait for it....... we don't do one. I know everyone is going to scream you can't go without FP and ADRs but trust me you can. Is F&G still going on while you are there? If so, you might want to hop over to Epcot just about every day/night just to taste from the booths. Last year we were there during May for F&G and only had one ADR and that was for tea at the GF because that puppy gets booked fast and I love it. As adults, the rides aren't that huge of a deal for us, if we get on one, it's great, if not, no big deal. I usually book our FP the night before, since that is usually when we decide what park we are going to the next day. My son is not an early riser so no rope drop for him, I'm usually up so I will head over to a park before he gets up and usually book the first FP for around 10:30. When we get to the park we go to GS and check to see what is available for TS that day, since I have an AP and he has military hoppers, the park doesn't matter and since we are adults the time doesn't matter, it can be a late lunch, an early supper, a late supper or something in between. We knew we were going to be tasting at booths last year, it was me, my son and my now ex-DIL so we skipped the TS for most of the trip. We stayed at AKL the first two nights of the trip and while we were waiting for our room we were wandering around the lobby and saw a menu for Sanaa, it looked interesting so we went to the front desk and had them book ADRs for the next night, the latest seating was what we got. One day while at HS we were walking by Sci-fi and realized we had never eaten there, it was around 11:30 so we walked up and asked about an ADR for lunch, they didn't have any but said we could wait for first come first serve, we ended up getting in right when it opened and beat most people who had ADRs. Again, one day while walking around Epcot, we decided we didn't want to snack at the booths so we dropped into Spice Roads and asked if they had anything open, they did, we sat down right away. The key is to just go with the flow, if you want to ride a ride and you don't have FP you decide is the wait worth it. If not, move on or see if you can grab a FP for later, since we have been going long before any sort of FP was even thought of, waiting in line is no big thing for us and we have been known to do it for 30 to 45 min and not even blink an eye.

 

[jmkjr72]

Last may we had a blast and this may we will have a blast also
What we do our adrs breakfast is pre park opening lunch none dinner between 5 and 6
We will plan all our fast pass before lunch
As for fp we look at them this way if we get there we get there if we don't no big deal but we also try to plan them in an order that we aren't back tracking