Mistakes my family made that could have been avoided....

[MomNeedsVacay]

We just got back from out first WDW trip. I went w/o DH and instead went with my parents and two DD's; 2 and 4. I've gone to WDW with my parents before.... I went when I was ages 2, 8, 12 and 21 and now- 30.
I did a little research and convinced my parents to stay somewhere other than CBR (this has been their favorite since I was 12 y.o.). Chauvanist Dad said he would make the ressies (he likes to "take care" of everything. I told him that POFQ would be a good choice for the 5 of us..I suggested we share a room to cut costs.
THe morning we are leaving, I see the luggage tags he had recieved from Port Orleans RIVERSIDE- not French Quarter. I started panicing and thinking Riverside wouldn't be nearly as kid friendly, but it was a GREAT mistake...plus he went ahead and booked two rooms...another GREAT mistake. One room, in retrospect would've been too small.

HOWEVER- I told him about the jump in stroller rental prices and said perhaps we should use an outside rental company for a double stroller to use both in the parks and at the resort.... I gave him the link and info for this.
THe morning we are leaving to fly to Orlando, I asked him what time the stroller would get to the hotel.... He goes, "I just thought we could wing it"...
He get down to Orlando, call the company, and of course they don't have any available strollers, so we were forced to spend a ton on the park rental...which the kids can't comfortably sleep in.
I'm pregnant and hauling the kids back and forth to the food court,pool etc at Riverside was tough.
My Dad was also convinced that he could drive and park at the MK and walk in. I tried to tell him that you can't do that but we spent about 30 minutes driving around "Staff parking" before I convinced him to go park at the TTC and take the monorail... At that point, we are standing in front of the MK and we all have are room cards (park tickets) except Dad who had left his back in the room..... SIGH....
So he has to go back through monorail, TTC tram, car, back to hotel to go get his card.
In the meantime, I'm mad b/c I realize I had left my WDW planner back in the room after Dad had left. I felt like all my hard planning had been tossed out the window....
We did the morning in MK and went back to POR for lunch/pool... WEnt back to MK around 4 pm and it started pouring down RAIN!!! Where were our rain ponchos??????? They were in the room b/c when i left the room it was perfectly sunny.
Day 2 in Epcot was much better b/c it was so much less crowded
By Day 3, we were experts...getting fastpasses, making extra ADR's and having our plans in place for the rides we want to do.
I think the biggest mistake was not having a stroller outside the parks for the kids. They got more tired there than I have ever seen!
Good experience overall... next time it'll be GREAT!

 

[daisyduck123]

Glad you had such a great time! Too bad about not having the ponchos...but oh well!

**Just a note....if someone in your party ever forgets his/her room key again, you can go to guest services at the front of the park & explain it to them. They'll get you in the park & you won't have to go back for the room key. This happened to us once at AK in 2004. My mother had forgotten her key & she didn't realize it until we were at the gates. I went thru & went straight to guest services...they did a little checking on the computer & then gave me a pass to get her in. It only took 5 minutes.

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

Glad you had such a great time! Too bad about not having the ponchos...but oh well!

**Just a note....if someone in your party ever forgets his/her room key again, you can go to guest services at the front of the park & explain it to them. They'll get you in the park & you won't have to go back for the room key. This happened to us once at AK in 2004. My mother had forgotten her key & she didn't realize it until we were at the gates. I went thru & went straight to guest services...they did a little checking on the computer & then gave me a pass to get her in. It only took 5 minutes.

I had a lot of "I wish I would've known that" moments.... Next trip we'll know exactly what to do!

 

[disneymomof2boyz]

I think that moments like these are what make most trips. You'll most likely look back and laugh at these moments, and probably won't ever make the mistake twice. Happy planning for the next time, and these boards are chock-full of usefull info.

 

[Zoesmama03]

I think changes in location could really make trips stand out more. Not much help with which one seeing as I've never stayed at any of the resorts. I stay off site about an hour away with family(dad stepmom) so the ONLY resorts I have much experience with are the All Star when I worked there in 98.

Glad the mistake worked out great. I personally like "winging" it when I go never have plans ahead really other than kinda a meeting point when with larger groups for "dinner"(its late for lunch and early for dinner) to save money its really the only meal we eat there. My dad is a penny pincher and thats how its always been so we try to bring snacks and eat just one meal. Its my personality but I think if I planned out details I'd go crazy(perfectionist) when they didn't go as planned so relaxed wing it trips have been good for me. Of course I have not been in peak season for quite some time and I think if I did go I'd want some structure to get through without horrible lines.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I learn at least one thing on every trip which helps for the next trip...part of the beauty of Disney. We learned last year that while we typically eat about 5:30-6pm at home...that time does NOT work at Disney. DD napped a lot later in the day at Disney, which means that it was a disaster to wake her up from a short nap to get dressed and out to the buses to go to dinner. I made 7pm dinner ADRs this year. Hopefully that will make dinner time a little more enjoyable for all of us.

 

[SweetAmy31]

I have to say, i always try to make a loose general plans for vacations, just a guideline really. Not at all detailed. And i lower my expectations for what i expect from my kids...usually by doing this, they surprise me and are generally greatly behaved. I'll let you know how this trip goes thou.

Packing is my downfall as I'm afraid I may have my Dad's OCD. i.e for this trip all my day clothes match each other so I'll mostly be wearing brown, tan, and shades of blue each day; evening dressy clothes (only packed 2 outfits) both are mostly black. This way its all interchangeable and I dont have to pack as much. I have shoes for day and shoes for night. I'm sick, i know it.

BTW noticed your signature Mom -30,now...sniff-
Dont look at 30 as turning old. I'm never getting older than 30, as each yr i just celebrate the anniversary of my 30th b-day. This yr I'm having my 2nd anniversary of my 30th b-day. See, then you dont age.

 

[eeyoregon]

At that point, we are standing in front of the MK and we all have are room cards (park tickets) except Dad who had left his back in the room..... SIGH....
So he has to go back through monorail, TTC tram, car, back to hotel to go get his card.

Should anyone else ever have this happen, just go to the Guest Services window at the entrance of the park and they will pull up your info and get you into the park without having to go all the way back to your resort. Been there, done that!

 

[marblejay]

Slightly off topic but what is the link to rent a double stroller? (i don't have enough posts yet to send a PM)

 

[daughterlovesgoofy]

My husband and I had a huge arguement wating for a bus to the hdhr. I acted like a child and would not speak to him for several hours. Looking back I realize it was a huge mistake and boy do I regret spending our disney time arguing over how to get to the hdhr. We are heading back in less than four weeks and will not repeat the same thing this year.

 

[irene_dsc]

Packing is my downfall as I'm afraid I may have my Dad's OCD. i.e for this trip all my day clothes match each other so I'll mostly be wearing brown, tan, and shades of blue each day; evening dressy clothes (only packed 2 outfits) both are mostly black. This way its all interchangeable and I dont have to pack as much. I have shoes for day and shoes for night. I'm sick, i know it.

That's not OCD, that's just smart!!! I only wish I had enough clothes to all coordinate with each other - that would be my goal, but I have to settle for having each item of clothing have at least 2 options.