How Best to Experience Disney If You Haven't Planned Ahead

6.  Enjoy quick-service dining & snacks

Even though you can absolutely find great dining reservations last-minute, you don’t actually need dining reservations to have great food!  And here’s an unintended bonus- choosing counter service dining locations will save you time and money on your trip!  Whether you’re looking to eat healthy or ready to indulge, there are so many counter service and snack locations to choose from.  Chow down on a “cheeseburger pod” at Satu’li Canteen in Animal Kingdom. Grab a seat overlooking the It’s a Small World ride inside Pinocchio Village Haus at the Magic Kingdom and nosh on a flatbread.  Need some comfort food? Visit Woody’s Lunch Box at Hollywood Studios for some potato barrels and pastries. Feeling adventurous? “Dine around the world “ and enjoy the many flavors that Epcot’s World Showcase has to offer- all without reservations.  Bonus tip- check out the mobile ordering feature on your phone; you can pre-order food at many counter service locations and pick it up when you’re ready to eat!

7. Above all, be flexible

With or without a lot of planning under your belt, this tip is for you!  Sometimes even the best-laid plans are thrown off by a ride closure, a slow bus, or a cranky travel mate.  Learning to be flexible and change course in the moment is important for your ultimate enjoyment of the parks.  

Especially in cases where you haven’t invested a ton of time in pre-planning your days, simply go with the flow.  Be open to all of the options available to you. If you arrive at a park mid-day without a FastPass and the line for Space Mountain is 90 minutes, do something else.  No single ride or experience will make or break your trip unless you let it. The My Disney Experience app has live wait time data, so you can see what lines are more tolerable and go to those attractions, savings others for another day or later at night.  

As you can see, there are plenty of last-minute steps you can take to enjoy a less-planned trip to Walt Disney World.  Remember- just because something can be arranged months in advance, it doesn’t mean that it has to be.