Many "classic" routes have reaction times which can be shortened, it is just that the advertised times are proven to work every time with full yield, if refluxing for say 20-30 min instead of 90, very possibly the yields will be lower than usual in at least 10% of the performed runs. It is up to yourself to decide if your time or the yields which is the most valuable to you.
Same thing with the drying in the procedure above - it CAN probably be skipped, but your product will be more moist than with the drying, and with water present some hydrolysis will always occur - if it is to an extent of 0.1% or 5% we don't know until someone has tested the procedure both ways.
Myself, I always prefer to do things by the book first, and then SLOWLY cut back on steps, reaction times or solvent amounts I believe is excessive. I would hate to lose product (or decrease purity) just because I was lazy, even if the difference was just marginal.