Any MISTAKES made on past trips?

[Starclassic]

Only been once so far, and I think the biggest mistake by far was the dates. Our last few days were during President's Day weekend.

 

[littlebit0863]

In 2004 instead of paying $100 to reschedule, we continued with our Disney vacation even though Hurricane Jeane was projected to enter Florida. We spent 2 1/2 days in the park, and then 2 days holed up in the hotel ballroom with no ac and limited food.

Last vacation (2008), I forgot my bathing suit, and rather than just buy a new one, I chose to swim in shorts and a tank every day. Uncomfortable and they never really fully dried. I also regret not packing any food to take with me. Eating out every single meal proved more expensive than I thought.

I ALSO regret not packing a poncho. It rained every day of both of my trips, so you would think on the second trip I would have packed one rather than shell out the money for the park poncho.

 

[bookgirl]

Only take about half the clothes. It's really not hard to do a quick load of laundry while swimming. That way you'll have a lot less stuff and if you take the same size bag you'll have room for souvineers.

For a week I took enough clothes plus extra but in truth I only really wanted the ones I wore the first half of the trip, so I washed them and wore them again. Next time I'm only taking 3 or 4 outfits. I will take extra socks/undergarments because in the heat, THOSE were what I needed the most of to combat heat/sweat.

 

[kprena19]

not knowing what a ride is but still getting on it anyway on my very first trip to disney, back when i was like 5 or 6, we went to the magic kingdom and we rode what is now the stitch ride. you know what im talking about.. the one where he escapes and is running loose. well when i went on it stitch hadnt even been thought of yet (makes me feel old lol) but anyway the alein thing they had on it (still not sure what it was from) WAS THE SCARIEST THING I HAD EVER SEEN (keep in mind how young i was) i cried during the whole ride! i was so mad at my mom and dad for letting me ride it lol i think they ended up having to buy a stuffed animal to get me to calm down.
so word to the wise: know what the ride is before you get on it.
last year my dad, mom, and little sister wanted to ride it (it has stitch now) and i chose to wait outside because i had flashbacks from back when i first rode it. i was 15 the last time they tried to get me to go on it again and still would not! (i honestly dont know if i ever will ride it again!) whenever we pass the ride in the park i always remind my dad about what happened.
afew months before that trip my grandparents had taken me, my mom and all my cousins to disneyland. we were all pretty young back then and this was my first trip to a disney park ever! so i had no clue what anything was (to my disadvantage) we went to get on thunder mountain railroad and my mom told me 'it's just a little railroad track, nice and calm' LIES!!! tmrr is anything but! (especially when you were as little as i was!!) if i remember correctly my mom bought me a stuffed animal to get me to calm down (history repeats itself! lol)

wow just took a trip down memory lane there for a second lol

anyway, FIGURE OUT WHAT THE RIDE IS BEFORE GETTING ON IT!!!

and dont lie to your kids, it'll cost you lol

 

[KarmaLady]

This is an awesome thread! About 4 years ago, DH, DS2 and i went to Florida with my parents, sister and DN6. I convinced them to go to MK one day. Huge mistake. My mom hated it and didn't mind telling everyone! DH, DS and I waited 3 hours outside Pirates of the Carribean for them to come out before giving up. Turns out they were out very quickly, didn't see us immediately, so toured the rest of the park. So my mistake is: don't do Disney with non-Disney people and don't take it personally if they don't feel the magic like you do!

In 2 months, we're going back with DH's entire family (13 people). We already decided to do what we want, when we want and only meet up occasionally. We're also going to let DS6 & DD4 dictate the speed we go & resist going commando! It'll be my first time staying in the world (POR) and DD's 1st trip! Thanks for all the tips!

 

[dorchrislen]

1. Not taking a felt backed piece of tablecloth to sit on: One time we sat on the blacktop in the hub to watch the fireworks, as everyone else was doing. There was a conspicuous open spot, so I grabbed it. The lady next to us looked at me funny and said something that I couldn't understand (in another language?), so I felt a bit uneasy, but eventually relaxed. As we didn't have anything to sit on, we were touching the blacktop with out hands. That night, my son and I both got that dreaded throat tickle and got sick, so I'm convinced something happended in that spot (vomit cleaned up my CM?) before we staked it out. This time, we are taking something to sit on, or just finding a standing spot.

2.not being in enough pics myself: this time, I plan to ask the Photopass Photog to also take a pic with my picture, and not worry so much about gettting done quick so the rest of the line doesn't have to wait. Sometimes I'm considerate to a fault.

 

[Lady_Gracey999]

A Few of My Lessons Learned:

- Don't go as a single with a married couple.
- It's a challenge to go with people whose trip goals are different from your own. I went on a few trips with friends of mine who are a married couple. There were several issues on each trip. Mostly just differences in how they liked to do things (commando, fav rides/shows only, ADRs every day, get to parks late and stay out super late) and how I like to do things (basically I like a more relaxed day, and I like to get to parks before noon). If you go with friends there needs to be some agreement as to how the days are going to go (if you plan to hang together).
- Added to the one above... 3 is an awkward number for adults, especially if it's you and a married couple b/c they like to pair off on the rides and stuff.
- Flip flops can be bad in rain. My feet were sliding all around in my Adidas. Just about turned my ankle.
- Don't forget a HAT! It only took me 5 trips to realize that I would rather wear a hat than sunglasses. Usually no need to take them off inside, and they don't hurt behind my ears like sunglasses do.

