OK Experts: What's the biggest Disney mistake you have made?

[Megsie1000]

Taking my oldest child as a baby (9 months old, I think?) and having big plans for dinner and expecting her just to take her nap in her stroller in the afternoon. This is a child who had never napped in a stroller in her life and no amount of Disney magic was going to change that. Needless to say, those dinner plans were a disaster. I can laugh about it now years later.

Know your child. If you have big plans for the evening and you know your child needs some down time, do it. It seems like a PITA at the time to get back to your resort, but you will regret it big time if you don't.

I love this thread!

I will never understand why Disney doesn't make it easier to get to DTD. We never go because it is just too difficult. This is the place where you will be spending MORE money. You would think they would be shuttling you down there and make it the easiest place to get to! :lol:

 

[scarlet_ibis]

I will never understand why Disney doesn't make it easier to get to DTD. We never go because it is just too difficult. This is the place where you will be spending MORE money. You would think they would be shuttling you down there and make it the easiest place to get to! :lol:

They don't want people parking for free at DTD and shuttling to the parks, or so I've heard. Eh, the cheap people still park there and either bus to a monorail resort or walk to SSR and bus in... Tsk, tsk!

 

[papertraveller]

We were at the Poly, with friends who were on their first trip. We arranged to meet them at the monorail, but they didn't know there was a monorail stop at the hotel. They waited at the TTC, we waited at the hotel, and ne'er the twain did meet! Neither group had their phones with them, so we ultimately went our frustrated separate ways!

 

[maxiesmom]

I will never understand why Disney doesn't make it easier to get to DTD. We never go because it is just too difficult. This is the place where you will be spending MORE money. You would think they would be shuttling you down there and make it the easiest place to get to! :lol:

It used to be much easier! Too many people decided to save money by parking at DTD and then taking the bus from there to the parks. That was a loose=loose situation for Disney. They lost out on parking fees, and the people who wanted to shop at DTD couldn't find parking spaces.

 

[CandyHead09]

Whether you've given bad advice, whether your planning and scheduling was off, whether you were new to the whole Disney thing, or whether you just plain had your facts wrong, what's the biggest goof you've made re: Disney?

BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER MADE WAS GOING TO DISNEY WITHOUT TOUR GUIDE MIKE INFO OR PARK HOPPERS! Seriously best 20 bucks you will ever spend in your life!!!! No lines no waiting you'll finish the parks in half a day! It's amazing! And everyone should get park hoppers especially with tour guide mike we finish the park for that day go back to the hotel swim, eat, nap, shower/get ready for dinner, shopping, parades, EMH it's wonderful and you dont miss out on a thing!

 

[knitster]

BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER MADE WAS GOING TO DISNEY WITHOUT TOUR GUIDE MIKE INFO OR PARK HOPPERS! Seriously best 20 bucks you will ever spend in your life!!!! No lines no waiting you'll finish the parks in half a day! It's amazing! And everyone should get park hoppers especially with tour guide mike we finish the park for that day go back to the hotel swim, eat, nap, shower/get ready for dinner, shopping, parades, EMH it's wonderful and you dont miss out on a thing!

Oh this is so good to hear! My mom and I purchased a membership to TGM the day we decided we were going to WDW and I've been pouring over all the info on the site ever since!

 

[tinkrebell]

Not going Club Level!

Seriously. I know it's a hot topic of price vs. convenience, but after my last trip, I'll happily pay every time for that sort of convenience. I got sick with a nasty cold on my last trip to AKL, and we spent more time than planned in our room - which was nice, but had bunk beds and a severe lack of dining options nearby. I was too achey to walk around much, and we spent a lot of cash at Jiko's bar lounge eating dinner instead of being able to get a decent meal anywhere else - Boma has no lounge, and Mara's food was alright but wasn't going to provide us with any great 'experience' since we were missing out on the opportunity to leave the hotel. We did fall in love with Jiko, but I know now that having a lounge close by that could provide us hot food if we needed or wanted to stay close to the hotel would have been marvelous.

Also - I want the DVD player they give to CL rooms. We bought an iPad after this trip because we vowed never again to go anywhere without more entertainment options than the crazy lady talking about the Must-Dos you Must Do! to do all the Must-Dos! at Disney. Gag! Where is my channel of classic animated films? I want one NOW! Disney Clubhouse does NOT do it for me!

 

[imLissy]

My parents decided to stay off site one year and only went to Disney for a day. I must have been like 9 or something. I remember is driving aimlessly around Orlando looking for a place to eat. I remember eating at Uno and some Japanese place. And Splendid China :-/ We never did that again.

Also, not being more specific when I told my husband I was going to go to the bathroom I went to last night. He got the bathroom wrong and we were looking for each other for like 30 minutes before he found a CM that looked up my cell number from our reservation. That's another lesson, don't leave your cell phone in the room!

