Mistake you will not repeat next time...

[MackenzieFL]

I don't like over-planning our days... and any time I did, I've regretted it. A little planning is good-- like MNSSHP tickets or deciding which park to go to by EMH or even a character meal or something like that, but beyond that I prefer to wing it. I really started enjoying the parks more when I stopped thinking about how to squeeze every little thing into our trip, and we just let things happen. Never felt like we were missing anything, in fact some cool spontaneous things have occurred and if we did not get to see something... well, there's always next trip to look forward to that.

I guess that's why I don't like ADRs, I simply can't plan when and where I'm going to eat before I even get there.

 

[MacClemsons]

1. Take ferry to MK in morning. Several times we've arrived right before the express monorail opens. Lots of people waiting for resort monorail so we took the ferry. Took so long that we didn't make RD.
2. Not take same picture as PP photographer. Too many times have my pics not shown up on PP card (and weren't able to be recovered).
3. Do anything before sign up for JTA when kids have heart set on it
4. Try to eat at CS after Star Wars parade. Waited in line 1 hour at Pizza Planet last June.
5. Leave rain gear in car/hotel and riding Kali River without rain gear
6. Schedule TS breakfast the morning after eating at Ohana's. Too much food
7. Going to first parade at MVMCP. Ruined the party for me.
8. Taking preschoolers to It's Tough to be a bug. 5 years later, they are still too scared to try it again.
9. Ellen's Universe, Backlot tour. Both take too long.
10. Not eating dinner before 7pm at HS. CS seem to close early there and we've wandered park looking for food.

Most importantly
11. Using the security latch on resort room door. Our 1 year old closed the connecting room door - locking himself in one of our two rooms all by himself. It was quite an ordeal to get him out. Housekeeping couldn't even open door. Maintenance had to come break the latch off the door to get our son out.

 

[geniegirl]

I agree no extended family. Did 1 trip wit FIL and he never left our side. Did another trip with my parents and our schedules are too different to work. We are rope droppers and dinner at resort types with kids to bed, they are afternoon park goers till late. While it was nice for them to see the kids it was too much stress.

 

[agavegirl1]

Not using photo pass or having the cast member take a photo with my camera. Ended up with a bunch of pics of scenery or just me or my BF in the picture (but not together).

 

[mickeychick06]

I agree no extended family. Did 1 trip wit FIL and he never left our side. Did another trip with my parents and our schedules are too different to work. We are rope droppers and dinner at resort types with kids to bed, they are afternoon park goers till late. While it was nice for them to see the kids it was too much stress.

I made the mistake several times of trying to please everyone when we went to Disney with various members of our extended family. The last time I finally got it right- I made a set of cards for every room in our party. The cards told everyone where my husband, sister, and I would be each day. I wrote that they were welcome to join us at any time and just text us when you get to the park. It was wonderful. We got up and going on our own time. Most days we met up with the rest of our family at some piont, but there was no frustration over waiting for everyone to be ready.

 

[DisneyFamily7]

We will never stay off-site again. We did that for our very first trip back in 1996. Never again. We want 24/7 magic

We no longer buy park-hoppers. We feel like we lose too much time in transit. Same goes for going back to the hotel to rest midday. Our little guy naps in the stroller in the park.

We stake out our spots early for parades and nighttime shows. We love them, and have made the mistake of trying to show up and get a spot at the last minute.

 

[TwinkleKS]

Staying at a value resort in June with four teenagers while I was six months pregnant. Anyone of those things might have been doable on its own, but all of it together did not make me a happy camper.

 

[MacClemsons]

Few more
12. Do BBB at DTD instead of MK. Waited 45 mins past reservation. It just crowded, cramped and not-so magical.
13. Attend One More Disney Day or any other special event without hard ticket
14. Get a room for "5" instead of 2 rooms
15. Try to do both Future World at walk around World Showcase in same day with kids

 

[Tdubswife]

I will NEVER, EVER go to DISNEY with my psycho SIL. Ever. Just typing this reminds me of that vacation and gets my blood boiling.

