Unplanned trips...your story.

[xipotec]

I cannot commit to a WDW vacation this year, and its really bumming me out. After 3 years in a row, time off and other commitments has us in a bind with timing.

BUT there is hope!!!

We might be able to squeeze in a long weekend sometime between Nov and Feb. But if we do it would be planned at the last minute. We live 12 hrs away, and it would be pretty crazy!

Has anyone done the last minute thing before?? Tell me your story and experiences!!!

 

[linskypens]

March 2010, I was looking bummed out apparently , and my wife said to my DD then 15, looks like Dad needs a trip to Disney!!!
So I went about planning for a trip a month away. I usually start 7 months out..
April vacation plane fare....Yikes!! So we drove from Maine to Florida. (wont do that again)
I got us some lower ADR's and we stayed at CSR, which was a first for us. (it was really nice).
It was easy then as you didnt have to plan FP+ but as a veteran I knew what and when, so it went pretty well.
I think if you have some idea how to plan a Disney trip, you can quite easily jump in on a last minute venture as long as you realize that certain things just arent going to happen.
You aren't getting ADR's at CRT.
Reasonable expectations will be met with satisfying results

 

[amberpi]

The longest we've ever had to plan a WDW vacation is 2,5 months - our upcoming trip. The shortest is a couple of days when we realized we could both get away. Its never been an issue either way. Of course, we have restaurants we sometimes can't get into, but we can always find something we love and we eat late, so its easier. You'll be going to WDW, you'll have a blast!

 

[TimothyG]

I live about 8 hours away from WDW and I'm an AP holder. I'm a software engineering consultant and so I do a lot of project based work. In November, one of my projects ended and so I had some time off to take a very last minute trip before my next project started.

Normally, I go with my family but because I planned it with 2 days notice I wound up doing a solo trip for 6 days, 5 nights. I booked CBR about 36 hours before I showed up. I was able to see and do everything I wanted in the trip. It was a lot of fun and the spontaneity was great. Plus I wasn't bound by plans or anything. I could literally see and do whatever I wanted when I wanted. I didn't have a single ADR, tour planned, etc. which was awesome. I was able to get FP+ set up the day I checked in.

I highly recommend taking trips this way every so often. It's made me want to utilize my AP more and take trips like this. Very relaxing and fun when you don't make plans.

 

[ConnieB]

I think a lot of the success or failure of an "unplanned" trip is deep within your (and your family)'s need for "perfect". I personally really enjoy the planning.....maybe it fulfills my fantasy need to think I'm already there....but I like the process, I like making changes as new things occur to us, or in the case of things like Anna/Elsa, they become possible (no way would I stand in line for an hour, let alone 6+ to spend 5 minutes with a character, but with the FP+ we have more than one stop planned now).

If your personality allows you to take whatever hotel has space (or find an off site condo if all onsite are out of your price range), then last minute is no big deal. If you can live with whatever restaurants you can get an ADR, and not be disappointed that your favorite doesn't have availability, no problem. And it appears that even offsite staying newbies are able to get FP+ for almost everything while they're in the park.

I'd say that if you can be flexible and just be utterly happy that you are at Disney and not at work.....you'll have a great time!

Since it will be a short trip, maybe try something you never have....stay at a higher level hotel (or lower if you usually stay deluxe) or try staying offsite. If you usually are there at rope drop, try sleeping in and staying to closing (or the opposite from your norm). If you're usually a commando for the "E" rides, try taking it slow and spending more time looking around at the buildings, the little character interactions (I could spend all day on Main Street, lol)......or if you normally go slow, try racing from one big ride to the next and see how many of them you can do in one day. Stay late and watch the "Goodnight kiss" (if you don't know what that is, google it).

We live on the West Coast so our trips are usually long and well planned, but twice we have had a last minute chance to go to Florida and we believe it is illegal to land in the State of Florida and not at least go to Disney for a day or two, lol. Our shortest was we found out on Wednesday and we were in Disney on Saturday and Sunday, and away on business for Monday and home the following Thursday. A whirlwind for sure, but we did almost the exact opposite of how we normally tour, and it was a blast! Exhausting and hilarious, but it was fun. And we learned that there are some things we liked and kept in our next long trip, and some things we vowed never to do again, and one thing to never speak of again, lol.

The worst day at Disney is still better than the best day at work.

 

[boredkara]

My boyfriend and I recently went to WDW with about a month's notice - we booked our trip January 21st and arrived at Pop Century for a 7 night stay on February 25th. It was awesome - we got all the reservations we wanted (FastPass+ lunch at BOG, Le Cellier) and all of the FP+ ride reservations we wanted. We had zero problems booking anything - we were even changing our FP+ reservations the same day to popular rides (TSMM, etc.) and had zero problems with availability. It was great!

(Also, this is my first post, but I'm a long-time lurker.)

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Before we had kids most of our Disney trips were unplanned. I'd be calling guest relations to book a room during our 8 hour drive down.

There were a few times when the rooms were just too much money for us so that is when we'd stay offsite.

