Mistakes Made On First Trip

[bluezy]

Our first trip was in 2012, and we are planning our 2nd trip for this Oct. We went in planned with ADRs, great Fast Pass strategies, we had read the DIS boards, we went in with touring plans and we stuck to our schedule well. It helped things go smooth, but it was still flexible we could change things up. So there wasn't really any big mistakes.

1. Should have planned 2 days at Epcot. We couldn't do all we wanted in one day. We have two days planned for Epcot now.
2. Should have planned a day of rest in between. I know some of you say it's not needed, but I want the rest day, pool, Disney Springs, etc. By our last day we were exhausted and didn't feel like walking more. We have more days planned and we are doing a one day at Universal so I think we'll appreciate a rest day.
3. Should have the most comfortable shoes ever for everyone. All of our feet were killing us by day 2. I'm not sure how we'll get around this. We are planning breaks, sit down shows/meals, schedule all rides from one side of a park, etc to help eliminate as much as we can being on your feet. I need to do some shoe shopping.
4. Always bring a change of clothes for your little ones. He fell asleep in the stroller and peed his pants. I did bring a change, but it wasn't his cute outfit for Mickey and Minnie greets.
5. If you let your kids bring a lovey or something into the park with them, keep an eye on it. He left his stuffed Mickey at a bus stop. Probably found and kept by someone else. Everyone felt sad for about an hour and we kept looking for it.
6. We didn't really plan well for viewing fireworks, parades, and light shows. We didn't want to waste time getting an early place but we might try to work that a little differently.

It won't be perfect, but we do our best and plan what we think will be good. Learning the new fast pass system, all the new changes, etc. I think I'm most worried about my feet.

My responses/suggestions to two of your points:

#3 My advice is to make sure each person has at least 2 different pair of comfortable yet supportive shoes on the trip and switch off between those shoes each day. That way you aren't putting pressure on the exact same parts of your feet day after day. And take a tennis ball along to help massage your feet at the end of the day. Just put it on the floor and roll your foot over it for a few minutes. It does wonders for massaging the muscles. A nice peppermint lotion foot rub is also helpful.

#5. Did you happen to ask any cast members in the area if anyone had turned it in or found it? They can sometimes "find" lost lovies that seem to have disappeared forever.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

I have to say I think we've done ok on two trips, thanks a lot to the advice on these boards.

But first trip mistake was thinking we could park hop with an infant and toddler. (Hubby's work only sold park hoppers so we still saved on tickets.) And I didn't research DHS enough.

This last trip, the big mistake was seeing It's Tough to Be Bug with little kids. I knew better but that short line sucked me in! They were nervous about theatre shows the rest if the trip. My kids didn't like anything 3D from then on.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

It kinda amazes me how people spend a lot of money for Disney and do so little research...

I'm thinking about a lady next to me on the carousel last week. Here I was kinda annoyed that we waited 20 minutes to see Rapunzel and her husband was waiting in a long line for Anna Elsa. She told me she "bought" fastpasses a few months ago but didn't assign them until a week ago. I just shook my head and smiled.

 

[Stigsmom]

Our biggest, not just limited to the first but to all trips, has been passing up or not stopping for merchandise we really like. We've splurged on a lot of cool things and get many many family gifts from the parks. However- our first multi generation trip my dad saw a great donald shirt in fantasyland that wasn't there when we returned to get it another day. My mom saw a DCL ornament and didn't buy it on her cruise and now regrets it. And- I saw in passing what appeared to be a holiday mug with hot chocolate that I'm still kicking myself for not getting in December! Do yourself a favor and buy it when you see it- because it might be gone once you make up your mind and chances to find another will be limited.

 

[dancemonkey]

In 2002...we went to parks nine straight days (5WDW, 3Universal, 1Sea World) with an eight-year-old. It was too much, for all of us...open to close each park day. We've definitely slowed down.

We did not pack proper rain gear.

We stayed off site at a pretty horrid Days Inn.

We took for granted that the parks would always be that lightly crowded late in the evening, or that there would always be a "slow" time.

We carried with us the Dummy's Guide...or main source of info!?

Aside from all that, I actually think we did some pretty good touring and approached the parks well. In fact, the routes we took through the parks that very first time are pretty much what we still do today (with slight changes with the advent of FPP).

I stayed at that Days Inn for 29 dollars a night in 1996! Oh to be young and in love!

