It was our first trip, and was amazing and addictive! However there are a few things I wish I would of done better! But Hey, there’s always next trip right?!
- Booking too early breakfast reservations! So the first day was great, we went for an early breakfast and got there for park open. However, after the first couple of days of being at the parks for early breakfast and trying to close the parks, we were EXHAUSTED! A couple days into our trip I was able to rebook later times for breakfast and the table service meals we had left! Those were amazing and we enjoyed our days at the parks much better than waking up so early!
- Going too fast, and missing so much! Enjoy the simple moments on your trip! Stop and let your kids play in the splash pad at Magic Kingdom. Let them jump in the puddles after the afternoon rainstorm. Stop and watch their faces light up when they see the castle for the first time! We did a lot of rushing and missed so much trying to get to the next ride or trying to rush through the park!
- Not doing a Break Day! We had a long 10 day trip! We went to the parks every day, with no break day in the middle! It was exhausting and by the time I got home I needed a vacation from my vacation LOL! Learn from my mistake and take a break in the middle of your trip to do a resort pool day or explore your resort! We are doing an even longer trip next time and we have 3 break days scheduled!
- Not doing more of the shows! We only did two shows, Little Mermaid and Frozen Ever After at Hollywood Studios! Not only are these a great place to cool off and rest for 20-30 mins, they are so much fun! Both of the shows were awesome (the Frozen show was HILARIOUS)! I wish I had planned to do the others, especially Beauty & the Beast and the Lion King!
- Rushing through Animal Kingdom! We loved Animal Kingdom, and I wish we had taken another day to explore it more! Many people have said it’s a half day park, but in my opinion if you like animals, it is NOT a half day park! We loved seeing all the animals and the rides were just an added bonus!
- Trying to stick too much to our itinerary! Don’t get be wrong, I LOVED planning everything out and it helped us get so much done. However, I didn’t plan everything we did down to the minute, and that’s what made it great! To a certain extent you have to allow yourself some freedom. There were some rides we wanted to ride back to back. After our first day, I kind of learned that it’s OK not to go to everything you planned. Take a moment and ride your favorite ride again and again! If you miss a fastpass, IT’S OK! We had so much fun just doing the unplanned ride or stopping and dancing with the performers at Animal Kingdom- which we couldn’t plan for!
- Fireworks at Magic Kingdom on a Saturday night! So I forgot to plan nights for fireworks, CRAZY I know! On our 2nd to last night we did Magic Kingdom and went to the fireworks! That was a mistake! We wasted 2.5 hours just sitting by the castle because the crowds started forming at 6pm for 9pm fireworks! It was so crazy packed (and this was in September, where there were already low crowds!). I feel if we had done this on a week day night, it would of worked out much better!
- Not spending more time in the Countries at Epcot! After we got back from our trip I realized there was so much cool stuff we missed! I’m kind of sad over Pick-a-Pearl and all the fun foods/desserts in the countries that we didn’t stop to try! We pretty much walked past it all because we didn’t think there was really anything in the buildings we would enjoy!
I did a lot of good things but here are some of the best things I did right!
- Scheduling Table Service Meals! We loved being able to sit down and unwind at dinner! It was a great time to discuss what we loved that day, or let our daughter tell us about everything she loved! So many people say its a waste of time, it was totally not for us!
- Research,Research, Research! There was so much I didn’t get a chance to research or know to research, but what I did totally made a difference! Looking at menus and knowing what we would eat at certain places helped us decide where to eat our quick service meals faster and we didn’t waste time looking at menus while there! Also, research helped with knowing what rides usually had the longest wait times so we could schedule our fast passes accordingly and not waste them for rides that don’t have long wait times or shows where we didn’t need them!
- Preordering at Be Our Guest! Seriously, this saved SOOOOOOOOOOO much time! The line to go to the ordering kiosks was crazy long, it went out the door. The line for preorder was short and we were in and seated within 5 minutes of checking in! Both Breakfast and Lunch can be preordered at 30 days before check in! And I know, “who wants to decide what they want 30 days before they get somewhere?”… We were able to make changes to what we ordered when we were checked in, so just pick something you think you want and if you are feeling something else when you get there, just change it!
- Doing things in order! Do yourself a favor and look at the park maps when you are planning your fast passes! Don’t plan one fast pass for Buzz in Tomorrowland and then your next one all the way on the other side of the park at Splash Mountain! Walking back and forth not only wastes time but it saves your feet! We chose one place to start in the park and made our way around. We allotted time in between our fastpasses for other rides that didn’t need them!
- Magic Kingdom in 2 sections! If you have more than 1 day at Magic Kingdom, I highly suggest splitting your days into 2 sections! We did Main Street, Tomorrowland, and Fantasyland in 1 day and then Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square in the other. This helped us get more done by taking our time and not trying to rush to get to the whole park in 1 day! After we were done with that side of the park, we were able to go and ride our favorites again if we had time!
(Thanks Jennifer!)
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