My biggest Disney planning mistake...

[misslissa]

What is your biggest Disney planning mistake??? Hopefully, this will help first time visitors!

My biggest regret on my first trip, which was last year, was not making dinner reservations! I only made one at the Sci Fi Restaurant which ended up being great... and couldn't get them any other time during our trip. We thought that we could just decide once we got there! I also tried to make one for Chef Mickey's in advance but they were booked up.

It was painful to go through Epcot and not be able to try anything!!!!

 

[disneysnowflake]

I know what you mean. I heard people being turned away wherever we ate because it was booked solid.

My neighbor just booked a quick trip.. her first. She's making no ADRs. I tried to tell her several time to book ahead. I honestly believe she things WDW is like going to a local restaurant. It's not like that. I'm wondering what she's going to say when she gets back.

 

[joy13]

What is your biggest Disney planning mistake??? Hopefully, this will help first time visitors!

My biggest regret on my first trip, which was last year, was not making dinner reservations! I only made one at the Sci Fi Restaurant which ended up being great... and couldn't get them any other time during our trip. We thought that we could just decide once we got there! I also tried to make one for Chef Mickey's in advance but they were booked up.

It was painful to go through Epcot and not be able to try anything!!!!

That's great advice. I did just make some reservations for 2 character meals - but maybe I should make more.

This is a great idea for a thread - I will be watching closely!

 

[MOMOFMNM]

My biggest mistake was not preparing enough time for parades and such!!

Be very very early for parades like spectro but be prepared if your trip is short like ours was, you will not see everything it is impossible to do in 4 days esp if it is your first trip...make your choices now for what you want to do but be flexible...we found we did not like the parades all that well (well dh LOVES them but me not so much, I would rather do a meal or get in a meet n greet line to see them then be in a SEA, literally a SEA of bodies!!


Be prepared and early for crowds!!

 

[mommaU4]

There's alot of this sort of great advice on another post called "Things you didn't do and regreted". Sorry I don't know how to post a link to it though.

 

[seashoreCM]

Neglected to reserve a hotel room for an off site stay.

Ended up going from one motel to another on 192 finding no vacancies, and also ended up, almost in Corey Sandler's words (he authored the Econoguide book for Disney) "spending 20 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic to get to the park". (Acturally the traffic wasn't that bad but it was twenty miles to find a good hotel rate.)

Fortunately the problem lasted only one night (New Years Eve) and then I found reasonable accommodations nearby.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[LaraK]

I would say one of the things we didn't anticipate was how hard it would be for the kids to wait for Fantasmic...it's at the end of the day and is mobbed (not somewhere you can find a corner for the little ones to run around). Next time we go we will pre-pack (or purchase) some sort of toys/time killers.

 

[Rella Bella]

That's great advice. I did just make some reservations for 2 character meals - but maybe I should make more.

This is a great idea for a thread - I will be watching closely!

I'd recommend making a few more. Once you're there if you decide you want one you may not be able to get an ADR. If you have a few planned, you can always cancel if you decide not to use them (or even "heaven forbid" just not show up... which ultimately just makes the line go faster for those waiting).

We don't make more than one a day. We use counter service and just snack the rest of the day. Some days we skip it all together, but it is nice to sit down and really rest sometimes.

There are lots of threads about good restuarants... pick out a few and be prepared... then see what happens.

 

[danny1649]

I had us on a dead run in August heat and it was to much for everyone in family.So on future trips I left plenty of time for some rest breaks and a slower pace.

 

[disnut8]

Was overplanning. I had every day mapped out with a priority seating somewhere, a park of the day, what we were going to do in the morning, the afternoon, at night. I had index cards with all kinds of information about each attraction, where to stand to get the best seats, load times, etc. It drove my son and husband crazy. After the first day and many, many arguements with the other two, I put the cards away and enjoyed the parks with my family.

 

[mill4023]

Was overplanning. I had every day mapped out with a priority seating somewhere, a park of the day, what we were going to do in the morning, the afternoon, at night. I had index cards with all kinds of information about each attraction, where to stand to get the best seats, load times, etc. It drove my son and husband crazy. After the first day and many, many arguements with the other two, I put the cards away and enjoyed the parks with my family.

I did the same thing, but everyone in my family was SO glad I did. With my plans, we avoided the crowds and never waited longer than 10 minutes for any attraction. I think planning is important, but you do have to be flexible.

