Everyone has different opinions on this question. What may be the most comfortable shoes to me may not be to you. You have to ask yourself if you could walk 15miles in these shoes? I'm bringing my pair of New Balance running shoes and a pair of Teva Terra Fi's. I bought the Tevas after reading about them here and they are very comfortable to walk in and I'm not a sandal person.
I swear by my Teva's. I have the Pretty Rugged Leathers. Even though they are sandals, I wear them anytime of the year, even winter. Before I started wearing them, I always had blisters no matter what but I've not had that problem since. Good luck to you and have a fantastic trip!
I just bought a pair of slide in sneakers made by Dr.Sholls and they are the most comfortable sneaker. They look like a reg walking sneaker but without the back. They are lightweight too. I'm going to be going back to get another pair before our Oct trip
Ditto on the Keen's. I have a couple pair, but the Newport H2's are my favorite. They are so comfortable, waterproof, and have a nice toebox so if anyone steps on your toes, you aren't going to feel it.
Depends, too on when you go. Hot summer, tennis shoes are just sweaty and you may be a lot more comfortable in sandals. January, you may freeze in sandals.
I'm partial to tennis shoes, but bring a pair of sandals.
Sneakers all the way! I was amazed at how many women wear high heeled shoes, wedgies, flip flops, and just generally inapropriate shoes. A number of them had bandaids on their feet under their flipflops! But the more surprising thing was the amount of children I saw wearing sandals and flipflops crying to their parents that their feet hurt!
We are leaving in 2 days (yay! ) and for the third year in a row I am bringing a pair of sandles that I bought just at Walmart! They are called Earth Shoes and my friend told me about them, now we both bring them every time we go to WDW. They are sooo comfortable- I wore them for 10 days on last years trip and I was 32 weeks pregnant! They have lots of styles. I have 3 pair, but the most comfy are the least attractive (of course). they are brown with velcro srtaps. Walmart still sells this style and I highly recomend them!!!
As a 50+ man who goes to WDW every chance I get (with and without the grandkids) my recommendation is wear whatever you find comfortable at home. I do not wear sneakers or walking shoes at home. I have never liked them. But whenever I went to Disney I wore walking shoes because I thought they would be best for my body. At the end of each day I couldn't wait to get them off my feet. The last 2 trips I wore my Minnetonka mocs (which I wear all the time at home). My feet and my whole body thanked me every night. Just wear what is comfortable and don't worry about how much walking you will do at WDW.
I'm leaving early Friday morning and just finished packing last night. I've got Teva Pretty Rugged Leather sandals and Teva Mush flip flops packed and will be wearing my Croc Nile sandals on the plane. I'm also considering throwing in a pair of Teva Olowahu flip flops into my suitcase that are very comfortable.
If you wear sandals or flip flops, just wear them at home walking long distances to make sure they're comfortable and remember to apply sunscreen to the tops of your feet. While I was testing out my Teva Mush flip flops last month I wore them to my GD's double header soccer games and got the tops of my feet severely sunburned one day.
Sneakers are just not comfortable for me to wear in the parks all day.
another vote for the original TEVA's
I bought some before my trip in 2002 and still wear them - can't even get myself to bu ynew ones cux these are so dang comfy - just wore them again a few weeks ago - LOVE THEM
only prob I have with sneakers is my feet will sweat and feel icky - or get wet on a ride (ie splash mnt) and then fel icky
Every foot is different and I can't stress that enough. I've wasted a bit of $$ on buying shoes others recommend here. I should have tried them first but bought them online on sale and jumped on the bandwagon. (Nike Straprunners, for one example).
I say read this thread and take some notes and then go to the stores and try them for yourself. Whatever shoe you decide on, give it some break in time as some shoes need it.
I always got blisters no matter what kind of walking sneaker I bought and no matter what kind of fancy coolmax/walking socks I bought.
I then tried Ecco Cosmo sandals and no blisters. Also no break in time. I then tried Teva Pretty Rugged leather. Not one blister BUT I did have to break them in and adjust the strap a couple of times and now they are my favorite. I also just bought the Teva Pretty Rugged nylon for the waterproof aspect of it. I love both the leather and the nylon. No more blisters!
I tried the Nike Straprunners cause they were highly recommended and on sale but I hated them. I couldn't get used to the bumpy sole.