But back then there were no advance ADR's - you booked them the morning you got into the park. And we couldn't afford many of those anyways.

My next solo trip sometime this fall will be booked and planned only a month or so prior - I have to have surgery so when I can go depends on how well and how fast I heal. I think I'll be ok with planning. I will have renewed my AP and couldn't book any FP+ until 30 days out with the new FP+ rules.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Last year, after the May the 4th event, I decided that I wanted to take my daughter to SWW. The only one that was doable due to her being in school, was the last one, which was the first full weekend in June. My husband hemmed and hawed for a couple of weeks, so we didn't plan the trip/book airfare until 3 weeks before. As a Type A planner, I was so nervous! But it went well. We just needed to adjust expectations when it came to ADRs more than anything. We were able to secure lunch reservations the two days we wanted them, but they weren't at ideal times. In the end, it was a great time and I'm so glad we did it.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I booked about a week and a half before a solo trip I took, airfare and hotel room (I had the AP).

It was a great trip! It was my first fully solo trip and I had a blast running around and riding everything I wanted in January. It was bad weather in my city, so going south and getting to be in t-shirts and shorts every day was a blessing and I loved the freedom of riding what I wanted when I wanted to. FP wasn't a big deal since it was the right time of year for low crowds, so I rode a lot of headliners and saw a lot of shows.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We've had several last-minute trips. Since we only live 6 hours away, it's a little easier for us - no plane tickets, just hop in the car and go!

In 2004, Hurricane Ivan had its sights set on my part of Florida and my sister and I decided to evacuate with our kids. We originally talked about going to Georgia, but the night before we were to leave my sister said, "what about Disney?" and I said, "SOLD!" By coincidence, she had already booked a trip for 2 weeks from then, so she called to see if she could move the reservation to the next day and did. We left about 12 hours later. That trip was the emptiest I've ever seen WDW. Orlando had already been grazed by 3 hurricanes earlier in the summer and travel to Florida had dropped to almost zero.

In late Oct 2009, my husband got notice that he was going to be sent on TDY for all of 2010. The kids had the whole week of T-giving off from school, so we booked a trip for the weekend before - 3 weeks' notice.

In May 2010, as my kids and I were missing their daddy, my oldest asked if we could go to Disney for his birthday. I booked on a Monday; we left on that Thursday.

In Sept 2012, we booked on a Monday and arrived that Friday. I had started talking to my husband about it a month before, but he had a big Army project to do and wasn't sure he could get away so we didn't tell the kids. He finally gave me the go-ahead on the Monday of that week.

So, we've done several short-notice trips and sometimes we have long-planned trips -- I planned my recent 40th-birthday trip for about 9 months. There are benefits to both. Sometimes it's fun to have the build-up and anticipation and sometimes it's fun to be spontaneous.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We were watching the news one Sunday night when Hurricane Sandy was heading up the east coast. I called DH and commented that a lot of flights etc were cancelled.....he had Monday and Tuesday off. We left for Disney that night as soon as he got off (midnight - I called him at 6:30 to drop the hint). Drove down and had a great 3 days (he managed to get Wednesday off as well).

Called Disney to make a reservation. No ADRs but did do the night before Halloweens party.

 

[china mom]

My ultimate "last minute trip" was last September.

We live about two hours south of Hershey Park, PA. My son was bugging me to take him and his sister there. I did the math: park tickets x 3, gas, hotel and meals (Hershey won't let you bring food in). I came up with a budget of about $400.

So, that Wednesday, I made the decision to go to Blizzard beach instead. I literally made our hotel reservation from the jetway of the plane as we boarded. We flew down Friday after school, took ME, stayed at Pop for $90 each Fri and Sat., spent al day at BB, ate the food we brought with us bought a pizza for dinner ($16), checked out Sun morning and took ME back to the airport.

Budget for entire trip was less than $250.

It helps that Dh works for an airline so we fly free and we have premium APs.

 

[starlionblue]

Went in 2011 in July, which is a bad time to go because of the huge crowds. I kept my temper reined in tight and used FP as much as I could. One thing that you cannot avoid is making sacrifices. This comes whenever you go at the last minute. I kept telling myself: at least they didn't get to Level 1 closing. I forgot how it goes but they start delaying or shutting down certain services to the parks depending on the crowds. Also, please don't get angry if you can't get FPs. When I went, all FPs for every ride I wanted was gone by 3:00! And Test Track will run out of them faster than everything else! I do suggest that you make an effort to be at a ride during the 12-1 lunch hour and take lunch AFTER that so the lines won't be intolerable. Fortunately, a lot of guests get Pooh Hunger Syndrome around that time because our bodies are so used to a noon lunch time.

 

[bastos]

On a whim - two months before a planned camping trip - we compared the cost of a trip to Disney World last summer. Up near 11 pm, expecting our daughter back late from a band trip, we ran the numbers, and called Disney World. We booked reservations for 29 days later. Quickly, we went crazy ordering books, t-shirts, and dinner reservations.

As two first born type-A planner people, it put us to the edge. But the trip was great!

