Let's learn from everyone's mistakes....

[AlohaAnnie]

middrow seats - at HS and places with shows people always rush to the doors thinking they will get the best seats, not true, head to the front of the theatre and let a few people in before you, it seems ike your being areal nice family letting other people in before you, but when you get inside you will be in the middle for the show rather than watching from the far side of the theatre - all the cast members make people move along utnil they reach the end of the row, no stopping in the middle. to make sure they fill the theatre for every show.

Love this one! I still see people getting nuts at shows and such, because they want to be in first for the best seat. I just hang back for the middle! Love it!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

See Below

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Everyone walks over everybody, don't take it to heart when someone runs over you with their stroller or bumps into to you, or cuts you off, or stops right in front of you.

If you worry about everyone being rude in the manner above you will not have any fun.

Make the most of it, try to stay positive! It is the Disney World Way! There are just so many people from so many different walks of life and cultures and we all meet in one place to have a magical time!

This has helped me, I still have moments of, shock!

Also, when someone is grumpy in your party, stop to get a drink and a snack, sit and relax, take in the view. This usually helps my family move on.


I also agree with taking a break, when you feel like you are not on vacation any more or are not having fun anymore. Naps are a must!!!

 

[jenjifer]

I wish I'd known....

that I'd love the place so much. I wouldn't have waited until I was 40 to go for the first time.

 

[sixkristy6]

This is a packing tip that I just read from a link on Pinterest

36. When packing liquids (shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, ect...) for your next trip, take the lid off, place a piece of plastic wrap over the opening and screw the lid back on. The plastic wrap will keep the liquid from spilling even if the lid pops open.

 

[GirlDreamer]

This is a packing tip that I just read from a link on Pinterest

36. When packing liquids (shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, ect...) for your next trip, take the lid off, place a piece of plastic wrap over the opening and screw the lid back on. The plastic wrap will keep the liquid from spilling even if the lid pops open.

Ooh, that's a good tip I also try and put liquids in a plastic bag or something that can be sealed off.

 

[lauran cameron]

Never ever take the bus from DTD to any of the Epcot resorts, but particularly The Boardwalk. It took forever as we went by way of Blizzard Beach! Then stopped at the swan, the dolphin, the yacht club, the beach club and finally the boardwalk. It took about 90 minutes! We all cheered when we arrived. The bus driver wasn't amused.

Oh dear!!! We will staying at BWV and have to change rooms on our 5th day. We were going to do AK in the morning but I was debating between Fulton's Crab House @ DTD or Cape May Cafe @BCV for dinner. I was worried the bus would be a hassle especially after just having to check out take a bus to AK a bus back, then check back in get setted, then a bus to DTD that takes 90min there AND back....naahh uhhh

Cape May cafe it is!

 

[Joolish1313]

Organizing your room - I picked up 2 10x10 collapsible cloth boxes at the Dollar Tree. When we come in for the night, all our wallets, jewelry, keys, chap stick...anything we take to the parks in our pockets goes in there. It prevents the morning scramble. The other one we use for "night time/morning stuff" like any RXs, books, dining reservation grid, etc. That way when we get home, there's no searching the room to settle down or waking others up if you're up first.

 

[idreamofd]

I now always pack a dry pair of socks into my bag. Not fun having wet socks all day!

 

[mickeysmith]

This is a packing tip that I just read from a link on Pinterest

36. When packing liquids (shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, ect...) for your next trip, take the lid off, place a piece of plastic wrap over the opening and screw the lid back on. The plastic wrap will keep the liquid from spilling even if the lid pops open.

This is a new favorite! Thanks!

Not sure if this has been mentioned here, but another favorite tip I read and have used was to buy an over the door shoebag to put our bathroom supplies in. I have 2 daughters and stay at Pop. Sink space is limited, and this tip was awesome! I take it with us now whenever we travel!

One mistake I keep making is doing a lot of the same things each trip. Last year, we made a list of things we had not done, had read about and wanted to try. We checked them off and any we did not get to, we will just have to go back! I want to do the favorites, but mix it up, too!

 

[lauran cameron]

Organizing your room - I picked up 2 10x10 collapsible cloth boxes at the Dollar Tree. When we come in for the night, all our wallets, jewelry, keys, chap stick...anything we take to the parks in our pockets goes in there. It prevents the morning scramble. The other one we use for "night time/morning stuff" like any RXs, books, dining reservation grid, etc. That way when we get home, there's no searching the room to settle down or waking others up if you're up first.

I know exactly what boxes you are talking about! This is a fantastic idea!!!

