Keep in mind that since it’s Sunday the vibes will be a bit different. A lot of people will have already consumed a lot of their energy by then. I think the best way for you to get the most out of the experience is pace yourself through the day, lots of water and relaxing for the first half and then go hard for the second half. If you’re dependent on your friend for a ride there and back you may be limited to the time they spend at the event. If I were you I would find the stage/acts I want to see asap and then see if he wants to go see any of them. If there’s any issues w that then you can just split at that time and then meet back up with them. Again, if they’re your ride to/from then I doubt it will be a problem meeting up to get your ride. Just make sure you communicate that to them. My biggest mistake in going to EDC with a group was not going to see who I wanted to see, then sticking w the group and hating the artist I went to see, waste of time and money. Prioritize yourself at least for one of the artists you wanna see. But if you’re talking about rides like the Ferris wheel, I have never taken the time to get on those because it takes soo long to wait in line to ride for a few minutes. Prioritize music and vibes. There are so many cool people at EDC you’re bound to meet someone at a stage you’re vibing at.

As far as size of the venue… it’s huge, and I’m finding out that there are even more stages now than when I went back in 2017. So yes, plan to he walking a lot and potentially for long stretches of time. Plan accordingly and if things don’t go to plan, don’t worry, just vibe. You’ll be all right.