Mistake you will not repeat next time...

[Patrickprincess]

I almost always go with my DH, DKs, DM, one or both of my DGMs and even with my DFIL. I would not say we ever have a problem that would prevent us from doing it again (granted everyone is pretty easy-going). IMHO watching my children make those memories with their grandparents and great-grandparents is priceless. I realize this isn't for everyone but it works for some.

I WILL NOT MAKE A DINNING RESSIE for a park resturant on day of arrival. I did this on my last trip and missed the ressie. Thank goodness i wasn't charged a $10.00 no show charged. My next trip i will spend the first night at my resort and eat there.

 

[jennbunn]

I will plan more resort time. our first trip we spent all the time running and my son pretty much had it after a few days. I also will pack cold and allergy meds. Spent way too much time and $ at the gift shop all week when we all got some sort of bug through out the week.

 

[mom2rb]

We will travel with family on the condition that they don't stay the whole time. For my trip in February, I am bring my parents, one brother and his girlfriend. They are staying for four days. Then we will switch hotels and spend a week with just the four of us. The boys will have fun showing their papa the parks for a few days, and then we get to visit our way.

 

[dzneelvr]

Since we're veterans of WDW and never really had any issues before with timing....I cut it a bit too close in December and learned a good lessonDH was waiting for me at Ohana's while I was poking around in DTD shopping, sampling, taking it slow. DH calls and says where are you? I can tell by his tone I need to be at the Poly, So I get on the bus to MK quickly....oh no!!! what I had assumed would be a walk-on to the monorail to the Poly turned into a standstill due to an earlier park close (and I didn't pay attention to MK hours that day since we were at another park). DH was a bit put out with me because he had to sit alone and I was really nervous that I would be late for the ADR. The seatings at Ohana ran late, so nothing hurt but it could have turned out very differently

 

[dr&momto2boys]

I decide to forego the Fast Pass and get in the single rider line at the Rock 'n Roller Coaster. BIG MISTAKE. The single rider line at RNRC is very slow. Get the Fast Pass if you can.

Hmmm. When we were there, the SRL was shorter than using the FP. You never know.

 

[siskaren]

DH was waiting for me at 'Ohana while I was poking around in DTD shopping, sampling, taking it slow. DH calls and says where are you? I can tell by his tone I need to be at the Poly, So I get on the bus to MK quickly....oh no!!! what I had assumed would be a walk-on to the monorail to the Poly turned into a standstill due to an earlier park close (and I didn't pay attention to MK hours that day since we were at another park).

I'm confused because there isn't a direct bus from DTD to MK. There is however a direct bus from DTD to the Poly.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Mistakes I will not make again:

Taking a stroller.

Eating a Dole Whip.

Trying to keep 11 people together in the parks.

Staying at a value resort.

Staying offsite.

Eating at Garden Grill or Crystal Palace.

 

[disneyfanlincoln]

Getting too stressed before we go
Worrying about money when we are there
Not buying ride photos because of no 2
Eating the deserts you have to have as part of the QS plan even though I'm too full and feel like bursting
Coming home !

 

[DisneyChristmas]

Getting up from my curb "seat" to take a photo of the approaching parade at MVMCP. A woman immediately jumped into my spot. When I tried to re-claim it, she refused to budge. The parade was coming close, and the CM had to make me move to the back of the crowd.

 

[cgattis]

Your second mistake--not dropping your shoulder and re-assuming your spot. Grr.

 

[preschoolmom]

We've learned new tips and tricks on each of our trips... I just read through all 13(!) pages of this thread.

One thing I didn't see mentioned was trip length. For each family it is different, of course, but we've found 5 park days to be perfect for our family. After 5 days of parks, pools, crowds, transportation and restaurants, we're done. Mostly, we find ourselves sick of eating out constantly

What works best for us is no parks on arrival night. We eat at the resort, walk around, swim - and then hit our first park the next morning.

We're rope drop people. We hit rope drop, tour hard through lunch, then head back to the resort to swim. My kids love to swim - and they especially love to swim at Disney Hey, it's a vacation!

After an hour in the pool (no more - or they are too tired, LOL) - we eat a quick dinner at the resort - and head back to a park for nighttime entertainment.

This worked beautifully for our last trip (trip report in siggy). But, again, everyone has a different style.

No ADRs was perfect for our third trip. We'd done the princess thing on previous trips, and we didn't miss all those long meals at all on our third trip. More time for riding!

 

[songkat]

Won't overpack! Lugging too much stuff around was a pain, we didn't use all of it.

My father's advice is, "Lay out everything you are going to pack, and pack only half of it."

 

[Kristina]

On nights that I want to stay out to midnight and beyond, I will force myself to go back to the resort midday for a rest. I never want to leave the parks and thought that I could get the rest needed on a bench or when I had a sit down meal. That no longer works for me and the weekend evenings I so looked forward to were marred by my exhaustion .

 

[KrazeeK120]

I'm confused because there isn't a direct bus from DTD to MK. There is however a direct bus from DTD to the Poly.

I think there used to be direct buses from DTD to the parks, didn't there?

 

[zoom8942]

I have really enjoyed this thread! I will never stay at all stars again!! Too small, never expect hubby to stay all day in the parks.Hes done at 2 pm. I will go back in the evening without him.
I ALWAYS let older kids take a friend when I can.(teenagers like 15-17) We have been there enough that my kids know their way around and can use park transportation. they sleep in and go to the park in the afternoon/evening/half the night. We take the smaller kids with us in the morning(rope drop) meet for meals!!!
When going with extended family split up and meet for meals. Everyone is much, much happier this way!!!

 

[Love Tink]

This is hilarious to me because my kindergartener who hasn't missed a day of school yet was worried about missing his 100th day of school. Thankfully I planned the trip just right & his 100th day is the day before we leave!

We set off on a surprise WDW trip once by putting our kids in the car and telling them we were going bowling...then we drove to the airport instead.

My middle son still refers to that trip as "The time we didn't get to go bowling."

 

[doug74]

So many great tips, thanks!!

We already got the QS meal plan, but hopefully it won't be too much food, and I certainly won't be spoiling my meal by overstuffing myself.. We'll be sure to bring plenty of ziplocks for doggy bags..

I like the tip about buying something immediatly if you like it.. My wife does that ALL the time.. "I SHOULD have bought that, but blah,blah,blah..".. Arrgh!

You can buy stuff and have it sent to your resort, can you not?

 

[KapBoy77]

So many great tips, thanks!!


You can buy stuff and have it sent to your resort, can you not?

Yep!

 

[doug74]

Yep!

Cool.. That will save alot of hassle (if not money).

 

[tophatgirl]

Mistakes I will not make again:

Taking a stroller.

Eating a Dole Whip.

Staying at a value resort.

Ha, these are things I would do again! Although I would be thrilled to stay at the Poly but DH says we don't spend enough time at the resort to make it worth the $.