 

[pigletto]

I don't like over-planning our days... and any time I did, I've regretted it. A little planning is good-- like MNSSHP tickets or deciding which park to go to by EMH or even a character meal or something like that, but beyond that I prefer to wing it. I really started enjoying the parks more when I stopped thinking about how to squeeze every little thing into our trip, and we just let things happen. Never felt like we were missing anything, in fact some cool spontaneous things have occurred and if we did not get to see something... well, there's always next trip to look forward to that.

I guess that's why I don't like ADRs, I simply can't plan when and where I'm going to eat before I even get there.

This. We've just changed so much since the first few trips. But the scheduled days worked for us in the beginning when the parks were still so new to us and we didn't know when or if we would be back. Now? We've have 8 family trips under our belt and the urgency is gone. So we follow some basic rules (like always taking a resort break on a hot day) but we wing it the rest of the time and find we enjoy ourselves so much more that way. We even sleep in some days now instead of rope drop. It's better for us to be spontaneous and well rested than exhausted and planned down to the minute.

 

[pigletto]

Oh and a BIG one for me.. I had to learn I don't control everyone elses good time. I can't keep people from being cranky and it's also not my job to fix it if they are. We had many a vacation meltdown because I felt I was in charge of everyones good time. Now if someone is tired or miserable I realize it's just going to happen and wait for it to pass.

 

[Planogirl]

I will never go on a vacation without being willing to separate from time to time. I went once with some friends and one of the girls took charge and planned out everyone's day. It drove me a bit crazy and finally I refused to get up one morning and told them I would sleep in and meet them for lunch. I didn't sleep in but I did get up and do what I wanted for a few hours. It was nice.

It wasn't so much that she didn't plan fun things. It's just that if someone stopped to look at something for sale or suggested getting a snack, she'd freak because the schedule might get messed up. Ugh, I don't like things planned to that much detail.

 

[siskaren]

It wasn't so much that she didn't plan fun things. It's just that if someone stopped to look at something for sale or suggested getting a snack, she'd freak because the schedule might get messed up. Ugh, I don't like things planned to that much detail.

I've seen posts from people who are trying to make timed itineraries, and all I can think is that they're setting themselves up for a lot of frustration, and most likely mutiny if they're part of a group.

 

[cubfans]

We will NEVER stay off property again! We have done it 3 times now and always kick ourselves for making the wrong choice (for us). The vacation just doesn't have the same "feel" if you know what I mean. This last spring break we stayed at Orange Lake by AK. After about the 10th call from a pushy time share rep I lost my temper and ended up ruining my own day. Each time we end up comparing the construction, the pools, the landscaping, the food and the service to our favorite Disney resort. There is a reason we go back year after year and the resorts may be the biggest part of the experience. We are Mousejunkies and don't care who knows it!

 

[Comeundone87]

My mistakes on our first family trip to FL and WDW

#1 Whole family getting sunburn the day before MK - It was cloudy and about to rain any minute why should we put on sunscreen before going in the ocean

#2 Stopping to buy hats for everyone on the way to MK because of the sun burn mentioned in #1. We wasted ALOT of time in a crappy store.

#3 Getting to MK at 11:00 on July 3

#4 eating at all the wrong times. It would be nice out and we would stop to eat indoors only for it to start raining the second we went outside.

#5 Not knowing and going on Stitch with sunburn, late at night, being wet from the rain. Stitch was bad enough but with the sunburn it was excruciating and DD4 was cold and scared and cried the whole time.

#6 Letting DH decide he was going to try to quit smoking the week we were on vacation. He tried really hard, but he was crankier than a 2 year old without a nap.

Despite the above, FL and WDW have become our favorite family vacation spot.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

I will NEVER, EVER go to DISNEY with my psycho SIL. Ever. Just typing this reminds me of that vacation and gets my blood boiling.

