Rookie mistakes

[Mickey 101]

Two side questions were posed along the way, one about favorite guidebooks. Passporter is excellent and has many tips you don't see in others. IMHO its the best, by far.

The second question was about where to purchase water when driving from MCO to WDW. There are grocery stores, including Wal-mart, along the way, but we always just stop at Walgreens near the DTD enrance to the parks because its a quicker stop. Our first trip we made the mistake of going to Goodings grocery store near there. They are extremely overpriced.

Another common mistake I see is guests that don't realize how chilly it gets in FL. Not sure when you're going, but the winter months down there can actually be pretty cold.

There are many good suggestions here, but some are kind of a matter of preference that you will figure out as you go and hopefully begin your own tradition of Disney trips. I guess we're more unique than I thought but we always rent a car, don't like afternoon naps and stay in the parks from morning until night.

[FTDW Poly 08]

The second question was about where to purchase water when driving from MCO to WDW. There are grocery stores, including Wal-mart, along the way, but we always just stop at Walgreens near the DTD enrance to the parks because its a quicker stop. Our first trip we made the mistake of going to Goodings grocery store near there. They are extremely overpriced.

There are many good suggestions here, but some are kind of a matter of preference that you will figure out as you go and hopefully begin your own tradition of Disney trips. I guess we're more unique than I thought but we always rent a car, don't like afternoon naps and stay in the parks from morning until night.

First of all, thanks for looking back and seeing my question about where to buy water. I thought people forgot about me!

I do think renting the car will pay some dividends. For instance, it seems like that might be the best option the two mornings we go from the Poly to the water parks.

I'm with you on staying all day! I'm sure my two boys will be as well. I just don't think DW and DB(2) will be up for it!

[Dyanna]

Our mistake was going to DTD in the morning & then spending the afternoon/evening at DHS knowing they had extra magic hours in the evening & assuming that all rides would be open during this time. We got to ride only 2 things. What a waste of a day!

[Lizzie]

Make sure you go to the water parks. Our last two trips we went to both parks. Those are my favorite days. We get there early to get a good spot to hang out for the day. Especially if you have a group. But we don't try to do everything and we spend our day hanging out in the lazy river. And my girls love water so they got more excited about that and the pool at the hotel.

[Jasper]

For us the number one mistake most people make is not preparing their body and in particular their feet for what you are about to do!

Unless you are already an avid walker start a walking plan at least six months in advance of when you plan to leave for WDW. Start by doing what you can each day and gradually increasing to as many miles a day as you can make without your legs or feet falling off.

This also includes getting your shoes selected and broken in. You will kill your feet if you take a new pair to WDW with you. Instead, when you start your walking plan start breaking in your shoes that you plan on wearing in Florida.

The combination of these two things will assure you of a good vacation.

[thejens]

I'll swim against the tide here and say do it all! Just kidding, but I only go during peak season (Spring Break and Schools out for the summer) so I have to plan well to make it work. I buy the Unofficial Guide, plan my days in detail, make my ADRs and follow the Unofficial guide's directions practically to the letter (at least in the morning.) My family laughed at me and called me park commando for one day, then realized they had a wonderful day and stopped teasing. They couldn't get over how many rides we went on and saw so many people waiting in long lines and disappointed without ADRS. We really did do nearly every ride, parade, show, desired restaurants etc. You don't have to be rigid or not smell the roses, but a good plan and an early start to your day can make the whole trip SO much more rewarding. Another against the grain thought: I hate the afternoon breaks!

[grwoolf]

Our rookie mistake was the first day of our first trip with the kids about 6 years ago. We made the mistake of thinking the Transportation Center was a central hub for transportation and assumed we could get back to our resort from there (silly me). After a long day at MK, we thought it would be cool to ride the Monorail to the TTC and then catch a bus to our resort from there. Of course, there was no bus to our resort from TTC, so we had to get back on the Monorail to go back to MK and catch a bus to the resort from there. It was a much later night than we had planned, but at least we got a couple monorail rides in the first day. I general, I think Disney does a great job with transportation, but they do a poor job documenting the process (probably because the schedules and routes are changing continuously). The only CM's I've found that are pretty knowledgable on tranportation are the ones that work the bus/boat/monorail stops themselves. There are all kinds of strategies for getting from A to B at Disney, particularly if you are staying at a place that includes monorail and boat service.

