Just want to go old school

[chezcurrie]

Thank you for all your replies. We have our tickets and our reservations. We are in the 2 parks for 5 days. This is certainly not our first time to DL so we know what we want to do but it’s not the end of the world if we miss out on something. Oh I forgot, we have a booking for BB, I wouldn’t risk that. We will be back in October so if going “ old school” doesn’t work we will have to relook at it for October.

With five days and your chill attitude you can totally go old school. FWIW, even as people who use G+ regularly I am not “buried in my phone” the whole time. Usually its as simple as scan it, book next ride, phone goes away. But I get the FOMO that can occur and the need to “do it all“ and maximize everything.

As others have said the mornings can be absolutely blissful in terms of getting things done with minimal wait.

Only question I would have is what are the ages of your traveling party? My kids have gotten spoiled by LL and do not have the tolerance for anything over 45 minutes anymore… oh the good ole days as kids when we would wait in line with my parents for 4 hrs for the opening of Star Tours and Captain EO. Yeah right! We now have a strategy of 3’s when we all go together, which works espequally well if you have several days - 3 rides (1 per kid/day = their priority), 3 snacks (again, 1 per kid, not necessarily in the same day, ha!) and the most important one - 3 hour break! This way everyone feels like they got to do their top thing and everything else is gravy.

Have a lovely chill trip!

 

[ottawamom]

Technically, what the OP wants is doable. However. a serious outside factor is going to be crowds. Strategies like early entry and first trip on the mono to the back of the pack makes a big difference at opening. Moving and doing opposite of everyone else's helps some too (altho that is now debatable with so many people). We went a few months ago w/o Genie and had no issues and go the rides we wanted but the crowds were insane.

Good luck, JennyN!

Great answer but more importantly I love the picture of your Avatar. I have a Sammie also.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

I understand the sentiment about not wanting to be on your phone, but using G+ can be done with a total of maybe 10 minutes on your phone in the day. You can get 80% of the value of G+ in 5-10 minutes on your phone (booking 3-5 rides). Call it 2 minutes per time you go in to book your next ride. If you remember your schedule and when you’ll become eligible to book again, you don’t need to keep checking your phone.

The last 20% of value comes from all the various tricks like refreshing, fishing for multiple experiences, etc. that results in a lot of phone time, but you don’t need to do any of that to get most of the value.

If you guy a magic band then you don’t even need to get your phone out for entry or to tap into rides.

I view the main downside to G+ being the cost, not the phone time. But to each their own.

 

[emtink]

Hi everyone, I see all these new things to make the trip “easier/ more enjoyable” but I just want to go old school, have a paper ticket, wander around and join a queue for a ride when I want to, eat where and when I choose at the time ( I know that I will probably have to make 2nd or 3rd choices on this). Just really take it as it comes without having to plan every moment or spend the day checking an app on my phone. My question is, Is this doable?

Yes! I did it with my kid. It was great! I had a thread asking the same question, and I wrote up a mini trip report. I highly recommend 'unplugged' trips for those of us who have the luxury of going to the parks more frequently.

 

[lovethesun12]

Hi everyone, I see all these new things to make the trip “easier/ more enjoyable” but I just want to go old school, have a paper ticket, wander around and join a queue for a ride when I want to, eat where and when I choose at the time ( I know that I will probably have to make 2nd or 3rd choices on this). Just really take it as it comes without having to plan every moment or spend the day checking an app on my phone. My question is, Is this doable?

I have experience with WDW genie+, and we are going to DL this summer.

We went all in on genie+ with park plans/etc at WDW most days but the relaxed day we did won me over.

I'm planning a relaxed trip to DL. I do plan on purchasing genie+, but I definitely won't be doing the modifying/refreshing or running laps from one attraction to the next. Just strolling around, take what's available in the area we are in (or plan to go to) and wait in line when needed.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

As someone who went to DLR for the first time last summer, it is absolutely doable. Sure we missed out on a couple restaurants but we still had a great time!

 

[maryliz]

Also, mobile order is actually pretty handy. You order your food and it's waiting for you when you get there. Not necessary, though, if you don't feel like dealing with it.