I am always so anxious packing and unpacking. I shake out all the linens, look under the bed between places things should never go! I have so many little trinkets I tag along. All the jewelry, keys, small souvenirs. Especially since we will be doing a room change towards the end of our magical vacation

I think the real fear comes from when my family used to drive down from NY to Orlando and on our trip home I had a Rageddy Ann doll I slept with every night from the time I was born and we got from Orlando to Georgia and I realized......NO RAGEDDY...OMG!!! HORRIFYING! My mother made my poor father drive all the way back to OKW and by some crazy act of god mouse keeping had not yet arrived and we were able to get back my beloved toy LOL

 

[matt&jakesmom]

Learned this lesson a while back with my boys. As normal kids they want everything and on our second day of trip my DH couldn't handle hearing anymore of the "I want" and he had a meltdown and we had a family meeting. Now for vacations, the boys start saving their money throughout the year. They get envelopes, mark each day and figure out what they want to spend each day they are down there. The last 4 or 5 years it has worked out great. There is no "I want" because they have their own money and they buy what they want. It's also been a great money saving lesson as they have grown.

 

[nkereina]

Sorry if I am repeating, but my biggest lesson learned is remember how hot it can actually get! We went in September during our first trip and knew it would be hot but I did not allow for how much the heat would actually take out of us. I had on our plans some PM EMH and some late ADRs that we never made it to because we were just so exhausted from the heat. Something to keep in mind if you are traveling during warm months.

 

[crostorfer]

Fantasmic - dont underestimate this show, turning up at the last minute you will be standing in the back or even be turned away, get their early and if you can see the last showing of the day it is a little quieter.

I'm going to disagree with you a bit here. My Fantasmic advice, especially if there is only one show that night, is to get there right before the show begins and either stand for it, or sit in the very, very, very back, so that you can make a quick escape. ESPECIALLY if you are relying on the Disney transportation. I only have a couple of Disney horror stories, but one of them is from leaving Fantasmic on a low season night in September. It was a complete nightmare, chaos reigned, especially for people with strollers as they block off the area you entered through and have to be herded out the other side. Not only that, but I the queues at the bus stops for all resorts are enormous. I think we waited 45 minutes for a bus back to the Polynesian. The line at the POR stop was so long I think it stretched back to two other resort stops, so people were confused as to which line was which. As soon as the river boat with the characters makes it's first pass, turn around and run for the exit.

 

[arlsdimples]

Number one mistake we made on our first trip......9 hours of video....if I'm lucky there is a total of about 1 hour with DD in it.

Why did we do this? Well we wanted to make sure we video taped EVERYTHING so that DD could watch everything from Disney that she experienced. She could watch the shows, parades and the rides etc...to be able to experience and remember Disney after we left.
STUPID STUPID STUPID!!!!!! It didn't occur to me until she was older I'll admit, but I wanted to see HER not the dang shows! She wants to watch herself not a show that is no longer there. I know this seems so obvious to many but it for some reason did not occur to us at the time.

If you want to take a video of a show scan back to get your child's reaction. If you want to tape a ride scan back to your child every once in a while to capture their expression. Video a parade....stand back farther so you can get your child in the picture as well. When you want to take photos of something put your child or another family member in front of it. Yes there will be some pictures of just things but you don't need 20 pictures of the parade. In 10 or more years you're not going to care so much about watching the video of that show with Mickey in it as you will about watching the people you love experiencing the wonder and excitement of WDW.

 

[mmcxiiad]

This has been a fascinating thread. There are a lot of great tips and tips that you can read here. I wrote a long time back some tips. Since then we have amassed some new ones that hopefully are different then some of the other ones that are repeatedly mentioned.

1. Clothes: We like to utilize the washer & dryers on site (in room is better). If we stay at a resort with onsite W/D, then we do wash half way through. If we have one in our room (DVC member), then we do wash every night or every other night. This REALLY reduces the amount of stuff we have to pack. Also, purex washer sheets are really fantastic for travel.

2. Packing Cubes: I travel a lot for work. Over time I have learned the value of these little wonders. So when it comes time for us to pack for any trip, my wife puts everyone’s clothes in a pile and I pack it. We have 4 kids (9, 6, 4, & 1) and while the little ones clothes don’t take up as much space, we have to pack 2x as much for them as they constantly are going through clothes. One time we all went for 5 days and all our clothes fit in 2 standard size carry-on bags. My wife was impressed.

3. What are we doing next? Many times we go with family or friends. I tend to be the one who obsessively plans out the entire trip. Once I get everything somewhat finalized, I start getting requests to share that info with everyone At first, I tried all types of spreadsheets and complicated ideas. Nothing ever worked simply for everyone.

What I have found to be the best method to do this is to put EVERYTHING into a calendar, and then let everyone else subscribe to it. Most modern calendar apps support a variety of nice features: Alarms, hyperlinks (great for linking to park info or menus), phone and address, attachments (perfect for boarding passes or other important documents) and even map co-ordinates. Then I help everyone subscribe to it (preferably from a smart phone). Then everyone has access to everything. Typically I add what park we are going to, park hours, time/location of dinning (including reservation numbers), Flight info, rental car info, hotel reservation info, etc. I am amazed at the magnitude of info that I have been able to put into a simple calendar.

