Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

So here's the thing. I have NO desire to go to Disney.
Like when it comes down to that or a root canal, the root canal actually wins.

But here is why. I feel like lately, Disney has become this crazy crazy place that requires dining reservations 8 months in advance, planning for a year, spreadsheets, college degrees, and 15 thousand dollars to throw around.
Oh and also a dictionary of terms- because i have no flipping idea what a fast pass is, or what MAGIC BANDS are, and nor do I want to!


And if you know me, you will know that I don't do planning. I don't do things far in advance. I don't do stress.
Even a little. And especially for a vacation.
I have enough stress at work. I want my vacations STRESS FREE. It can't be work or I shut down and won't do it.
Planning a birthday party stresses me out to the point I don't do those either. So forget this!

But I have this tremendous guilt too- because I know DD would LOVE it there. And I would like to do it before she starts real school next year- so we don't have to go on a school break. (Because that would be WORSE than a root canal to me!)

So- are there any LOW MAINTENANCE ways to do Disney? Like book a hotel ,book a flight and wing it?
Will we be able to eat without reservations farther in advance than the normal human gestation period?

Any under achieving moms out there like me...Please advise!

Message edited 9/5/2014 5:11:50 PM.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

The first time we went, I just followed the touring plan of the Unofficial Guide to Disney. I didn't know the layout of the parks until we picked up the map at the actually park. Our kids were 1 and 3 and we only spent 3-4 hrs per day for one park per day. It was low stress. I did zero restaurant research and just winged it. We would head back to our hotel for nap and spend the afternoon at the pool. It was very low key.

Your child is not school aged yet so you can go off peak where there will be lower crowds. The only thing I highly recommend is to arrive at the parks at rope drop (30 min prior to park opening time). You can walk on the rides with little to no wait. We usually ride most of our rides in the first 2 hours and then do mostly shows and eating the rest of the day.

Message edited 9/5/2014 5:26:47 PM.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I refuse to go nuts like most of the moms I know do. My kids barely even care about seeing the characters, why would I wait on a 4 hour line for a 2 second meeting that my kids will be too shy to even enjoy? And the meal planning so far in advance... I am no Disney expert but I have gone as an adult and *gasp* eaten without a single reservation, but the way most people act is that this is impossible.

We are going to book flights, book a room, and go. We will try to find a time of year where it is slow so the lines aren't as long, because I would much rather spend the money on souvenirs than a fast pass - which is asinine in itself because from what I have seen you need to get your butt to the park at the crack of dawn and RACE to the rides you want to use the fast pass on. NO FUN.

We are going to go, take it slow, and enjoy the experience. If I have to eat food from a cart or a random stall I will. I just don't see the big deal.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

We just went, and it was kind of last minute (for Disney standards). We booked less than 2 months out. We were able to get breakfast reservations the week of because of cancelations. I made a character breakfast reservation 2 nights before the breakfast. We did make our fastpass reservations when we were allowed (30 days before) because we didn't stay on Disney. The fastpass comes with your admission, so you should use it. You can definitely eat without reservations, but it probably won't be a character meal. It would be "quick service". Honestly, we had an amazing time, but I felt like I needed a vacation when we got home!

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I never pre-plan for our trips.. This year was a little different because I want it to be more special for my son (first trip there since his Dad passed away)... I always go with the flow when i am down there. I don't go overboard and I take my time while I am there..

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I have only done Disney by winging it.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

We went off season and it was fine. I made whatever reservations I could, did a few fast passes, but certainly did not go crazy. I'm not a planner and I hate traveling. Disney is enough work as it is just getting to the parks and walking around with little ones, I refused to stress out about - DD was like 2.5, so she didn't really know if she was missing something anyway.

I do recommend looking into the fast pass thing though, it wasn't that complicated and it saves a lot of time. I just did the 3 a day they let you do ahead of time and that was it - I used the My Disney Experience app for the 1 reservation I made. I did everything a couple weeks before we went, like 1 or 2 weeks before we left.

I think if you're going off peak times, you don't need to go crazy. And we stayed off Disney property and would def do it again.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

We just booked a 4 night Disney stay the other day, we are going the last week of September. We are totally winging it, but the crowds will be low and I know my boys will never know the difference.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

If you want to do something like a character breakfast or eat in the castle, just call when you get there and odds are they'll have an open spot. DH and I always got into these places by other people canceling reservations.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I highly, highly recommend you DO NOT do Disney. In my opinion and experience if you don't plan it, you won't make the best of it and you'll be pissing money away. Go to Beaches Turks and Caicos instead.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

