Very amusing and true from http://www.disneytop10.com/ Each year, millions of people visit Walt Disney World. While Disney makes it easy to have a great vacation, people still make mistakes while planning and visiting the parks. You can still have a fantastic time, even with making many of the mistakes below, but why not avoid them, and assure yourself of a trip of a lifetime. #10: Underestimate the size of WDW - Remember, Disney World is twice the size of the island of Manhattan. For the most part, you cannot walk anywhere, and when you can, it is a LONG walk. I hear people all the time who think Epcot and the Magic Kingdom are next to each other, that all the Disney hotels are within walking distance of the Magic Kingdom or that the monorail goes to all the parks and hotels. It takes time to go anywhere at WDW. Plan on at least 30 minutes to get from your hotel to the parks. Plan on everything taking twice as long as you think it will. Don’t assume this is Disneyland where everything is on one city block. #9: Trying to do too much - Our typical trip to WDW is 10 - 14 nights. I see families who plan on staying 4 nights, but try to do more than we have planned in 14 nights. Their days are so packed and scheduled, they end up running their kids into the ground, they have no time to enjoy all the options Disney has to offer that you can’t schedule. Go with a plan, but make sure your plan leaves plenty of wiggle room for unexpected changes. One related item, don’t force character meals on the kids. Plan one or two during your stay, your kids will get bored pretty quickly with them, if you do any more than that. You will be surprised how much they enjoy a nice dinner in the parks, without characters. #8: Extra Magic Hours/Park Hours - I see so many families who show up to the parks at noon, having slept in. By far the least crowded time in the parks is the first few hours, show up when the park opens, it is the best time to be in the parks. If you need to take a nap, do so after lunch, when the parks are the most crowded, and then come back a bit later. Also, I see families who have no idea what Extra Magic Hours are. Make use of them, especially the night time ones, where the parks are open three hours later to Disney resort guests. While not all the rides are open, most are, and it is great to be in the parks at night when it is not crowded, they are beautiful. For the record, I avoid morning EMHs, they just seem to make that park extra crowded, and I usually show up at the night time EMH just before the park closes to the public, one of the benefits of park hopping. #7: Disney Transportation - I guess I should say not making use of Disney transportation, but that was too long. Disney provides extensive transportation options, from buses, monorails and boats from your Disney resort to all parts of the parks. Disney also provides the fantastic Magical Express airport transportation. I am always shocked when I see someone rent a car, drive it from the airport to WDW, and then drive it to the parks. Learn and use the Disney transportation system, it will make your vacation much more simple and enjoyable. #6: Booking directly with Disney - There was a study done last year by Disney, concerning booking habits and the relative success of the resulting vacation by Disney World guests. Not surprisingly, those who booked directly with Disney through the Disney World website had the worst vacations, followed by those who called Disney directly to book, with the best results coming from those who booked with a travel agent. Say it with me, “I will not book my family’s vacation directly with Disney“. There, you are one step closer to a fantastic Disney vacation. Travel agents, specifically Disney specialists, have gone through this many times before with their own families, and help thousands of families each year get to Disney successfully, they can answer your questions, help you with problems, make suggestions on restaurants and resorts and get you the best price possible. It is a win/win relationship, you get a better trip, your travel agent makes a little money. It won’t cost you any money, or take any more time, so why wouldn’t you use a travel agent? #5: Planning last minute - Nothing says bad vacation like last minute travel. Disney does not ever have any great last minute deals, in fact, it is usually more expensive to book last minute as you pay full rate. You will also be limited on resort choices, as your preferred resort may be sold out. Also, waiting to the last minute will keep you from being able to make decent dining reservations. Plan ahead! I usually suggest to book at least three, if not six months or more in advance. Do your research, get the thing booked and let your travel agent worry about getting you any discounts that show up, there isn’t any reason to wait. #4: Not using Fast Passes - I cannot count how many times I have been walking through the Fast Pass line (it seems like it is always on Space Mountain), and I get jeers or comments about “butting in line”. My guess is less than 20% of park guests make use of the Fast Pass system, or even know what it is. Use it, it will save you time like you can’t believe. Fast Pass is free, simple to use, and even on days when the parks are empty, you should use it. Head on over to Fast Pass Information, and learn what the Fast Pass is, where you can use it, and the process, it will be worth the 5 minutes of your time. #3: Don’t do research - This is the one that really drives me crazy, and is basically a guarantee that you will have a horrible time. With the internet, and the number of Disney fan sites and information Disney provides, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do a bit of research into resort, rides and restaurants, not to mention all those special things Disney does each and every day. If you are just starting your planning, here is what you need to do: ; 1. Buy a decent guide book (I prefer the The Unofficial Guide to WDW), then read it ; 2. Find an online Disney forum and sign up so you can ask questions that you may have ; 