Have you ever got home and wanted a "Do-Over"?

[cleo]

Yes. You certainly aren't alone!

The only trip I ever wanted to take back and start over was the one I over-planned. I got so wrapped up in The Schedule, with no room for flexibility, that it really was a stressful trip, and I didn't really enjoy it. My family refused to go along with The Plan (which was a brutal one!), so they had a great time, but I felt very sorry for myself and extremely put-out. Ungrateful jerks!!

Now I look back and think they should have left me to sulk in the resort room. I was the jerk, and I learned the lesson very firmly on that trip. Every 'planned' trip after that involved a flexible plan. I learned a lot and now refer to that trip when I plan for others. A plan is good (necessary for first/second/third timers, even), but I think Flexible is the key.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I can empathize with you. Our last trip wasn't the best Disney trip either. We arrived 1/1/05. It started out fine with our first night at PORFQ. We went to DD and then to the Luau. The next morning we checked into the WL. We didn't listen to the advice of the CM there and insisted on a king bed. We got Room 1130 (very front corner bottom floor next to VWL.) Our "preferred" view was of some blown over trees and bushes with a great view of VWL's pool. OK, our mistake. Then we discovered how bad the transportation from the WL can be. Almost every time we got to the boat dock we heard "you just missed the boat" and had to wait for the next one. Had to wait at the WL bus station for 20-30 minutes one morning to go to Epcot. Then I got whatever flu bug of the week was there. No nausea or diarrhea, but had a 101 degree fever and NO ENERGY to do anything. DW then caught it a couple of days later. We made ourselves go to the parks but it was close to lunchtime before we left the room for 2 days. Finally, I got some Robitussin Flu at the mercantile store which fixed us up, but by then the trip was almost over. We did, however, have a few highllights. We saw the Luau, ate at Liberty Tree Tavern, and had patio seats at R&C for Illuminations. We also got to see Spectromagic & Wishes twice.

Wish us luck. We are taking most of the in-laws down in April.

 

[Kewz1]

We went for 11 days back in April/May with our really good friends. We had a tremendous time! My friend made matching shirts for us and we wore them to the MK. We had the Disney photogs take pics of us in our shirts. Fast forward to after our trip. Neither one of us remembered to purchase any of these pics. We viewed them when we got home so we at least saw them but no "formal" pics -- and we didn't take any pics with our own cameras. That would be my do-over.

Kristen -- Queen of Procrastination

 

[BamaTigger]

I have to say this one takes the cake. I hope you can look back on this now with humour, cause I definatley did!

DGF and I had a trip with a friend that just did not feel the disney magic. We ended up staying at POP in order to save some loot. It turned out to be the worst mistake ever. We will never stay at a value resort again.

OH I LAUGH NOW! I REALLY DO JARRDISNEY! But there is another small detail I forgot to mention cause it is sooooooo embarrassing...but here goes!!!!!!!

My hubby BLESS HIS HEART, went to the laundry room at POR to wash my jeans that I threw up on and um, well, you know, "got dirty" and he said he put the washer on hot and all of a sudden, it started to SMELL LIKE A SEWAGE DUMP!!!!!!!!!! He said he ran out of there so fast before someone saw him he almost lost a lung running so hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I laugh about this now, but it is sooooooo humilating!

TO be sick is one thing, BUT AT DISNEY! Oh man. AWFUL AWFUL.

 

[Lila95]

One thing I wish I could do over is that I would not have stressed so much. There were nine in our group and I felt like since I had been on the DIS and done so much research everyone acted like I was the tour guide. If anyone had a bad day I took it personally, even if they had gone off and done their own thing. My sister has overlly stressed about things going on at home and was a little grumpy at times which made me upset. I wish I would have just let it all go and just enjoyed my time. I felt like my kids didn't have as much fun as they could have because I wa too worried about pleasing everyone.

I had the same problem as the OP with my tickets not working. Four days in a row I put my ticket in the machine and it said it was invalid. I was so careful about keeping it away from cell phones, cameras, etc. so I have no idea what was happening. One day my husband kept it because he was sure I was doing something wrong, and sure enough, it didn't work again. I was starting to feel like Disney was trying to tell me something

 

[Skroops]

I can totally relate!
I am on my third "do-over!"

The first one was with my family and my parents. My parents acted worse than my two yr old. They were constantly complaining that I made dining reservations each day, and they only wanted to sit on a bench. My Dad insisted that my Mom get a wheel chair, (my Mom had a slight knee injury, but she needed to move more than she did) and of course my DH ended up pushing my pooh-sized Mom around the whole time while we listened to them complain about everything and the weather.

Our next vacation, my DH ended up with the flu and in bed at the resort. Although my DS(2) and I got some park time in because the DH insisted, it just wasn't the same.

