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

[missypie]

I guess the moral of this very long thread is to THINK about advice before you take it. If you are staying a 30 minute drive off site, think about whether an afternoon break is a good idea. If your kids barely take a nap on a boring day, think about whether an afternoon break will do any good. If you rarely drink pop or coffee, think about whether a refillable mug will benefit you. Don't slavishly follow anyone's advice.

 

[bizeemom4]

I tried the deoderant spray on your feet to avoid blisters and it did not turn out good. My feet felt slippery all day long and it discolored the soles of my good sandals so they now look dirty from the deoderant being on my feet. I did not get blisters but I normall now do not get blisters anyway.

This tip works A LOT better when you put it on under socks and tennis shoes! I can imagine that it would feel quite disgusting with sandals.

 

[Ask"WhyNot?"]

I didn't have time to really post this the other day.

My WORST tip, is don't waste money on a deluxe hotel. Just stay in a value. You're hardly in the room and they are the heart of Disney. Phooey! I may not spend a ton of time in the room, but when there I want it to be enjoyable. No cheerleaders shouting just outside the rooms. Room to walk. Great views. And, no offense to anyone who likes them, think they are equivalant to a motel 6 room. In that case, I'd stay in a Motel 6 and save a ton of money. If I'm going to overpay, I want it to be worth it.

Second worse tip, skip the character dining. You can meet characters elsewhere and it won't take up nearly as much time. This dining excursions are the highlight of our trips--with or without the kids and no matter what age the kids are.

Leaving the park for afternoon breaks is awful too. The kids never want to leave, then they never want to go back. The resorts are just as fun as the parks. I prefer mellow time built into the park/day. It works sooooo much better. We still all recharge and no time wasted. We can always leave early in the day to have time at the resorts for swimming and other activities.

I do like the refillable mugs, but they're a souvenier more than a way to get a drink. Some snacks with us are a must. Although, games/toys for waits in line is just useless junk to carry around; the kids don't care. The queue's are so well themed they are an attraction in themselves.

 

[GEM]

The worst tip I ever got was to only count on spending a half day at Animal Kingdom. It's our very favorite park! We could spend days just wandering around there!

Also, people often suggest not even bothering to take toddlers or very young children to Epcot. It's my two year old's favorite place in the world! He loves the rides and the fountain in Future World and the entertainers in World Showcase.

 

[russtwinsmom]

1. Developing a guerilla-super-top-secret-militant plan to going on the rides and avoiding the lines, unless you are a couple of teenagers for whom breaking the world record for number of ride in a 24 hour period is critical. I fell for this one and DH thought I was nuts. I abandoned it after the second ride.

2. Cutting corners, penny pinching - especially on things like water, food and small trinkets. This should be done before you go. This is vacation!

3. Staking out the perfect spot for Wishes hours in advance. You can see it most anywhere and you are going to have very cranky, bored kids with too much waiting. Go on a few extra rides instead!

4. Buying the expensive night light toys from the carts. We brought, and the kids wore, the night stick necklaces and they stuck out like sore thumbs. It really reduced my stress level when it came to leaving the park each night with the equivalent population of China.

5. Planning on going to, or avoiding, a certain park because of early or late extended hours. Sooner or later, you are going to feel like cattle in a pen. At times, thou art a cow. The sooner you adapt the better.

6. All the suggestions to avoid getting wet. Wear a ponytail and be done with it. After getting misted in the theatres, soaked on the water ride at AK, sprayed on the Jungle Cruise and drenched on Splash Mountain, I looked like a water rat. The pictures of me the first day are a real thing of beauty.

7. Any plan that has you spending too much time at restaurants. Keep your eye on the ball; you're at WDW.

8. Standing in line for character autographs. Big waste o' time IMHO. Best to not get your kiddos hooked on it or sooner or later DH will be frantically running around trying to find where and whem Snow White hangs out while DD cries in the happiest place on earth.