Just curious if DL staff are bullies like some of them in WDW to force people to use Mobile order? I won't add a CC onto my phone. When we vacation at Disney World, I use my Magic Band tied to my resort room. For our DL trip, we are staying offsite, so my plan is to pay cash for CS meals, and put sit down meals on my CC. I get that if there's a long waiting queue for Mobile order, we will experience the same thing at a Counter Service turnstile. But my question is "will they LET me walk up to cashier, order and pay for food?" In WDW once, there was no line up inside but the CM didn't like it when I said we were all paying cash (5 adults), and forced us to stand aside for 15 minutes before she'd let us go in and order. When we finally did, there was NO ONE inside. She practically told me I was stupid for not putting a CC on my phone, and the young lady who was "earning her ears" was as confused as we were. Sooo many empty tables so not like there were a ton of mobile orders coming through the queue. Definitely felt bullied. Another time just wanted a snack from Friar's Nook and the cashier told us that our order was in the queue with the mobile orders, and that the wait time would be the same. During my 20 minute wait, I encountered 4 different customers who had done mobile order and had been waiting for their food for over 45 minutes. Doesn't seem like the greatest of systems. I like to be able to decide on the fly that I'm now hungry, and if there's a big lineup, so be it. Before our trip in 2022 I actually had to buy a new phone because the one I bought new in 2018 wasn't able to receive the upgrades to the app. It's ridiculous that Disney is now basically telling people if they don't have the newest of phones, they are not going to get the same experience in the parks.

 

[KVH]

<SNIP> Before our trip in 2022 I actually had to buy a new phone because the one I bought new in 2018 wasn't able to receive the upgrades to the app. It's ridiculous that Disney is now basically telling people if they don't have the newest of phones, they are not going to get the same experience in the parks.

This is the way.

 

[Pluto468]

Just curious if DL staff are bullies like some of them in WDW to force people to use Mobile order? I won't add a CC onto my phone. When we vacation at Disney World, I use my Magic Band tied to my resort room. For our DL trip, we are staying offsite, so my plan is to pay cash for CS meals, and put sit down meals on my CC. I get that if there's a long waiting queue for Mobile order, we will experience the same thing at a Counter Service turnstile. But my question is "will they LET me walk up to cashier, order and pay for food?" In WDW once, there was no line up inside but the CM didn't like it when I said we were all paying cash (5 adults), and forced us to stand aside for 15 minutes before she'd let us go in and order. When we finally did, there was NO ONE inside. She practically told me I was stupid for not putting a CC on my phone, and the young lady who was "earning her ears" was as confused as we were. Sooo many empty tables so not like there were a ton of mobile orders coming through the queue. Definitely felt bullied. Another time just wanted a snack from Friar's Nook and the cashier told us that our order was in the queue with the mobile orders, and that the wait time would be the same. During my 20 minute wait, I encountered 4 different customers who had done mobile order and had been waiting for their food for over 45 minutes. Doesn't seem like the greatest of systems. I like to be able to decide on the fly that I'm now hungry, and if there's a big lineup, so be it. Before our trip in 2022 I actually had to buy a new phone because the one I bought new in 2018 wasn't able to receive the upgrades to the app. It's ridiculous that Disney is now basically telling people if they don't have the newest of phones, they are not going to get the same experience in the parks.

I ordered at the counter at restaurants with mobile order, and none of the CMs tried to persuade me to mobile order instead.

 

[maryliz]

I ordered at the counter at restaurants with mobile order, and none of the CMs tried to persuade me to mobile order instead.

Thanks ! Glad to hear it.

 

[fivelittles]

Thank you for all your replies. We have our tickets and our reservations. We are in the 2 parks for 5 days. This is certainly not our first time to DL so we know what we want to do but it’s not the end of the world if we miss out on something. Oh I forgot, we have a booking for BB, I wouldn’t risk that. We will be back in October so if going “ old school” doesn’t work we will have to relook at it for October.

This seems like a perfect plan. I'd go "old school" for this trip, then use all the tools available for October. It's busy that month and you'll need them to get much done. But it will be fun to experience both and see what you prefer!

 

[GatorChris]

Yes.

At Universal Orlando.