Inspired by best tips; What tips have you recieved that were pointless?

[MEG&MINNIE]

bump!!!

 

[pjlla]

Just something I didn't see mentioned.... about the "afternoon break" idea. Keep in mind, during Value Season the park hours are much shorter and even if you WANTED to leave the parks for a break, chances are you wouldn't make it back in time before the park closed (except Epcot... WS stays open until at least 9pm, even during Value Season). We have NEVER taken an afternoon break during our January WDW trips. But we definitely needed them last month in DL!! Can you say HOT?! ...........P

 

[missypie]

Just something I didn't see mentioned.... about the "afternoon break" idea. Keep in mind, during Value Season the park hours are much shorter and even if you WANTED to leave the parks for a break, chances are you wouldn't make it back in time before the park closed (except Epcot... WS stays open until at least 9pm, even during Value Season). We have NEVER taken an afternoon break during our January WDW trips. But we definitely needed them last month in DL!! Can you say HOT?! ...........P

That's a good point. When we went to Disneyland one year for spring break, California Adventure closed at 6 pm. It worked nicely to stay in the park all day (a perfect 72 degrees) then leave around closing, have dinner, relax, etc.

 

[Amyality]

Yes. We are afternoon break people but, we always do something like go to EPCOT or do the Fantasmic package in the evening. It probably is a waste to leave a park and go back to the same one later that day (exception, we are touring MK because of relatives in the am then resting and going back for MNSSHP in the pm).

 

[k5thbeatle]

I swear by the set $ amount. Our kids are older now (youngest is 10), but we saved up and each child had $100 to spend the entire trip. The rest of the deal was, they couldn't spend it the first three days we were there. That stopped the impulse buying...

Now if I could just implement this system on my wife!

 

[lamb1022]

I agree, no afternoon breaks for us. Kids have always napped in the stroller.

Ditto to that. I also find that finding somewhere air conditioned and having a cool drink and a snack help my crew.

 

[MHS]

Hard to believe that the water in Flordia is sooo bad tasting that we actually couldn't stand it. My only regret is not purchasing tons of water from WeGoShop. However, as we did the meal plan, all our snack credits were used on water..so it did work out in the end.

If you are sensitive to water taste....buy water.

 

[Amyality]

Hard to believe that the water in Flordia is sooo bad tasting that we actually couldn't stand it. My only regret is not purchasing tons of water from WeGoShop. However, as we did the meal plan, all our snack credits were used on water..so it did work out in the end.

If you are sensitive to water taste....buy water.

Ewwwwwww. The FL water is nasty! Last year our carservice allowed for a grocery store stop so, we stocked up on the way to the resort. This year we are doing Magical Express so, I guess everyone will just have to pack some waters in their suitcase then shell out after those are gone. We can probably divide a case between the four ouf us. I guess I will have to go back through this thread and find out waht wegoshop is. Possibly a better solution?!?!?!?!?

 

[Amyality]

I agree but, this year I purchased some Disney items to give as gifts after we come home from the parks. We only buy for my sisters three children and Kohl's was having a sale on their Disney beach towels (only $7.00 each) and we bought lion king little plush stuffed animals at a ToysRUs sale for .98. So we have three great gifts for less than $10.00 bucks each to give the cousins when we come home.
We just decided to say "we bought these for you" when we come home, we just won't say when and where .

Yes, this is a good idea. Maybe I'm greedy but, I hate buying presents for my entire extended family at the full Disney park price while I'm shelling out big bucks on the trip already. We just might get a few trinkets for them on sale and use your line. The little tinkerbell gifts are a cute idea but, we just by one or two items for each boy during the trip. They are well behaved so, this works. They have their own money too.

 

[chrismb22]

Something we might want to remember here when discussing all this water intake. I am drinking just enough so I don't get dehydrated during the day. Normally I drink 64 ounces in the afternoon while at work but I do NOT want to be taking bathroom breaks after every ride -- and imagine a long ride with no bathroom break. I am going to seriously limit my liquid intake as much as I can without hurting myself.

 

[EthansMom]

Tips that don't work for us:

Just let the baby sleep in the stroller. Nope. We have to have the mid-afternoon break. Both our 1 year-old and 4 year-old get overstimulated. It saves us a lot of bother and aggravation to leave the park after a late lunch and then maybe go back briefly in the evening. If we arrive at the park at opening, we can see and do all of the stuff we really want in the 6 days (really just half-days since we leave in the afternoons) we're at WDW.