You can probably get by with almost no planning. Just make sure you are going at an off peak time and the crowds won't be that bad. The only thing that I suggest you do is make one or two reservations for meals you definitely want to do such as Cinderella's castle or a meal with Mickey because you can not just walk into those. You will definitely find places to eat without reservations as long as you aren't too picky in what you want, but you seem (on the internet anyway lol) to be a go with the flow type of person. The only thing that I plan when we go is our meals because DD loves characters meals. The rides and stuff like that we just do what we like when we like.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Stay on property so you can use the bus service and the ability to hop around as you want, check out the guide when you get there to look at the park opening hours, choose the park that does NOT have the extra morning magic hours and go to whatever park you choose as soon as it opens. If you have trouble with dinner reservations check the restaurants at different Disney hotels, they are not usually as booked as the ones in the park. Last if you have flexibility of when you can google least crowded months and you'll have a much better time

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I love Disney.
We do 3 days in the parks (2 full, one half).
We stay off site (and save a ton of $$$). We come & go as we please.
As for reservations, we heard the food at many are awful & were able to fit into cancelations on our last trip (food was really not good). We prefer to eat off site too.
We spend the rest of the week relaxing at a beach.
Good luck, and no, it's not painful at all! (But neither should a root canal be!).
I used to go as a child & camp in Florida summer heat. Disney is great! No need to go nuts. It's great from a tent or from a 5 star resort on the monorail. IMO, it's best from an off site fancy hotel (that's relatively underpriced).

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

i really had no desire to go to disney. We did the Disney cruise got all the Characters and Character breakfast they bused us into Disney for the day and we only did the magic kingdom. I made reservations at the castle for dinner which was very nice, but we had already seen all the Princess on the cruise.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

No need for all that insane 3 years in advance planning! If you don't really care about having to do one thing or another it will be great and you will enjoy whatever you do do (if that makes sense lol). As for going on an off time, you can't rely just on the local schedule...we went last October, mid month and turns out the schools down south had some sort of break so it was much more crowded than we bargained for. So if you can at least find out the potential crowd size I would. Have fun!

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

First time I went I got a hotel way off campus. No planning.

Just showed up with some free tickets I had. Three days totally unprepared. Didn't know a single thing. What to do, what to expect, how to navigate, when this or that was best, what to eat, how much it would cost, didn't know about the rides, shows or characters, no idea why there was different parks or what each one was designed for.....

In other words, I just showed up and walked in.

I had so much fun I've been back five times!

Message edited 9/5/2014 9:26:56 PM.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Use a travel agent. No charge to you and let them do the stressing. You dont need table service meals if you dont want them. Theres tons of quick service places.

Message edited 9/5/2014 9:27:32 PM.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

You don't need to obsessively plan, but you need to have a general idea of what parks you will do which day, and you really need to pick your fast passes. We don't make dining reservations, I can't plan like that and be tied to eating at xyz at abc time.

But, I will say, we tried to walk into several sit down places this Summer and we couldn't get in. We ate a lot of counter service, which is fine in the end.

Check out easywdw.com

Also, it's not as expensive as everyone makes it out to be. Yes the tickets are expensive, but if you are going for a week, the price per day is less than most amusement parks. You can find deals, but you do have to do some legwork. Our trip this Summer I got an amazing deal through Orbitz. 30% off our room with a Disney sale, and another 20% off with an Orbitz code. Saved a ton!

Message edited 9/5/2014 10:07:22 PM.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I went twice this year and booked both trips about 3 weeks in advance. We got the fast pass reservations we wanted including anna and else and dining reservations we wanted at Cinderellas royal table. It requires some work, but nothing crazy.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

We did it last minute, but we went on a slow week, our DD was only 18 months, and there was nothing we felt we "had to do".
You should probably try to book the things that would be important to your DD. You don't need to plan out every detail though.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

We have been to Disney twice. The first time we went, we booked our trip about 6 weeks in advance, having practically zero disney experience. The second time we went, we booked it about 3 weeks in advance.

Both trips worked out great.

But we did need to do a little work. It helps to look at the maps of the parks to know where things are. It can be overwhelming when you are there and trying to figure out where things are. Every night once the kids were in bed, DH and I would plan a little bit for the next day. For example, if we were going to get a quick lunch that day, we decided on a place or two we would like to eat . We didn't plan things rigidly, but just had general ideas about what we wanted to do or places we would like to eat, etc .

We were able to get lots of reservations for great places - we just kept checking often. A lot of the reservations we were able to get for character meals were the night before!

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

You can totally do Disney without a bunch of planning. You could go the travel agent route or you can plan it yourself. Orlando has plenty of hotels and resturants that are off the Disney property if you do not want to stay on site. I would pick a week that is off peak. The park passes are $$$ so you may want to take a look at what the different parks offer and decide what your dd will enjoy. I have done Magic kingdom and Epcot on the spur of the moment and had an awesome time!

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Call disney directly to book and they will walk you through it.

6 months before trip, you can make dining reservations. Again, if u call, they will ask u about your family and what u like and they will do it all for u.

We don't map out each day, other than dinner reservations.