The One Thing You Wish You'd Known...

[MrRomance]

Mrs R and I were talking this week about the things we are glad we know that make our trips easier and all the things we didn't know on our first trip. I know there are a lot of first timers that look in this great forum for tips so my question is... What is the ONE thing you wish you had known on your first trip?

For me, the thing I wish I'd known is that there is more to do at WDW than the parks. I was clueless to all of the other things that we now enjoy so much on all of our trips, horse carriage rides, mini golf, etc.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I have two and I think they are the very most important.

1. Don't try to do it all. Don't kill yourself to do anything, take some time to stop and smell the rose garden! So put on those mouse ears and take a few minutes to just stare at how amazing the castle is.

2. Don't be afraid to try to see Disney through the eyes of a child. Don't be embarrassed. There is nothing wrong with a grown person being just as excited to see mickey as the children in line next to them!

 

[bopper]

Make reservations for dinner

Understand how fast pass works

 

[Hootch]

your must dos and want to dos. Prioritize these items. Understand where the rides are in planning the order to save time. Be happy with what you do get to. There's too much to do at WDW to experience everything in one trip.

I would also recommend that newer visitors look at easywdw.com. Josh has helpful plans and cheat sheets for each of the major parks. He has posts with him doing the touring plans that he recommends.

 

[B.B. Sots]

Mine are ones I still have a hard time doing:

1) *Take your time to look around* and don't be a clock watcher.

2) If your family is looking run down, sit down, take a deep breath, grab a dole whip and recharge. The attractions will be there when you get done... and you will enjoy them more with fresh wind in your sails!

 

[Heluvsme]

Know the lay of the land. Be familiar with the parks by looking at maps ahead of time. On our first trip, nearly 25 years ago, we wasted a lot of time figuring out where each attraction was. We'd stop, pull out our trust park map, and waste precious time, not to mention make folks mad who we're trying to get around us!


Can I throw one more in?

Even if you aren't a planning fiend like many of us proudly are, a little bit of planning can go a long way, and make the most out of a fairly expensive vacation. Spend time figuring out best days and crowd calendars, reserve FP+ at the earliest time frame you can! and make dining reservations early.

 

[kpearl]

I have a few, hope that's okay!

1. Make reservations. I saw so many families look disappointed when they went to the hostess/host to make a reservation right then and there and were told nothing was available or the wait would be atrocious! So even if you're not a HUGE planner make a small game plan for dinner. You'll be happy when you know dinner is all set every night and you won't be restaurant hopping to try and get you and your family a TS.

2. Remember you're on vacation and "stuff" happens. Things come up, plans for awry, weather can't be controlled, kids throw tantrums, people change their minds, so on and so forth. If a wrench is thrown into your plans just stop - reset - and go!

3. Get an overview of the layout of the land and research the different attractions. By chance my boyfriend and I stumbled upon the animation drawing class in HS because we were looking for relief from the heat. That was a golden ticket for us! And honestly, we still talk about how cool it was to this day. If only we knew about it earlier we would have maybe tried to do another at some point in HS since it was just the two of us traveling.

 

[Sammy Cat]

I tried to pack in too much and it always felt like we were running out of time to do all that we planned (because we were!)

1. To fix this, next time we are going to plan an extra long getaway (at least 2 weeks) and plan activities/park days only on every other day. In between we will have relaxing "do-nothing" days like swimming at the hotel pool or going shopping. This should make the whole holiday more relaxing, slower-paced and enjoyable. It will also save our feet.

2. Because we had a heat wave in early June and I got heat stroke, plus the crowds were insane on some days, we will avoid the hotter summer months and will only go back in winter.

3. Because we felt rushed and left our video camera in the rental car on the last day, and lost all our memories caught on video, I will never allow myself to be rushed when returning a rental car again. I will take my time to search the whole car.

4. I will not do the meal plan next time because we were over-scheduled and wasted too much time sitting at a sit-down meal (1 hour +) and got fat eating all that food. Next time we will pack bag lunches and eat quick service in the park or start early and have dinner off site. We might pay to have one or two sit down meals still, but certainly not every night. When we do we will make reservations, because as others have mentioned, it was one thing I was really glad we planned ahead of time because we walked right in when others were told it would be 3 hours wait.

 

[jezebel73]

Mine are family centered:

1. Definitely be ready to follow the whims or your kids when they are little. This was tough for me as a huge planner, and when my 3 year old just wanted to spend an hour walking the balance beam (aka curb) or splashing in a fountain, I started to freak out. I mean - we were supposed to be going to *insert ride name here* NOW! But when your child is grinning and giggling, you just can't mess with it. Grab a drink and a seat and enjoying watching it in action. They are only little for such a short while.

