What You Learned From Your Last Disney Trip...

[xWishes]

I enjoyed decorating our hotel room more than I thought! We put signs in the windows telling the staff how much we loved them and we got awesome towel animals in return! It pays to be nice to everybody!!!

 

[MickeyMousesGal]

Stay out all day long, from 8am-1am, and try not to take a break during the day! I would prefer this to a family with little children.


MickeyMousesGal

 

[mommiepoppins]

I will avoid the dining plan. We had so much food I was throwing it in the trash. I also brought food with me and I never did use it. I had so much food. I had my 4 kids split food and there was so much left over. ( we are big eaters also) I never used the snack . I bought snacks to bring home for suvies. So much food

 

[Talking Hands]

DO NOT BRING A PARTY POOPER!!
If you are not going to ride any of the rides, STAY HOME!

There is plenty to enjoy in WDW without going on rides. I do very few rides and have a great time.

 

[xWishes]

There is plenty to enjoy in WDW without going on rides. I do very few rides and have a great time.

I agree. I guess I'm a "party pooper" cuz I refuse to go on Tower of Terror as well as some other rides w. drops. I went on Tower of Terror once. When we got to the drop my whole body started shaking so bad that my friend was afraid that I was having a seizure. When the ride stopped I was crying hysterically and refused to get on anything else for the rest of the night. I don't like drops. I used to, but now nooooot so much lol

Also I guess for people like me...what I learned from my last trip in August is don't bring someone who is going to nag you the whole
vacation to go on something you don't want to!

 

[Grand2me]

There is plenty to enjoy in WDW without going on rides. I do very few rides and have a great time.

Right and I agree with that...BUT at least you do some of the rides. I mean...NO RIDES. Not even the ride in the EPCOT sphere(the name escapes me right now), not even Pirates of the Carribean, NO RIDES. Then to complain about the number of rides everyone else is going on?! Sorry, That is a party pooper.

 

[vacation dreamer]

...that will make you do things differently on the next one.


The main thing I learned from my last trip this past March is that I shouldn't go w. 6 other girls. I'm an only child so I'm used to doing what I want...or at least having people w. me who are on the same page as me. It didn't happen during spring break. All 7 of us wanted to do different things so we ended up splitting up basically the whole time. The trip affected the relationships we had when we got back to Boston. And we all lived in the same suite haha! So this time when I go in August I'm going w. just one close friend who I know will want to have as much fun as I do!



Your turn!

I now know that when another family wants to go to WDW with you but makes a comment about if we get bored in the parks we can...go see a movie, go out to dinner or shopping.....get yourself uninvited!!!!lol

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We learned that staying onsite is definitely not for us! We had read so much on these forums about how much better it is to stay onsite that this past trip we decided to conduct a little experiment and split our vacation in half with half our vacation spent offsite and half at the Coronado Springs.

We found that we used none of the amenities you pay extra for when staying onsite and as a result we spent an extra $80/night for nothing more than a smaller, dirtier room. Our offsite hotel had much larger and cleaner rooms and had a free continental breakfast to boot. We were within 10 minutes of any of the parks and with the Top 7 Must Sees playing on our tv when we got back to our room to sort our souveniers and plan our next day we didn't feel as is we were missing any "Disney magic".

Granted we didn't have Mickey Mouse on the bathroom soap wrappers but we didn't feel that in itself was worth the extra $80 per night.

 

[ms_mckenna]

1) To plan plan plan but ultimately go with the flow it works out MUCH better for everyone involved.
2) Pack a medicine bag with everything in it (that includes stomach stuff) ... because even at Disney you can get really sick. Course I also learned that me on Phenerghan in a park is not necessarily a bad thing at least I was really mellow.
3) Before you check any luggage make sure all kids and adults have shoes that they will be comfortable walking in Disney in. (DD checked her tennis shoes in her bag and did the first 2 days of the trip in flip flops)
4) Along the same line as 3 ... even if you do not plan on making them start homework on the plane do NOT let your children check it. It is there best dream that the airline lost thier homework ... and your worst nightmare.
5) I overpack big time! I need to remember that there are laundry facilities at Disney if I need them.
6) Water is really expensive at Disney and I am really cheap ... I need to plan accordingly.
7) That extra clothes for both your kids in a back pack is not a bad thing. You never know when your 13 year old will run thru a dancing water fountain at night at Epcot.

