To those who take shorter trips...

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

How do you make your time worthwhile?

Going from April 26th - 29th, two full park days and one half park day. This is my second shortest trip...my shortest was only 1 full day

edit: i am going solo so hopefully that'll save some time

 

[alliecat523]

I keep my visit to my top must do items. Also stay flexible in case of hiccups. Low expectations (none of the “I can do it all!”). Go in with a mindset to just enjoy myself.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

On shorter trips, I will usually look to minimize time waiting on transportation. So that means more taxis, Minnie Van, Uber/Lyft, if available/applicable to whatever I’m doing.

 

[Scrappygrrl]

I am doing a similar trip - April 27-30. Things I am doing to maximize my time:
-Earliest flight on Friday, Latest flight on Monday.
-Carry-ons only (or if I can't, I will take my nags for ME - I know, I skirting the rules here because of the next bullet point)
-Renting a car, instead of ME. Using Alamo and checking in ahead so I can skip the desk and head right to my car. Using rental car for all parks except MK.
-Bringing cereal or other quick breakfast items for the room, so we don't waste time on breakfast. You'd be surprised how much time you waste in the hotel food court or at the Starbucks in the park.
-Go all day, rope drop to park close.
-The day I have a breakfast character meal ('Ohana), I am timing it at 11:20 -so more like lunch. We'll RD MK, and then monorail to Poly when it starts getting busy, then use of FP after "brunch".
-Park hopping to MK on nights MK has later hours, but our current park closes at 9. Park hopping on our DHS day.
-Lots of snacking rather than full meals.
-No expensive long meals like HDD.
-Keep an eye on the app for wait times, and adjust schedule as needed.

Most importantly, have fun!

 

[gap2368]

I do a few one day trips a year I will pick one park and stay there or I will pick just two like HS and EPCOT ( just do the front or the back) I tend to bring my own food ( even on week long trips) I do not try to plan everything and just have fun

 

[fitgirlFL]

So we just did a quick three day trip. It was helpful to be up and at it early. Transportation is quicker earlier in the day. For example, we discovered that sleeping in meant much longer waits to get on the ferry. When we got up early, we got to the parks much quicker and with less hassle and wait. We buzzed right through the bag checks and checked in with no lines. Waking up early is now our best friend! LOL.

Sit down dining takes longer so may or may not be worth it to you. We like it as it gives us a chance to sit and rest in the AC. We also like mobile ordering when we do quick service. Saves a lot of time.

We make our top picks for rides. We know what is not important for us to see and we skip it. We know ahead of time we might miss some stuff. This way we aren’t disappointed. If a wait is too long, we just skip it. No big deal. There’s something else to do. And it’s Disney – there’s a ton of fun things to do so whatever we pick is going to be a good time.

We don’t do parades or stake out spaces for fireworks. We did do the desert party for MK fireworks – we mostly wanted a reserved space so that we didn’t have to waste time trying to get a good spot. We loved it and were glad we paid the extra money for it.

We bring snacks so we don’t have to stop to wait in lines. We usually have a pre bought snack for breakfast and save time by eating on the go. Then we usually just do lunch and dinner. One less meal means less time wasted.

We typically don’t park hop as travelling eats up time. We did hop this past time. In particular, MK was open till 12AM so that was helpful with allowing us to use this option. We tried to see the highlights of one park, then we hopped to another park that was open later.

Go in knowing you won’t see everything and be okay with it. I found it helped to remind myself that missing stuff just meant more reason to plan another trip for the future.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Have you been there a good amount?

We just wrapped up our year as AP holders. My sister and I shot down there for a quick weekend trip during Pro Bowl. We arrived late Friday night and left late Sunday.

Having been so many times, we decided to mix things up and do things we had never done before. Of course, we did the Pro Bowl on Saturday, but spent the afternoon at Disney Springs, then went to Magic Kingdom and stood right in the Castle Hub for HEA, a perspective we've never had before.