 

[missypie]

7. Any plan that has you spending too much time at restaurants. Keep your eye on the ball; you're at WDW.

8. Standing in line for character autographs. Big waste o' time IMHO. Best to not get your kiddos hooked on it or sooner or later DH will be frantically running around trying to find where and whem Snow White hangs out while DD cries in the happiest place on earth.

I agree with no. 7. We weren't on the dining plan, but I had $1005 in Disney Visa $ that I had earmarked for food, so at first I had sort of a "the sky's the limit" attitude. On our second day, we ate lunch in the castle (shortly before it was a princess lunch) and I told the kids that, of course, they could get dessert. We all got quite impatient waiting for the dessert to arrive, knowing that THE MAGIC KINGDOM was out there!!! I'd much better walk around with a Mickey Bar or Dole Whip than sit in a restaurant for an extra 20-30 minutes or so to have dessert.

As for no. 8...my DDs are hooked, but we don't stand in long lines. Toon Town is a great place to get autographs...before it opens, they bring about 8 characters out.

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Interesting. I disagree with #7 - just shows it takes all kinds, huh? Now that my family has been to WDW a number of times, we are more relaxed about the in-park attractions and have come to greatly enjoy the dining-related ones (even DD 11 and DS 7). We started planning our April trip last week by discussing which restaurants we want to try or revisit, and will plan our park days from there! We were spoiled by our MK dining experiences last time, though, as we had breakfast twice before the park opened - getting to see the MK ahead of almost everyone else, and finishing our meals in time to beat the crowds to the opening attractions.

 

[missypie]

Interesting. I disagree with #7 - just shows it takes all kinds, huh? Now that my family has been to WDW a number of times, we are more relaxed about the in-park attractions and have come to greatly enjoy the dining-related ones (even DD 11 and DS 7). We started planning our April trip last week by discussing which restaurants we want to try or revisit, and will plan our park days from there! We were spoiled by our MK dining experiences last time, though, as we had breakfast twice before the park opened - getting to see the MK ahead of almost everyone else, and finishing our meals in time to beat the crowds to the opening attractions.

I will say that our impatience with TS meals varied depending upon where the meal fell in our touring day. One day we toured AK, then went for a swim, then had a nice meal...We knew that our day was over, so we weren't in a hurry. But whenever we had "park time" after the meal, we wanted to get out there! I will say that the sit down meals were a very welcomed break (we did almost exclusively CS at Disneyland - ick!) but after our entrees, we were ready to roll! I don't think I'd have the patience for appetizer, entree and dessert at every meal.

 

[GEM]

7. Any plan that has you spending too much time at restaurants. Keep your eye on the ball; you're at WDW.

We're just the opposite. The restaurants are half the reason we go to Disney!

 

[Danauk]

We plan our days around our restaurant choices too!! Although we tend to just get a snack for breakfast and lunch and then have a nice sit down dinner. That way we don't feel we are missing park time (we nearly always go back to our room to change then head out to dinner.)

 

[Cinderumbrella]

The #7 tip about spending too much time at the restaurants suddenly made me remember a funny incident with my FIL on our last trip- He said "Hurry up and finish lunch, we have to leave soon to get to the next park for dinner!"
Boy, we are being much more careful this time to try to make ADR's for parks we already plan on being at rather than spending an extra hour trying to get to another park just for a meal.
Just some food for thought (pun intended)

 

[belleandthebeast]

5. Planning on going to, or avoiding, a certain park because of early or late extended hours. Sooner or later, you are going to feel like cattle in a pen. At times, thou art a cow. The sooner you adapt the better.[/QUOTE]

Amen sister!

 

[nsmith]

To me, the tip about buying souvenirs for your kids before you even get to WDW is useless. Those are souvenirs of a trip to Wal-Mart, not WDW! I can't imagine my daughter falling in love with something she sees in the store and being satisfied with "Sorry, honey, we can't get that, but Mommy has some Mickey Mouse pencils back at the hotel for you."

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 .