 

[Brise Nannie]

I learned to write down all the things I really wanted to do, try to do them when we first arrive, make a shopping list, and stop and take plenty of pictures.

 

[xWishes]

Oh yeah! just thought of another thing. I went in late August/early Sept. last year. I had everything planned for what to do. I planned to stay a day in every park w. a day to just hang out. I ended up doing every park in half a day including going on many rides multiple times because there were never any lines! So have more things to do on your itinerary...or you'll end up wasting time doing this...

"What should we do now?"
"I don't know what do you wanna do?"
"I have no idea."

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Try not to bring disposable cameras....the xrays will damage ur pictures

If the film speed is 800 or less, they should survive in your carry-on. If you are still nervous, you can have them hand checked rather than passing them through the x-ray.

 

[xWishes]

If the film speed is 800 or less, they should survive in your carry-on. If you are still nervous, you can have them hand checked rather than passing them through the x-ray.

I never thought of that. Thanks for telling me!

 

[ms_mckenna]

Speaking of pictures. I learned with DS that if I pay him a quarter per "good" pictue he will actually look at the camera and smile! Worth it to me lol.

 

[xWishes]

Now I know this is said allll the time, but for people who don't know...avoid going to the parks that have magic hours that day or do the rides during the parade. I went to Magic Kingdom one night and all of the rides were practically deserted. We went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 4 times in a row without waiting. I felt like a Disney Princess lol

 

[Jrsy Boy]

I never thought of that. Thanks for telling me!

You're welcome. If you decide to have disposable cameras hand inspected, make sure you have them all out of their packaging before you get to security; it will save a lot of time, especially if you have several.

 

[6swolcott]

traveling as a family of six when children were younger, we used the 5 mile two way radios as well as hand held cb's so the kids could have a little freedom to go on different rides then us. Last trip they were teens so they all were able to go to different parks then us and we had preassigned times to meet up at different places and cell phones to check in. My children loved disney because we let them enjoy their vacation as well as us enjoying ours. One day they wanted to sleep in so my dh and I went to epcot and they called when they got up and we went back to get them, (that time we were off property). every trip we have taken each member of the family was allowed to name one thing that would be their disney moment for the trip and I made sure we accomplished that for each member of the family. now this summer we are going for a family reunion and my extended family is staying at CBR and my children want me to rent a condo off site again, I am struggling this one time with this issue because I think I will miss hanging out with my sisters in the evening at the hotel. (we live 1600 miles apart) My children are all college age now (yes I have four in college) so I am thinking of telling them they can stay offsite if they choose.

 

[Barbers2005]

I learned that even disney magic is not strong enough to make my family get along for a whole week. Dh and I took dd4 (first time ), dh's mom, dh's dad (they are divorced) and dh's sis (24). My FIL is jerky to everyone when we're at home, but I thought he would be on his good behaviour for family vacation. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Happiness and goodwill didn't even last long enough for us to get to the first park. By the time we reached the ticket gate at AK, FIL had stormed off saying he would rather spend his vacation without us and everyone else was , except for dd, who was not quite sure what happened . Most of the trip was ok, since FIL wasn't with us, but when he was there (usually for meals since I had made ADR's) he did his best to make everyone else feel guilty and miserable. So, lesson learned...leave extended family (and anyone who doesn't make you happy-happy) at home.

 

[MiAimee82]

This will be my 14th year and I have learned:

That plans can be changed.
Relax and enjoy the parks and your family
When there is free Dining Plans, you must make your reservations in advance (I do miss making the spur of the moment reservation in September, but no longer with free Disney Dining).
When there is free Disney Dining in September, you must get your Fast Passes before noon, or you may not be able to get one.
I miss "E" nights
Bring Cereal and drinks to enjoy in your room.
Know your bartender at your resort and you can get some fabulous drinks at the end of the day.
Bring several kitchen size garbage bags from home. As you dirty your clothes, place whites in one bag, darks in another, etc. When you get home, you can just empty the bags in the washer.
A rainy Disney Park in the evening produces some fine photographs.

What kind of drinkies are we talking here?

 

[MiAimee82]

I agree with exploring every inch of Epcot! I want to make it around every country and every shop in each country this time!