Worst Mistake You Ever Made

[DaveK]

Similar to dixielander, marksor and marcyinPA, we used a travel agent for our first official trip to WDW. It was our honeymoon and we decided to stay for two weeks. Staying two weeks at WDW was great, but the agent steered us into buying two separate weekly packages - one for the Buena Vista Palace and one for the Polynesian - two sets of passports, two trip agendas, etc., and I guess two commissions!

Every time I see our personal 'Portrait with Mickey' from that trip, after thinking about all of the fun times, I think about how much time and money we could have saved had we known about annual passes or been smart enough to check around for information so that we didn't end up packing and moving to another resort midway through our trip.

Anyway we had a fantastic honeymoon and learned a lot about how to better plan for future Disney trips, which have totalled up to about 15 by now. Had we known that we were going to return so often, we would've joined the DVC, but that's another story!

It's neat, because every trip we seem to learn something new about how to enjoy our visits -- thanks in part to this forum and it's informed readers!

DaveK

 

[HamHam]

Our worst mistake was back in '95 we used a travel agent to plan our trip and he booked us with Alamo rental car. This place was awful! We had to wait in the hot sun with my mom and young toddler for over an hour just to get the shuttle to the rental car place because it was off-site. When we finally got there we had to wait another hour in line just to get the rental car. What a complete waste of time. From that point on we booked our own trips and if we rent a car, we find the most economical one that is located right inside the MCO terminal.

 

[Brier Rose]

Spending 4 hours out of our day at a time share presentation to get a free Disney ticket! We were young, and it was one of our first trips, but still....what were we thinking!!!

Taking too long to find the Dis, and paying rack rate for too many years.

Not eating when were hungry, just to try and make it to a show, or catch one more ride while the line is "short". BIG mistake!! We all end up grumpy and not enjoying ourself anyway, so new family rule for us.....we eat when we hungry, PERIOD!

We had to learn the hard way that resort hopping is NOT for us! It nearly ruined our trip last year going from WL, to GF, and then to the Poly in the span of 9 days. We never felt like we could relax, because we new we had to pack up and move again. You also run the risk of not liking your new resort as much as the one you just left. We spent our entire time at the Poly just wanting to go back to the GF or WL.

Wasting a day out of our WDW trip to go to US/IOA. We also hated it, and it was the last day of our trip. I REALLY hate ending a trip on a sour note.

Playing mini-golf when DS was to small to really understand the concept of the game. It was very crowded, and there was a
l-o-n-g time between turns. NOT fun for a little fella that wanted his turn to be everyturn anyway, much less waiting so long just standing there. We will definatly try it again when he gets a little older though.

 

[Divamomto3]

Originally posted by NancyIL
I get the impression you didn't care for the Swan! I love the Swan, but then - I haven't stayed at the Beach Club.

It was a very beautiful hotel and had a lot of nice things about it..if I were to stay there on a weekend before a DVC villa stay, I'd pick the Dolphin b/c it's more centrally located to the big pool and Tubbies for my 3 kids. However, although it's beautiful, I found myself longingly looking over at the BC/YC the whole darn week! Definitely worth $250 more over there in my opinion!

 

[RickinNYC]

Our single biggest mistake was going to WDW with good friends. That, in and of itself, is not the mistake actually. It's the fact that one of them was so incredibly clingy, she refused to let me or my partner out of her sight. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, shows, breaks back at the resort, every attraction, every counter service joint, every trip to PI, absolutely everything we did, she and her fiancee (he wasn't too pleased either) had to be with US. It was to the point of farce.

We truly enjoy her company, but my partner and I enjoy time to ourselves. We really enjoy each other's company and when we go away anywhere, if we're with friends or family, we like to have at least one or two meals, one or two days, to ourselves. We said as much prior to our departure and she gave every assurance that she and her fiancee wanted to do so as well.

To add insult to injury, this friend of ours is chronically, obscenely, repetitively late for absolutely everything. Not just 5 minutes, or 10 or 20. She runs 30 minutes to sometimes 45 minutes, or an hour! We've known this for years but we had stupidly assumed that because we're on vacation together, she'd have the courtesy not to do that to us. To no avail. Finally, about mid trip, I confronted her, told her that she was being rude, and if she continued to be late, then we're move on without them and meet up later, no harm, no foul. Her response? "This is MY vacation too so I don't need to be on a schedule."

