Do we need to plan ?

[kenzzi]

We haven't been to DLP in years, have to florida, and i know they are totally different re booking meals, fast pases etc.

So my question is do you have to plan for dlp the way you do walt disney world?
or can you just go with the flow so to speak? , we have 4 nights and 5 days there,we are driving so can make the first and last day full days as well if needed.

We have an 18,16,13,and 8 year old with us.

would be grateful for your advice

[kk20]

You dont have to. Fast pass are the old paper types. Character queues in the studios are via lineberty app on the day.

I would book restaurant timeslots beforehand though via adr as restaurant slots fill up.

[HappyPanda]

You definitely don't need a full on plan. The only thing we really plan is our meals, everything else is just done on a whim.

[baggers]

I would just check when the different shows are to make sure you get to those. When we went at Easter some filled up 45 minutes before they started so we had to plan when we went to them. I love being able to walk between the parks and split the day’s up

[numbersix]

If you have 5 days there, you most likely do not particularly need a formal plan. As previous replies have stated, you might need to book restaurants, especially if you want specific ones, the table service places can get booked up quickly, but you can check for availability at City Hall as you go. If you just want counter service, there is no need to book, and the hotel buffets don't really need to be booked either.
With regard to the parks, you can pretty much 'go with the flow' as you put it over the 5 days, if a queue is long, come back at another time, no problem. The only thing I would say with that is that if you are staying over a weekend the queues can get a bit long because a lot of locals visit the park then, so if you are visiting over the weekend maybe try more shows/shopping! If you are staying onsite, make good use of EMH, especially at the weekend.
You should have at least a mental 'list' of what you want to do, just so you don't miss anything, but otherwise, for 5 days a rigid plan is not really necessary.

[Peter H]

Make sure you decide what rides you can’t do without and priorities those. Don’t bother with reserving a buffet restaurant particularly the reservation doesn’t really work.

[Privateer]

Do any of your group need (or must have) a meal at a certain time? If they do then you may need to book places to eat and plan around.

Every time my DW and I visited DLP, we just went with the flow by doing the rides as and when, and ate on the hoof during the day and tried our luck with restaurant availablity in the Village. If you go outside peak time then you should walk in straight away or wait only a short while for a table.

Regards,

[MissJRabbit]

It’s definitely not like WDW in terms of planning but to get the most out of it you might want to have a rough idea of how you want to tackle the parks. Also it might be worth booking a few restaurants if you are fussy about where or when you want to eat - if you are happy going where there is space or eating the counter service food you’ll be fine.

Generally I would have an idea what you want to get fastpasses for and which ride you want to do first but this can be done the night before or morning of.

[kenzzi]

Thank you for your reply's, good to know i dont have to plan as much, we are giving it to the kids as a Christmas present, so once they know we can all sit down and work out what we defiantly want to see and do.

Food wise we have the meal vouchers so i think we will just go with the flow.
Going to try and book the first sitting at breakfast then head over to the parks for EMH

[MissJRabbit]

Originally Posted by kenzzi

Thank you for your reply's, good to know i dont have to plan as much, we are giving it to the kids as a Christmas present, so once they know we can all sit down and work out what we defiantly want to see and do.

Food wise we have the meal vouchers so i think we will just go with the flow.
Going to try and book the first sitting at breakfast then head over to the parks for EMH

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When are you visiting? If you are going in school holidays I would definitely book a few meals as you likely will get turned away. Annette’s is the only Disney sit down restaurant that doesn’t take reservations and unless you show up as soon as the restaurant opens they may not even let you wait. We went in April and couldn’t get into a restaurant around 7.30 pm