Any MISTAKES made on past trips?

[jjsmom]

I haven't read through all the posts so sorry if I repeat. After 20 some trips we made some doozy mistakes. Here are the most memorable:

1)Not bringing 2 pairs of comfortable walking shoes. Our June '96 trip was like the Asian monsoon season. Our shoes were soaked the first day and then (dah!!) they were still soaked on day 2. Luckily, we had a rental car and set out for an outlet store/Walmart/whatever. This was before the late '90's commercial contruction boom in the 192 area and couldn't find anything! Ended up wasting an entire afternoon and evening (driving in pouring rain!!) and put us both in a miserable mood.

2)A few trips ago, forgetting our dollar tree ponchos and spending almost $30 bucks on park ponchos

3)Not going to the main pool and slide at Coronado Springs. Please folks, you're paying for Disney magic at your resort. Enjoy it!

4)Missing illuminations since DD was a toddler

 

[peas&carrots]

Thanks for all the tips! We are making our first trip in June and these "warnings" will make a huge difference I'm sure.

I am nervous about one thing though...we are going with friends who invited us, staying in a 2 BR villa. I want to be an awesome guest, so besides being willing to split up, what can I do to make sure that they don't post on here "Don't travel with friends?"

Thanks!

 

[Ali and boyz]

Thanks for all the tips! We are making our first trip in June and these "warnings" will make a huge difference I'm sure.

I am nervous about one thing though...we are going with friends who invited us, staying in a 2 BR villa. I want to be an awesome guest, so besides being willing to split up, what can I do to make sure that they don't post on here "Don't travel with friends?"

Thanks!

Hi Carrie I would say, - at the beginning say to them, "please feel free to do your own thing if you wish, we wouldn't be offended"

we didn't do this and it wasn't a good trip. I am a bit of a coward though and was too busy trying to keep them happy when they never would have been either way but had I had the courage to say in the beginning look, no offence but we would really like to do this, but know you's might not so would you be offended if we did.......................... we might have did things on our own and had a better holiday

my sis-in law went with friends and they said the friends put an imagary line down the fridge our stuff and your DONT TOUCH. My mum and I alsways have what we call a housekeeping purse put money in at the beginning go shopping all pick what we want , whenever we want and the fridge is filled to share with everyone.

learn but our mistakes

have a fab time

 

[mommiepoppins]

I brought a cooler that I can wear around my neck.....i never used it

 

[dbogen]

I brought a cooler that I can wear around my neck.....i never used it

I'm sorry but this one made me laugh. All I can picture is the type of feeding basket you see around the necks of aminals. Now that is going commando style thru the parks.

Deanna

 

[momimouse27]

Mistake #1: Always trying to make everyone happy except me. Yes, its a disease, but its multiplied in WDW....

#2: Not preparing myself for the fact that my 3 yr old(Oct '05) may not like loud noises and dark rides After all, his sisters were never bothered by it when they were babies. His first ride: Great Movie Ride...tip-Alien is NOT popular with toddlers!

#3: Not making enough Dining Ressies. My family loves to complain about how I do too much planning...then when we get to the park, they all want to know what great place we are going to eat. I guess they think these things plan themselves....

#4: My most embarrasing yet. Last year I attempted to force my 12 year old daughter to ride Pirates(she's afraid of the "dark drop") thereby causing a scene when she began crying and yelling, upon which I became the bad mommy everyone hates at Disney. I cringe every time I think of it
I don't know what came over me.

 

[momimouse27]

Oops, how could I forget that one whopping doozy of a mistake on my last post. This one may even top trying to get sweet DD onto Pirates against her will! In May 2002, we decided to take a "quick" trip(4 days) when I was pregnant with my son. I had morning sickness pretty bad for a month at that time, but thought I had it under control. I was fine the first couple of days-no sickness, kept everything down. When I knew something was wrong was, we were at Epcot and I remember sitting down by the lagoon in front of Morocco while my girls were seeing Aladdin and Jasmine. I was fine one minute and the next I was sobbing uncontrollably. I got over it, chalked it up to preg hormones and went along.

Our last day was our first (and only)foray into Universal Studios. Lets just say I am familiar with every restroom in the place. I spent an hour just lying on a bench in that Cat in the Hat restaurant. We were driving back the next day, so in total I didnt eat for three days-was so sick the midwife at my OB's office had to put me on Zofran and an IV and put me on bedrest for two weeks. That was my trip from hell.

 

[Tiggerbell05]

I can't believe no one has said not to buy one of those big ole balloons. All it did was hit us and passerby's in the head when we were walking, and obscure everyones view during spectro--our viewing neighbors were not too thrilled with us we tried tying it down but it was so windy it kep bobbing everywhere!!!