My response? "You're correct, it's your vacation too. And it's mine and Joe's. If you're going to be late, we leave you. Period."

I honestly had hoped that this would mean that Joe and I would have "Us" time by default. Never happen. That point forward, they weren't late much, but she always acted as if she was out of breath or complained that she didn't have a chance to do her hair or make up. Blah, blah.

Fat lot of good that did!

It was still a fun trip, but too much closeness is overkill!

 

[Divamomto3]

Originally posted by goofy4tink
Traveling with another family and the dh just wasn't into Disney in the least!! Nothing made him happy and it colored the trip for everyone. Never again.

Used a TA for the first trip. Then found DIS and never looked back.

Not buying DVC sooner. Took 3 trips before we did it.

That would be terrible..to be with nonDisney folk at WDW!

I agree, wish I bought into DVC last year when I returned from the Yacht Club. But I'm glad I got into Saratoga Springs this year.

 

[RickinNYC]

double post

 

[MelessaG]

Not specifying to DH that the time spent returning to our room so our 18 m.o. could nap was more for her benefit than his. It was our first day in the parks on my first WDW trip. But, at 11:30 I could tell that DD needed a break. By 1:30, she was raring to go again, but Daddy snored away until 4:00 p.m. while I watched precious park time tick away in the hotel room. (I'm a commando-style traveler by nature) By the time he woke up, I was furious and it was almost 6 by the time we got dinner and caugh the bus back to the parks. After that we never went back to the room for naps and poor DD slept in her stroller because I couldn't trust him not to pull the same trick. That same DD is now 6 and a commando-style tourist just like Mommy. DH has also become a lot more accomodating about getting to the parks for EMH and keeping breaks shorter.

 

[always quiet]

My biggest mistake was the 2 years we took my dad with us. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad, but he is the type that if you don't do things HIS way, he sulks more than a toddler does! We were traveling with toddlers at the time too!!!

Next was when we did MVMHP in 12/02. We made the stupid mistake of sitting down at curbside as soon as we walked into the party to wait for the first parade!!! To add insult to injury, the parade didn't start on time - it was 45 minutes late!!!! Do you know how much torture we endured being able to 'see' the party all around us but were stuck on that curb!!!! This year, it's second parade for us!!

 

[goodferry]

"Our worst mistake was back in '95 we used a travel agent to plan our trip and he booked us with Alamo rental car. This place was awful! We had to wait in the hot sun with my mom and young toddler for over an hour just to get the shuttle to the rental car place because it was off-site."

I had totally blocked this memory, but we had a similar experience on our second trip. I don't even remember the name of the rental car agency, a TA booked it for us. We waited FOREVER for the shuttle to the site and then again to get the car. Then, coming back, we couldn't find the rental car place!!!!! We had never thought to ask for directions back. My husband ended up dropping us off at the terminal, looking on his own, then parking in long term parking and leaving the keys with the airline desk when he still couldn't find the place. He made it back just in time for our flight.
Our TA called the rental car agency and they picked the car up, but charged us $50. Lesson learned, use a towncar or rent from a place at the airport

 

[LoveToDisney]

Reading all your horror stories about rental cars reminds me of some of the goofs I've done in former vacations (didn't know about dis boards and all the great advice you can get here). Years ago I booked an "off brand" discount car rental service...they were off site and we had to take a bus, the car wasn't clean, etc. The second time I booked with Hertz--they assured me they were "ON-site". Ha! The only thing onsite was the counter that took my signature and then you waited for a bus and traveled to an offsite location. After we got there we stood in line for 2 hours to get our car. Everyone there was miserable. If you weren't a Hertz club member, you stood in a long, long line for just a couple of agents. NEVER, NEVER AGAIN!!! Now we book with National. We have never had to wait, they are truly onsite and have clean cars.

We went to Florida for our honeymoon (years and years ago), and we planned everything through a TA. Back then you had to use a TA for airline tickets, etc. Well, the TA booked a few nights for us at Disney (Magic Kingdom was the only park at that time), and told us the other nights we could drive around and see the state, staying in different spots. They even suggested some areas. Well.......we were accidentally down there close to spring break time (duh!!! shouldn't the TA have known!!) and all the hotels were FULLLLLLLL. I finally called the 800 number for Holiday Inn, told them where we were and asked them to search the radius around us and find us a room. We drove about 2 hours north of Orlando to spend several nights at a tiny Holiday Inn. Since then, have never returned to Florida without reservations for every night...a lesson learned.

