Park shoes?

[mommaof3girls]

This is probably a silly newbie question, but I'm curious. We have never taken a Disney family vacation. DH has never been at all and I went twice (once at 4 in 1988 and once at 16 in 2000). What shoes do you all wear in the parks that are comfy? My girls have crocs and I'm thinking the little one and the six year old will wear the crocs. DD 4 has CP and must wear tennis shoes for support.

DH wants to wear his five fingers in the park. I was thinking my Tevas. Has anyone worn those shoes in the park? Were they comfy?

 

[tzeitel]

I have heard alot of ppl here love Crocs for the parks. I wear flip flops (classic Reef which are pretty thick), DD wears sneakers and sport sandals, DH wears Clark's sandals. We have done both WDW and DLR with no problems - I think it all comes down to what you are comfortable and used to wearing all the time.

2 pieces of advice - no new shoes and have at least 2 pairs so you can alternate. Oh another one - do not wear sneakers to water rides (looking at you Kali River Rapids!), or bring an extra pair of socks

 

[keypooh90]

I second the no new shoes and bring two pairs to alternate. I wear Crocs and New Balance in the parks, alternating days. No sandals or flip flops for me, but I have weak ankles and tendon issues and need the support of the New Balance and the Crocs.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

I will repeat the previous poster's advice: Bring two pairs of your most comfortable walking shoes. They should not be two pairs of the same shoes either...different style and/or brand. If you take mid-day breaks, swap shoes in the middle of the day. Otherwise, wear shoes on alternating days. This will help prevent blisters, since the different shoes will rub your feet in different places. This will give the parts being rubbed by one pair time to heal while other parts are being rubbed by your second pair. This is BY FAR my biggest tip.

Take lots of breaks where you just sit for 10, 15, or 30 minutes and enjoy the parks.

If you plan on doing the water parks, bring water shoes. The pavement is VERY hot on bare feet.

Bring a pair of sandals/flip flops/crocs/etc. for any days you may ride water rides. If you can't do this, avoid the water rides until your last ride before you leave for the day or your mid-day break. Never walk for very long in wet shoes and/or socks.

NEVER bring new shoes.

 

[WDW Obsessed]

We bring 1 pair of running shoes and 1 pair of sandals. For our DD....she get the full assortment of sandals and sneakers. LOL

 

[B.B. Sots]

We Bring Hiking Sandals and sneakers. If we wear the sneakers, we ALWAYS bring a change of socks... as at some point (be it from a ride or an afternoon shower) your feet will get wet.

I tend to only wear my Teva Sandals (they dry quickly) and have never had an issue... just make sure you put Sunscreen on your feet if you go the sandal route! (Foot Sunburns are no fun, no fun at all)

 

[kermit116]

We always alternate between running shoes (with good padding) and light weight hiking boots (with good support). I cannot imagine wearing flip flops or crocs all day in the parks, but I see people doing it all the time - that's not a criticism of those who do, I'm just throwing in my 2 cents that if I wore any shoes that didn't have serious support in the parks I would probably not be able to walk the following day. My feet hurt really badly if I don't wear running shoes or hiking boots for all the walking.

You have to consider you will be walking (probably) miles each day you are in the parks. I agree with the other posts that you shouldn't wear totally new shoes in the parks - but buying a pair a month or so before your trip & breaking them in is probably a good idea.

Also, I agree with previous thoughts that you should have a couple of different shoe options. I usually wear a pair of running shoes in the parks in the morning, then we take a break in the afternoon to go back to our hotel, and I'll wear either hiking boots or a different pair of running shoes in the afternoon/evening. I think it helps when you aren't beating down the same pair of shoes all day long. And, at least for me, it helps me to not have sore feet the following day

 

[OKW Lover]

Walking in a park is no different that walking at home. Bring along whatever shoes work for you when you spend all day in them.

Do not, under any circumstances, buy new shoes just for the trip. Your feet will wage war on you.

 

[ohboyx3]

TEVA'S!!!!!!! Cannot say enough good things. Wore them the entire ten day trip and my feet never hurt. Wore my tennis shoes one day and regretted it. I'm bringing several pair of them this time. Have fun!!!!!

 

[Ginny Favers]

I wore Teva Tirras pretty much the whole time and they were very comfy. And they were brand new, never broken in. I brought another pair of worn-in shoes to switch with but hardly wore those.

I bought Keen Newports and Crocs for the kids. They started out in the Keens but eventually both wanted to wear only the Crocs.

 

[Tara922c]

Wear shoes that are broken in, you know are compfy, and that you have no trouble spending all day in. I would also bring sneakers for everyone in the group, just in case! I always bring each of us a pair of 2 for $5 old navy flip flops to wear to the pool as well.

I really like my sperry flip flops for the parks because they are slip resistant which is great for raining days.

 

[Missymouse18]

I used to wear Crocs but now it's Yellow Box flip flops for me. They have just a little more extra cushion than most flip flops and aren't slippery like crocs when the bottoms get wet. But I do always have a pair of walking sneakers in my room waiting for me just in case I need them in the evening hours.

 

[calismic]

DO NOT WEAR FIVE FINGERS! His feet will be murderous by the end of the trip. They are not designed to be worn on concrete surfaces for long periods of time. Its just asking for horrible foot pain.

 

[Tebrown96]

This is our first family trip (and first trip in over a decade for either DH or myself). I am bringing my Keen sandals and Reef flip-flops and will probably alternate between the two (one in the morning, one in the afternoon). I wll have sneakers as a standby, but HATE sneakers, so hope to not need them.

DH will wear sneaker or flip-flops.

For DD (4 1/2), we're bringing her Land's End sandals: http://www.landsend.com/pp/girls-ac...ERCH=IDX_girls-_-shoes-_-sandals&origin=index
and her Keen knock-offs from Kohl's: http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/kid...ls/PRD~938602/Jumping+Beans+Sport+Sandals.jsp
We'll also bring her sneakers, but she probably won't wear them.

 

[Jennasis]

I have croc Athens flip flops and a new pair of croc cleo sandals. LOVE THEM.

 

[soxfan11901]

If your kids are like mine, then I wouldn't do Crocs or flip flops. My kids love both, but it seems like they are constantly falling off their feet. With all the getting on/off rides, feet not touching the floor of the ride, etc. I would not want to be always making sure they still had their shoes on.
My kids wore Keen knockoffs from Bass and Payless so that they had a sandle that strapped securely to their feet.

 

[JamboJustin]

I wore my running shoes and my feet and back ached like crazy even so. I'm in good shape, but extended durations of walking and standing work the muscles in a completely different ways. I don't know how people can wear sandals or flip-flops - that seems like a recipe for a lot of pain to me.

 

[Victoria3]

I wear Puma sneakers.

Wear whatever your comfortable with. Everyone is different.

 

[jacksonsmom]

KEENS!!!!

Love them and wear no other shoe at Disney.
This is the only shoe where I had no foot pain or blisters after a long day at the parks.

I love my Keens

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

I have never worn sandals in my life. I also at the time have never been to Disney. So what do i do ? i wear sandals at Epcot and paid the price ! i have a tear in my eye just thinking about the pain i went through ! i tried to by Crocs but they didn't have my size, so sad ! i did see a lot of people wearing the Reebok Zig Zag style so i went and bought those for our next trip !

Also so someone write not to wear new shoes that's an excellent point as well! Have fun !