Mistake you will not repeat next time...

[FlaNani]

Mistake I will NEVER make again.....

I will never go to MK and not get a Dole Whip!!



Best money I've ever spent at Disney.....

I bought a balloon from the first vendor I saw when I walked through the gate and tied it to my granddaughter's stroller. Made it SO much easier to find in stroller parking.



Something I read on this thread that I found funny....

Most people won't go to Disney with family and friends. We went last year with another couple (who happen to be our granddaughter's other set of grandparents). We had SSSOOO much fun. In fact, we are heading back in August!! TIME TO SPOIL THE GRANDBABY!!!

 

[BeerMe]

Something I read on this thread that I found funny....

Most people won't go to Disney with family and friends. We went last year with another couple (who happen to be our granddaughter's other set of grandparents). We had SSSOOO much fun. In fact, we are heading back in August!! TIME TO SPOIL THE GRANDBABY!!!

I heartily agree with that. We have made nearly 50 trips and while I don't actually remember all of them, I remember with great detail every trip we made with friends and family. They were all very special trips. Only seven of our trips have been F&F trips.

 

[cindyfan]

Something I read on this thread that I found funny....

Most people won't go to Disney with family and friends. We went last year with another couple (who happen to be our granddaughter's other set of grandparents). We had SSSOOO much fun. In fact, we are heading back in August!! TIME TO SPOIL THE GRANDBABY!!!

I don't think it's so much that they won't go with family and friends....
But that a lot of people expect thier family or friends to like the same things.

In my case it's that our life-styles are so different. One DD & her DBF are morning people... same as me. But other DD and DSIL are not.... they like to sleep late so it's horrible to get them to move before 10am.
Also once at a park they like to stay.... through the hot afternoon sun..... NO way I'd do that..... afternoon breaks are a must for me.

Not that I wouldn't go back with the family.... but definitely change some things.
The mistake we made was not to set some ground rules.... and boundraries for the grandkids.

People just assume their closest family and friends understand and don't need that agreement before you even head out.
Make sure everyone sits down and discusses some of the "schedules and what to do's"

 

[diskids2]

F&F trips are the best when planned right! We have a meeting (conference call) with agenda!


The very best trip we had was one where we all met for dinner each day. Everything else was on a "planned" itinerary and people picked from that. We ended up with family/friends combos that we wouldn't have in the past and that was a great memory. It was a great deal of work though to plan different strategies each day. But well worth it!

 

[cindyfan]

F&F trips are the best when planned right! We have a meeting (conference call) with agenda!


The very best trip we had was one where we all met for dinner each day. Everything else was on a "planned" itinerary and people picked from that. We ended up with family/friends combos that we wouldn't have in the past and that was a great memory. It was a great deal of work though to plan different strategies each day. But well worth it!

Exactly!!!!
Love the "conference call" idea! haha....

 

[rccllap]

...and my mom, who is a dedicated DIS'er and sent me the link!

Here's a few of the mistakes I can cop to:

In 2000, we took my DS who at the time was 13 months old. Towards the end of that trip we had a character breakfast at AK where I over-fed my toddler on red grapes because he loved them so...
....later that same day during the parade at WS, guess whose son got diarrhea AND who didn't have enough extra diapers!!

Same trip, got to meet up with two old friends who were in town for other reason...had a bit too much fun at DTD/PI, suffered a whole day for it.

2005, on the very first Disney Magic west coast cruise, I was with my DS age 5 (almost 6) and my 84 year old Grandmother. 1. It's difficult to balance the needs of such different ages and expectations. 2. Also, it's so important to understand other parent's styles are different. My son was assaulted by another child in the pool (hit HARD across the face) and I came UNGLUED over it...the other parent, escalated very quickly into assuming I needed to decide the punishment for the kid including physical punishment, shouting at me in front of the kids.

2006, during our Year of Disney, we spent two weeks off-site to bookend Christmas and New Year's. We got some magical memories...and some lasting hearing loss from the noisemaker distribution on NYE. Never again.

Same trip, it got COLD. We weren't prepared. Lesson learned.

I won't go back in the high summer months (July, August). It's simply too hot.

I'd admit my mother does 90% of the planning for our family trips. I'm attempting to plan one now for my partner, his son, myself, and my son...reading this thread has been INVALUABLE.

 

[Courtney829]

Ah yes, the magical character meal on arrival day.
After travelling all day (and we're only a 3 hour plane ride away) it is a bad idea. We were exhausted and miserable and I believe that was the meal we finally determined dd was lactose intolerant. So the next few hours were spent in a bathroom. Never again.
Lactaid and no reservations for arrival night are now standard.