I agree about the balloons being a pain, but my daughter "NEEDS" a balloon! So, I let her get one while waiting for a parade at the end of the day, at the beginning of our trip. Then we just have to deal with getting it back to the hotel. She then has it in the room and doesn't "NEED" another one. At the end of the trip she has the choice of either popping it - if it's a mylar it will deflate and then she can hang it on her wall- or giving it to someone. Last trip she gave it to a little boy who was headed back to his room with Mom (she always asks the parent if she may offer the balloon first). The little boy was very happy with his "new" balloon, and my dd (14 by the way) got to enjoy both having her balloon and sharing it.

 

[Boncho]

Not buying a great sweatshirt I saw. I told my son - this year our motto is - we like it, we buy it THEN!!!!

 

[hayrynen]

Well we just got back, and I still have that vacation hang-over and also want a do-over. Some mistakes we made were (sorry, kind of long):

*Doing DW with our 2 year old. We left early afternoon everyday to go back to CSR for naps. But, he took several hours just to fall asleep. I guess maybe he was over-stimulated? My older ds never had this problem, he could fall asleep anywhere. So, we wasted so many hours wishing for ds2 to nap, didn't get back to the parks until pretty late and he still was grumpy.

* Also, the 2 yr old was afraid of every ride and show. He loved all the characters though - go figure. I thought he'd be afraid of the characters. Anyway, he was really extra sensitive and high maintenance the whole time, mainly because he was so over-tired. Yet, he wouldn't nap or go to sleep forever when we put him down. So, the nap thing didn't work out for us. And, he wanted to be carried everywhere and only by me. He wouldn't let my dh, sister or parents carry him at all and it was a lot of work for me. I was so sore and tired after that.

* Trying to do too much. With all the problems with ds2, we felt we had to rush around everywhere just to get a little bit in. We missed out on so much, yet the whole time we were there we were rushing around. We never figure it all out until the last couple of days of our vacation when we just take it easy, and things work out so much better. Not sure why we don't learn.

* I agree with the other poster who said, if you are taking it easy, what would you have left out? I don't know, I still feel like we missed a lot and am not really satisfied with the trip.

* Not buying toys/souveniers right when we see them. The first night my older son wanted one of those light up spinning toys. We thought we'd buy one later. Then we got busy and doing stuff that we never ended up getting one. We figured on the last day it was a little late to be getting it. Missed out on some other things I would've liked to have gotten as well.

* Not having time to just walk around shops and look at what is around you. And, just enjoying watching my kids and interacting with them.

* I am another one who is always so busy making sure we have just the right pictures, and plenty of them. Afterwards, I always wonder if I would've enjoyed things more and would've had an enhanced experience if I wasn't always behind the camera. Capturing the moment/memory vs actually experiencing it, if you will. Someday, maybe I will actually take my own advice on that one.

* My biggest wish is that I could've spent more time with my older ds and seeing his reaction to the rides and shows. I was always taking care of our youngest and my husband was riding rides with the oldest. The whole trip is a blur, I think back and wonder if I was really there?

Is it just me, or does anyone else always have these regrets? Every vacation I have things I wish I would've done differently.

Sorry so long!
shauna

 

[bub]

Shauna -
I agree that's it's easy to make mistakes with a 2-year-old at WDW. We did far too much one year when my DD was 2, and ended up on a bus with her screaming at me all the way back to OKW. Not one of my best Disney magic moments. DH and I finally learned that with a family you must watch the energy level of the weakest link (in our case, DD) very carefully. She also disliked many rides (too dark, too high - and that was Dumbo!) and she still doesn't like characters - even Piglet frightens her! We had the same problem with napping, too, although I had no problem going to sleep. Our kids preferred the pool to a nap.

Be aware that this stage will pass. My kids are now 12 and 14, and on our last vacation I think I was the weakest link. They now run from coaster to coaster (DD has gotten over most of her ride phobias, except for the Haunted Mansion and...Dumbo!) and never get tired of climbing all those stairs at Blizzard Beach.

 

[pbharris4]

Let's see:

1. Taking too many toys for my youngest (13 months at the time) to play with..she didn't touch them

2. Taking a stroller (the big ones) on the bus..too cumbersome and hard to get on and off in a hurry (we'll drive around until DD is around 4 or 5)

3. Going back to the room for a break (ONLY if it takes you an hour to get there) if we're at MK and staying at BCV then we won't go back for a break..we make sure DD gets a nap the day before and after a park day

4. Trying to do too much...one of these years we will learn to slow down

5. Taking too much stuff in the parks

6. Probably THE BIGGEST mistake was last year: My Swim suit really stank from the Chlorine and I couldn't get it out. I had to wear the suit to the SSR Spa for my massage and it just oozed of Chlorine. I have since found a way to get that out: get a Chlorine remover product from a Pet store (somewhere in the fish section) and put a drop or two into a sink full of water. Soak the suit and air dry.