Same here!!!! Mine is a dangerous combination of being too bossy/controlling and not very smart. SIL's family went to Disney World a couple of months ago, this was her THIRD trip there and they thought they had to pay for fastpass; at the very end of their trip she called her sister who informed her FP was free. My step daughter went with them and she came back with some very funny stories. Sat in 2 hour plus lines! My dear SD had an okay trip but said nothing was planned out right. They even spent 20 minutes in the car lost trying to get to Hollywood Studios while evil SIL screamed at her husband b/c SHE got lost. lol

The 1 and only vacation we went on with them was terrible and would never do it again.

OK back to topic.... My mistakes that I won't make again at Disney:
1.) We went to the 3 other parks before MK and the magic had worn off before we even got to our favorite park. We only planned it that way this time b/c we wanted our first day at MK to be on our son's birthday.. still..... MK is going to be our first or at least second day in the parks!
2.) Rushing out of our room and not taking 2 seconds and throwing snacks in our bags. Ended up paying $1.50 each for small bananas!

 

[Magpie]

I've seen posts from people who are trying to make timed itineraries, and all I can think is that they're setting themselves up for a lot of frustration, and most likely mutiny if they're part of a group.

I made timed itineraries the first couple times we went, but I also took the time to understand why some rides were recommended early and some late. So when my family wanted to wander off course, I could accommodate them and simply shuffle the times around in the back of my mind, and pick up where we left off when they were done. I discovered my kids were way less stressed about "I have to ride that, right now!" because I could reassure them that it was on the itinerary and tell them approximately when we'd get back to it.

Now I just know what we like and when's best to see it, so I don't need a formal itinerary any more. Although I do still like to follow Josh's recommendations on best parks.

One of our first mistakes, on our very first trip, was departing completely from the itinerary and taking a chance on Goofy's Barnstormer in the middle of the day because the wait time said only 20 minutes. It then broke down and we sat in line, in the sun, for nearly an hour. And then after all that anticipation the ride turned out to be about ten seconds long and hugely disappointing. It was awful! My kids still maintain it's the worst ride in WDW.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've seen posts from people who are trying to make timed itineraries, and all I can think is that they're setting themselves up for a lot of frustration, and most likely mutiny if they're part of a group.

I continue to be just amazed that people really do this. I consider myself an uber-planner but all it includes is this:

1) get to rope drop
2) head to space
3) get Buzz FPs
4) do PP

lunch at XXX
stake out spot early for Wishes

That is a heavily planned day for me. Mostly I just do all my research so I can make the best decisions on the fly about where to head after our first few predetermined choices.

 

[wide receiver]

Mistake #1….paying full price for a Disney Package! We always find a special offer either through Disney or renting from DVC….makes it possible for more trips!


Mistake #2…."Allowing" my DH to bring his ear phones for his iPhone….he listens to talk radio while we wait in line…at least I have my two kiddos to keep me company!!

 

[Kristian]

A big one for our family is to no longer waste so much time waiting on parades/fireworks. Don't get me wrong, we love the parades and the firework's, but what I don't love is the pushy people who end up ruining the experience. This pretty much pertains to the MK for the most part and it's mainly the parades. We've stood on Main Street or have gotten a nice spot near the castle for a parade way ahead of time and I've noticed that on a few occasions someone will come by at the last minute and ask if their kid(s) can stand in front of us (which I have no problem with) and then little by little, their parents inch their way in and practically stand on top of us or even in front of us. Or adults with no children just take it upon themselves to stand in front/on top of us. I think that it's pretty rude for an adult to cut in front of a 4 year old when we've been waiting in a spot for close to an hour. It just isn't worth it for us and I can't justify it. If we happen to be in an area near a parade and we happen to get a decent spot, then we'll stop and watch. Otherwise, I don't let it determine when we need to stop doing attractions and such so that we can secure a spot. The only time that I will make an effort is for MNSSHP and even then we watch the second parade of the night instead of the first in order to let the crowd filter out. Dd loves the rides and shows anyway, so we are going to concentrate more on those in the evening rather than keeping a watch on the time so that we can get a spot for a parade. It's just what works better for us.