What I did right/what I did wrong

[Punkin's Mom]

I've finished my trip report and thought I'd reflect a little on the highs and lows:

What I did right:

1) Had a plan - when we stuck to the schedule we did a lot, when we didn't we did practically nothing.

2) Used our own umbrella strollers - my kids never nap in the stroller so it didn't matter that they don't recline. They were so easy to manuever, a breeze to get in and out of the buses, easily identifiable and held extra stuff that we didn't want to carry.

3) Let Will (2 years old) nap at the hotel - he could never have made it all day without a nap.

What I did wrong:

1) Tried to do too much the day we got there - if you read my trip report you know about the meltdown in the Great Movie Ride, but honestly the kids weren't up for doing much more than dinner that night.

2) Didn't plan an extra day in the middle of the trip to relax - we were all getting tired by the end of the trip. A day to sleep in, play at the resort, and relax would have done a world of good.

3) Wasn't ready to leave early enough on the last day - we left all the packing til the morning we left plus everyone wanted to sleep in. That plus getting all the bags down and getting our boarding passes meant we didn't get to the park until after 11:00.

4) Didn't stick to the plan - our last day at AK was a total bust because we ditched the plan thinking we'd get more done. Instead we did almost nothing!


What else would you add to the lists?

 

[frankenpooh]

Really, I think you did very well considering the age of your kids. I don't think you can leave a Disney vacation without a bunch of things to do next time. That's the great part! There always needs to be a next time (shh.. don't tell my husband).

One thing I have loved about taking my kids to Disney World is how each trip changes as they get older. They have different interests, a little more stamina, etc. But you will never top the magic factor of that first trip, I don't think.

I don't know why you haven't gotten responses on this thread -- we trip report readers must have a short attention span!

 

[byoung]

Thanks for posting.

 

[loralie]

I agree with you about sticking to a plan. Our first trip to WDW was a gift from my rich BIL. He took me, DH, DS6 and DS8 and my MIL (his Mother) and paid for everything...airfare, hotel, tickets, food, everything! You name it he paid for it. Now...not to sound ungrateful...it was a wonderful trip but nothing was planed right. The plan was for a 5 day trip but he booked the flight too late on the day going to do anything and too early on the day coming back to do anything so our 5 day trip turned out to be a 3 day trip. Since he paid for everything I felt like I could not say what I wanted to do...I felt like we had to do what he wanted to do and since it was my first trip to WDW I also did not know as much as I do now so we were lost at the parks and I am sure we wasted so much time trying to decide what to do next. So after all that...what I was trying to say was that you should plan out the trip.

That being said...I told my DH after that trip that I was going to plan a trip for just the 4 of us and I will do everything we want to do and do it up right. We stuck to the plan and spent a wonderful 7 night/8 day trip. We can't wait to plan another one for 2007.

Loralie

 

[TLinden16]

Thanks for posting this. I definitely find that the more I plan, the more I get done in a trip. Of course, I've been planning for Disney trips for over 20 years now, so I don't really need to plan anymore, but I know on my first few trips, the more reading and research I did in advance of the trip, the more enjoyable the trip was.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We, too, are guilty of pushing too hard to do too much. I've found that we need some down time, even a break at a water park will do, every third day. Otherwise, eveyone becomes irritable. Also, our last day is generally the day from H@**!! We've gotten a little better about packing up as we go, but we still tend to linger on that last morning. It's not so bad at that moment, but it's no fun when we're driving and we don't get home until 2 am...or later!! (Would that be earlier???)

 

[OhMari]

I like sticking to the plan too. Having older children-I let each of them pick a day on the vacation to do what they want. One actually picked a day to sleep in and swim all day.

 

[Minniespal]

Thanx for sharing.

 

[Disney owl]

Great tips , thanks