What You Learned From Your Last Disney Trip...

[daisyduck123]

To bring lots of water and snacks with you in the parks. This part of the tip is only good for those who drive. I froze a case of water before leaving. The frozen water bottles were used as the ice to keep the other drinks in the cooler cold. When we got to the hotel the little freezer wasn't big enough to store all the water. I just put the water in the refrigerator and they stayed frozen the whole trip.

I think this would be a great tip for people NOT on the dining plan. We always do the dining plan & we never need to carry water & snacks with us (who wants to carry all that sruff if you don't need it?). With the dining plan, you can get all this stuff, way too much of it.

**During our trip, I learned that we won't stay at a value again. We fell in love with CBR!!!

 

[briarberry]

I learned to let my DD9 set the pace. It's just the two of us so it was easy to do. The first time we went I had read all the guides and thought I had to try to fit everything in. The last time we went I let her decide where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. We had a much more relaxed holiday. The only thing I insisted we do was get to the parks early each day and from there she decided what we would do. She ended up loving Epcot and I never thought she would enjoy it that much. She didn't even want to go to Animal Kingdom which was fine with me but we might have to check it out this trip because of Everest! I think knowing we would be back also helped us enjoy it more.

 

[tink2007]

-I learned that planning is the key. Last June my entire family (15 people) went and having a plan was the best idea. Before we left for Disney, we had a family meeting and discussed what everyone wanted to do. This eliminated arguing and whining out of two 10 year old boys and two 13 year old girls. Everyone got to do what they wanted to do from grandma to the 10 year olds. They were patient and waited their turn. We also planned a day in the middle of our vacation (8days) where we stayed at the resort (Wilderness Lodge). We slept in, played in the pool and gave our sore feet a rest. I was so glad that we did this. It helped recharge everyone. Planning again for next June with my husband's family of about 25 people. We will have a plan!

 

[MICKEEP]

I learned that it can get pretty cold (By FL standards) at WDW in late December. We were totally unprepared for the weather during our 12/06 trip. We brought too many shorts and not enough sweatshirts.

 

[TomD]

I learned I need a job that pays more and offers more time off or hit the lottery so we can go more often.

 

[xWishes]

I learned I need a job that pays more and offers more time off or hit the lottery so we can go more often.

I SECOND AND THIRD THAT!!!! lol

 

[carone0318]

I learned that even though my kids are small (somewhat dd-9, ds-5) that as the trip goes on that they tend to sleep in more and stay up later at night; therefore, an 8ish ADR for a character meal doesn't work for us anymore.

This yr there are no ADRs before 9:30 and I tried to plan according to what we were doing the night before. Hopefully I solved this dilemma.

 

[PottersMom]

I went with my then, future MIL and BIL (who don't speak English) and my now DH.
Don't go with people who have never seen any Disney movies except Shrek- no that's not Disney, oh wait you don't understand a word I'm saying anyway....all they knew was Mickey Mouse. If you have been before 2 days is fun, you can skip a lot of stuff that just isn't for you and spend your time seeing things you like. They wanted to go on everything but didn't want to walk anywhere. ???
Oh and they talked about me the whole time in a language i didnt understand. And yes they were talking about ME b/c I kept hearing my name. But the dinning plan was awesome and just being there is just magic. Nobody ruined my time!

 

[2 princes 1 princess]

We learned to enjoy our children. Our oldest was 4 on our first trip and everything was so magical for him. We fell in love with WDW on that trip just because we saw it through his eyes. He is 7 now and we've been back five times since then. Sometimes when we are planning a trip, he acts like he is "too cool" for Disney. All we have to do is turn on that original planning video and POOF, his eyes light up and he can't wait to go back.
Our youngest is two yrs. old and the characters are so magical for him, and don't even get me started on my daughter... She fully believes she is a princess and we are going to visit HER castle!
I just don't know how we can ever get bored with seeing the "world" through their eyes. Yes they drive us crazy sometimes (most of the time) but Disney is the one place in the world where we are so happy together. (I hope I'm not jinxing our next trip!)

 

[MeLaNie9]

Don't listen to others who tell you your kid is too young for such a trip. Our DS2 had a great time - even if he won't remember it and we had a great time with him!
Don't forget rain ponchos, stroller rain cover every day!
Take Crystal Lite On the Go packs to mix in the water.
There will be rude people everywhere you go - don't sweat it.
Have a plan based on what your kid can sit through/tolerate - don't get caught up in the moment and abandon the plan.
You don't have to see/do EVERYTHING there to really enjoy WDW!