 

[allforpooh]

Nothing huge here just a few lessons learned that make the trip much more fun for all of us and not just DH and Kids...

If DH wants to take a nap or watch TV, while the rest of us want to swim or do parks - in the past we would have waited around.. now we just tell him when he's ready give us a call on the cell phone and we pick a place to meet.

Always go back to the hotel in the afternoon, even if it is just to swim or relax...

Always make PS for at least one meal a day, we can always cancel if we do not want to do a sit down, but if we decide we want to its there.

Try not to drag the kids to expensive dinners when they just want a pizza...

Never take the Shuttle, only a town car or rental

Read Dis often....

Denise

 

[exwdwcm]

Originally posted by videogal1
I'm not so sure you're worrying about what's likely to go wrong...In January I met several people stranded by a transport company in the middle of a Dis. parking lot (freezing wind). Even with all the misery they talked about how much they liked their accommodations (Gaylord Palms). If you are renting a car or will be using anything but contract transportation, you should have, barring disasters, a great time.

i will be staying at the Gaylord Palms for a show coming up in less than a month. I stayed there last year as well. It is a great themed hotel, and offers great pool areas etc. It isn't Disney, but it is still enjoyable. Probably one of the best hotels I have enjoyed while on business (i travel a lot coordinating shows)

I'll be staying almost 5 nights there, then after the convention, we are moving to the mansions at Port Orleans for 3 nights.

our worst mistake would be using a travel agent on our first trip (we were kids though). Also, we learned our group needed a midday break to recharge and be able to go all night! We also have stayed off site and it was a mistake, it was cheaper, but we regretted it.

 

[damo]

Paying $299/night for a standard room at WL.

 

[Rodrigo]

Originally posted by CaliforniaDreaming
Well, our worst mistake may be during our next trip, we'll be staying offsite at Gaylord Palms.

This hotel is great! I have been there for Conventions. If you have a car, it only takes one or two minutes from the hotel to WDW (you enter where Wide World of Sports and POP Century are)

 

[monarchsfan16]

Going in February. It's NOT supposed to be warmer in NH then it is at the same time in Florida. But it was, two different years.
Traveling with my sister. She has the been there don't want to go back mentality that stinks.
Going to US/IOA, and Sea World and only going to DTD, not the actual parks. We will NEVER make that mistake again. We loved Sea World, and thoroughly enjoyed all the extra time we were able to spend there, but we hated US/IOA. I do wonder if that hate prompted the buying of DVC, since it was during that DTD trip.

 

[CdnDisneyFan]

My two biggest mistakes were 1: Going in 97 with no travellers checks, and just a debit card, almost maxed out credit card, and small amount of cash, and also staying offsite at a hotel in the middle of nowhere (Best Western Kissimmee), with nowhere to eat upon arrival, as we got in after 11. Also, going with a Mears Taxi.

Second mistake was going with my mother last trip, Nov 02, all she did was complain about prices of things, and didn't want to stay out at night. I love her dearly, but NEVER AGAIN!! And this was for my birthday too!! She even complained about the price of the Character breakfast "I" had booked for us!! SHEESH!!! Then again, she is like that at home too, so I should've known!!!

Jules

 

[CdnDisneyFan]

And how can I forget about going in July with a couple of friends who one complained constantly (and ended up with heat exhaustion), and we were offsite, luckily the transportation was great, so I took off on my own a lot. In a way it is a blessing that I am not friends with that complainer (long story there), but next trip whenever that may be, will be with my best friend, and ON SITE!!!

Jules

 

[jimmalru80]

Not going to WDW earlier in my life. DW could never convince me to go on vacation to WDW. "I don't want to go to an amusement park". Well after the first visit I was hooked and would not dream of going anywhere else. Live and leran.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Great thread!

My biggest mistake is buying packages that included things we never used. Yes it is the great TA mistake!

Next biggest mistake was taking forever to find the disboards.

Some of the nicest most generous people!