How do Floridians plan WDW trips? Just moved here!

[Ariel1029]

Hiya! My family and I just moved to Florida. We are seasoned WDW people, and are excited to buy FLORIDA annual passes! But I have some questions! How do Floridians plan?

Coming from out of town we always stayed onsite and enjoy being able to make dining reservations and fast pass selections in advance. Now that we live here, we plan to do some day trips, or maybe go spontaneously.

How does this work with picking food and rides in advance? Is there a secret trick to it, or we just have grin and bear it with what options are available?

I have been visiting WDW for nearly 20 years now, since I was 2! I'm excited to be able to visit more often with my son and husband; I'd love to hear any tips, tricks, and advice from Floridians who go a lot too!

Thanks DISboards!

 

[Texas Barbie]

Hiya! My family and I just moved to Florida. We are seasoned WDW people, and are excited to buy FLORIDA annual passes! But I have some questions! How do Floridians plan?

Coming from out of town we always stayed onsite and enjoy being able to make dining reservations and fast pass selections in advance. Now that we live here, we plan to do some day trips, or maybe go spontaneously.

How does this work with picking food and rides in advance? Is there a secret trick to it, or we just have grin and bear it with what options are available?

I have been visiting WDW for nearly 20 years now, since I was 2! I'm excited to be able to visit more often with my son and husband; I'd love to hear any tips, tricks, and advice from Floridians who go a lot too!

Thanks DISboards!

I don't have an answer, but I sure am jealous!

 

[OKW Lover]

It kind of depends on how close to the parks you are. If you're a long drive away, then its mostly the same as before you moved to FL.

OTOH, if you live very close to the parks there's no planning at all involved. Just go when the mood strikes you.

 

[glassslippergirl]

Life-long Floridian here. Welcome!

First thing you need to remember is that you will be going more often, so not every day has to be the pinnacle of planned perfection. We do a mix of spontaneous and planned trips. Our most recent trip in May I planned out meticulously with all of our desired FPs and ADRs, but sometimes we wing it, just drive up, eat CS (or even-- gasp!-- off property), and ride what we feel like when we feel it. We've also made ADRs on while driving to the parks. If you're flexible on your times, you can get in to most restaurants with a day or two's notice. For the highly desirable places, I've gone on MDE and said, "Okay, is this place available in 180 days? Then, we will go then-- whatever day that may be." It's a real option when you live nearby and have more park time. I'm not an FP+ expert, but I'd imagine all the same is true with making FP+ selections.

We really like going for special events, like certain Eat to the Beat concerts, specific Candlelight narrators, and certain SWW celebrities. This is a special option you'll have living close by.

Happy to offer any other tips about Florida life if you'd like. Best wishes.

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

Hey, welcome to Florida! Sure is hot, right? It's okay, you'll get used to it. I moved here from New York City. Takes some getting used to

I live in a suburb called Pembroke Pines, which is about 3 and a half hours South of WDW. Pretty close to Miami. We have APs, but we prefer to stay on-site when we go. We do not plan far in advance at all. Our trips, at most, are planned about a month or two in advance. With perserverance, we get all of the ADR's we want (including BOG), and booking a FP ahead of time is never a problem for us. I'd suggest getting an AP. You get good hotel discounts!

In the off season, they do a thing for FL residents called "discover disney tickets" It's a 3 day pass for $139, and you can add a 4th day or like $20. A big favorite of ours before we switched to AP's

 

[Bree]

I three hours south of WDW. Planning is sort of the same. I am NOT a road trip person so we always stay at least two nights onsite. Rooms aren't booked too far in advance since I wait for AP or FL resident discounts. FP+ is still 60 days out since we stay onsite. I don't book that much dining because we like to eat when we get hungry LOL!!!

 

[UCFGrad01]

We really like going for special events, like certain Eat to the Beat concerts, specific Candlelight narrators, and certain SWW celebrities. This is a special option you'll have living close by.

Same here. It's nice to go for a day. Or a few hours. Or a concert and dinner around World Showcase. It's also nice to go out in the evening when the parks are open late, after it has cleared out a bit.

Every once in a while, we plan a random day (usually when it's nice and cool outside and not too busy) to go and we'll set up fast passes a couple days in advance. You can usually snag last minute reservations without too much of a problem.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I grew up in NE FL and went to school at UCF, so when we had APs, we would usually book a few months in advance, but when I was at UCF (and a CM!!) we just went whenever.......but there's nothing as magical as staying on property, even when I was at UCF and a CM, we usually took a Christmas trip (right after finals!) and it was great! We also became line snobs, only waiting at MOST 25 min, and it usually always happened to be for BTMRR!

I would do as suggested, have your eyes on a few hard to get restaurants WAY in advance, but also, I think you can do FP+ 30 days in advance? So you can always play around prior to your getting there......I mean, you can also see what's available when the mood strikes you, seeing that all of us play around while we are there with ADRs and FP+ too.....

 

[LuitaChris]

We are an hour and a half west of WDW! We go a lot just to walk around Downtown Disney, have dinner at 'Ohana, or at Christmas time to resort hop and look at the decorations. As for planning a vacation, we are actually doing that now. Planning on taking our daughter for the first time next Fall. I would think the only real differences are that you don't need to worry about airfare/Magical Express and you could make your arrival day a full day at the parks if you would like. Other than that, I'm sure it's pretty similar.