On Sunday we were walking around DHS and said "we can do this anytime, let's go to Epcot and enjoy the Festival of the Arts"

- I'd say make your list of must-dos. For us, riding RnR was a must-do, since we missed it last trip.
- Use this time to try new food or things you missed last trip. Get home and realize you missed having a Dole Whip last trip? Go get it.

- On shorter stays, you'll wanna make the most of your time. Wake up earlier. It stinks, but just do it. While someone is in the shower, send down another family member to grab breakfast or coffee—don't lie in bed waiting for the person to finish. Break up the group if you have to.

- Don't wear yourself too thin. Just do what you can and what you like. Again, prioritize your days.

- FP+'s are your friend.

 

[Iya]

My tip would be to skip sit down meals on shorter trips, unless it is something you really want to do. Sit down meals are serious time sucks. If you are there more to soak up atmosphere or have other specific non-ride things in mind and you don't feel a sit down meal will be a waste of time, then do it.

 

[sponica]

Spontaneity/flexibility is key (we also always get park hoppers). My husband refuses to go without table service dinner, so we just build that into the plan. The last time we did all 4 parks in 2 days. We always know we'll be back at some point, so if we don't get to it this trip, well then it's an excuse to plan another one.

 

[tigger2&pooh]

We are also going for our first short trip. We arrive Tue night so we plan on early wed at Animal Kingdom since Pandora is newer to us and only been once since opened, got some FP to make it a little easier. The other two days are Epcot which we have done a tons over years but want to see the flower and garden festival, and Magic Kingdom to ride 7DMT I think we plan on just taking our time maybe see a few things we haven't in awhile.

 

[pattyw]

We go a few times a year and all of our trips are less than a week. We don't do each park each time as we would in the past. Maybe only one or two parks- and only certain rides. I love frequent trips as we get to experience many different times at the parks rather than one long trip.

 

[ShelliRenee]

We do them all the time. We pick out our 3 not to be missed attractions and then also try to pick out an attraction or experience we have yet to do. Then anything else we do is a bonus.

 

[musicmantrs]

My wife and I just got back from a 2.5 day trip last weekend. We flew in Thursday night, spent the night at Disney Springs, and then took our bags to Beach Club first thing Friday. Made EMH rope drop at MK, immediately went to Pan, and then rode most of the rides in the park. We had FP+ for Splash, Space, and 7DMT so those weren't worries. We also had a late lunch at BOG. We did every ride we wanted except Jungle Cruise by 3 and went back to the hotel for a nap. We had planned to spend the day at MK so I scrambled on the bus back to Beach Club to find stuff to do and ended up booking the Frozen Fireworks at Epcot and getting a Soarin FP. We went to Epcot, did Soarin, grabbed a few quick bites around World Showcase at the booths, and then watched the fireworks and rode Frozen. Day 2 was EMH for AK so we went and did Flight immediately (took about an hour with the wait), did our Kilimanjaro FP+, River Journey FP+, Dole Whip with Rum at Tamu Tamu, Bug's Life, Dinosaur, and Everest FP+. We had planned on Epcot for that Afternoon/Evening so we went back to the hotel and then went to Epcot to do TT with a FP+ I had booked on the bus, Figment, Living with the Land, ADR at Via Napoli, and a second Soarin FP+. We were done by about 8:30 and MK was open until midnight so we decided to hop over. Took the Monorail down and got a FP+ for 7DMT, then Jungle Cruise, and finally Splash before heading back. For Sunday all we had left was DHS, we RD for TSMM (which was quick), Rockin FP+, Muppets, Star Tours FP+, Star Wars Preview (very skippable), Commissary for lunch, and snagged a FP+ for TSMM around 11:30. Then we we were off for the airport.

For transportation, we took Uber to and from the airport to save time waiting with DME.

For us it was all about rides and obsessively updating the app to get FP+ for what we wanted next. We hit our favorite dining with Via Napoli and didn't do any character interactions. Good luck on yours!