Ack, now I'm all nervous. We have a looong drive and I've scheduled 1900 Park Fare for dinner the night we arrive. My girls are really into princesses and I don't want to cut short a park day to go but now I'm second-guessing myself since seeing this over and over throughout this thread.

 

[TarzansKat]

Along the lines of the pp who talked about not having enough diapers.

One time, with our first son, I did what we now fondly refer to in my family as my "walk around the World."

We were having dinner in Italy, and it had just been one of those days. Kiddo had been drinking a lot, it was hot, we were changing him multiple times, but he was peeing out of diapers left and right.

Well, you guessed it.

We ran out of clean outfits. I had him in pjs at dinner. He got those wet too.

I then proceeded to book it to one of the nearby countries thinking, someone must sell some kind of infant / toddler clothes.

Someone?

Anyone?

:::cue chirping crickets:::

Let's just say I opted to go around the side of WS I thought would be best, and NOT ONE COUNTRY nor dump shop had any item of clothing or pajamas that small.

I ended up in MouseGears, while the rest of my party, bless them, was wondering what had happened to me, and continuing with dinner.

In MouseGears, I found a lovely pair of pjs for Nemo and headed back to Italy. My mother later told me our waitress actually held back my and my husband's food, and had it brought out when I arrived back at the table. It was so kind and thoughtful of her.

Anyway, lesson learned! Always travel with a ridiculous amount of wardrobe changes for the little ones! Their clothes are small! They fold up easy! Otherwise, you'll be walking around the World too.

Suffice it to say, I learned my lesson, and it hasn't happened to me once with Squirt, our youngest.

 

[EMom]

.. 2005, on the very first Disney Magic west coast cruise, I was with my DS age 5 (almost 6) and my 84 year old Grandmother. 1. It's difficult to balance the needs of such different ages and expectations. 2. Also, it's so important to understand other parent's styles are different. My son was assaulted by another child in the pool (hit HARD across the face) and I came UNGLUED over it...the other parent, adoptive father, escalated very quickly into assuming I needed to decide the punishment for the kid including physical punishment, shouting at me in front of the kids.

Just wondering why the qualifier.......

 

[nkereina]

Ack, now I'm all nervous. We have a looong drive and I've scheduled 1900 Park Fare for dinner the night we arrive. My girls are really into princesses and I don't want to cut short a park day to go but now I'm second-guessing myself since seeing this over and over throughout this thread.

Aside from the reasons PP mentioned, it's also not a good idea to book an ADR on arrival day in case you encounter unforeseen travel circumstances. Even though you don't have to worry about flight delays, what if you hit unexpected traffic due to an accident, construction, rush hour, etc? Many ADRs require a credit card guarantee and if you don't cancel within 24 hours, you will be charged $10 pp. I don't know off hand if 1900 PF is one but I would suspect it is since it's character. Just another consideration!

Just wondering why the qualifier.......

 

[orplem]

Just wondering why the qualifier.......

I was wondering the same thing....

 

[Rhongepooh]

Along the lines of the pp who talked about not having enough diapers.

One time, with our first son, I did what we now fondly refer to in my family as my "walk around the World."

We were having dinner in Italy, and it had just been one of those days. Kiddo had been drinking a lot, it was hot, we were changing him multiple times, but he was peeing out of diapers left and right.

Well, you guessed it.

We ran out of clean outfits. I had him in pjs at dinner. He got those wet too.

I then proceeded to book it to one of the nearby countries thinking, someone must sell some kind of infant / toddler clothes.

Someone?

Anyone?

:::cue chirping crickets:::

Let's just say I opted to go around the side of WS I thought would be best, and NOT ONE COUNTRY nor dump shop had any item of clothing or pajamas that small.

I ended up in MouseGears, while the rest of my party, bless them, was wondering what had happened to me, and continuing with dinner.

In MouseGears, I found a lovely pair of pjs for Nemo and headed back to Italy. My mother later told me our waitress actually held back my and my husband's food, and had it brought out when I arrived back at the table. It was so kind and thoughtful of her.

Anyway, lesson learned! Always travel with a ridiculous amount of wardrobe changes for the little ones! Their clothes are small! They fold up easy! Otherwise, you'll be walking around the World too.

Suffice it to say, I learned my lesson, and it hasn't happened to me once with Squirt, our youngest.

On THIS note I will make sure my daughter's door to the adjoining room is UNLOCKED when babysitting in the world. Last time my younger daughter, aunt and I came back early with my DGS . Well the door was locked and my older DD had the diaper bag and we were left without a diaper. We have pictures that we will bribe him with one day of him, a little over a year old, with a diaper made of toilet paper until they returned about an hour later!