 

[dancemonkey]

We are going on our first trip this year and I am heeding the boards regarding overdoing the parks so we are doing a hotel/pool day and even plan on renting a car to catch a Rays game in Tampa. I picked about 4-5 must do's for each park and will FP a couple of things but everything else will be if we have the time and energy. Since my son has no desire to meet Belle or Ariel, nor is he interested in tea with Cinderella, that knocks all the princess stuff off my list. My son is really only interested in doing the Jedi training at DHS, if we do just that one thing during our entire vacation he would be totally happy. What we don't get done this trip, we will do on our next trip.

I should add that this all sounds good in theory but I won't know for sure if my plan will work until I put it into action. Let's hope it does!

How old is your son? Because story time with belle is really cute. Even for a boy. I'd reccommend 6 an under!

 

[Zip-a-dee-dude-da]

Not buying tickets for every day of our stay. We planned a down day in the middle of our trip -- sleep in, spend some time at DTD, swim so we didn't buy park tickets for that day. By 3:00 we were wishing we could head to a park for a few hours that evening. We now buy tickets for every day we're going to be there (except departure day since we leave at 6:00 a.m.) and enjoy the flexibility of being able to go to the parks even just for a few hours some days.

You can add a day for only a few bucks anytime if you have a multi day ticket

 

[bbak30]

Not paying attention to extra magics hours when making ADRs and FPs.
We started our trip in Epcot and hopped to MK after dinner at 'Ohana. We discovered the park was open until 2am and we accepted the challenge. With an 8 year old, 2 5 year olds and a 2 year old. They actually did amazing and we had a great time.
.....Until the next day. We had FP at 10am so we were out of the door for 9am. Not a lot of sleep between 3am and 9am.
We were so miserable. We had an early ADR at The Grand Florisian Cafe for 5pm and would absolutely have skipped it if not for the cancellation policy that would have cost $80. We knew if we went back to the resort we wouldn't leave again. We did ok until about 3pm and then we HIT a wall. So we literally laid on couches at The Grand Floridian for about an hour until we could eat and go back to the resort. We were those people....

Lesson learned though. I moved around some things later in the week and it has never happened again!

 

[bluezy]

You can add a day for only a few bucks anytime if you have a multi day ticket

Yes, I know that now...this happened 16 years ago and we never made that mistake again -- we just buy tickets for every day right off the bat because we know we'll use them and the cost is insignificant in the scheme of things.

 

[Ametista]

- more time at MK. I didn't realize how big this park was or how much time it really rquires. We did one full and one half day and it wasn't nearly enough. So much we didn't get to do.

For us, we never accomplish everything we want at MK. It is too big, too much fun, too many must-do's. It's usually kind of a really happy blur. There have been a few times where we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 10 times (short line!!!) and then left because we were wiped out and did almost nothing else. That's the thrill, and what makes you go back. We never miss DTD/Disney Springs and usually have a whole day where its a water park in the am and then around 3:00 we head to DTD and eat at Ghirardelli and Earl of Sandwich and shop around a little.

The only real mistakes you can make on a Disney world trip are going with a boring/unenthusiastic person or thinking it's a "once in a lifetime" trip. LOL, I am about to embark on trip #16.

 

[Marlyn]

My first trip had a few mistakes....the biggest was taking my ex-husband lol
He became my ex a year after that trip....my boys and I have had amazing WDW trips since then!

 

[kristie73]

My responses/suggestions to two of your points:

#3 My advice is to make sure each person has at least 2 different pair of comfortable yet supportive shoes on the trip and switch off between those shoes each day. That way you aren't putting pressure on the exact same parts of your feet day after day. And take a tennis ball along to help massage your feet at the end of the day. Just put it on the floor and roll your foot over it for a few minutes. It does wonders for massaging the muscles. A nice peppermint lotion foot rub is also helpful.

#5. Did you happen to ask any cast members in the area if anyone had turned it in or found it? They can sometimes "find" lost lovies that seem to have disappeared forever.

#3 - Yes, we had different shoes and the hot tub jets back at the resort helped tired feet. Also the ice machine. I iced my feet too. I have plantar fascia so it can easily get inflamed. I will be bringing some peppermint lotion too.

#5 - We did ask the Front desk at POR. That's where it was left at the bus stop. It was not found. It was a Stuffed Mickey that had bendable arms and legs. It was not one that could be purchased in the parks. We bought him Jedi Mickey and he got happy, but we still felt sad for the lost lovie.

