What one thing did you wish you had known?

[wallace123]

My husband and I were married 2 months ago (2nd marriage for both - he was divorced and I was widowed). We decided to skip the wedding and take the funds we would have spent on getting married and take a DW vacation for the family. There's 9 of us going. We're going the 1st week in June and staying off-site at a rental house. We are doing the 5 day passes without the park hopper option.

I've read almost everything I can find on-line. I have 2 DW apps on my iphone. My "Unofficial Guidebook" is already dog-eared. I think I'm obsessing over this vacation - but I feel like I'm stepping into a whole new and unknown world and I don't want to be lost or confused or in the dark about what's going on.

So I want to ask the experts - what's the one thing you wish you had known before you arrived?

 

[mfulk]

Any quick service place or carts with fountain drinks will give you a free cup of ice water. And they're not little tiny cups either. On our first two trips we brought frozen bottles of water everyday, wish I'd known about the free water!

 

[Lehuaann]

Welcome to the Dis.

Wished I'd known that FP"s were good beyond the time listed. But now that's changing...

 

[deakam]

I wish I had known that the last person out of the park usually gets a seat on the bus. Since you are staying off-site this is not a problem for you but I would think that not getting caught in the traffic would keep you a little saner. Take your time at park closing. In fact--take your time every where. Hurrying from place to place will wear you out. The first week of June will be hot. Take breaks. And have fun.

 

[cajunbaby1]

Make everybody stays hydrated.

 

[cajunbaby1]

Patience, patience,patience. Enough said
Sunscreen for everyone.
Make everybody stays hydrated.
Realize that you can't see & do everything on this trip.
If you've got older kids (say 14 & up) & they are trust worthy/dependable to do things on their own. let them have an hour or so to do something; then have them meet you at a specfic place.
Maybe have a down day at your rental house if you have the day tod it.

And have fun with you bunch

 

[DolphinSquirrel]

Tables in Wonderland discount.

Ordering just the entree at counter service restaurants.

You can take the resort monorail to the TTC, its faster on those nights when the TTC monorail line is super long.

 

[buzzrelly]

I wish I had known that Splash Mountain would be my favorite ride of all time if I could get up the nerve to go on it! I was chicken on my first 2 trips, but on my 3rd I finally worked up my courage and LOVED it!

Congratulations to you and your new family! I am getting married in 4 months on a Disney cruise...2nd marriage for us as well. We wanted to include our children and thought this was a great way to do it! Have fun!

 

[buzzrelly]

Deleted...double post.

 

[neffernie]

Boat transportation.

Magic Kingdom Resorts have boats if the monorail line is too long or if you want to go the opposite direction. (ex: MK to Grand Floridian).

Boats between Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, and Fort Wilderness

Boats at DTD behind House of Blues, Paradiso 37, and Capt Jacks not just for the Port Orleans resort but to the other sections of DTD if you get too tired to walk back or just can't make it long distances anymore. I sprained an ankle one year at Festival of the Masters. (stupid me looking at the booths and not where I was walking) This was a lifesaver.

Boats from Epcot to Hollywood Studios and the resorts in between.

These are very pleasant ways to get around.

 

[tofubeast]

I've known this for awhile, but back in my childhood days growing up near Disneyland, I wish my parents knew about getting their at opening so as to take advantage of low crowds in the early morning.

 

[DisneyDude1]

I wosh I would have known before hand to bring a poncho into the parks because in Summer it rains almost everyday in the afternoon (only for about half an hour or shorter). Dont worry if you forget though pretty much every vendor in the park sells Disney World Ponchos (I think they were like $10 or $15 each).

 

[Praying Colonel]

Rest breaks are necessary (for our family, at least) in the summer. We're in pretty good shape, so we thought we'd power through 5 days in the parks with no breaks, with a beach day and a Blizzard Beach day interspersed. We hit the wall on day 3.

If I was planning that trip again, I would nix the BB day, program in rest breaks for each park day and if we want to do a beach day as kind of a rest day, do that in the middle of the trip.

 

[hearts8701]

wish i knew that when you drive your own car that if you leave the parks 10 minutes before wishes starts you can hear and see the whole wishes fireworks and music from ttc

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I wish I had known there were counter service menus on all ears. On our first trip we ate too many fries! We would just eat at the closest CS when the kids were hungry. Also, for the summer, make sure you know which ones have air conditioning.

 

[graceesmom]

For our first trip, I was one of those clueless first timers having only gone as a child before returning for a work conference in 2007. Fortunately my older sister and her daughter accompanied me so I just followed her around like a lost puppy dog.

Bless her heart, she kept trying to convince me before we left that we should try to make a reservation for a sit down meal somewhere. I thought she was crazy b/c I had only ever eaten counterservice/fast food type places when visiting them parks. I had no idea about character meals/etc. Nor did I have any idea about eating in the castle or all of the options available at the world, and I assumed I would be fine at the parks from opening until close only stopping for a fast food cheeseburger or hot dog sometime during the day.

In my defense, I was told about 2 weeks ahead by my boss that I would be going to a conference at Disney so I had very little time to prepare, and I had no concept of just how massive WDW is.

I wish I had known 1/10 of the tips I'm sure you already know having planned your family's trip. You will be so far ahead of all those people who are just like I was 5 years ago.

BTW we will be there the same week, and I have come along way in my disney knowledge since that first trip. Expect to see us at Rope Drops, maximizing our FP opportunities, stopping to smell the roses, and heading back to the resort for afternoon breaks.

Have a great trip. Hope to see you at a rope drop.

 

[Robin K]

Wear comfortable shoes...usually bring 2/3 pairs to switch between days. You will be doing ALOT of walking. No matter how much I read, planned, prepared, and researched the size of the parks still amazed me.
Let everyone look at the maps beforehand and pick out their top 5 must dos. Then plan want to do attractions and it's ok to skip attractions. That way once you arrive you are not standing around trying to make decisions.
Bring ponchos. Rain showers do pop up and last about 30-45 minutes each day ( or in our experience they did). Throw on the ponchos and keep going.
Lastly-you won't realize how addicting WDW is! We went on our once in a lifetime trip----5 trips ago!
Have a great time

 

[ultimate_ed]

I wish I had told my wife she could get a new card from any of the photopass photographers.

We did the preorder deal before going on our trip, so I got the initial card in the mail. There were a few times when she was with the kids while I made a dash somewhere to get FP's for the group.

She had some opportunities to get pictures, but didn't because she thought the card was part of the photopass price. She was not amused at the end of our trip when she told me she wished she had taken the card from me so she could use it and I explained she could have just gotten a new card from the photographer that she had come across.

 

[cmhguy]

I researched everything to death for my first trip, and I was GLAD I did!!!!! The one thing I wished I had done better - memorize the park maps. For whatever reason, I was overwhelmed taking it all in - the parks were very busy - and trying to navigate at the same time was a bit much for me. I quickly adjusted and can walk around the parks with my eyes closed now.

Biggest last minute tip someone gave me - bring a plastic grocery bag wadded up - so that you can put your wet ponchos in it when you go on a ride. It rained a lot my first trip, and I was soooo glad I had the bags.

 

[chs27]

The tour books tell you to get there at rope drop. That may make your family miserable a couple of days into touring, even with an afternoon break. Crowds thin around 3 p.m. Afternoon touring can be wonderful. Let them sleep mornings, all the walking can wear you out!