The third vacation, my DS(almost 3) got sick. Our son had some kind of bug that he felt fine after resting for a couple of hours, but then he'd get a fever and lose energy. He'd rest again and we'd think he was fine but it would come back again. It eventually went away, but we had two days of worries and very short park visits. We only were able to stay at MNSSP for two hours before he was out of energy. By the time we were worried about him, he'd seem to feel all better again. He wanted to feel better, and we felt so bad for him.

Unfortunately, my DH is unwilling to give WDW another shot for at least a year. He did, however, agree to let me try again with my best friend. (Yeay!) So here I come in 17 days to try my fourth "do-over"!!!! Although without my DH and DS, I'm wondering if this really counts as a "do-over". At least I have learned to lower my expectations and go with the flow...

Cross your fingers for me!

 

[Karnak]

We also didn't care for our very noisy room at POFQ.

I have stayed at the French Quarter several times, and loved it. In fact, I'm going back there on a solo trip in a few days. (See below) Do you remember which building you were in? And what kind of noise it was?

Just wondering, because I might want to avoid the area where y'all were housed. On my previous trips to the French Quarter my room has always been very, very restful and with no outside noise at all. (On my most recent stays at the resort I have been housed in building 5.)

Thanks for the info.

 

[dixiedizfan]

I have stayed at the French Quarter several times, and loved it. In fact, I'm going back there on a solo trip in a few days. (See below) Do you remember which building you were in? And what kind of noise it was?

Sure ... After having Building 5 or 6, 3rd floor noted on our reservation (for months), POFQ placed us in Building 7, 1st floor. They called it a courtyard view, but it was half courtyard and half parking lot. Our room had a connecting door in it, and most of the noise came through that. We could clearly hear our neighbors laughing and whooping it up, well into the night. We also heard every shower taken and toilet flush from next door as well.

 

[I Love Pluto]

Yes - Our July 2005 trip was during a heat wave. We're used to July heat, but this one was unbearable. We were swimming at 2AM. Of course, this happened to be the trip that we split between two moderates. Each gave us the room furthest from everything. We hope it never gets that hot again!

 

[KirstenB]

Yes, we've gone every year since 89. We took dd1 when she was 6 mths, everything went pretty smooth. When we took her at 18 mths it was hard work. I think a lot of it was my expectations....first child, after 18 mths of "babyhood" I forgot she was still a baby when I booked vacation! I don't know why, but I had this rosy vision of everything going smoothly just because we were on vacation. Actually I guess it wasn't a "do over" situation. She was a typical toddler, just my expectations weren't realistic. We leave this morning with dd1 who is now 8, and her 14 mth old sister, yay!!!

 

[kennezgirl]

I am sorry for everyone that had a bad experience. My wish for you all is that your next trip is the trip of your dreams!

I have only taken one family trip and I long every day for a second. I WILL get there. Our first trip though did have its moments. Between us, my husband and I have FOUR daughters...his, hers, and ours. Many, many times I felt like I needed to be wearing a black and white striped referee shirt! My oldest was also the dreaded age of twelve that knows everything and I am an idiot. Combine that with picky eaters and a four year old and I was nearly in tears.

Perhaps my expectations were unrealistic to begin with. I just keep dreaming of the next trip and this time I know not to push us all so hard.

 

[marconat]

We are doing a do-over in Jan 07... last time we went to Disneyland in August 05, my husband was not there and I did not get the magic as much as Disney World... and the last time we were in WDW was in Dec 04, with my parents... now they have different views of this park and my dad wanted to go shop in Flee Markets outside of the world and was tired fast and was crabby... my mom has trouble walking, so we had a wheelchair, that's not that bad, but it became hard to push around. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but like they said, we seen it and it's just to hectic for us! ha!

So this time it's me, Hubby the 2 kids and my Sis, BIL... we have an extraordinary vacation planned out and we can't wait to go.

 

[Feelslikeadream]

This is exactly how I feel!!! We just came home on 11-9 we arrived 11-1.
The kids had a great time. But my DH and I learned alot of things. I wish do-overs where that simple. Maybe if we win the lottery!!! We plan on going back in 2008. Hopefully things will be better!!!

 

[disgram]

This past August, I took my DGD and her friend and her mother,brother and sister to my "special place". This was the biggest mistake I have ever made!!! First, the kids were all teenagers and the most disrespectful brats you have ever met!! Even DGD started to act like them!! The boy wanted to sleep all the time, all the rides were "lame" and the weather was too hot!! IT WAS AUGUST!!!! The worst part was the mother was too drunk the whole trip to take care of the situations as they arose!!! One night, she was so drunk I had to just about carry her back to the resort. I was never so glad to get back home! I am planning a "do over" trip for next August with my twin DGDs and beleive me, there will be no teenagers and no drunks on this trip!!!!!

 

[thptrek]

Bad experiences or things can happen anytime on any vacation or during any event. Don't overplan, be flexible. If you feel getting overwhelmed take a deep breath and go for a quick walk by yourself.

If you have a bad day, try to get a good night sleep and start over the next day.