 

[CF'er]

we for one regretted it. BIG TIME

We just traveled with DBIL/SIL & DN in April. It was a family only trip that they joined in on. All our meals/activities were geared toward *my* family.

Let's just say...... never again. We'll tell them we're going once we get back next time. But, I really don't think they were Disney people so that may save us.

Seems to be a trend though.

 

[tiggtail]

I have laughed so much over LUVINDIS's comments...sounds so much like something that happened to me. but alas, I had a much worse experience than that the last time we were at WDW. Last October we were at POR and my dh had been worried he wouldn't stay "regular" during our trip. He overdosed on some natural pills that must have had the opposite effect. We were there a whole week and never was he able to do what comes naturally once or twice a day! After the fourth day, I had to administer an enema which was.....lets say extremely humiliating for him and just as embarrassing for me. My skills did not pay off. But he was a trooper and just kept going on the rides and keeping up with me and his 4 adult children. Needless to say, he was absolutely the "butt" of our jokes. We still split a gut over it to this day.

 

[cynderella]

I have laughed so much over LUVINDIS's comments...sounds so much like something that happened to me. but alas, I had a much worse experience than that the last time we were at WDW. Last October we were at POR and my dh had been worried he wouldn't stay "regular" during our trip. He overdosed on some natural pills that must have had the opposite effect. We were there a whole week and never was he able to do what comes naturally once or twice a day! After the fourth day, I had to administer an enema which was.....lets say extremely humiliating for him and just as embarrassing for me. My skills did not pay off. But he was a trooper and just kept going on the rides and keeping up with me and his 4 adult children. Needless to say, he was absolutely the "butt" of our jokes. We still split a gut over it to this day.

This was painful to read on so many levels!

 

[psiprez]

Haven't heard any new mistakes in a while...

 

[harmonium]

I guess we all learned how to avoid making them

 

[kmtruffe99]

we thought we'd save money and went to the nearby grocery store (goodings?)...........i ended up buying water, grapes, apples, juice, chips, beer, bread, peanut butter.....you get the point........i ended up eating or drinking half of what i bought and ended up paying more than i normally would have................the grocery store (again i think it was called Goodings) is very expensive and if i was to go again i would only buy water and perhaps some fruit...............i just went overboard on the things "i needed".

 

[Lesley]

We once forgot our annual passes....realized it around Jacksonville. With the assumption that we could get them replaced we pressed on (with the idea that dh would drive home and get them if necessary by himself...so as to not put the kids through the drive again). It was very much like the post on the first or second page about forgetting the Disney dollars.

We also once went pool hopping and for dinner at WL (we're DVC members and allowed to hop). We arrived in our suits and packed clothes for dinner. Unfortunately I packed my 3yo dd's cute little (short) dress, but no underwear. We ended up buying a pants outfit in the resort shop as they didn't have any underwear in her size.

I also forgot to pack shorts for my ds in January when he was 6yo. Are there shorts in the shops in January? NO! Hats and gloves, but no shorts. We ended up finding him a pair of zip off pants at MouseGear. It was rather warm that year.

I also lost our van once in the Boardwalk parking lot. I was in a panic, talked to guest services and everything....until my dh reminded me it was parked in the valet lot. DUH. I was only trying to get something out of the van and it turned into an hour of panic. I have to say though, I wasn't reassured about how things would be handled if my car were actually stolen. The CM's were very casual about it all. Maybe because people like me misplace their cars all the time...LOL.

 

[ms.ojo]

Most memorable: Forgetting to pack a change of clothes for ds3 for the return flight HOME. There was a delay for our flight to depart and w/out going into too much detail he managed to "blast" through 3 pull-ups and his only pair of shorts AND shirt!!!! I tried to buy more at the shops at the airport but no pull-ups available and NO shorts! I bought him a t-shirt that was too big for him and he wore that w/ his last pull-up. I kept looking for another mom w/ a child about his size but would you believe there were none around?!? Our plane was delayed in the air too, but somehow, w/ several trips to the potty onboard, we managed to get home (almost 3hr flight) w/ that 1 pull-up. i made a note to myself in our trip diary, and followed through w/ dd later when she was born....ALWAYS bring changes of clothing both going and returning from Disney!!!!!

Other mistakes:

• Shopping at Goodings (agree w/ previous posts it is VERY expensive) and buying too much "necessities". I can't get over the price of Apple juice there!
• Thinking ds5 and dd2 would actually "sleep" together in a double bed. We quickly learned ds/dh and dd/me
• Not buying enough trading pins on ebay before the trip. We shelled out $100 on our last trip for a few "trader lanyards" to finish the trip. The kids just had no more traders (we actually agreed) and no one wanted the fun to end!
• Don't rush for the buses at the end of MK or MGM. Linger, shop, people watch, you'll get back to the hotel soon enough. Kids will be less agitated too and fall asleep more easily