Ever done a "No Advance Dining/FP+" Challenge?

[Euby]

I'm going solo to WDW in June. I went this past January and I'm going again in September with my niece. Since I've been to Disney a few times, I wanted to do somethings differently for my June visit. This trip is going to be a more easy going trip. I'm not going to plan any special events or experiences, advance dining, or fastpasses. Well... I did book dinner on my arrival night at the Turf Club, but that's all.

So I've come up with a "challenge" for myself. I want to see what it is like to make ADRs and FP+ on the the day of use. Getting hungry? Let's see where I can find an ADR available. Across all of my visits to WDW, I've ridden 98% of the rides (the 2% being ones that I have no interest in the first place - like ToT or RRC). Want to ride something? I'll just fire up the MDE app and see what fastpass is available. If nothing comes up, maybe catch a show that I haven't see in a while. I'm not going to be doing rope drop. I may not even go to the parks until it starts getting dark.

Have you ever done your own version of a "No Advance Dining/FP+" Challenge?

 

[lvcourtneyy]

My sister and I were at Hilton Head in January and decided to drive down for one day at MK so we only made plans the day before we went. Sometimes it took a little time modifying FPs, but we were able to get them for everything we wanted to ride including 7DMT twice. We snagged a BOG lunch reservation on the drive down also.

So for us it was only one day but if you're flexible and willing to spend some time on the app, you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[Klayfish]

We don't eat in the restaurants (well, we don't buy the food), so never done the ADR thing. However, that's just about how we do the FP+. We book our FP+ in advance, but since we're offsite, we only get a 30 day window. Plus, since we're AP holders, we can only have 7 days worth of FP+. Our summer trips are 2.5 weeks long, so more than half of it has to be done on the fly. Even the 7 days that we can book 30 days out get changed often. We're very much "wing it" people. We make almost no plans ahead of time. If I had to have a spreadsheet, stick to a daily plan, etc...on vacation I'm not sure I'd even go.

It's not really all that hard, with the exception of FoP, we can ride pretty much anything we want. We never wait in standby lines more than 15-20 minutes long.

 

[k8Davies]

Just reading the title of this thread filled me with fear and anxiety.

So in answer to the question no I haven't tried this or think I ever would.

As if I did I would probably have a breakdown after the first half hour.

I am one of those people poised at the 180 day mark and 60 day mark with my list of choices and my plans set !!

You guys are made of stern stuff than me to give that a go, but good luck

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I think it can be done with no issues.

Next trip I am making 3 ADRs for a 9 night trip. The rest will be same day ADRs, QS or lounges. If you look right now for ADRs tomorrow or today, plenty shows up, including lots of popular places. BOG, Ohana and Chef Mickey all popped up the week of Easter which is one of the busiest times of year at WDW. I will book my FP+ just because I can and it's "free" with my ticket. So why not? You can cancel them later or change them.

My son went on his senior trip last month and had no FP+ when he left. He got together with a group of about 14 kids and when they arrived they all made their FP+ for the entire trip. They got everything they wanted except FOP. He even got additional FP+ for popular rides. He ate QS and one dinner at Epcot.

 

[randumb0]

You should have no problem I do it all the time. You can eat at most (not all) restaurants if you're willing to wait.

 

[dstdis]

I had two day-long visits in March that were basically “wing it” days. One was at AK (early March) and the other at MK (late March). Was able to do everything I wanted both days including 7DMT (though I did RD for FoP and Na’vi River) and I did ADRs at each, booking either a few days before (AK) or same day (MK). Honestly, that’s how I’m used to doing the parks since I haven’t been since the old FP system. It’s still very doable and I had a blast both days.

 

[Lost Yeti]

I took a solo day trip last month and had no problem getting FPs - even the tough-to-get ones (FoP, TSM, FEA, SDMT, etc). I wound up getting 15 FPs that day; It's definitely a huge perk of rolling solo

As far as ADRs, I can't comment. I just went to QS restaurants.

 

[FCDub]

I've literally never made an ADR in a Disney theme park.

I've never starved.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I do have my ADRs and FPs pre-planned, it's part of the vacation fun for me. But in all of our trips we have never stuck to those plans 100% because there are so many variables that can make them change.

On a solo trip? Yeah I think this would be a really fun thing to try.

 

[krysenchips]

My last trip, I booked my flight and hotel on Wednesday afternoon and flew out on Saturday morning for a quick weekend trip. Everything I did was last minute. Granted I did make an ADR for lunch for BOG (which I was amazed to find) and some fast passes, but I modified everything once I got down there and just went with the flow.
It can be done, but you have to be flexible.

 

[Hope Soda]

We're the kind of family that needs a good plan in advance or else it's going to be:

Me: What do you want to do next.
Family: I don't know. What do you want to do?

All. Day. Long.

However, on our first trip, we had no ADRs and made our FPs right before we left our hotel room to head for MK. This was back when you couldn't do FP on your phone and had to use the kiosks. We made FP+ for Mickey, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates. We met Mickey and Tinkerbell (15 min wait), signed up for Sorcerers of the MK, did the portals in Town Square and on Main St, rode Jungle Cruise, rode Magic Carpets (15 min wait), did Pirates, and then waited in line to use the FP kiosk. Lots of people making jokes about waiting in line to avoid waiting in line, but it wasn't all that bad...

Then we made a FP for Dumbo, and took the train to Fantasyland. This was a mistake because it took forever to get on the train, and we had to fold up our stroller while we were still in line (said the CM - safety reasons), meaning taking our sleeping 2 year old out, waking him up, and dealing with his sleepy, grumpy antics while we waited for the train. A bit stressful, but now we know that the train isn't exactly stroller-friendly.

