By Amanda of Mouze Kateerz.com.
One thing Walt Disney World and Disneyland have in common is a lot of walking. At Disneyland, expect to walk 4 to 5 miles a day. At Disney World, you can double that easily, from 8 to 12 miles a day. I think veterans of the Disney theme parks know to wear comfortable shoes, but many first time visitors, and there are a lot of you out there planning your first vacation right now, dress nice for the event rather than dressing for the battle. Battle? This is a vacation, right? Several days spent walking through Disneyland and Disney World become miles upon miles of battling through aching legs, sore feet, and possibly even blisters.
Here is today’s quick and easy tip to saving money in the Disney theme parks….
Wear the right shoes.
Disney is really not the place for a shoe closet fashion show. Unless you are in the park for a dinner date or a show, dressed in a pretty dress, there is no need to wear high heels, unless you normally walk five to ten miles a day in heels. Fashion models, you may be OK in your Christian Louboutin 6 inch heels.
This sounds like a joke, but it’s crazy to see the shoes people wear into the parks.
- Flop flops
- House shoes
- High heels
- New shoes
- Bedroom slippers
- Crocks with no socks
I’m not saying don’t wear flip flops, because even I do for short periods of time. Some people are quite used to walking in flip flops, and Crocks, but upwards of ten mile a day? If you can’t walk five to ten miles a day in the shoes you bring to wear in the parks, you could find yourself in the car (gas $) or a cab (fare $) finding the nearest local mall to purchase good walking shoes (Nike $).
Quick trip to the park and then back to the hotel for a rest? Flip flops will be fine, but new shoes, heels, or any type of shoe that can rub or cause a blister over a long day of walking is just asking trouble that can skyrocket the cost of your already expensive vacation.
Can your children comfortably walk upwards of five to ten miles a day in crocks with no socks, glittery princess shoes, or flip flops? Picture yourself in the car, driving in an unfamiliar city, looking for a mall when you could be riding a Doom Buggy in the Haunted Mansion, and you can visualize why you need to plan ahead.
Tennis shoes, or some type of athletic shoes worn with wicking socks, and carrying a couple bandaids just in case – these are the tools the Disney Warrior needs to survive the walking battle.
If you don’t have to buy new shoes because you planned ahead, what will you spend your money on? If nothing else, you should have money to buy the polish to do it yourself.
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You will also find her articles on Meet the Magic.com.
My recommendation would be to throw a pair of flip-flops in your backback for riding water rides. In past trips I have always worn tennis shoes and had no problems with them getting wet on water rides they would still be fine for walking in. But this past trip I wore a pair of shoes that I were well broken in and I had never had problems with and we went on Splash Mountain on the first day and I thought nothing of my wet shoes and they dried out pretty fast but from that small amount of time I got horrible blisters on the bottom of my feet and was in agony the rest of the trip, I still had fun but it was much slower getting around. After that I am never going with out flip flops to change into before a water ride so I don’t risk it
We are another that wear flip flops and crocs (without socks) almost the entire trip and have no complaints, but that’s what we wear all summer long. We do take a pair of tennis shoes though just in case so that at the first sign of discomfort we can switch over. They rarely are used. And like Jennifer mentioned, we go in the summer and like the water rides and hate wet tennis shoes so for Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom (Kali and Splash) we rarely wear tennis shoes at all.
I realize we are in the minority, but all six of us lived in nike memory foam style flip flops, with the straps for the little kids and had two pairs. Now, our family-2 parents and kids ages 1-9 live in flip flops all summer and really don’t like athletic shoes unless doing athletics. But also we went in August and hit up every opportunity to get wet, fountains in epcot, kali river rapids in animal kingdom and wet athletic shoes and socks are awful.
Your socks are important too. Try to stay away from all cotton socks. We have several pairs of smartwool socks. They pull moisture away from your feet and mo blisters. Johnson and Johnson also make a blister bandaid that is fantastic. They stay pm in the shower or water and the blister is usually gone in 2 days.
Oh I have some amazing memory foam adidas memory foam flip flops. That’s all I wore in Disney and I never had an issue. I live in these flip flop!
I wore flip flops for the duration of our last trip to Disney. However, I pretty much live in flip flops. I was a teacher and frequently wore them on my feet in my classroom so I was used to them. This trip I plan to being runners since I’ve been a SAHM for two years and I’m not as used to being on my feet. I realized I needed to on a recent family walk were I wore flip flops. My feet were incredibly sore at the end so different shoes are a must!
I always wear Addias or Nike memory foam flip flops. They have an arch support. Old navy flips are for the pool but those bad boys are awesome. New sneakers shouldn’t hurt so if they do you aren’t buying them correctly. Its also just smart too bring an extra pair for at night or in case it rains.
Also going on the shoe story, bring an extra pair! We got stuck in magic kingdom one night in a downpour and tomorrowland had flooded in spots (some spots were ankle deep) and I was so glad we had our extra shoes. It took at least a day or so for those shoes to dry out.
I can wear crocs all day and have no problem. I wore them when I waited tables and we would walk an average of 6 miles on a busy night. My feet felt better in the crocs than they did in my gym shoes. That being said I did that wearing socks. Never have worn mine to Disney. I usually do gym shoes (usually new balances for my fat feet) but I also have a pair of sandles that are super comfy and have good support in them that I wear to theme parks too. Also if you get new shoes break them in before going!!