WDW on a Whim

[PrittiPiglet]

Ho hum; wouldn't it be nice to be sporadic at the parks?
I have an A type personality and organizing things is right up my alley. But to have a Disney trip where every minute wasn't planned out several months in advance would be lovely. Just saying.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Id rather something built by Boeing or Airbus.

 

[Master Yoda]

We do them all the time. You just have to temper your expectations.

MyMagic+ has actually made it a little simpler especially when you are dealing with dining. We have been in line at an attraction trying to decide on what we want for lunch or dinner. We pull up the app, see what is open and if nothing tickles our fancy we just hit a quick service place.

Sure beats the old way of calling Disney dining and going through the "Is this available? What about that?" dance.

 

[Ariel Savage]

I usually do wdw in winter (feb or march) and the crowds are so low you can be pretty spontaneous as far as plans go. I still go in with a game plan but there's lots of room to change things up.

 

[pixiesteno]

I can relate to being the type A personality with everything planned out. I have done numerous trips to WDW that way, with all the ADRs done and written out, etc. It was okay and we got to see and do a great deal but, I ended up feeling like my old former Drill Sergeant self at times just so that we did not miss our appointed times. All trips were handled this way until I went with my DSIL with minimal planning time. We literally did the "fly by the seat of our pants" thing and had a great time. So much so that I started letting go of the reins on subsequent trips and found that you tend to slow down and notice the little things that WDW has to offer and see that you miss power walking from one attraction to the next. On our trip in the fall of 2010 DH and I had 2-3 ADRs for a 10 day trip and that was it. We went "the way the breeze took us" and had an awesome visit. Did we miss some attractions due to long wait times and no fast passes - yes, yes we did; however, they were attractions we had been on before. Did we fully relax and enjoy our vacation - yes, oh yes, we did. Our last trip was a bit more structured due to DS's graduation from Full Sail University and making sure we were where we needed to be for that. Would I recommend the novice try to tackle WDW "by the seat of their pants", uh no! Planning and research is quite necessary. I would advise them not to try the park hopping for meals(pain in the butt). But if you are a WDW veteran (of sorts) then going without the list and schedule can be a lot of fun and very relaxing. I personally plan on ignoring the whole fast pass + thing on our next trip (nope, can't make me do it)

 

[Chef Mickey]

We went on a whim over Memorial Day weekend, had nothing planned except our basic dining reservations (Teppan Edo and Liberty Tree) and our Fast Passes. Had a great time with 0 stress.

 

[arko]

Pretty much every trip is like that for us. We live 3 hours away and have AP's, and even when we plan the trip in advance we pretty much decide where we are going to go the night before.

 

[zurgandfriend]

Because of the distance, expense etc. I want the most "bang for my Buck" and try to plan as much as possible. My Brother in law on the otherhand lives 3 miles for WDW and goes on a whim at least weekly. Sometimes I hate my brother in law.

 

[Susan Savia]

Most all our trips are on a whim. Only thing planned is to avoid the parks with the early openings. We know our first day park is Epcot and after that it's day by day. We don't believe in scheduling every last second of a 'vacation' and so don't plan to use the FP+ system as we've no idea months ahead what our plans might be for any given day. It's wonderful and very stress free.

 

[BiffyClyro]

I agree. I like planning but some people take it to ridiculous lengths...

...such as the thread where someone is trying to plan their water intake at disney.

 

[DisneyAubs]

I try to balance it. I tend to have very structured mornings to make the most of low wait times. Then we take the afternoons/evenings easy and do things on a whim.

 

[brokedad]

Ho hum; wouldn't it be nice to be sporadic at the parks?
I have an A type personality and organizing things is right up my alley. But to have a Disney trip where every minute wasn't planned out several months in advance would be lovely. Just saying.

What is this so called planning in advance thing? How do I do it

 

[Disney Shib]

I always have a plan. However when my family joins my fiance and I that all goes out the window. It was so nice back in the "college program" days. My roommate and I would just drive over to MK, grab a churro and hit HM & PotC and it was all we needed.