Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

Heading to Disneyland this month for the first time with my 4 and 2 year olds. My husband and I are definitely not Disney people but are excited to check it out with our kids. We bought the SoCal City Pass and will be spending 3 days in Disney. I didn't book any special character dining or any of these fast-passes that we read about. Should I be purchasing these?

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

If you are not into the character dining then yes you can wing it. We did it 7 years ago when my DD was 3 1/2..just did MK and no other park. DD has no memory of it and at the time she was more interested in the pool at the place where we stayed. So I think you can totally wing it Have fun!

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

I think Disneyland is a very different beast than Disney World. I would never, ever "wing" Disney World after nailing it this past April with excessive planning. But I think Disney Land is more go with the flow because it's smaller...

Is it possible just to

It's definitely possible to wing it. That's what we did when we went. At the time DS was only 2 so we didn't buy any fast passes. The rides we went one (the tamer ones like its a small world) had very small lines.
We did book Goofy's Kitchen about a month in advance but then the morning of we called and they squeezed us in for an earlier time.
We did Magic Kingdom for 2 days and Carsland for 2. Have fun!!

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

Fast passes are not available to purchase, they are free. Unlike WDW they are on the old system. You cannot get FP in advance as of this point in time. So you get FPs when you get to the parks. So you can definitely wing it to a point and have fun. I might do a quick search to see the most popular rides to ge a feel of what you want to FP and order of rides to visit to have the shortest waits. But unlike wdw it is more of a wing it situation.

As far as character meals. You don't need any. But if you know your child will want to meet certain characters I would consider trying to get one, only because you will wait in long lines to meet them in the parks. If your child don't care about meeting them, then go ahead and skip them.

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

Disneyland, yes! It is when I was younger we went and didnt plan for years lol. We just went hit the rides we wanted and had a blast. Disney world is too much work and preparation for me. I already went to school ,I hated homework. Disney world not for me LOL

Is it possible just to

Disneyland I think you could, but you still need a little bit of planning to know what to hit when. I highly recommend the facebook page DLR Prep School, she gives great tips!

https://www.facebook.com/DLRPrepSchool/?fref=ts

Is it possible just to

If you mean Disneyland In CA, absolutely! Much rather go there than Disneyworld.

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

Message edited 8/1/2016 8:54:24 AM.

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

Posted by NervousNell

Posted by Lara&Aidansmommy

Disneyland, yes! It is when I was younger we went and didnt plan for years lol. We just went hit the rides we wanted and had a blast. Disney world is too much work and preparation for me. I already went to school ,I hated homework. Disney world not for me LOL

I agree with you 100% .
I refuse to go on a "vacation" that is more work than my full time job.
If we do Disney at all it will be in Cali.
Get in, get out and go tour the rest of the west coast after!

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

I think the one key thing is to go early and off peak. Your kids are younger so you should be able to avoid school breaks easily.

I would head straight to Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom. You should be able to "wing" it. Epcot and Animal Kingdom are easy to just walk around minus the big blockbusters that get up to 1+ hour waits. That is what people usually FP.

The first time we went to Disney, I did zero research on food. I thought the food was horrible. I personally think glancing at some menus and having a rough plan for meals is good or you may get stuck eating hot dogs like we did. We've been to Disney a few times now and we know we love Mickey Waffles, pineapple dole whip, can get decent clam chowder and ribs inside the parks.

Message edited 8/1/2016 9:44:00 AM.

Is it possible just to

My friend went a couple of years back with her kids and other than a character meal she booked in advance, she totally winged it.

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

Posted by NervousNell

Posted by Lara&Aidansmommy

Disneyland, yes! It is when I was younger we went and didnt plan for years lol. We just went hit the rides we wanted and had a blast. Disney world is too much work and preparation for me. I already went to school ,I hated homework. Disney world not for me LOL

I agree with you 100% .
I refuse to go on a "vacation" that is more work than my full time job.
If we do Disney at all it will be in Cali.
Get in, get out, and go tour the rest of the west coast after!

Is it possible just to

Disneyland yes you can wing - I would try to grab a character breakfast at a Disney hotel if you want- we had a reservation I got it a few weeks out- and then the morning of I showed up earlier and was seated early - we did the surf mickey one and enjoyed it

the fast pass system is the old system where you get tickets - my husband would go ahead and get us fast passes - do nemo ride early it is great but slow loading - fantasy land gets crowded fast but you can do a lot close together

also get there before rope drop - they started checking tickets 15 miutes early and then moved people into the park - we got so much done the first hour

also if you have hopper tickets - the two parks are not connected for fast pass so I sent my husband to get a fast pass for later in the day - Radiator springs goes late fast so we had it when we got there

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

Ive winged Disney World because I refuse to do work for a vacation so I would imagine to wing Disneyland would be totally fine!

Re: Is it possible just to "wing" Disney?

I've winged Disneyworld 4 times in the last 6 years with 2 small children. I love it! We pick a character to meet, take pictures, have ice cream, do the rides & parade. We never get there at rope drop. Def can do if Disneyland is smaller! It is not a sporting event... We do it slow, relaxed & for the kids (who don't know if they miss a ride or two... For rides, we can go to an amusement park). We always have a great time and are never stressed!

Is it possible just to

We went to Disney World in March with absolutely no plans and had a great time!! My kids are young enough that they didn't know what they were possibly missing.