[heidi614]

We had friends that went for the first time with no planning what so ever. Just showed up with tickets. That's the 1st mistake. We met up with them on their second day and asked what they've done. The first day the rode like 3 rides and second 2 and not because of crowds, but poor planning. They hung out with us for the rest of that day and we did like 5 rides and a parade. They were shocked. They didn't have any ADR, just thought you could get in. WRONG. Didn't see any shows and didn't know what the shows were. That's disappointing. Some of the shows, Fantasmic, Beauty and the beast, Lion King and the night time parade are my favorites and would hate to see someone not even know about them. Rookies! What can you do? LOL

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Take a photocopy of your park passes and keep that separate from the pass itself and even separate from the receipt. That way if you lose your pass you can get it replaced.
Since you are renting a car, if you drive to a park, take a digital picture of your parking lot name, row etc. That way you can just look back through your camera and you'll be able to find your car.
I signed up for the Winn Dixie customer card. We usually rent a car and we've gone there for the cases of water, juice soda etc and having that card saves even more money. And it doesn't cost anything to sign up for it.

[Jaco8]

Thanks guys your tips will be invaluable. I will try and learn from your mistakes.

So I have bought the unofficial guide and found it a good resource and read.

my next dilemma though is deciding between one day at each park and 1 day at Seaworld or two days for MK/Epcot.

What would you do?

[Cinderelley]

Thanks guys your tips will be invaluable. I will try and learn from your mistakes.

So I have bought the unofficial guide and found it a good resource and read.

my next dilemma though is deciding between one day at each park and 1 day at Seaworld or two days for MK/Epcot.

What would you do?

Since it's your first time, I would go for two days at MK/Epcot. But you could always hit MK & Epcot early in your stay, and then decide if you want to spend more time there or go to Sea World.

[Stitchahula]

Bring 2 pairs of shoes that have good arch support. That way if you start having problems with 1 pair you can switch out with the other.
Bring the sunscreen to the parks with you so you can reapply it during the day
Don't leave the parks when it starts to rain it's usually over pretty quick.
only drinking soda and not water is the best way to dehydrate yourself.

[mickeynminnie08]

Trying to drive on our first day there. If you've never been before - it is soooo confusing to find your way around the "World". We were an hour late for our first dinner at Ohana, because we could'nt figure out how to get there. We got completely turned around and found ourselves actually leaving Disney headed to Orlando. And its not easy to turn around once you find you're going the wrong way. After that, we took Disney transport everywhere.

Oh dear lord, we were planning on doing EXACTLY that. Help; what would you suggest? I have a streetwise orlando map and Think I have a grasp on navigating it, but.....

[Mickey 101]

Oh dear lord, we were planning on doing EXACTLY that. Help; what would you suggest? I have a streetwise orlando map and Think I have a grasp on navigating it, but.....

Sounds like you'll do fine. The Orlando map includes WDW, right? In addition to your map, there are also helpful signs all over property as to where resorts/parks are and which exits to take.

[PrincessASquared]

We always seem to come home with more than we came with. Remember that when packing your luggage.

[Janmac]

Mistakes I have made:

1-A Going barefoot at a water park - even water shoes don't work. I wear sandals now, with the most cushion I can find.

1-B Going to Epcot after a Water Park day. Way too much walking. We eat at our resort now, after a water park day.

2 Arriving at a park at the regular time on a morning EMH. In my defense, I had gotten sick overnight and apparently forgot how to tell time.

3. Photos/film - another multiple mistake. One trip I didn't bring enough film. I can easily expose 2 rolls a day. Bringing 3 is sort of like insurance. Another trip I apparently forgot what cameras are for and had exposed maybe two rolls for the entire 9 day trip. The third goof is not taking photos of things we'll want to remember/talk about later. Almost every meal, entrances to parks, etc. It's amazing what you will wish you had a photo of, once you're home.

