Rookie Mistakes

[bssvoboda]

Our first trip is just under two weeks away. There are 10 people in our group with 4 children ranging in ages from 14 to 5. What are some first time mistakes we should try to avoid?

 

[Fintastic]

I'd say overplanning is a big mistake! We booked a bunch of breakfasts and after the first day we realized that we preferred to eat a piece of fruit or cereal bar in the morning and have an early lunch instead. So we cancelled the rest of our breakfast reservations. Plan for stuff that's REALLY important to you, and give yourself wiggle room to go with the flow!

 

[mjkacmom]

Get to the parks at rope drop, and feel free to split up into smaller groups.

 

[jimmiej]

-Do character meals as a more efficient way to see the characters, as opposed to standing in line, especially for the popular characters like Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Goofy, & the princesses.

-Take an afternoon break & enjoy the pool & your hotel.

-Don't try to do everything in one trip. It's impossible.

-Have a plan, at least a general one.

-If you don't do anything else, see the nighttime parade, fireworks, & shows. These will be the highlight of your trip.

 

[beccasmom]

By all means have a plan, but know when it makes sense to tweak it. Research the park hours and decide what works for your group. Have a Plan B just in case. As another poster noted, try hard not to miss the parades and fireworks, for this is when Disney is truly at its absolute best!

Don't overdo it. It will be hot when you are there and the sun is much stronger than neophytes think it will be. Wear plenty of SPF, stay hydrated and dress to be comfortable. We have found it helps not to eat too much at one time and to stick to sandwiches, salads, etc. Wear comfy shoes - you will be walking and/or standing a lot!

Take breaks. Go back to your hotel if you are close enough and take a nap or hang by the pool; head to a waterpark; head over to a monorail hotel for lunch or to rest in the lobby; find a cool spot in the park and enjoy a snack or ice cream.

Try to schedule an afternoon, morning or evening when you just chill. WDW is truly wonderful - we all adore it!!! - but it can be a very tiring vacation. It takes a good deal of energy and you need to replenish your resources. And you can bet that the kids will be truly enchanted with the pool above mostly everything else (unless you have a pool at home). Let them enjoy it.

Sleep in one day if you can. We got up at 7:00 every day on our first WDW vacation - and that was way back in 1981 when there was only one theme park! But we didn't miss a thing! Plan this for one of the nights when one of the parks is open later - for the WDW resort guests - you will be glad you got the extra rest.

Leave some time to shop. DTD is wonderful and lots of fun to explore. The weekends are crowded with the local folks, but the afternoons are a great time to visit. Try to avoid it when (if!) it rains - everyone else has the same idea!

Take lots of pictures and/or videos! Be flexible. Ride the monorail at least once and take the boat instead of the bus.

Most of all, Enjoy every moment and revel in how wonderful Disney is for the spirit. Where else can you wear Mouse Ears and a silly tee-shirt and fit in so beautifully with everyone else? HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME!

 

[Disneychix]

I would say plan on letting the older kids split up from the younger ones at times if possible. Having the younger ones waiting for the 'big' kids and vice versa can get boring especially when it's HOT!
Let the littler ones play in the play areas. These are great for blowing off energy and just being a kid!
Don't think you'll get to see and do everything. You will do a lot, just have your plans ready for the 'must-dos' and work around those.

Have FUN!!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Our first trip is just under two weeks away. There are 10 people in our group with 4 children ranging in ages from 14 to 5. What are some first time mistakes we should try to avoid?

1. Never travel with 10 people.

2. Never bring 4 children ranging in ages from 14-5

Kidding!

My best advice to you as a veteran traveler is to not try and get everybody to do everything all together at the same time. They will hate you, and hate Disney.

Plan to break up the groups a bit and have some "alone" time with just your core group. Also keep the lines of communication open-tell people it's okay if they want to do something different than what was planned.

There are a lot of threads on here about large group trip planning.

 

[trennr]

Have plan but be flexible. Have a list of musts...do them and everything else is fluff.

Use fastpasses wisely. You might designate someone who doesn't mind walking the length of the park to fetch FP's for say Splash Mountain while the family is chowing down in Tomorrowland...or wants to escape the terror that is "...it's a small World" (This is usually me.)

Some may want to ride somethings...some may want to sit out...if they sit out...they get designated to get FP for ride x.

 

[EthansMom]

When we went with a big group, the biggest mistakes we made were:

(1) Trying to do EVERYTHING together. If you think about it, not everybody really wants to do the same thing at the same time. And, with a large crowd, just trying to make a decision about what to do next is nearly impossible.

(2) Waiting for people. Seriously, we spent over 50 people hours (3 of us multiplied by the time) waiting for others in our group... MIL to spend 30 minutes doing her hair; SIL to run from breakfast back to the room for something she hadn't packed in the stroller (mind you, this was AFTER everyone had eaten); SIL to walk across the park ("I'm sure it's right around the corner") to get an icecream at a storefront that I told her was on the other side of MK.

In retrospect, we should have split off on our own for most of each day, meeting for dinner and some shows. Also, we shouldn't have waited... We should have left for the parks when we were ready and used cell phones to meet up later.

 

[Mama_Dis]

The biggest tip which has already been mentioned on here is

Take a nap/break. Big or small group, it doesn't matter, but I can imagine how that much needed down time will go a long way when trying to deal with that many people!

Have a great time!

 

[greens_in_WA]

Be ready with a next ride to do... if the group wants to stick together, and everyone is non-committal, be prepared to keep the group moving, by suggesting a specific ride. We felt a bit after the first day that we were telling everyone what to do and when, but the alternative was standing around going "I don't know, whatchawannado?" It was irritating after only a very short period of time... but we still had a great time - of course!