We barely made our FP for Dumbo, then got a FP for Belle and did that. It was getting dark and the kids were getting hungry, so we went to Pinocchio for dinner. Got a FP for Buzz, did that, then FP for Monsters Inc (not necessary, but we didn't know these things then). Got ice cream. FP small world. We were going to do Philharmagic next, but it was closed. We decided to leave. Fireworks started just as we exited the hub onto Main St, so we turned around and watched. It was a great end to the day, and my 2 year old was SO excited to see Tinkerbell fly.

That trip was great, partly but we were ignorant to what attractions existed. Now that we've ridden everything, we know what we're missing if we don't get to ride something. We could probably get by in Epcot without advance FP because FEA is an attraction no one cares much about, but we're not about to miss TSMM, 7DMT, or FOP now that we've experienced them. As for ADRs, we love our PPO breakfasts, and like the guarantee of having them available to us.

 

[AngiTN]

We always go with no ADR, and only eat TS.
We never go without FP though. That seems just silly to me. FP are crucial. ADR are not.
We open the app and make reservations for food somewhere when we are hungry. There are oodles of great options available.
FP don't work that way. We can't find oodles of convenient FP immediately.
We divvy up park days in some manner that seems logical to us and plan our FP based on that. It's always worked well. We've rarely woke up and said, I really don't want to go to X today, I want to go to Y instead. All we want is to get in # umber of days in a particular park each trip, as long as we do that, all is good.

ETA - Another reason we don't go without FP, I approach every trip as if we may not be back. It's just a thing. Even though we have AP and we always plan to return (usually have another trip already booked). I never assume we'll be back. Never know what may happen that our situation changes and we can't get back again, for whatever reason. So I never want to skip any ride. This is why we always FP all rides, at least once.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

We are more of a quick service type of family. We'll eat when we're hungry and we have done entire 10 day trips without an adr easily. My next mother/dd trip in June I only have one adr for Ohana for 7 days.
Fp's though are different. If I have to pay top dollar to enter the parks (3 day park base for 2 =$620 or $820cdn) I am leaving nothing to chance. We don't go often since we live in Canada so I will be up bright and early on fp day to make sure that we at least get the top rides in. After that we rope drop and we do what we can at a leisurely pace knowing that we have at least secured our favourite three. It gives us peace of mind.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would never go without our FPs.

 

[AngiTN]

We are more of a quick service type of family. We'll eat when we're hungry and we have done entire 10 day trips without an adr easily. My next mother/dd trip in June I only have one adr for Ohana for 7 days.
Fp's though are different. If I have to pay top dollar to enter the parks (3 day park base for 2 =$620 or $820cdn) I am leaving nothing to chance. We don't go often since we live in Canada so I will be up bright and early on fp day to make sure that we at least get the top rides in. After that we rope drop and we do what we can at a leisurely pace knowing that we have at least secured our favourite three. It gives us peace of mind.

Plus, I use FP to allow us to sleep in on some trips. It's nice to be able to roll in to the parks at say, 11:00 in January, and start our FP for the day. DH may be 55 but he may as well be 15 when it comes to sleep habits. He's never outgrown sleeping in. Left to his own devices, he'd still stay up till 3 AM and roll out of bed at noon. He appreciates when I book those late FP. We don't do it in the summer, when it's hot but will when it's comfortable out.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

We do this almost every trip. We really only eat at one TS per day, if that, so usually the night before we'll see what's available the next day at the park we were planning on going to anyway. Same thing with FP. It makes our trips much more relaxing going with the flow, and we've been to WDW enough times that if we end up doing one of the more uncommon shows or rides, we're fine with that.

 

[brookmey]

I did a 4 day solo trip last August and did book FP in advance, but I ended up changing my daily plans around so much that I canceled all the FP+ I made beforehand and only booked them the day of. When I got up in the mornings I realized I didn't want to go to the park I had planned, so I went to another, and booked whatever FP+ I could get for that day. Or I decided to sleep in and take my time getting to a park, so I canceled any early morning FP+ I had. It was my first trip by myself, where I got to do what I wanted. If I had a FP+ for a ride but didn't feel like going on it that day, then I canceled and chose another on the spot. I didn't plan any ADRs at all and only ate CS.

I could never do this with my family, though. My oldest has high functioning autism, so planning in advance is crucial to having a pleasant, meltdown free trip. She needs to know that she will go on her favorite rides and when. Same with eating. She needs to know that we will eat at her favorite restaurants and when.

Sometimes I wish we could be more spontaneous, which is why my solo trip was so great. It felt very freeing, and that I wasn't a slave to the FP+ and ADR systems. I liked being impulsive and if I didn't get to go on something, it wasn't a big deal because I found something else to do. Impulsivity can lead to some nice surprises, like when I accidentally found a nice, shaded spot for the afternoon parade at MK. I didn't intend to watch it, but when I saw the spot, I decided to have a seat, eat a snack, and had a great view of a parade I had never seen before.

 

[Lost Yeti]

Going solo is very different than going with a party of 2+ when it comes to getting day-of FP.

It's unlikely I would go with a party of 2+ without having a plan in advance. Solo? It's not a problem at all.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We're the kind of family that needs a good plan in advance or else it's going to be:

Me: What do you want to do next.
Family: I don't know. What do you want to do?

All. Day. Long.

.

I do plan ADRS everyday (and FP+ no matter the trip) when we go as a family of four or it would be a constant battle of where to eat. The kids would bicker about where to eat. The boy would want to do this ride. The girl would want to do this ride. They would bicker about which FP to get.

Since next trip is just DD12 and myself I've decided to go with the flow a lot more. It's much easier with two people rather than four.