Do Overs...what will you do better next time?

[smidgen21]

Share your I can't believe we didn't do that moments....

Last time I was at WDW I was 18 and on my senior trip. We were in Epcot/World Showcase and traveling counter clockwise and only made it to Germany. We walked back around the way we came in to go out...I don't know why. I vaguely remember we wanted to eat at the Garden Grill so we back tracked. So we totally missed China, Norway and Mexico. I think we intended to go back and finish, but never did. And we didn't know that there was more to the countries than you can see from the main path so we didn't explore around them. Just walked around the lagoon.

This time I plan on going clockwise and exploring each country.

 

[tracirae1105]

We have been so into taking pictures of the scenery that after looking through our photos from the last THREE trips, I can only locate about 10 pictures with us in them!! Definately will be taking more "people pictures" of us this time instead of just buildings, animals, and trees!!

 

[Pam&Mike]

This is my first post to the boards…YAY I’ve been lurking since January 2007, before DH and my 1st trip together to Disney World. We are getting ready to revisit POFQ in two weeks, so I wanted to NOT do the following on our future visit:

It was my DH’s 1st visit, so I wanted to make sure we didn’t miss anything on our 7 day visit. We were at the parks when the rope dropped until the last bus took us back to the POFQ! By the 5th day, it was getting hard for me to walk, but I pushed on. On the 6th day it was pretty much hard to get out of bed… …That night we had ADR at O’Hanas, but we were so exhausted we couldn’t make the short distance to the bus stop, so we ordered room service pizza & salad and spent our last day in the room.

This time, our 39 yr old legs are going to go at a slower pace. We are going to take our time and not push ourselves…but once we get there, it will be hard to restrain! I also requested a room near the bus stop on the bottom floor

 

[All7OfUs]

Welcome Pam&Mike- don't be shy, go on post with us!

I would defintely take time out to see what's around the property OUTSIDE the parks, try new restaurants, theming at the resorts, and focus less on rides. I guess that happens when you turn 40??

 

[smidgen21]

This is my first post to the boards…YAY I’ve been lurking since January 2007, before DH and my 1st trip together to Disney World. We are getting ready to revisit POFQ in two weeks, so I wanted to NOT do the following on our future visit:

It was my DH’s 1st visit, so I wanted to make sure we didn’t miss anything on our 7 day visit. We were at the parks when the rope dropped until the last bus took us back to the POFQ! By the 5th day, it was getting hard for me to walk, but I pushed on. On the 6th day it was pretty much hard to get out of bed… …That night we had ADR at O’Hanas, but we were so exhausted we couldn’t make the short distance to the bus stop, so we ordered room service pizza & salad and spent our last day in the room.

This time, our 39 yr old legs are going to go at a slower pace. We are going to take our time and not push ourselves…but once we get there, it will be hard to restrain! I also requested a room near the bus stop on the bottom floor

welcome! i'm honored your first post was on my thread

i know what you mean though. My last trip was 4 days/3 nights and my feet were so sore and swollen that when I got back home, I had to wear slippers to school the next day b/c my tennis shoes didn't fit I wonder if it would be worth packing my foot spa

 

[daleswife]

next time I am definately NOT Taking my sister and her family!!! Didnt do nothin but cause trouble for all of us and we didnt enjoy one second....this september its just the 4 of us going and I know it will be wonderful!!!

 

[matthew&haleysmom]

We went in February and are doing a redo trip in June.

This time there are many things we are doing differently.
1. Taking it more slowly.
2. Not taking my sister's children.
3. Leaving my DH at home. He doesn't care for Disney.
4. Going to the water parks.
5. Spending more time at the pools.
6. Leaving 3 out of 11 days completely unplanned! Both of my children will get a day at the end of the trip to choose what we will be doing for the day!
7. Anyone who is not enjoying the trip can be put on a plane and sent back to DH!!!! I have already let everyone know this rule!!

 

[Pam&Mike]

welcome! i'm honored your first post was on my thread

i know what you mean though. My last trip was 4 days/3 nights and my feet were so sore and swollen that when I got back home, I had to wear slippers to school the next day b/c my tennis shoes didn't fit I wonder if it would be worth packing my foot spa

Thank You! Your thread was calling my name-I was just thinking about what not to do again

After the first day my tennis shoes didn't fit either...had to wear crocs the rest of the time! My feet barely fit into the crocs the last day!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I made such a rookie mistake last trip. I SOOO should have known better!

For starters, I wore sneakers to AK.

then it rained.

then I thought,"Awww I'm already wet, why not go on Kali? I'll be careful to put my feet up. I'll sit ACROSS from the huge hulking guy in my boat, and I'll be fine." We were leaving after Kali anyhow.

WRONG

As soon as we sat, it totally started to downpour in buckets. More important, I was the total drenchee. There was just no way to keep my shoes from getting totally soaked. The water came over the middle island.

I didn't mind the walk to teh bus in squishy shoes so much. What really made me mad was that it took three days for my shoes to dry. I put a hairdryer to them and er...it was fragrant. Once they did dry, they had a unique fragrance to them that I swear wasn't there before. I should have known better on all accounts. I have tried to hand wash shirts at WDW before and I know how bad the humidity is!


Luckily, I did have an alternative pair of shoes, and it was around the middle of our visit already.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Get everybody up early. I'd love to make one rope drop at least.

And if they won't get out of bed, I'll go by myself instead of waiting around and getting frustrated.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

IOnce they did dry, they had a unique fragrance to them that I swear wasn't there before.

Gotta love that FL Sulfer water!

What I would do differently??? Hmmm...
Schedule breaks in the afternoon to cruve the cranky times
Do the DDP, not the Deluxe DDP (or only 2 TS with 1 CS)--too much time away from attractions
NOT do CRT or Stitch...and IASW if possible

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

-pack less snacks...we ended up taking them back home.
-bring EXTRA rain pochos. They were flimsy and were not in good shape
after one use.
-Less character meals....instead have more ts at the EPCOT restaurants.
-skip Stitch-YUCK!!
-take more pictures of the random stuff....less of the kids with the characters
-spend less on the deluxe room...go moderate and spend more time at Disney
instead

 

[wdwmom0f3]

What will I do different? Well, I would let everyone sleep in one day and go to the parks later that day. Normally I am fussing at everyone to rush to get ready so that we can wait for the park to open.

I will also take more pictures. We will spend more time in the parks at night too.

 

[Me!Thatswho]

We went in February and are doing a redo trip in June.
6. Leaving 3 out of 11 days completely unplanned! Both of my children will get a day at the end of the trip to choose what we will be doing for the day!

I totally love this. I hope you don't mind if I borrow it on our next trip.

Having just returned from 8 days at WDW, the biggest do-over on our next trip will be not arriving on New Years Eve. Not afraid of the crowds, we decided to give it a whirl. However, DS(8) and DD(5) didn't make it past 9pm, which is amazing considering the fact that we woke them up at 3:30am for a 7am flight out of Boston. But, it proved to be too long of a day for all of us, and, ironically, both DW & I couldn't make it past 11pm ourselves.

Oh well. Next year we'll try to arrive a day or two earlier.