4. Planning:This one is to share with your non-disboard friends. Because I enjoy the planning of the trip, I am always getting asked by people who have never been to WDW about what to do. My number 1 recommendation is to spend an hour or two looking over a few sites and get a scope of what to expect. So many people I know go there thinking it is like a regualr theme park. NO NO NO. You need to go with a plan. To best illustrate this, the fist time we went (with 15 people) I didn’t know you needed reservations for dining. At 7pm we decided to eat so I strolled up to some restaurant in the Canada section of Epcot and asked for a table for 15. The girl behind the podium delicately explained that they have been booked for months. There was a mad scramble as we quickly tried to find a place for very young children and seniors to walk to. I laugh about it now, especially anytime I try to get a reservation for 4 to Le Cellier. Moral of the story is a little planning goes a long way. I always feel bad for that group who is standing in the middle of the Magic Kingdom arguing because they don’t know what to do next or where to eat.

5. Spread the Magic. One of the things that I love to do at disney is take pictures of my family enjoying the vacation. When we get home I alway notice that I am in very few to no pictures. And unless we do the photopass, there is almost never pictures of all of us. So a little game I like to play is to watch for other people taking pictures of thier entire group.... minus the one taking the pictures. Then I offer to take a picture of all of them together. It is a nice kindness that I enjoy doing for other people.... my hope is someday someone will do the same for us.

6. Souvenirs. So anyone who goes with kids can commiserate on this one. Kids want ever trinket, toy, shirt, hat, etc. On our last trip, my wife and I came up with an ingenious plan. Every time the kids said they wanted something we said, “great, lets add it to the list”. Then we would take a picture of them with the item. Then the night before the last day, we went through all the pictures and helped them pick out the one they wanted. We helped to guide them away from an item that would be to difficult to go back or an item that may not be the best value. This has saved us countless headaches explaining that they can’t get everything that they see that they like.

As a separate (but related) tip, if you have access to a car. there is an official disney outlet store just a few miles from downtown disney. You can get a lot of disney stuff there for half price.

 

[neeleyd]

Mmcxiiad-
Would you mind sharing the program/app you use for your schedules, etc??

 

[mmcxiiad]

Mmcxiiad-
Would you mind sharing the program/app you use for your schedules, etc??

As I said, it was just a calendar app. I use a mac. If you have OSX 10.7 (Lion) or earilier it would be iCal. On 10.8 (Mountain Lion) it is just called calendar. Once you put everything into it, it can subscribed to by anyone with a calendar app that supports CalDEV (including yahoo calendar and google calendar). You can also create them online with iCloud. (although I don't know if it supports creating all the features, like shared files.)

iCloud is free and supports all Macs, Windows 7 and iOS devices. But again, even if you create the calendar in iCloud, any calendar that can supports CalDEV can subscribe to your shared calendar. So if you sync it to google calendar, you should be able to also sync it to any android device too. Not sure about blackberry or Windows Phone, but I am sure that someone could find out with a simple google search.

I am sure that there are other calendar apps that support these features, but i can't give specifics as I have never used any other.

Most modern calendar apps support multiple calendars with in the app that overlay onto a master view. This allows you to separate all the things that you would schedule (work, personal, family, etc).

If you are going to do this, I recommend making a separate "calendar" just for the trip that other people can subscribe to. You don't want to put a bunch of personal, work or private events on a shared calendar.

Hopefully this helps. Please let me know if you need more info.

UPDATE:
I forgot to add that when other people subscribe to your calendar, it pushes out the latest updates. SO the subscription is live. This is great for those last minute changes that will always occur.


(Ironically, I am writing this while I fly home from Orlando for a business trip. Spent a little time at DTD... so close and yet so far).

 

[neeleyd]

Thanks for the help and information. !!

 

[mmcxiiad]

I wanted to add one other tip. This is for when you eat at a table service restaurant:

If you see that they are busy and/or just don't want to be there forever, this works great. While you are waiting for your table have everyone look over the menu and decide on what they want. This shouldn't be too hard as most WDW menus aren't too long.

When the waiter/waitress comes the first time, tell them you are ready to order drinks, appetizers and the entrée. This will cut 10-15 minutes off your dining experience. This can be really helpful during a busy dining time or season. This is also great when you are traveling with a large group. You will be surprised how much quicker the whole meal will go.

We really enjoy eating at the many restaurants at WDW. Sometimes that time sitting down to eat is vital to the overall experience. A good example of this is getting out of the sun or just giving litting ones a break.

But at the same time, there is a careful balance of not wanting to spend all our time waiting through the whole dining experience. Obviously, this is amplified with children or completely irrelevant when a couple is sharing a special evening together.