We LOVE our trips to Disney! I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so after each trip I reflect and think back on what I could have done to make the trip better. I’m going to share a few mistakes I made and also some great tips that may help you in planning your trip!
- Not preparing for the amount of walking. Did you know you can spend anywhere from five to nine hours walking the parks each day? If you are not a very active person, make sure you prepare by walking a mile or so each day to get your body prepared. Make sure you wear proper footwear that will prevent blisters and sore, tired feet.
- Overpacking clothes. During our first trip to Disney, I packed an outfit for each day and then backup outfits. For a family of five, that made for a tremendous amount of clothes! All Disney resorts have washers/dryers on-site. Save money by bringing your own detergent (I bring pods) and dryer sheets.
- Not packing enough medication. It seems like we always get some kind of bug during our trips. To be on the safe side, I bring a Ziploc bag with a few blister packs of pills for just about anything you could think of (allergy medicine, cold and flu, Tylenol, etc.). When my husband got sick during our last trip, we spent $10 on an 8pk of Dayquil at the resort.
- Not booking table-service reservations 180 days out. We were able to get reservations at some of our favorite restaurants, however, because we waited, we had really odd times (dinner at 8:40 etc.). If you really want a specific location and time, be ready 180 days out.
- Making mission space your first ride. Mission Space at Epcot has two options: spinning capsules (orange) and non-spinning capsules (green). I love thrill rides, however, riding the spinning capsule first thing in the morning was too intense for me. I felt sick to my stomach a big portion of the day because of it.
- Making fastpass reservations early in the day. The rides are at their lowest wait times first thing in the morning or late at night. Wait and make your fast pass reservations for peak hours of the day when the wait times are high.
- Not keeping a journal of our trip(s). I have seen ideas on blogs and Pinterest where the family takes turns at the end of each night writing down their favorite memory of the day in a Disney notebook/journal. We have pictures of our trips but its different hearing the day from their perspective and fun to look back on as the kids grow older.
There were a few things that I did right and I plan to use these tips for the next few trips.
- Make it to the park before rope-drop. We always arrive 30-45 minutes before the park opens. It gives you time to get a few photos, make a bathroom break, pick up a park map, and apply sunscreen.
- Enjoy a meal at a resort. If you’re packing your days full, you probably don’t venture out of the park. Our favorite resort meal is at the Whispering Canyon Café in the Wilderness Lodge. We usually spend the morning in one of the parks, take a break and clean up at the hotel and then head over to the Lodge to explore the grounds and then take in dinner.
- Have a good plan of action (with backups). I’m a planner, so not only do I have a plan of action for the day, I usually work in a few backups. For example, I’ll add most of rides in Fantasyland to my itinerary for a 9am-noon block of time, but I know that sometimes you can’t get it all in. I’ll make time in the afternoon to revisit rides that were missed, or if I was able to get to all those rides in the morning, we’ll spend extra time in the Dumbo queue or at Casey’s Soak and Splash Station.
(Thanks Karen!)