 

[noahdove]

I love this info....I can't wait NOT to use some of the mistakes and also, how to do certain things...thank you all....keep the info coming.

 

[dunbarfamily]

We seem to make a mistake each one of our trips up until the last few. One trip, as we were approaching our bus stop at HS, our bus was just leaving. We were all tired, hot, and very crabby, so we had this fabulous idea to hop on another resort's bus, taking it to a park, then hopping on our resort's bus. Yeah, almost an hour and fifteen minutes later, we were even more crabby as we knew better, but we were just so desperate. So now we're mad at ourselves, muttering under our breath that we'll never come here again (I know, very unmagical of us, I swear, the heat was getting to us!!) and complaining about all the time we wasted. I can laugh about it now, and shake my head wondering what the heck we were thinking, but I assure you, it was so NOT funny then!!

 

[irisesareblue]

My mistakes have been weather related:

Mistake # 1 - Our family should NEVER go to Disney in August - others can and will, no doubt but it was a mistake on our part. (Past trips have always been in January, June and November). Hubby and I had the bright idea of taking my step-daughter and her family with us to Disney in August - HOT, HOT, HOT!!! We could only stay in the parks for the mornings with their 4yo and 6yo sons because they couldn't take the heat and were cranky as all get out - we spent the afternoons in the pool at our rental house which settled everyone down.

Mistake # 2 - When going to Disney last January step-daughter and I only took "summer clothing" and light jackets - BIG MISTAKE - we Froze our proverbial buns off and ended up purchasing strange Goofy hats that had neon dreads to wear to keep us warm. (It sure made for some cute photos though!)

 

[rock_doctor]

My biggest mistake was going into EPCOT for New Years night. The park was so overfull that they made it one-way. You were so packed in that you could only shuffle forward as a group (like the sheeps on "Back to the Barnyard"). You were in constant physical contact with the people around you and all kids were on their parents shoulders to keep from being crushed. Was an absolute disaster!!! Plan to chill out on New Years night the parks are a no-go...

 

[DisGal520]

three biggest mistakes:

1) staying offsite first trip and relying on less than stellar non-Disney hotel transportation



2) not knowing about BodyGlide. Listen up all you guys who got blisters. This prevents them and is worth its weight in gold.



3) going in August 2004 - well when we booked there was no hint of it being one of the busiest hurricane seasons. Note my siggie. However it turned out that we had to stay 2 extra days since MCO closed and no airlines were flying out. Wait - that was a GOOD THING! Disney took wonderful care of us and although we missed one half day of park time when they closed the parks at 1:00 PM that day - they added in 2 more days of park time after "Charley" had passed.

 

[tsmith76]

Not using the bus system until our 3rd trip. We used to just drive to each park from the resorts, but now we take the bus. Much easier. I think AKL is the best to bus from.

The second is only discovering Tour Guide Mike last year. I loved the tips, scheduling, and boards for your visiting month, etc.

 

[Mickeysgirl34]

One word: RAIN.

My family and I knew it was going to rain one day in MK,but we didn't bother to bring rain coats. When I was about to go on Dumbo,IT POURED. And we couldn't find anywhere to buy ponchos. Now we know where they are,and I always put a hoodie in my bag whenever we go to the parks.

 

[NJMermaid]

Split stay in November
OKW and WLV then Dolphin

 

[gibbersome]

Split stay in November
OKW and WLV then Dolphin

Eeep, we're staying at 6 locations in 14 days!

I'm okay with switching around since I travel all the time and have done many one night stays, but I don't know about my gf...

 

[gibbersome]

Double post...Sorry!

 

[xannonbourne]

I all kinds of decorations door down once lugged, thinking it looked like fun and wanted people to write on our marker board. We pop a remote section is placed at the far end, not a soul anywhere near someone we signed our board and I doubt if anyone saw our decorations. Ever time, effort or suitcase in the room to do that again being wasteful!

 

[emptynestr]

My biggest mistake was going to Disney during Spring Break in March 08. I made a couple mistakes that trip. While i was there I got a case of bronchitis, I had a very difficult time walking so not renting a scooter was a mistake, and the reason I didn't get one...I didn't want to be labeled a "scooter person" as I do not look like someone who needs one (tall and fit). Second the crowds were unbelievable! The WDW resorts were completely sold out. I am very impatient and hated waiting over an hour for every ride! The fact that I didn't feel well didn't help either. I have vowed to never go during peak season again!

Aw sorry you were sick at Disney!!

I just wanted to mention that we go every year during Presidents Week (an extremely busy time) and last year I finally purchased Ridemax...we stuck to the plan and did not wait for anything! I would feel confident going at anytime of the year now.