 

[loves to dive]

When I do shorter solo trips, park hopper and no plans are the way I go. I just go where I feel like going, check to see if anything is available on MDE that I might want to ride within a 40 min. window and if so, I book it then go standby for something else I want to ride. I find my shorter, solo trips aren't very ride centric but are more relaxing. If a park is too crowded or I'm just not in the mood for any of the rides in that park I move on. I have been known to accidently do 4 parks in one day that way and frequently do 3 parks that way. I get up early, even on vacation so I'll get up and take my morning walk, grab breakfast at QS and have breakfast in my room then head out. The day I did 4 parks, there was a morning EMH where I started (I think it might have been AK), I was on my way to the next park by 10 am, which I think was HS, I rode a few rides there then headed over to Epcot for some F&W booths for lunch, after snacking my lunch I rode a ride or two, headed over to MK, rode a few rides and back to Epcot for more F&W booths for supper then MK for a late night. All of it lazy and no planning.

 

[Texans_loyal]

I do short/solo trips all the time! You will most likely be able to do everything. It's easy to find an FP for one compared to four. Have fun and don't forget to take it slow.

 

[Mjt5126]

I just got back from a short trip. 2.5 days as you are doing. We skipped HS because we were there last year and there’s so little to do there right now (My fiancé and I aren’t big show people)

 

[StageTek]

How do you make your time worthwhile?

Knowing I won't see everything I just relax and let the days take me where they will. I don't worry about lines because I'm in no hurry. If I miss a favorite I'll catch it next time. If I must do something I'll wait in line.

For me it's worthwhile just wandering around without going on rides so I can jump on anything that has a short enough line. Just taking the Monorail from MK to Epcot and back is a worthwhile way to spend some time.
Personally, I'm happy spending half a day in AK and missing HS completely. Is there a park you could skip on this short trip?

Is there a ride you must do? I never miss Spaceship Earth or Big Thunder
Are their any restaurants you must do? I always go to Biergarten no matter what and love 50's Prime Time.

I've done two short (three and a half days) trips solo and from California. Sometimes I just need that WDW fix...

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

Knowing I won't see everything I just relax and let the days take me where they will. I don't worry about lines because I'm in no hurry. If I miss a favorite I'll catch it next time. If I must do something I'll wait in line.

For me it's worthwhile just wandering around without going on rides so I can jump on anything that has a short enough line. Just taking the Monorail from MK to Epcot and back is a worthwhile way to spend some time.
Personally, I'm happy spending half a day in AK and missing HS completely. Is there a park you could skip on this short trip?

Is there a ride you must do? I never miss Spaceship Earth or Big Thunder
Are their any restaurants you must do? I always go to Biergarten no matter what and love 50's Prime Time.

I've done two short (three and a half days) trips solo and from California. Sometimes I just need that WDW fix...

So my current plan is to come in on Thursday and go to Disney Springs for the night. Friday will be most of the day at Epcot for Flower & Garden, then a couple hours at DHS to ride Rockin and Tower. Saturday will be spent at MK, but I will spend some time at the monorial loop hotels. Then Sunday will be my half day at AK.

 

[StageTek]

So my current plan is to come in on Thursday and go to Disney Springs for the night. Friday will be most of the day at Epcot for Flower & Garden, then a couple hours at DHS to ride Rockin and Tower. Saturday will be spent at MK, but I will spend some time at the monorial loop hotels. Then Sunday will be my half day at AK.

Sounds like a great way to make your trip worthwhile!

 

[White Rose]

We are doing a 1 3/4 day trip May 19 & 20. Getting off a cruise, going to Dolphin hotel early am, and off to AK for avatar. We are staying one night on points! We have the evening AK avatar tour booked, and we got tier 2 FPs to low key stuff during the day.

We do not have park hoppers, but MK just changed to closing at midnight....hmmm.

As of now we are not going to MK and it’s almost killing me....

Day two, Epcot. Frozen FP, and standby for TT and Soarin. We have to leave late afternoon, we have a night flight home.