Our 2018 trip was one for the ages. We hit three out of the four parks, snuck in a date night, rode Under the Sea-the Journey of the Little Mermaid four times, and ate everything and anything in the shape of Mickey’s head.
We have been saving for this trip since April of 2017, and in the 15 months we had to make the money, the trip changed many times. We were going in September, which got changed to August. Which got changed to even earlier in August once we found out I was pregnant. At various points we were booked at Wilderness Lodge, Port Orleans-Riverside, and Pop Century, before finally landing at Caribbean Beach. Initially we were thinking two days in the park. Which became three. Which became four. With Park Hoppers.
Suffice to say, this trip was unlike any trip we had ever taken. The highs were high! (My Glass Slipper’s UTTER delight at the slides at the Fuentes del Morro pool.) The lows were…still not that bad considering we were at Disney. (Our Gender Reveal got rained out and we had to improvise!) But what surprised me the most is that even after all the trips we’ve taken, we still managed to learn some things, about both the parks themselves and the way our family likes to vacation.
Because the truth of the matter is, if it’s your first trip of your fortieth, you’re bound to make a misstep. Glass half full, you can learn from that misstep. It sets you up for an even better trip next time!
It’s important to note that what counts as a mistake for us might not be a mistake for you! Every family has specific needs from their vacation, and that will determine your wins and your learning curves. ;)
Enough chatter, on to my “teachable moments!”
Mistake #1: Resort Choice
We chose Caribbean Beach Resort because we wanted to try something new (even though we’ll love you forever, Coronado!) and because the price point couldn’t be beat. We knew it was spread out, that there were a lot of bus stops, but we are Moderate Resort pros, so we figured we were okay.
Um, no. Did you guys know Caribbean Beach doers not have elevators? We did not know that. Know how we found out? When we checked in, with me 6 months pregnant and our two small children living their best life in the double stroller.
These two are ready to stroll! Wheels up, double the stroller, double the fun! Unless there are stairs.
We had originally requested a room close to transportation (thinking we knew what was up) but were dismayed to find the room was on the second floor. We got moved, because the staff at Disney are pros, but our new room was in one of the areas with the last bus stop. Have you ever balanced an almost three year old on your baby bump on crowded bus after park closing when your bus stop was the last stop? It was not great. Also, our new room location put us very far from the dining location, which, as a pregnant person, was not ideal.
What We Learned: Thoroughly research your resort for your specific trip. If you’re going while pregnant, consider the size of the resort and your proximity to food. If you’ve got small kids, check out the pool situation. Different trips come with different needs. Lean into that.
Mistake #2: Going to the Park on Departure Day
Our return flight was at 8:40pm, with Magical Express picking us up at 5:30pm. We figured we would make another big swing and do something we had never done before. We would do a park day on our departing day! After all, once we got all of our luggage squared away, we would still have a whole day to fill. What better way than doing our favorite rides one more time?
This was a classic case of “the road to temper tantrums is filled with good intentions”. To this day, I’m still not really sure what happened. All I know is that one minute we were living it up on Dumbo, talking about taking some gender reveal photos at the Dumbo picture spot, and the next minute, my Glass Slipper was weeping because we hadn’t done/were going to do/not doing it yet “it’s a small world”. Only she calls it, “a small world afternoon”, so imagine if you will, my five year old curled into a ball at the bottom of the Dumbo picture elephant, wailing, “small world afternoooooooooooon” while other families waited for their turn with the elephant. It was not the best.
Where’s the other one? On the floor of this Dumbo. Weeping.
And the whole afternoon was like that. We just couldn’t get our littles in sync. We did small world, then the Frying Pan started wailing she was hungry. So we ate. Then the Glass Slipper started wailing we hadn’t done “The Haunted Mansion” (which she calls the Ghostly Gala) and so on and so forth until we were using up our final snack credits and both children literally lost it because 1) the Mickey Bar was not orange and 2) the Mickey Ice Cream sandwich she requested was not a Mickey Bar. Keep in mind both, both children had eaten these snacks multiple times this trip.
Some families do great with a park day on departure day. For us, it was too much stimulation combined with too many feelings about leaving “the castle” and too much heat and too much too much. From now on, we’ll stick with our usually routine of a character breakfast on departure day, with a leisurely stroll around Disney Springs.
What We Learned: Consider your last vacation day as the final leg of your workout. Cool down, don’t ramp up.
Mistake #3: Over planning Our FastPasses
This is super controversial, seeing as how I spend 75% of my time talking about what FastPasses are, how to score the perfect FastPass, how to handle it when you don’t get exactly the FastPass you want…Never did I dream I would say, “But maybe I’ve been wrong about FastPasses…”
Here is the deal: I have always advocated for a FastPass each at 9, 10, and 11. Using each of your earlier FastPasses at the end of the window, so your 9am wouldn’t get redeemed until 9:55, 10am at 10:55, taking advantage of the lower crowds in the morning. Then you have the best booking window for your 4th FastPass (as soon as you redeem that 11am) and you can head to lunch with an idea of your afternoon plan already in your head. Practically perfect in every way.
EXCEPT for this. My children are entering the age where they have…gasp…opinions. (See: above debacle with A Small World Afternoon.) They are entering the stage where they are enjoying things more, wanting to look around, not just wanting to be rushed from one spot to the next because of Mom’s crazy plan.
Talk about mistakes. Look at these goofballs. Standing NEXT to the sign that tells you where to stand for the perfect picture. :)
For example: Day 2 at MK, our FP plan was 9am Seven Dwarves Mine Train, 10am Enchanted Tales with Belle, and 11am Peter Pan’s Flight. At the Glass Slipper’s request, we rope dropped Buzz Lightyear…and then walked on two more times. Next was Astro Orbiter, which everyone wanted to do again, but we had spent so much time on Buzz, we had to book it to Mine Train without doing Astro Orbiter again, OR People Mover, OR Carousel of Progress, OR Monster’s Inc. The lines were still mild at 10am, we could have easily spent another hour in Tomorrowland. I was so focused on my perfect “plan” of FastPasses, I didn’t give much thought to the things we would have liked to do that didn’t necessarily need FastPasses.
What We Learned: Make sure you include walk ons and spontaneous re-riding into your perfect park day plans.
We are stoked to implement these learned lessons on our next trip…whenever that will be. ;) What about you, ever made a mistake that changed the ways you did the parks? What’s the game changer you’ve learned on a past trip? What’s the worst advice you’ve ever gotten when it comes to Disney? Tell me all about it in the comments!
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey three years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!