 

[tjmj9801]

Along the lines of the pp who talked about not having enough diapers.

One time, with our first son, I did what we now fondly refer to in my family as my "walk around the World."

We were having dinner in Italy, and it had just been one of those days. Kiddo had been drinking a lot, it was hot, we were changing him multiple times, but he was peeing out of diapers left and right.

Well, you guessed it.

We ran out of clean outfits. I had him in pjs at dinner. He got those wet too.

I then proceeded to book it to one of the nearby countries thinking, someone must sell some kind of infant / toddler clothes.

Someone?

Anyone?

:::cue chirping crickets:::

Let's just say I opted to go around the side of WS I thought would be best, and NOT ONE COUNTRY nor dump shop had any item of clothing or pajamas that small.

I ended up in MouseGears, while the rest of my party, bless them, was wondering what had happened to me, and continuing with dinner.

In MouseGears, I found a lovely pair of pjs for Nemo and headed back to Italy. My mother later told me our waitress actually held back my and my husband's food, and had it brought out when I arrived back at the table. It was so kind and thoughtful of her.

Anyway, lesson learned! Always travel with a ridiculous amount of wardrobe changes for the little ones! Their clothes are small! They fold up easy! Otherwise, you'll be walking around the World too.

Suffice it to say, I learned my lesson, and it hasn't happened to me once with Squirt, our youngest.

I bought a lovely giraffe print sleeper at RFC when DD2, as a 7 month old, went through 2 extra outfits I had brought for the day. Nice. I'm just glad the 18 month size didn't swallow her completely. Lol!

 

[EMom]

I don't know why you think my comment about a PP qualifying a "father" as an "adoptive father" is off topic or stirring the pot.

The PP used the term in their post, which by definition, means MY comment is ON topic. It addresses THEIR comment. And as far as stirring the pot, I meant the question seriously. Why even mention that the father was an adoptive father? Did it somehow change the course of events that he did not biologically father the child?

What if she mentioned the boy had a Black father? A Mexican father? A fat mother? A Catholic mother? A Muslim father? A Pentecostal mother? When you throw in an adjective before "father" or "mother", I would hope there is a reason for it.

So it is a legitimate question.

 

[kyskeeter]

I was the same way. It was my 3rd trip (last October) that I FINALLY tried the Dole Whip (after a friend and Disney fan kept asking if I had tried it)!

The Best!

I love them so much, I bought a ice cream maker, and the mix to make at home.

But it does not compare to having them at Disney! I look forward to using snack credits on them in April!

Where can you buy the mix to make it at home?

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using DISBoards

 

[TarzansKat]

On THIS note I will make sure my daughter's door to the adjoining room is UNLOCKED when babysitting in the world. Last time my younger daughter, aunt and I came back early with my DGS . Well the door was locked and my older DD had the diaper bag and we were left without a diaper. We have pictures that we will bribe him with one day of him, a little over a year old, with a diaper made of toilet paper until they returned about an hour later!

Oh my goodness. Excellent blackmail material!

I bought a lovely giraffe print sleeper at RFC when DD2, as a 7 month old, went through 2 extra outfits I had brought for the day. Nice. I'm just glad the 18 month size didn't swallow her completely. Lol!

I see you are no stranger to my plight!

 

[Jenntx]

Not driving my own car! WDW is way better with wheels!

Agreed! Last trip we had to fly into Tampa - so we rented a car. Since we were staying on property & parking was free we drove everywhere. Not having to wait on buses & not having to take a taxi for early ADR's @ a resort was so awesome. We go again in a couple of weeks & we will be driving ourselves everywhere. Worked best for us!

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Wearing new sneakers. Should seem obvious, right? Well, they were so comfy and cushioning in the store and walking around the neighborhood that I thought they'd be fine. WDW a couple of weeks later, cue enormous blister on my instep that needed attention all vacation, and even with padding I had a sore foot the entire trip. Never again! I now have a beat-up old pair of sneaks just for my WDW trips.

 

[rccllap]

EMom and orplem...I am sorry if I offended you with what flew off my typing fingers as a descriptive term in my mind. It was inappropriate and I apologize. I will edit my post to remove the term if I can.

 

[joshswif]

The last time we went, it was for four days. We went from morning to night nonstop. Even despite there being a tropical storm, lol. We had a blast but it was exhausting!

This time, we'll still "go hard"...its just how we like to do Disney...but made our trip longer so that we can have more breaks...I think we'll all appreciate them!