I can’t believe the trip is almost here! And even crazier, we are finally going to do a trip without being over scheduled! The few dining reservations I’ve made, I’m going to cancel. We’ve always talked about doing it, and I’ve finally been able to *not* obsessively plan every minute from home. Going with the flow instead of needing to keep an eye on the clock for our next FP or meal is going to be a whole new world for us!
Enjoy! We were in Orlando for after a cruise recently and decided on a whim to just drive to Epcot, buy a day ticket and have a little Disney magic before our flight out of MCO late that night. Didn't buy
Genie+ or ILL, didn't have any kind of touring plan or strategy going in, didn't have any ADRs, and had a great day. We used the "walk-up waitlist" feature in the app to eat at Le Cellier, which was a reservation we tried and failed to get at 60+ days for our upcoming Nov. trip. But we did ride Frozen, Mission Space, Soarin, Nemo, Three Caballeros and just generally enjoyed the ambiance of the park.
Was it the most productive day ever? No. We didn't go on Test Track or Remy, for example, as their wait times never dipped below 2 hours and we couldn't spend that much time in line and still make our flight. Nor did we get guardians--we could have if we were willing to pay for ILL, but I didn't feel like doing that when I knew we'd be back in a month and get another shot at the VQ. But it did show me, to my surprise, that you don't need to plan like crazy to have a fun day at Disney.
Can I ask opinions on if this is a realistic plan? My MK day is Wed 11/16 to take advantage of extended evening hours. That day, the extra 2 hours are from 11pm-1am. We’re staying at CCV. We are a family of 3 and NOT early risers on vacation. I was able to get a Topolinos breakfast for 12:10 that I would like to keep. I was thinking we would start our day at that point. Not sure if we’re ubering or figuring out Disney transport there. After Topos, make our way to MK (prob Uber unless u guys suggest an easy Disney route). So let’s guesstimate its around 2:00 by now. I would like to see the fireworks in the park at 8:15. But we just grabbed a Story Book dining for 8:45 back at our hotel. Is it ridiculous for us to leave the park right after fireworks & Uber over to WL? Will the crowds even let us do that quickly? And lets say we do, can we come back into MK after that dinner to finish off the extended evening hours from 11-1:00am? Will there be a boat at 1:00am to take us back to WL?
You will not make your dinner reservation if you stay in the park for the fireworks and try to get an uber to WL. Fireworks last about 15 minutes. Even if you watch the fireworks from the train station so you can be among the first to leave MK, it will still probably take you 5-10 minutes to walk to the express monorail or ferry to get to the TTC (where the ubers pick up), then probably add another 15-25 minutes to get to the TTC, depending how long you have to wait to for ferry/monorail to leave, then another 10/15 mins to walk to the uber pickup and find your driver, then a 15 minute drive (traffic will be heavy with everyone leaving)--I doubt if you'd be in WL before 9:15/9:30. Much faster to just take the boat from MK to WL. You will probably be a little late with that method, but still a good chance you will make it before your grace period for the ADR expires. Again though, assumes you are RIGHT at the park exit when the fireworks end and that you can walk at a good clip to the boats. If you are in the hub, you won't even make it on a boat until after 9pm.