Sure, Disney is magical, and I’m sure you paid good money to be here, took time off work, and traveled for hours to get to the happiest place on earth.
But are you prepared to avoid wasting your time, money and energy on silly mistakes?
Do you have a game plan in place or are you just winging it?
You DON’T need to have a plan when you go to Disney World- you can be spontaneous- BUT you do need to be prepared if things go wrong.
You also need to know the pitfalls so you can hopeful avoid these mistakes I made that almost ruined my Disney World Vacation!
Looking for something else? Check out these 25 Disney World Hacks you need for your Disney World Trip
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Mistakes you should avoid at all costs
#1 Not getting those ADR’s
It doesn’t matter if you are using a Disney dining plan, staying on property, or paying cash for everything while staying at an air b-n-b.
Not getting Advanced dining reservations (or ADRs) is a bad move.
Sure, you can always do quick serve and you can bring your own food in. You can even run by the grocery store or order take out.
But you will be missing some really fun times and some picture perfect events if you skip the ADRs.
There’s two reasons behind this.
For one, it’s near impossible to get a walk up reservation because of how busy the parks are now. So if you don’t register ahead of time, you likely won’t get a spot, or you will get a time that conflicts with your other events.
For two, you are missing some great times by skipping the table service resturants.
I’m not saying you need to do these every day, but at least once on your trip you need a table service restaurant. The food is better (more expensive for dinner) and you get theming that you just don’t find at the quick service restaurants.
If you pick a character meal, you are in for a real treat, as they normally spend more time with you than if you just meet them in the lines for a picture. Often times they will even come around a second time!
So skipping out on the ADR’s could cause some major stress and heartache.
speaking of ADR’s, you can also see the list of things I never want to do again at Disney World ever again!
#2 Ignoring the weather
listen folks, something is up with the weather. I don’t care where you live, we’ve had some weird weather the past few years.
And Florida has had it’s fair share. From monsoon thunderstorms in winter time, to cold days all the way into may, the weather here has been wacky!
So when you plan for your trip, whatever times you choose, pack some things you might not consider for your trip.
Like a hoodie in the summer, or shorts in the winter.
In fact, this is probably my top tip out of all the things I recommend for a Disney Vacation. You just can’t predict the weather!
If it doesn’t make sense to bring it, you should probably pack it. Last thanksgiving I went swimming (and Disney Pools are heated anyways!) and I wore long sleeves till may of this year, in central Florida.
So either bring some stuff, or grab it at the gift shop, just be prepared that it might not cooperate.
# 3 ignoring the 10 toes
I know there are people that go barefoot everyone, but they are a small majority, as most of us wear shoes.
But what happens when those shoes malfunction?
Well, naturally, they malfunction at Disney World while you’re on your once in a lifetime vacation.
From shoes that hurt your feet, to ones that break apart (i’m looking at you flip flops!) to ones that get wet and start to stink.
You don’t want to be sacrificing time from your trip to go to downtown disney and grab a new pair of kicks. Just remember to pack a few pairs and save yourself the hassle of a shoe mishap!
The stores and the resorts DO have shoes (and they are cute!) you can also find bandaids and moleskin if you end up needing to take care of your feet.
#4 Thinking that everything will go according to plan
Go ahead and plan to your hearts content.
Seriously, I’m not going to stop you from planning.
In fact, I encourage planning.
But you simply can’t do it all, no matter how well you plan out your trip.
There is always going to be something that happens. From an impromptu lightning storm that messes with your fast pass plans, to a meal that took 15 minutes too long, to a bathroom line that doesn’t seem to be moving.
These things happen, and they happen when you are on vacation.
If you want a vacation where everything goes according to plan… well… let me know where that’s at because I’ve yet to have one, Disney or no Disney, things don’t always go according to plan.
#5 Eating #allthethings
Disney World is like a trap for your eyes and your stomach.
Here’s all the things that go wrong when you eat everything in sight.
You get an upset stomach.
You totally blow whatever diet plans you had.
You spend a crap ton of money.
Then you feel like total crap because you ate too much and now you have to walk a billion miles to get out of the park and back to the resort. (and find a place to poop!)
Definitely enjoy your food while you are there, but remember, you still have to walk all over the place, you want to ride stuff and meet the characters, and it’s really awkward to poop in one of those gigantic bathrooms every at the park that have 100 stalls.
Been there, done that, didn’t buy the 30 dollar t-shirt because I already spent all my money on #mickeyshapedsnacks.
#6 Forgetting about the memories
I don’t care how you do it- just make sure that you have plans to remember the trip.
If you’re a picture person, make sure you invest in the photopass. The professional quality photos are totally worth it, especially if you don’t go often and don’t normally do professional photos.
If you’re more of an autograph person, that’s cool too. Grab an autograph book and bring a few pens with you! They have some cute ones on amazon, and tons of options at the parks and resorts if you forget.
Maybe you like to grab keepsakes and momentos. Maps and little trinkets at the stores are a great idea. (plus, you can get the shipped to the resort for pickup, or shipped straight home for you. It’s pretty easy to buy stuff at Disney!)
Whatever you do- prioritize it! I’ve heard horror stories of people loosing their cameras, their phones and their autograph books. The entire trip- all the memories you wanted to capture- gone.
Yikes.
So plan it, and have some backups.
#7 Not doing a little bit of everything
Listen, I get it. You’ve dreamed of this trip so you can meet all the characters over your vacation. You’ve meticulously planned for this and you’re armed with multiple sharpies and two autograph books. (Or you are totally dreading your ‘vacation’ and can’t wait to get it over with. It can be fun! It’s just not very relaxing)
But, don’t forget about all the other stuff.
Same goes with the adreneline junkies, or the foodies who just want to get sloshed at epcot and take instagram worthy pics of all the snacks they get.
Disney DOES have something for everyone, but don’t get blinded by your “must do” things at Disney.
Soak it all up, expereince the magic, have fun and let loose.
I promise you won’t regret a single minute of it, if you just let the vacation happen.
That’s all my friends.
well, we covered quite a bit- but in a nut shell, you want to live your life to the fullest, prepared for all types of weather with your expectations in check. Remember to bring a few different outfits and shoes, preplan your dining, and enjoy all that DIsney has to offer.
It doesn’t sound hard in a blog post, but being at DIsney and overwhelemd with eveyrthing is a different story (trust me, it’s not like it seems on instagram!!).