 

[KaSe]

Should have the most comfortable shoes ever for everyone. All of our feet were killing us by day 2. I'm not sure how we'll get around this. We are planning breaks, sit down shows/meals, schedule all rides from one side of a park, etc to help eliminate as much as we can being on your feet. I need to do some shoe shopping.
My responses/suggestions to two of your points:
#3 My advice is to make sure each person has at least 2 different pair of comfortable yet supportive shoes on the trip and switch off between those shoes each day. That way you aren't putting pressure on the exact same parts of your feet day after day. And take a tennis ball along to help massage your feet at the end of the day. Just put it on the floor and roll your foot over it for a few minutes. It does wonders for massaging the muscles. A nice peppermint lotion foot rub is also helpful.

I was going to suggest this, too. We always bring a few pairs of shoes & rotate them each day. Actually, since we typically do a pool/nap break mid-afternoon, I even will switch mine out for the evening. It doesn't make the sore feet go away completely, but it does help.

 

[disneylove16]

I'll add my mistake, though I seem to make it every trip. Usually our arrival day is spent at DS (at the time DTD), shopping. I would try to do all my shopping then, so I could focus on the attractions at the parks. But every time, I would see things at the parks that DTD didn't carry, or more of a variety, and wish I had waited.

 

[hamilkm]

My mistake on my first trip I planned as an adult was doing MK with AM EMH and MVMCP on the same day with no break! It was just 2 adults, but we were so dead on our feet we didn't enjoy the party at all and left right after the fireworks.

This past December on a long weekend trip I had to do our MK day on our MVMCP day due to how the schedule worked out, but we did not do AM EMH. We didn't go back to our hotel for a break, but we did go to the GF, look at Christmas decorations and relax at the bar for a while. It made for a much better day!

 

[Rickat96]

I get tickets to the park every day we are there. Disney Springs is nice but its food and shopping- I go for the parks-shopping can easily be done online. Pools-yes they are nice but, they are pools-I have a pool at home. Id rather add on a desert party for fireworks, and plan 1 late lunch each day we are at the parks. last thing, sleep- Can do that when we get home- we don't grind the parks like mad people but we do try to get the most out of them.

 

[Tia1977]

On our 1st trip, mine was doing something that's rather popular and generally recommended. The mistake was not having enough confidence in our "own way" bc it went against "advice". We did RD on our 1st ever MK day. We're night owls by nature and prefer laid back as possible. But, helpful peer pressure in constantly reading how recommended it was sucked me in. We just "had" to do it. While we made great time and were close to the front, by about 20 mins before the welcome show; it seemed the ENTIRE concrete from gate to water had disappeared under the masses. People literally shoving their way through, stacked on top of each other, squishing us every which way. I don't even remember the show much bc unfortunately, I was so annoyed. Then, the heart pounding "race" at gate opening & the subsequent race from ride to ride to "beat the crowds". Ha, from being grumpy in getting up so early, to the mob, and the ticking time clock pressure; we were all pretty underwhelmed. We still laugh about how DH claimed he met two new dwarfs that morning: b$tchy (me) and p$ssy (DD). We ended up high tailing it out of there to re-group, take a nap, and relax. Strolling back in that night refreshed & at our own pace, we had a BLAST. That's when we found our MK love. From then on, I learned to take what's recommended with a grain of salt in applying it to your "own way" of doing things.

 

[dis_guy]

Our first trip was a gift from DW's parents, so we had nothing to do with the planning. I wasn't all that "into" it so I just showed up without doing any research what so ever, along with the rest of the family. We went during our March break and had no dining reservations, no idea about Fast Passes, what's a touring plan, anyway, and were absolutely clueless. But we had an absolute blast! On our second trip we were much better prepared but were still a bit overwhelmed at first but we soon settled in and really felt like we got the most out of our vacation. After that everything became second nature and we were all on the same page all the time so we could be real park commandos. I still feel sorry for some of the first-timers we see there with their "deer in the headlights" look and do offer to help if they seem totally lost.

 

[mbrown572097]

Taxi cab from on-site resort to MK. Thought it would take us to the MK entrance. Nope, TTC.

 

[mdgineok]

Taxi cab from on-site resort to MK. Thought it would take us to the MK entrance. Nope, TTC.

We thought the same thing. But then, about 1 week before our trip I read on the DIS that if you took a cab have them drop you off at the Contemporary Resort. It is about a three block walk to MK. Allowed us to sleep in a bit longer for an 8:00 ADR at CP.

Mark in MN