 

[boston1029]

We would never bring snacks into the parks with us, I would rather have mickey bars and dole whip. If I say no to the kids, then I suffer.

We have used the brita bottle though and really do like it. We got one of the water "lanyard" type thing to carry it and it works fine. We wouldn't go without it.

 

[Amyality]

We would never bring snacks into the parks with us, I would rather have mickey bars and dole whip. If I say no to the kids, then I suffer.

We have used the brita bottle though and really do like it. We got one of the water "lanyard" type thing to carry it and it works fine. We wouldn't go without it.

I always bring fruit snacks and juice boxes into the parks, occasionally we will get an icecream bar. My kids are going to be ruined by the free dining snack! I'm gonna be stuck shelling out forever, sigh! Those Dole Whips are awesome. I'm so bad though, I'm thinking of sneaking in a little airplane bottle of rum to spike it, since MK is a dry park. Yes, I am horrible I know. I realize MK is dry to keep the idiots from ruining the family atmosphere which is good thing. I guess I am just a sight juice bag...

 

[boston1029]

My dh has been trying to figure out how to get a beer in for the past year. He loves the MK, but somedays I think that he could deal with it a little better if he just had a little something to help get him through the day. Oh well, that's what the monorail is for.

 

[Amyality]

My dh has been trying to figure out how to get a beer in for the past year. He loves the MK, but somedays I think that he could deal with it a little better if he just had a little something to help get him through the day. Oh well, that's what the monorail is for.

That is exactly what the monorail is for this year! We are going to MNSSHP Sept. 30 and are having dinner at 1900 Parkfare so the parents can have a drink or two with dinner and of course the kids will have lots of fun. You spoke true when you said sometimes a dad could just use a beer! The banter of kids seems to do more of a number on them.

OMG! Can you imagine the humiliation of getting busted bringing a beer or airplane bottle of rum (as I mentioned for the Dole Whip)?!?!?!? That would be so not cool! I'm thinking your hubby could probably get a beer in a glass bottle of apple juice or something though, or maybe an iced tea bottle. I think I may take my chances and bring two little airplane bottles of rum in, one for me and one for my sister in law. They don't search your pockets so, I guess I'd be okay.

 

[vanyel]

Boy some of these "worst" tips really hit home. For me, I've never understood, though I certainly accept those who do, carrying all sorts of stuff into the park. I have a fanny pack to use. One of the most important things in my fanny pack is my migraine medication, just in case. At least that's small. We don't bring snacks in. Usually we purchase one at a time and share so we get a variety of stuff.

The mister fan is interesting - I just bought one at Walgreens and tried it out when my dh & I went on a walk - what a pain!

I have always used the mid-afternoon break, when the kids were small, and now going with just my dh. We used to go back and swim, not nap, and that seem to reinvigorate the kids, and the adults. But as others have said - different things work for different people.

 

[Tissa]

I think the mid afternoon break depends on the time of year for us. In March it was cool and not a problem but when we went in June it was so hot by 1pm that we were tired and wanted to go back to the room for me to shower and for ds to take off his shoes and watch cartoons. He's 10 so a nap in the stroller doesn't work for him We had down time from 1pm to 4pm and things were much happier for the both of us. Bringing dollar store ponchos from home was a waste of money too. When I packed them it never rained and of course the one day I left them at the hotel it rained and I had to buy mickey ponchos!.

 

[MEG&MINNIE]

Pointless Tip... get up early ,so you have a head start into the parks before the crowds arrive. We (DD9 and myself) just got back this week from a trip to WDW and every nite before I went to sleep ,I would "Call for an A.M. wake up call" and every morning when the phone rang at the desired wake up time ,I would just pick up the phone and hang it right back up again and roll over and " sleep in"a bit more.....I was never up and in the parks for 9 am ,like I had planned...to beat the crowds. Oh well, at least we were well rested and one day (2nd to last) we stayed @ POP till about 2-3pm relaxing and swimming in the pool !!!!