 

[CAS239]

It's nice being a Florida resident with an AP and able to go pretty frequently.

A lot of people only go to Disney a maybe once every year or few years, so when they go they need to do everything they possibly can and dine here and there and stay on site.

For us being able to go often, it's the opposite. We don't stay in the park from opening to close or try to rush here and there. We rarely dine in the park and have only stayed on site once.

You book 30 days out if an AP staying offsite. Still can book ADR's far in advance. It's pretty much the same as anyone who lives out of state, except you're not pressured to do everything cause you'll likely be back relatively soon

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hiya! My family and I just moved to Florida. We are seasoned WDW people, and are excited to buy FLORIDA annual passes! But I have some questions! How do Floridians plan?

Coming from out of town we always stayed onsite and enjoy being able to make dining reservations and fast pass selections in advance. Now that we live here, we plan to do some day trips, or maybe go spontaneously.

How does this work with picking food and rides in advance? Is there a secret trick to it, or we just have grin and bear it with what options are available?

I have been visiting WDW for nearly 20 years now, since I was 2! I'm excited to be able to visit more often with my son and husband; I'd love to hear any tips, tricks, and advice from Floridians who go a lot too!

Thanks DISboards!

Decide to go to Disney.
Check MDE. Book what is available that we want to do. Switch times if necessary since sometimes better choices can be found after you book since they only kick out 4 options.

I have done this at 30 days. I have done this same day at 11am.

What is different is that there is no pressure we feel.

We own DVC, so we have also done an on site stay.

And yes, you grin and bear it. Obviously your choices are greater the sooner you can book. If we know we are "spontaneously" head over, it would be silly to not check for available fast passes. The trick is that MK is the best for this as you can get almost anything. (Not mine train, a and e, possibly parades and wishes and also maybe not a mountain or two.)

Going a lot allows for a different kind of strategy as I don't "need" to ride a specific ride every time I head over.

I have sometimes booked fastpasses for random days ahead of time. Cancelling if we don't go, of course.

 

[Networth]

Native who has lived all over the state from the Panhandle to Jax, Gainesville, Ft Lauderdale and Miami.

Anyway, we will make long trips usually once a year (see sig). This is where we get the BOG or CA grill ADR's etc. Other times we do spontaneous trips throughout the year like you asked about. Five weeks ago we spent a weekend at the CR and three weeks after that a weekend at the GF.

On those trips we go in with out caring to do it all because well we have seen most of what Disney has to offer over the years and we know without a shadow of a doubt we will be back. So not getting that coveted ADR or FPP etc doesn't matter all that much.

We normally have seasonals because who wants to go to Disney during black out times when you have a choice. Obviously getting AP's or seasonal passes will depend on your lifestyle/job/family. Now at least you have the option. Along with the option to make monthly payments on the tickets at a lower cost than non-residents.

I have never purchased a DDP but have had a TiW card as long as they have existed. I would suggest picking one up if your planning frequent visits.

Welcome to Florida.

 

[Ariel1029]

Thanks everyone! We were annual passholders before we moved, and we opted to renew for a FL Seasonal Pass. I think several of you hit on what I was missing (as a new Floridian)- I don't HAVE to do everything each trip (like I would when we were from out of state), because I have more opportunities to go. That will be my new mindset planning our trips now!

I'm glad to hear I can still book ADR and FP+ in advance, that was my main concern since I just assumed I could do it early cause I was staying onsite.

Thanks again!

 

[NinaBella]

We just wing it. But we go less and less. My three boys are not Disney fans anymore. My daughter loves Disney but like her brothers she is not going to stand in line more than 20 minutes. These days we only go to the parks when relatives are visiting from out of town. We do go to Downtown Disney or the Boardwalk more often when we are in Orlando for cheer competitions. It's hit or miss for Florida residents who love Disney and others who avoid it at all costs.

 

[missnic]

Agree with the others - it's less stressful because you don't have to cram everything into one trip. You know that there will be a next time, fairly soon. We live almost exactly 150 miles from the TTC, and several times a year we drive down one morning, stay overnight, and drive back the next afternoon. We always stay on site, because we have seasonal passes - that $17/day parking adds up, quickly - and a value resort with an ap/fl res discount is about as cheap as you'll find offsite. We're not all that concerned with FPs, but I do try to book a few once we've decided where and when we're going. I've never really had an issue with getting what we want, when we want it (Dh doesn't like the mine train, and we don't do m&gs). Food really hasn't been an issue either, especially with short notice trips. People tend to cancel ADRs a day or two out, and I've picked up a ton that way.

We also plan longer trips occasionally. We stayed 3 days for the 24 hour event, and we're planning another several days in October. We've also woken up in the morning and decided we wanted shawarma for lunch, called in sick, had lunch, and came home.

 

[Disnsyncey]

and YES The Florida Resident Seasonal pass is the way to go! Who wants to go when most people are there?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

and YES The Florida Resident Seasonal pass is the way to go! Who wants to go when most people are there?

We prefer not to go at busy times. But we still have the full AP to avoid parking for day visits. Just for my husband and I so we don't need to worry about who goes over with the kids.