Just fly by the seat of your pants. Nope. We travelled with in-laws who refused to plan anything. We didn't get to the parks until 10 a.m. and since we never had reservations for meals, it took 1 hour just to decide when and where to eat, by which time, everyone was so hungry that we just ate whereever was closest.

Stay at DTD and use their bus system. Nope. That dang bus stops at each and every DTD hotel and is always packed! After wasting several hours in 3 days, we started paying for parking and driving to the parks. (Now, we just stay on property.)

Buy souvenirs and bring them with you. Nope. Never saw anyone mention that the dang glow necklaces can't be bent -- once their bent they start glowing and only last for 8-12 hours. I had to expend considerable energy making sure that the darn glow necklaces didn't get bent -- would have been easier to buy my son a light toy. We did limit each child to 1 toy purchase at WDW on our last trip and that worked well.

Don't spend the money on character meals, just stand in line to see the characters. Nope. The kids had so much fun at the character meal we did last trip that we have two planned for our upcoming trip. The food was great and it was worth a few bucks to have four characters come by to see us instead of us waiting in a hot line to see one character.

Just my opinion....

 

[Amyality]

Tips that don't work for us:

Just let the baby sleep in the stroller. Nope. We have to have the mid-afternoon break. Both our 1 year-old and 4 year-old get overstimulated. It saves us a lot of bother and aggravation to leave the park after a late lunch and then maybe go back briefly in the evening. If we arrive at the park at opening, we can see and do all of the stuff we really want in the 6 days (really just half-days since we leave in the afternoons) we're at WDW.

Just fly by the seat of your pants. Nope. We travelled with in-laws who refused to plan anything. We didn't get to the parks until 10 a.m. and since we never had reservations for meals, it took 1 hour just to decide when and where to eat, by which time, everyone was so hungry that we just ate whereever was closest.

Stay at DTD and use their bus system. Nope. That dang bus stops at each and every DTD hotel and is always packed! After wasting several hours in 3 days, we started paying for parking and driving to the parks. (Now, we just stay on property.)

Buy souvenirs and bring them with you. Nope. Never saw anyone mention that the dang glow necklaces can't be bent -- once their bent they start glowing and only last for 8-12 hours. I had to expend considerable energy making sure that the darn glow necklaces didn't get bent -- would have been easier to buy my son a light toy. We did limit each child to 1 toy purchase at WDW on our last trip and that worked well.

Don't spend the money on character meals, just stand in line to see the characters. Nope. The kids had so much fun at the character meal we did last trip that we have two planned for our upcoming trip. The food was great and it was worth a few bucks to have four characters come by to see us instead of us waiting in a hot line to see one character.

Just my opinion....

I agree with everytihing you just posted! Luckily, we have not had to learn from expereince quite as much as you have!

 

[Nancyg56]

Tips that don't work for us:

Just let the baby sleep in the stroller. Nope. We have to have the mid-afternoon break. Both our 1 year-old and 4 year-old get overstimulated. It saves us a lot of bother and aggravation to leave the park after a late lunch and then maybe go back briefly in the evening. If we arrive at the park at opening, we can see and do all of the stuff we really want in the 6 days (really just half-days since we leave in the afternoons) we're at WDW.

Just fly by the seat of your pants. Nope. We travelled with in-laws who refused to plan anything. We didn't get to the parks until 10 a.m. and since we never had reservations for meals, it took 1 hour just to decide when and where to eat, by which time, everyone was so hungry that we just ate whereever was closest.

Stay at DTD and use their bus system. Nope. That dang bus stops at each and every DTD hotel and is always packed! After wasting several hours in 3 days, we started paying for parking and driving to the parks. (Now, we just stay on property.)

Buy souvenirs and bring them with you. Nope. Never saw anyone mention that the dang glow necklaces can't be bent -- once their bent they start glowing and only last for 8-12 hours. I had to expend considerable energy making sure that the darn glow necklaces didn't get bent -- would have been easier to buy my son a light toy. We did limit each child to 1 toy purchase at WDW on our last trip and that worked well.

Don't spend the money on character meals, just stand in line to see the characters. Nope. The kids had so much fun at the character meal we did last trip that we have two planned for our upcoming trip. The food was great and it was worth a few bucks to have four characters come by to see us instead of us waiting in a hot line to see one character.

Just my opinion....

I'm with you !