 

[ktlm]

The shortest we have ever planned was 3 weeks in advance- but that was for the week between Christmas and New Years! This was several years back and DH had called a travel agent just to check on a whim, and there had been a cancellation and 1 room was available on all of WDW property. He took it. That is how we wound up trying POR. We really liked it there. This was when ADRs weren't quite as crazy (they were called "priority seating"), but I can remember calling and basically taking whatever we could get for Epcot. We looked at it as trying something new we otherwise probably would not have ever tried. We were lucky enough that we could still get tickets for what was back then the Pleasure Island real New Years Eve bash (as opposed to the new years eve party they had every night of the year that wasn't actually New Years). Other than that, I can't recall if we ate TS, or just stuck with CS. In any event, I wouldn't let a short time frame bother me. You just may have to be flexible and try new things, if your usual must dos aren't available, and just enjoy the fact that you are actually getting to go to WDW. With the regular amount of time to plan we will always pick the old standby favorites, so it is kind of fun to get "forced" into trying new things on rare occasions! (Now- if I'm planning 180 days out and get "forced" into trying new things because of not being able to get the ADRs I want that is a whole different story! )

 

[ameliahyde]

Well, this is not super last minute, but last year we planned a trip about 7 weeks out for a week in September. The free dining was a nice thing to get, but the ADRs at first seemed so limited. Fortunately, we were able to book CRT and CM through stalking the website and snagging cancellations. We never got BOG but otherwise were so happy with what we got. We were also there when they were testing MBs at POR so we were able to double dip and get both traditional FP through the Keys to the Kingdom cards and through MB. It was pretty awesome! Between that and very low crowds we basically never waited for a ride!

 

[tndisneyfan]

In March of 2011 we did a last minute trip. We got our taxes back and it was more than expected. The check came on Saturday, I was off work for long weekend (7 days off) and DS was off for Spring Break. DH says something like ya know we're all off we should go to WDW, we could leave tonight. I says we can't leave to go to WDW tonight. (We live about 10.5 hours away) Then he says, well what if leave tomorrow night. So we decided OK, let's do it. The only hotel we could get was Wilderness Lodge, every value and moderate was full. So we got a room at WL overlooking a work area. Which oddly enough was interesting because we could see the smoke shed where I assume they smoke the meats for Whispering Canyon Cafe. It was a short trip, only five days. We got one ADR for Kona Cafe last minute. The parks were packed but we had a good time. Not sure I would do it again though, unless we had APs. It was a VERY EXPENSIVE four night trip.

 

[PHXscuba]

We got hurricaned out of another vacation and had time off, a babysitter, and credit from the airlines. So we went to Disney World on 3 days notice (booked Sunday, left Wednesday). I read the abbreviated Unofficial Guide on the plane. We had no TS meals, only a rough idea of best CS meals. I had been to MK and Epcot as a teen (20 years before) and DH had never been. But we had a great four days there and and made plans and brought the kids back 3 years later!

PHXscuba

 

[kathy884]

DH doesn't like Orlando or theme parks. DS is 18, so pretty grown up with lots of diverse travel interests. For the last seven years I've thought I would probably not be back in Orlando any time soon if ever. We usually do one main vacation each year and another shorter little get-a-way, and those all get planned for something we all like (no Disney in there), and no family vacation budget dollars are allocated for Disney/Orlando.

But lol -- I seem to have mastered the $1200 - $1500 mini Orlando bargain get-a-way (extra funds from spending less than I budgeted in other areas) and seem to do a last minute trip or a planned mini bargain trip get-a-way annually. It's just so much fun. It's usually just me and DS. It's usually just three or four nights. I almost always use frequent flyer miles for our air. I do offsite for better bargains on accommodation, and we typically hit something other than Disney too, but always hit at least one Disney theme park usually the MK.

2013 I thought it was a no, but saw DS had a long weekend off in October, and next thing you know I was planning a get-a-way. Put thing together about four weeks before the trip.

I thought the same thing for 2014, till I saw the DS's college finals were done pretty early in December before the Christmas crowds and thought about how much fun we had last October, and that was all I needed to plan a little mini trip right after he's done, but be home well before Christmas.

These being so much fun, just feeds my addiction to do one annually.

 

[PSUGuy]

We had a 'Southern Swing' vacation planned for early March this year, 4 days in Myrtle Beach, two in Savannah Ga., some hotels already booked. The Sunday before our Fri. departure the extended forecast for our cities looked more like Pa than the South, we weren't about to drive all that way to wear hats and gloves, so wifey suggested that we see what WDW had to offer. In minutes we booked 5 days at AllStarMu, there were no Moderates or other Value resorts available. We already had a room in Fayetteville NC for the first night, she found a great deal on the Marriott Visa or Grand Vista off Intl Drive for the second night, 8 hrs from Fayetteville, so we checked into the AllStar on Sun. Had a great time while there, but I'll never drive from PA to Fl, ever again. Depending on the season one might not be able to book a WDW resort if you wait too long.

Bill From PA