2. Your mood, as a parent, really shapes the vacation. If you are tired or hungry or rude to others, the rest of the group will see it may well follow your lead. Never forget you are all here to enjoy the park and each other!! Disney is full of magic if you keep your eyes open to see it

 

[staley98]

Mine are family centered: 1. Definitely be ready to follow the whims or your kids when they are little. This was tough for me as a huge planner, and when my 3 year old just wanted to spend an hour walking the balance beam (aka curb) or splashing in a fountain, I started to freak out. I mean - we were supposed to be going to *insert ride name here* NOW! But when your child is grinning and giggling, you just can't mess with it. Grab a drink and a seat and enjoying watching it in action. They are only little for such a short while. 2. Your mood, as a parent, really shapes the vacation. If you are tired or hungry or rude to others, the rest of the group will see it may well follow your lead. Never forget you are all here to enjoy the park and each other!! Disney is full of magic if you keep your eyes open to see it

Amen! I completely agree with you!

 

[Barbydoll8]

I have two things.
Ask questions. Do not be afraid to ask cast members anything and I mean anything. Talk to people. There are many seasoned veterans of WDW who love to share all things Disney as much as the cast members do.
So many people don't ask, and plow through things. Slow down. Talk to people. You'll be amazed at what you will find out.

Second - drink lots of water. I live here and am use to being very hydrated but most people are not use to the heat here and usually are so focused on the park, the moment the whatever that they forget to drink. Yes you may go to the bathroom more but yes it will make your life so much better. You can get free water at any quick service spot and you can bring your own bottles into the parks. I can not stress this enough. It will help with leg cramps, feeling fresh and just your general health. I always suggest that you drink at least 2 additional bottles of water a day then you normally do and if you are a soda drinker, drink at least 2 bottles of water a day.

 

[geogat]

2 things that is super important to me and the family:

1. Wear good shoes. Sock, comfortable shoes. If your feet start hurting day 1, they won't get any better come day day 2-10!

2. Get to the park for rope drop. You can do so much in the first hour compared to hour 2 or 3 during the day! It's like leaving 30 mintues early to get to work. It might only be 30 minutes earlier, but with traffic it takes an extra hour!

 

[Tdiaz37]

I have two and I think they are the very most important. 1. Don't try to do it all. Don't kill yourself to do anything, take some time to stop and smell the rose garden! So put on those mouse ears and take a few minutes to just stare at how amazing the castle is. 2. Don't be afraid to try to see Disney through the eyes of a child. Don't be embarrassed. There is nothing wrong with a grown person being just as excited to see mickey as the children in line next to them!

Love both but number 2 makes me feel better cause we going on our first trip and I am so excited to see Micky it's only took me 37 yrs to get there to meet him lol...

 

[stephm0188]

Staying onsite is totally worth it.

 

[BAMLuvMickey]

Mine are family centered:

1. Definitely be ready to follow the whims or your kids when they are little. This was tough for me as a huge planner, and when my 3 year old just wanted to spend an hour walking the balance beam (aka curb) or splashing in a fountain, I started to freak out. I mean - we were supposed to be going to *insert ride name here* NOW! But when your child is grinning and giggling, you just can't mess with it. Grab a drink and a seat and enjoying watching it in action. They are only little for such a short while.

2. Your mood, as a parent, really shapes the vacation. If you are tired or hungry or rude to others, the rest of the group will see it may well follow your lead. Never forget you are all here to enjoy the park and each other!! Disney is full of magic if you keep your eyes open to see it

THIS is perfect advice.

 

[SnowButterfly]

Your point #2 is spot on!

 

[hydrotony]

The parks are always crowded. Even on "low crowd" days, there are 40,000 people in the Magic Kingdom. Know which rides have long waits and get Fast Pass Plus for them if you want to not get aggravated.

 

[cmbx2mom]

If you buy food at counter restaurants, save your receipt for 20% (good through 1pm) off some shops at every park. Didn't realize this till after a cashier told me about it...

 

[Quasialamodo]

If you buy food at counter restaurants, save your receipt for 20% (good through 1pm) off some shops at every park. Didn't realize this till after a cashier told me about it...

That's amazing! But now I want to know what shops if that works with the DDP....

 

[hops&dreams]

I wish I had known that our first trip would not be our only trip. I went into it thinking it was going to be a once in a childhood thing for DD. So we went all out - it was our first big (not on a shoestring budget, staying on a family member's floor) family vacation. We stayed in a deluxe, got the dining plan, went to a character meal every day. If I knew then that that trip would "connect" with DH, and we'd plan to go every 2-3 years after, I probably would have calmed down a bit. we went at a leisurely, but brisk pace. It was SUCH a PERFECT vacation for us, but I wish I had known then that we'd be back just 2 years later. I would have stopped to smell the roses more. Let DD sit and take in the whole parade, not just snippets while DH and I darted in and out of shops. I wouldn't have been so die hard about HAVING to get into O'Hana, so much so, that we ended up with a 9:30 ADR, an hour past DD's normal bed time!

But coming back from that vacation, I remember on our flight back home thinking how I hadn't even raised my voice once that entire week, that DH and I got along exceptionally well (during a time when that was NOT the norm) and that THIS is what being a family was all about - enjoying ourselves together.

Bonus tip: I wish that I had known when I got back that not everyone else would be as enthusiastic about Disney as I was. Not everyone who has ever been had an awesome of an experience as we did and not everyone WANTS to go back. My sister doesn't even get it... and thinks we're nuts for spending $$$ to go back to the same place, stay in the same hotel, go to the same parks again and again.