How to keep it low key

[NYEmomma]

Hello! DH and I will be visiting in November for 4 days/3 nights. I am an uber planner and am struggling big time in finding a way to keep myself from being too OMG DISNEY MUST DO IT ALLLLLL!!!!!! like I usually am. Lol. Besides, Disney makes it very difficult to be spontaneous. Any tips? Itinerary....
Friday - Arrive at MCO at 8am, HS day
Saturday - Epcot day
Sunday - MK day
Monday - DS, flight home at 5pm
I'd like to go find some time to check out Boardwalk as well.

 

[loves to dive]

Easy, don't book FPs or ADRs until day before or even day of. If that thought kills you, just book your 3 FPs and let it go. We never book FPs in advance any earlier than night before, more often than not, it's when we are in a standby line I'll hop on MDE and book one for something else. We never book ADRs any earlier than day of since we never know if we want TS or just to walk around snacking. If we want an ADR, again just hop on MDE and find what's available. There is always something available for day of, it might not be the "have to" place to eat but there is always something.

 

[NYEmomma]

I'm thinking about going without FP's. I hate roller coasters of all kinds - anything with a hill is out (I can only barely tolerate Pirates) - so that takes away most of the FP-worthy rides. We'll be going again 10 months later with the kids and they WILL ride roller coasters with DH so I won't feel the need to stand in line with him for the bigger rides and exit when we get to the cars.

ADR's.... whew, I don't know if I can handle that! Lol. We were really looking forward to eating at restaurants that the kids HATE so we never get a chance to eat at.

So maybe I can get halfway there.

 

[a742246]

With the opening of Avatar land on 5/27/17 you may want to consider AK.

 

[gingerfeathers]

I've never been super commando in the parks, but I always have a general idea outlined via ADRs (obsessing over them and getting those hard-to-get ones are one of my favorite things about planning!). On my last trip, which I purposely wanted to keep low-key, I did several things:

1. Only one ADR (a local family member was meeting us at MK and wanted an early sit-down dinner with us, so about a week before I booked LTT)
2. Only one Fastpass for RnRC (my favorite of the super popular rides), but with the knowledge that if it didn't happen, I'd still be having fun.
3. Bought a park-hopper pass to be utilized if I so desired
4. Spent more time at various resorts than I usually do--spent lots of hours around Boardwalk and wandering around the monorail resorts (drinks at the Poly, shopping at CR and GF, etc.)

It was so much fun! Have a blast!

 

[loves to dive]

I'm thinking about going without FP's. I hate roller coasters of all kinds - anything with a hill is out (I can only barely tolerate Pirates) - so that takes away most of the FP-worthy rides. We'll be going again 10 months later with the kids and they WILL ride roller coasters with DH so I won't feel the need to stand in line with him for the bigger rides and exit when we get to the cars.

ADR's.... whew, I don't know if I can handle that! Lol. We were really looking forward to eating at restaurants that the kids HATE so we never get a chance to eat at.

So maybe I can get halfway there.

Unless you want to eat with a Princess or at BOG, same day ADRs are pretty easy to come by. We grabbed Tiffins and Flying Fish both the morning of.

 

[com_op_2000]

IMHO: Think about stepping outside the parks for a more relaxed time and not needing a vacation from vacation when you get home:
Depending on what you are into:
sports: golf, mini-golf, fishing, marathon, bowling, ESPN Club, WWS/ESPN Zone, etc
shopping: DTD, area outlet malls, large scale malls
drinking: Jellyrolls, Raglan Road, monorail tour of resorts, walking tour of resorts in the Boardwalk area
movies: DTD 24 screen theater some with meals served by waiters
night clubbing: Jellyrolls, Atlantic Dance, Raglan Road, Citywalk
resort tours: monorail tour of resorts, Boardwalk around the lake tour of resorts, horse drawn tour of FWC, AKL/AKV
offsite: Gaylord Palms Resort, Citywalk, swamp tour
eating: Formal GF 5* Chef's Table @ V&As

 

[NH-to-FL]

I second the suggestion to consider AK on your last day. Monday is currently morning EMH for AK which would give you an extra hour to enjoy Pandora.

We find it relaxing to wander or boat over to the Boardwalk from Epcot. Perhaps pick up some ice cream and relax on the Boardwalk.

 

[NYEmomma]

I might get crucified but neither DH nor I like AK.... or Avatar. He's seen it, I have no desire to even watch it.

We'll be going the following year with the kids and while we originally planned on skipping AK then as well so we'd have some more time to do Universal Studios, we might throw it back in just to check out Pandora.

I've been tweaking plans a little bit... we're going to spend some time Friday and/or Saturday at Boardwalk for dinner and drinks/nighttime entertainment. I think I do have ADR's planned for every day but outside of that, everything's up in the air. We'll get to the parks when we get to the parks. We'll have lunch at the resort... at the park... maybe not at all. We'll see. But DH and I are really looking forward to the dining aspect of this trip so we can go where WE want to go, so I feel like I'd be remiss to not book any ADR's at all.