 

[ZoZo]

Hard to believe that the water in Flordia is sooo bad tasting that we actually couldn't stand it. My only regret is not purchasing tons of water from WeGoShop. However, as we did the meal plan, all our snack credits were used on water..so it did work out in the end.

If you are sensitive to water taste....buy water.

Having lived in Florida several years ago, I can vouch for the fact that the local water does not taste good. It has a very distinct chemical/mineral taste, very off-putting. I read a great tip on one of the threads to bring your own water bottle in the morning, but ask to have it refilled at one of the restaurants (from their fountain drink area, not an outdoor water fountain). Apparently most CMs are very willing to do so for you.

 

[krismom]

Those neck coolers. UUGGHH. I searched everywhere for them- when we used them they felt slimy and left a weird rash on my son's neck. They were really heavy to carry around - the washcloth idea is MUCH better.

 

[bigmac5]

Those neck coolers. UUGGHH. I searched everywhere for them- when we used them they felt slimy and left a weird rash on my son's neck. They were really heavy to carry around - the washcloth idea is MUCH better.

I agree. I made some and nobody liked them. They we only cool for the first half hour then they were wet and warm. only used them part of a day. My hubby just took a small towel from our room and put that around his neck to sop up the moisture. They took about a week to completely dry out

 

[Julia M]

Some tips work better than others, depending on the ages of your kids.

Prebuying Souvenirs: When my kids were little, I could buy a gift or two ahead of time as a souvenir. I would pull it out at night, when we were in the hotel, and announce I had a surprise. But that's because dh and I seldom, if ever, went into the shops ourselves. Now that my kids are older, it just won't work!!

Bringing Snacks into the Parks: Again, a tip that worked great when my kids were little, and we were lugging a stroller and diaper bag anyway. If they were getting hungry and cranky, I could easily rectify the situation. Now that they are older, they aren't interested in goldfish crackers and raisins! They also can wait. On the other hand, I do keep a roll or two of lifesavers or other hard candies in my purse.....they come in handy.

Bringing in a Mister: Another tip we tried once and thought was dumb. We hated carrying them around.

On the other hand, here's an awesome tip we heard before our first trip, and now use on EVERY TRIP!!!!!!!!

If you are driving to the parks (whether on or off site), pack a small cooler. Put in a drink for everyone, as well as a small snack. We added tons of ice, to keep the drinks cold. It was so nice to have a refreshing drink and snack while trying to leave the parks. It kept everyone in a better mood.

julia

 

[leebee]

"Stay onsite" is the worst advice EVER for our family! It is SOOOO expensive! What do you get for staying onsite? Disney transportation is a major pain. I HATE waiting for busses, especially in long lines after the parks close. We have waited to be on the 6th bus, then have the pleasure of standing, packed in like sardines, to ride back to the resort. Also, the busses take FOREVER to get anywhere other than a major park. It took an hour and 40 mins to take the bus from POFQ to MK, then the monorail to the Poly for dinner...and we had to do it in reverse AFTER dinner! I would rather wait to exit a parking lot sitting in an air conditioned car than wait for/use Disney transport. Values and moderates only have double beds, which means I share a bed with DD, which means no rest for me- she's in my kidneys or kicking me or something all night (DH and I have a king sized bed!). The bathrooms are tiny, values have no fridge or coffeemaker, and you have the joy of the food courts (not complaining about quality or quantity, just price, inconvenience, weak/poor coffee, and mess). For less $$$ I can always find a suite of some type, where we have a kitchenette and our own coffeepot, bigger or more beds, and more space and privacy!!! We don't go to early entry (or park entry for that matter) as we like to be in the parks at night, for the evening shows, and have discovered we can't go to bed at 11 or midnight and get up at 6 and still have fun! So I think that "staying onsite" is one of the worst tips ever!!

 

[MELSMICE]

So I think that "staying onsite" is one of the worst tips ever!!

I don't consider on-site or off-site a tip, just a preference!

 

[shellynn24]

I never realized that you could get as many good ideas from bad tips as good tips. I have been going to WDW since I was a little kid, so I have pretty set ways of doing things when in the World. I do know that I never liked the midday break idea,my kids could never handle leaving a park to take a nap! My DS 4 stopped taking naps like 2 years ago, and DD 20 months, will sleep anywhere if she is tired enough but won't sleep anywhere if she doesn't feel like it. I do like the idea of bringing water to WDW, I'm really spoiled when it comes to my water .