Any MISTAKES made on past trips?

[LuluLovesDisney]

The best part of that trip - when her cell phone fell out of her pocket on Space Mountain.

that's so funny! and i am as mushy, lovey dovey, romantic as it gets!

 

[kizmac]

Not writing how many days are left on our tickets and bringing used ones instead of the ones that had days left on them! Pricey mistake. I did it this trip and I hope to never make that mistake again. I brought the wrong tickets. I thought the 100 years of Magic tickets were the most recent ones and I was wrong. It's can be hard to recall after a year has passed.
Anyhow, I ended up having to upgrade all our tickets and it cost me about $1300 when I had only anticipated having to spend around $300. Not a great way to start a trip and I was worried I had thrown out the good tickets. Anyhow, a positive note is that I found the good tickets yesterday and I now have enough tickets for my next trip except for two of my kids! So, it's not all bad. I will be marking my days from here on out though!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

we forgot to pack (didn't even think about it actually) insect repellent. Had to buy it at Wilderness Lodge and paid a small fortune for it.

 

[bub]

kizmac - I feel your pain. We have leftover tickets from last year, and no idea how many days are left on them. We took several trips the year before, and I just can't remember (hard to imagine, since planning our Disney trips is a full-time obsession for me). Wish I had written it down somewhere (on a note attached to the tickets would have been nice). Now we're not sure how many days of tickets we need for next year's trip, and as you can only check on this at WDW as far as I know, we're not going to be able to get an answer before our trip. Guess we'll just have to buy new tickets with lots of days, and go for a longer trip!

 

[monica31671]

My biggest mistake was not having a map at all times. It seems so obvious, but sometimes we would flow with the crowd into the park and not notice until we were floundering around. This was made worse at night and in the rain.

 

[vellamint]

Momerath - THAT is the funniest thing I have ever heard (mostly because it is something that would happen to me)

So glad it worked out for you though....


WRONG AIRPORT OMG you poor thing.

 

[ncbyrne]

The thing I regret from a past trips was not verbally saying the date at the beginning of the video taping. DH and I spent a good part of today looking at old WDW videos and I had no way of knowing which year was which.

 

[hsmamato2]

Ditto on the too many clothes packed...and the extended family(or friends)even if you liked them ok before the trip!!!

 

[Ali and boyz]

bringing my wife!

Oh thats nasty

does she think you are still super man

 

[psiprez]

b-b-b-bump!

 

[Embel]

The first year our big mistake was not doing any research prior to our trip.

The next time we made the mistake of doing a Crystal Palace breakfast seating for 10:30. The park was so quiet that we were able to do all of Fantasy Land before the breakfast. If we hadn't had reservations, we probably could have gotten in several more rides before the crowds started to pick up.

The last mistake we made was meeting up with and then staying too long with friends whose parenting styles are different from our own. It was frustrating to discipline our children next to others who were ignored for the same behavior. Going forward, Disney World will be a time for us as a family, and we won't feel badly about separating from others if that's what works for us.

Oh yeah- one other mistake. We illegally blew a toll heading back to the airport. Apparantly Florida has unmanned tollbooths that only accept change. We didn't have any. We tried to pay at the next booth, which was manned, but they laughed us off & said it happens all the time.

 

[sarah4770]

I had read not to go to the Magic Kingdom on emh days. I went anyway. Never again.

 

[Yensid FoNaf]

Couple of things that I'm sure you probably already know:

1) Don't try to do it all! I've gone with my brother's family and before the trip we sat down and tried to plan out the days. He wanted to try to do everything. I advised him to cut back on the amount of "stuff" that he was trying to CRAM into one day. Pick the 5 or 6 things that you feel you MUST do. Leave yourself lots of time to just ENJOY being at the Park. Take the time to look at some of the beauty that the Parks have. Take pictures with your family in them (especially with the roaming characters) Often folks get frustrated because they are not able to keep up the hectic schedule that they've put themselves on and end up exhausted and unsatisfied.

2) If you plan on eating at a "sit down joint", make Priority Seating! If you keep a loose enough schedule, in the long run you save time and frustration by planning ahead when it comes to the dining.

3) Roll with the punches. I sat and watched a guy EXPLODE because the tram from the parking lot couldn't carry all the people who were waiting and he had to wait for a second tram. He was cursing and acting the fool with tons of kids standing within earshot of him. And this is at 8:30 am! Always be prepared for possible delays. WDW services Millions of people every week. There WILL be times when you'll have to wait for stuff. Take it in stride and enjoy the ride!

Have a great time!

 

[psiprez]

b-b-b-b-b-bump

 

[_pretty_pixie]

We had similar incident with tickets to the FOX to see the Phantom of the Opera. We got to the FOX my mom, me and my two sisters all dolled up only to be told by the ticket attendante that we were suppose to be here yesterday! I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

 

[amwhitaker]

Hmmm, my *learning experiences* from our fabulous 9 day trip were:

1) Wasting time doing Fantasmic! and planning on spending the entire day at MGM. I just did not care for it. Could also be exascerbated by the fact that this was the only day we did not take an afternoon break. So next trip we're doing two half days there.

WHAT??!!! This is in my top five favorite things to see at WDW! It makes me chock up everytime I see it.

I always tell new people not to miss this show.

Oh well, not everyone likes the same things. I'm a Disney freak - so I like all things Disney.

 

[lisajl]

WHAT??!!! This is in my top five favorite things to see at WDW! It makes me chock up everytime I see it.

I'm with you on this one!!! I was watching our copy of it from 3 years ago.
I still cry!!!
I love it!

 

[psiprez]

doin' the bump

 

[seagee]

I planned everything- booked the trip, read the book, made index cards with tips on them , and booked 2 character meals. So my regret is not including my family with the palnning. The morning of the Princess breakfast I had to drag DH and DD to the breakfast. "We are on vacation we want to sleep in!" Lesson learned.

 

[lc1965]

My story won't make sense because it's sort of complicated, but it falls under the category of Going With the Wrong People. Let it suffice to say that I shouldn't have let someone invite herself along, but I was too polite to open my mouth. Never again.

Oy vey, the things you learn about people when you travel together! Things about how often they shower or don't after spending the whole day in the hot FL sun ... things about how they insist on following you around even though you hate coasters & they love them, even though you eat on the go & they want a 3-course meal, even though you can't be bothered stopping for character photos & she wants to get photos AND autographs. (She's 23.) It was constant pouting by someone. It's funny how the oddest things need to click, like whether some people like a big breakfast & some people can just manage morning coffee.

My best advice is never be apologetic about splitting up. At the very least, it'll give you all something to talk about when you get together for dinner or whatever.