The mistake I made was only spending 9 nights there and trying to fit too much in. That's why our next trip is 14 nights.

 

[rigsby25]

Our biggest mistake was buying a package with length of stay passes and then having connecting flights. We practically wasted 2 days of the passes by coming in about 7 in the evening, and then having to leave early on the last day.

 

[DrTomorrow]

My biggest mistake: long ago, when DS was still at home, we planned on spending an entire day - from rope drop to farewell - at the same park. At about 4 in the afternoon, we were zombies, staggering from attraction to attraction. We now factor in an afternoon break, and enjoy our time in the parks much more.

Biggest mistake I've heard from friends: not wearing comfortable shoes. Either flip-flops, higher heels or ::gasp:: NEW SHOES!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

DrTomorrow,

I did the new tennis shoes thing on my Feb 05 trip and will never do that again. Talk about sore feet and blisters.

 

[tmt martins]

My 1 and only mistake was letting DW & DD to talk me into going to the beach instead of DISNEY last year.Thank TINK for playing paintball at WWoS 2 times a year .

Well I fixed that and just sent in my papers now they have to go HAHAHA

 

[Amyg]

Was overplanning. I had every day mapped out with a priority seating somewhere, a park of the day, what we were going to do in the morning, the afternoon, at night. I had index cards with all kinds of information about each attraction, where to stand to get the best seats, load times, etc. It drove my son and husband crazy. After the first day and many, many arguements with the other two, I put the cards away and enjoyed the parks with my family.

This is what I'm planning to do! I always plan every thing on all my trips, my DH cracks up and says I'm really anal in that respect!

 

[kilee]

Not planning a day off here and there. We found that going to the parks 7 days in a row gets really tiring and old after awhile. We always take 1-2 days off now usually smack in the middle. I cannot tell you how much more like a vacation everything feels that way. Well this is for trips over 4 days long.

 

[mrscoobs]

Biggest mistake first time- not enough time and trying to see a lot in one trip (and that was before AK was even there!). We now allow for longer trips and afternoon breaks. One-other-not hopping. We seem to hop every day we are there now.

 

[lulubelle]

Two things.....
Not realizing how long it takes to actually get into the parks, the first day we had a Segway tour at Epcot. It takes at least 45 minutes to get from Vistana Villages through the gate, parked, tram ride to the front and wait in line to get through the turnstiles. Add to that an hour for a shower, coffee and quick snack and you need two hours! Which brings me to my second realization, it took 4 full days to adjust to the time change. We had to get up by 7 am the first few mornings and that is 4 am to us! Then at night I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight and felt like I never caught up on sleep I guess I would not plan anything before 10 am next time and remember it takes a long time to get there.

 

[henrylovespooh]

Just got back and these were the biggies:

1) got ADRs for princess meal on our first day. Many times small children are scared at first of characters and princesses, so it's better to book those trips mid-trip to give them time to be more friendly.

2) Make some dinner ADRs early and others late - not all late or all early. I assumed that because my kids don't really nap anymore (DD will be 3 next month and DS is 4) that we could go all day in a park and have an early dinner, then go choose to either go back to the room or hang out awhile after dinner. The first two nights the kids took long naps and we had to cancel our 4:40 and 4:30 ADRs.

3) Realize that heat makes a big difference in your child's behavior. We went to WDW last March when it was cool, and we were able to do so much more than last week when it was hot. The kids, even though they were in strollers, lost steam much sooner this time around, as did we. The heat takes so much out of you. So even if you think your kid is a real go getter and can hack a full day, if you go when it's hot, keep in mind that a mid-day break, even if it's just to swim, will help things dramatically.

4) If you like a good sit down meal or have a favorite restaurant, a dinner ADR is important. We were there from 10/14-10/18 and on the nights we had to cancel the dinner ADRs we had, we could not get any reservations at any place we liked on that night. The only place we were able to walk up and get a table at was The Plaza in MK.

5) Spending a little extra for park hopper tickets. At first we got the base tickets, but using the park hopper tickets has made the trips so much better. Now we go to MK mainly in the mornings when it's not crowded and the kids can ride all their favorites without waiting in long lines, and go to Epcot in the afternoons when we can eat our way around the world. Hopping also allows us to spend a day in MK when they don't have Spectro and Wishes (which means it will not be as crowded) and then go to Epcot that night for Illuminations, and then on another day, go to Animal Kingdom which closes at 5 pm and then go to MK for Spectro and Wishes.