 

[sixkristy6]

not knowing what a ride is but still getting on it anyway on my very first trip to disney, back when i was like 5 or 6, we went to the magic kingdom and we rode what is now the stitch ride. you know what im talking about.. the one where he escapes and is running loose. well when i went on it stitch hadnt even been thought of yet (makes me feel old lol) but anyway the alein thing they had on it (still not sure what it was from) WAS THE SCARIEST THING I HAD EVER SEEN (keep in mind how young i was) i cried during the whole ride! i was so mad at my mom and dad for letting me ride it lol i think they ended up having to buy a stuffed animal to get me to calm down.
so word to the wise: know what the ride is before you get on it.
last year my dad, mom, and little sister wanted to ride it (it has stitch now) and i chose to wait outside because i had flashbacks from back when i first rode it. i was 15 the last time they tried to get me to go on it again and still would not! (i honestly dont know if i ever will ride it again!) whenever we pass the ride in the park i always remind my dad about what happened.
afew months before that trip my grandparents had taken me, my mom and all my cousins to disneyland. we were all pretty young back then and this was my first trip to a disney park ever! so i had no clue what anything was (to my disadvantage) we went to get on thunder mountain railroad and my mom told me 'it's just a little railroad track, nice and calm' LIES!!! tmrr is anything but! (especially when you were as little as i was!!) if i remember correctly my mom bought me a stuffed animal to get me to calm down (history repeats itself! lol)

wow just took a trip down memory lane there for a second lol

anyway, FIGURE OUT WHAT THE RIDE IS BEFORE GETTING ON IT!!!

and dont lie to your kids, it'll cost you lol

Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[Bob NC]

- Don't forget a HAT! It only took me 5 trips to realize that I would rather wear a hat than sunglasses. Usually no need to take them off inside, and they don't hurt behind my ears like sunglasses do.

1) Get better sunglasses.

 

[lnh'smom]

1) Get better sunglasses.

How about don't FORGET sunglassess??? We left home for the airport at 3:00am so it was obviously dark. Then it started snowing really hard so we were running late by the time we got to the airport. We were grabbing everything as fast as we could and I just left my sunglasses in the car. I am such a tightwad that I refused to shell out the money for a new pair since I already had 2 at home. I feel like I spent the whole week squinting. Lesson learned, I won't ever do that again!

 

[Lady_Gracey999]

1) Get better sunglasses.

I have tried many different types and styles and brands and I just can't stand them for too long. They rub behind my ears really bad or they give me headaches. And even if I wear them I'm still squinting behind them. I've got issues lol.

 

[etoiles]

Our mistakes from our last trip:

1. Don't start off in the largest park (Animal Kingdom). Get used to the weather and walking in a smaller park first. DH was miserable the first day.

2. Don't get so obsessed with following your park touring plans that you miss something that was not on them. We forgot to actually go inside or through the castle last time! It was not in the plans but I regret it.

3. Dollar store ponchos do not cut it. We brought those but they were an epic fail and had to buy the Disney ones. Next time we are getting better ponchos in advance of our trip!

 

[Reendawg24]

1.Not getting to EMH for DHS one day on vacation because of the notorious TSM rush
2. Not being able to do RnRC because of no FPs left
3. Mission: Space-orange, make me so sick and Inever got motion sickness before
4. Not having my own fanny pack, had to share my moms, no phone space.
5. Cape May Cafe has no atmosphere, waste of an ADR.

 

[sixkristy6]

Our mistakes from our last trip:

1. Don't start off in the largest park (Animal Kingdom). Get used to the weather and walking in a smaller park first. DH was miserable the first day.

AK is the largest park? I had no idea!

 

[Avery422]

Biggest mistake ever- Sleeping until 11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

Can't remember if I already posted this mistake....

waiting till Day 3 of the parks to visit MK!! We had burnt ourselves out a little by that point. Did HS, AK and Epcot all before MK. This time around we are going to do MK first. We want to do it our last day too but might not b/c it's supposed to be very busy on Thursdays and that's our last park day.

 

[SingingMom]

Can't remember if I already posted this mistake....

waiting till Day 3 of the parks to visit MK!! We had burnt ourselves out a little by that point. Did HS, AK and Epcot all before MK. This time around we are going to do MK first. We want to do it our last day too but might not b/c it's supposed to be very busy on Thursdays and that's our last park day.

We always do MK our first full day and our last full day. Our "tradition". ;-). We spend a lot of time in Epcot too. We only spend one day in AK and probably 1-2 in Studios. In January I didn't spend the second day in Studios, we watched the marathon runners, then DD and DH went in for RRC and I went bak to the Dolphin to sit by the pool with a Mai tai!!

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[JenluvsDisney]

Not starting "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom" first thing in the morning during our August trip!

My kids (9 and 11 years old) were very excited for this interactive scavenger-hunt-type game. But we wanted to do all our favourite rides when we first arrived at MK so we didn't get to the Firehall to get registered for the Sorcerers game until after we'd eaten lunch. So, in the hottest part of the day in the hottest part of the year, we were trudging back and forth throughout the entire magic kingdom to do this game. My kids loved it but it was very exhausting. We should have signed up first thing in the morning and been doing it in between all the other attractions we were visiting.

But the pool at the end of the day never felt so good!

 

[noahdove]

I am loving this thread...my mistake was not saving a big enough spot for 4 of us to sit and watch the parade..from now on, we will all sit, and then 2 can go and get their snack and then the other 2...no more smushing in...

 

[momimouse27]

Not trying to get BOG months ago when I first decided to take our trip this week. My
dd16 is heartbroken because she wants to go there so badly

Another big mistake I have tended to make in the past in underbudgeting for food. I don't always factor in the snacks and things correctly.

Also, I've found that if we don't build a "play" day into the middle of our trip, then I really burn out. This time, I have two park days, a swim and shop day in the middle with a late afternoon trip to a park for a relaxing visit and dinner. Then two more park days. I have so much more fun when I don't push my self.