 

[ryley26]

1. Have a plan never enter the park not knowing what you want to see.
2. Let your kids be in charge on certain days so they feel in charge of the plan.
3. Always have rain gear no matter how short the walk.
4. Stop and smell the roses slow down and people watch its great seening people enjoying themselves.
5. Find a bench on the boarwalk and have a nightime snack and enjoy the atmosphere.

 

[a Really Bad Egg]

We learned...
1. To plan our TS meals before we go, then our touring around them.
2. To let our kids help plan the tour.
3. To understand that things will change, to relax, to be flexible.
4. To slow down....enjoy the Magic.
5. That it's (always) over before we want it to be...

 

[xWishes]

I got my Magical Express luggage tags and info yesterday and saw so much that I didn't see the last time I used it...because last time I wasn't in control of the trip. SO I just learned another thing...


Make sure if you do end up going w. a group of friends that you know everything that is going on. Don't be led astray..or your trip will not be a good one!

 

[kimmikayb]

A few things I got from my trip last Feb:

When the sun goes down in Florida it does get cold. So have a sweatshirt or jacket and long pants. UNLESS....you want a new sweatshirt and you're in Epcot and you KNOW your DH will balk at a $50 sweatshirt but you just HAD to use your jacket to cover your sleeping 2 year old in the stroller. Then it's an advantage to NOT have an extra sweatshirt

Not sure about the other resorts but ASMu has a blow dryer in the wall with a night light in it. No need to bring either with you.

I also found out that during parades or firewords you will meet some of the rudest people in the world. You will also meet some of the nicest CMs.

 

[antree]

I learned to NEVER-EVER go with a large group again. We went for New years which was nice to be with the WHOLE FAMILY, but after that. The next 2 weeks were not fun, who complained, you didn't wait for me, I didn't do that, I wasn't asked to be in the picture, where are you, I am here but where are you, what time are you going, wait for me, no I am not waiting I want to leave. Too much aggravation for me, I am there to have fun not to worry were someone is and are they still following us.

 

[UtahMama]

I learned to BE FLEXIBLE and even though I plan every meal, ride, parade, show,
etc. I really need to be less crazy and relax and take it all in. Plan, plan, plan, but be flexible!

 

[bord1niowa]

Use the unofficial guides best day to go recommendations...They work! We went in June and very little waiting at all! ALWAYS take your poncho, no matter what the weather looks like in the morning. Try to make your stay at least 7 or more days, we took 10 and it was just about right. Relaxing and not rushed. Use fast passes all day long if possible. Can't wait for the next trip!

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I learned that i am leaving my DH at home.
-I need to add at least another day to my trip.
-My children would rather go back to the hotel and go in the pool rather than Typhoon Lagoon.
-i packed way too much stuff!!!

 

[MsMulan]

I learned that to be flexible is the best way to go. On the last trip, I took my dd(9) and little cousin (14) at the time. And while I would have preferred to see more of world showcase and show my dd different aspects of the countries, I learned that she was really an adventurous attraction rider. Thanks to our cousin, my dd rode on rides that I would have never in a millions years pictured her getting on.

I also learned that is absolutly necessary to have down days just to hang out at the hotel, the pool, do a little shopping. I think everyone felt better with a couple of down days thrown in between the parks.

I learned that on the next vacation, I want to see more of Epcot from Imagination (East and West) and WS.

I learned that the suite we had off-site (Doubletree LBV) was three times bigger than the on-site room we had at CBR and CBR was twice as much. Both sites had bus service to the parks the main difference between them, DLBV uses the Downtown Disney Bus System which picks up from 6 hotels in all and goes to all the parks but it lets out/picks up out further than Disney resort buses. As I said we stayed at CBR which is huge, even though the buses run frequently it took us just as much time to get back and forth to the parks as DLBV. Next time, I would still choose DLBV and for the second leg of the trip choose a smaller Disney resort.

Oh! Someone made the comment about rude people during the fireworks and parades. I second that. At times it was difficult to believe that we were in Disney.

 

[HunnyPots]

Next time we plan to do 6 park days and 2 non-park days to keep everyone from getting over tired.

We also learned that July is NOT the month for us! Way more crowded than the first part of June, which is what we've done before. We had a great trip anyway but the crowds made it a lot harder to do and see what we wanted.

We will do more TS meals. We did mostly counter service to save money and time but DH really missed the sit-downs.

That's all I can think of for now!