4. Feet/shoes/training. Absolutely walk some before you go. The best visits were when I had been doing a couple miles at least 3 times a week for several months. Shoes/feet are a puzzle. One of my worst trips for feet/leg pain was when I had really good sneakers, that were broken in. Discovered later that they had too much support - I need more cushion for my high arch-high volume foot. Know thy feet.

5. Souvenir madness. You get home and wonder why in the ever loving blue eyed world you thought you were going to ever wear/use that [fill in the blank]. When in a shop- take a deep breath and step away from the souvenir.

6. Thinking we could get to [fill in the blank with Disney World destination] in our vehicle. We always get lost. Even tho it takes more time, we use Disney transportation. We often wind up having a lot of fun chatting with our fellow passengers. And after Epcot, we can just be zombies without worrying about wrecking the car.

7. Not bringing hat, scarf, gloves during winter visits. It can get very cold - shivering I'll never warm up again cold.

Things that work for us even tho we've had to try some other thing to reinforce the lesson yet again.

1. Be at rope drop in the morning.

2. We really like doing Magic Kingdom, or Animal Kingdom or the Studios in the morning, swim/rest/whatever at our resort in the afternoon and tour Epcot (a Future World pavilion and a couple of countries) in the evening. One good thing about this is that Epcot is so large it can absorb a lot of crowd before it feels crowded.

3. If you don't really need that fanny pack/backpack and can stuff your pockets with your gum, bandaids, tylenol, sunscreen, camera film you don't have to wait in line at the bag check before the park turnstiles. Actually, if you're doing the mid-day break, you can probably do fine with you gum & film and small camera. Carry your water bottle.

4. When closing a park in the evening, we sit on a bench and wait til the line for the bus for the resort is almost gone. Doesn't take that long and we can sit on the bus. Or we shop while waiting but then you need to practice stepping away from the souvenir.

Question about Seaworld. Personally I'd skip Seaworld and do all Disney but that's mostly because I prefer Seaworld San Diego over Florida's. Reason is that San Diego is more compact, easier to see more stuff in one day and it seemed like the shows were better timed.

It's your first Disney World visit and very likely not your last. Stick with Disney this trip, figure out what your favorites are, and then next trip, plan a Seaworld day.

Most of all - relax and enjoy!

Jan

[pwdebbie]

Mickeynminnie08, we drove last year for our first trip. Once we pulled into the resort, we really didn't want to drive any more. In fact, we breathed a sigh of relief.

But, since this was our first trip, I had decided that before we did the parks, we would ride the monorail and get the "feel" of the World. Instead of taking a bus to Epcot or MK to board the monorail, we drove to the CR and boarded the monorail there. (We had our first "magical moment" there, but that story has been posted elsewhere.) After we completed our three hour tour by monorail, we drove back to our resort.

And that was the last time we drove the car until the day we pulled out. We found driving there to be confusing (we were using a GPS, no less).

Riding the busses was part of the Disney magic for us -- talking with people, enjoying the scenery, not having to be responsible drivers when we were tired, getting dropped off close to the park entrances.

Since you don't have small children and strollers to tote around, you really might just want to park the car and the use the Disney Transportation.

There's no question in my mind as to what we'll do if we ever go again.

Deb
POFQ, Oct. 2007
praying / hoping / wishing / dreaming for April 2009 or 2010

[SandmanGStefani24]

i think the biggest rookie mistake is overplanning. it kills me to see people post their plans/itineraries here and they're planned almost to the minute. big mistake!! the bottom line is, vacations never go to plan. the minute you get to the parks any and all plans go out the window. the best thing to do is set a very loose set of things to do for the entire trip, and then just wing it when you get there. ride broken? park hop and ride it another day. restaurant packed? grab a snack and eat there after the rush. go with the flow and you'll have a blast.

[Iteachpc]

Not getting a Dole Whip Float

I second that!

[katzctkpt]

Good comfy shoes #1 you will be walking A LOT !! If you are not used to walking I recommend start about a month before you go so, you don't end up with shin splints.

Drink plenty of water and make sure you have ADR's unless you plan to eat all counter service meals.

Take advantage of Photo Pass where you will have a lot of pics taken by Disney and you can purchase a cd at the end of the trip with pics of you and your dgf.