3. Find a decent Disney travel agent to help book your trip ; 4. Find out park hours, Extra Magic Hours schedules and rehab closures while you are there, as well as any special events made available during your stay. ; 5. Make dining reservations to fit with your park plans (more on this below) ; 6. Re-read your Disney guide book Now, you have to remember not to over plan as well (see #9 above). I typically have a calendar listing where we are going each day, the park hours, Extra Magic Hours and our dining reservation shown for each day, and I take it with us to the parks, the rest is open to what we feel like doing that day. Granted, I have been there a ton, you may want to add in notes on things to do, rides not to miss, etc. #2: No dining reservations - Since the introduction of the popular dining plans at Walt Disney World, all of the restaurants, both in the parks and resorts, have become extremely crowded. Our last trip, earlier this year was during a very slow time, and every single restaurant was completely full, and they were not allowing walk ups. If you show up at Disney without dining reservations, plan on eating counter service meals every meal, as that will be your only options. In addition to simply making your dining reservations, you must make them as early as possible. As soon as you know you are going, get them booked and set, you can always try to make changes later. #1: Staying off Disney property - I can see, back in the day before the value resorts were built, there may have been reasons to stay off property. Today, I can’t think of one. It isn’t any cheaper to stay off property, it takes longer to get to the parks, and you miss out on all the great perks Disney throws your way for staying in a Disney resort: ; ; * Disney’s Magical Express ; ; * Disney Transportation ; ; * Extra Magic Hours ; ; * Disney Dining Plans ; ; * Free parking ; ; * Disney service 24/7 If you want to assure yourself of a poor Disney vacation, choose to stay in some non-Disney resort, rent a car, and spend all day driving back and forth between your hotel room and the Disney parks. Uggh, pure torture. I hope this top 10 was helpful in your planning. Of course there are more than 10 WDW mistakes, feel free to comment below and add yours to the list to help others planning.
I was totally with you until #1 ; ... now having never stayed onsite, I can't compare. BUT, I certainly would not call it a mistake. So far we've stayed in some very nice condos with 2 bedrooms, 2 washrooms, full kitchen, resort pools, slides, hot tubs, & lazy rivers for less than staying at a value resort. Bonnet Creek is closer to the parks than many Disney hotels, so I don't see myself "spending all day driving back and forth." Car rental (was free for me anyways) is a lot faster coming to and from the airport and parks than standing in crowded bus lines all day. We always avoid the parks with EMH as I don't like crowds. Personally, we go to have a relaxing family vacation and sometimes that means getting away - especially for my non-Disney husband. My biggest concern is meals - we tended to leave the parks at 5 pm and head offsite to a nice restaurant. It would be quiet, relazing, and away from the Disney bustle. I'm worried that having the Dining Plan will make every meal loud and busy. We'll see ... I totally live by #3 whether I'm going on a trip or not ; ;D ... but I certainly don't think my trips in the past have been "poor Disney vacations" or "torture" because we chose luxury and space, and yes even proximity, ; over brand.
onsite/ offsite - a debate that will surely get many opinions. ; I've stayed at both. ; Many offsite, and many onsite. For me, onsite it hugely more attractive - for the reasons noted in the OP's news story, as well as I want to be surrounded by the Disney magic 24 hours a day. Maybe you should try onsite AMW - you might never go back to offsite. ; ; You can certainly have a relaxing vacation onsite - there are lots of quiet romantic restaurants too if you want to avoid the big crowds of character dining. Beside, you can get the space, luxury, etc and more by choosing a different Disney resort than a value - although the All Star Music family suites give you space/ 2 baths/ full kitchen/ etc, the cabins at Fort Wilderness gives you separation (in terms of your own building) and more, and the Disney Vacation Club spots are wonderful for condos with 2 bedrooms, etc. Food for thought...
True. ; You may still prefer to stay off-site after the fact. ; Who knows... However, I've done both several times and although I too would not call staying off-site a *mistake*, I DO know where this guy is coming from, as he is specifically talking about convenience. Same here. ; You really can't go wrong with some of the deals off-site. ; But my take on this report is that if you are going to Disney to *do* Disney, then you can't beat the convienience of staying with Disney. What I mean by that is if you are going to be at the parks 24/7, then you don't need more than a Value level property. ; But if you are going to be doing a Disney/relaxing vacay, then yeah the off-site condo deal can't be beat. ; Funny you say this. ; The last time I ate off site was back in May coming back from Universal Studios. ; The restaurant was JAMMED (lol). ; I couldn't wait to get back and 'relax' at my Polynesian. I know what you mean. ; This is actually one of the very biggest reasons I love Saratoga Springs. ; It's in Disney without being *in* Disney. KWIM? ; That being said; you're staying at the Poly, so chances are you'll feel nice and relaxed with all of those tiki torches surrounding you.
My favs are the not planning and no ADR's with the meal plan. Since we do the DVC thing most of the time we seem to hit the parks every second or third visit. So having a car is essential for off site shopping, restaurants and attractions outside of Disney. We've stayed on and off site in the past. If you're just planning to do a couple of days off site is fine. If the visit is "we're going to see and do everything in three day" then staying on site is a must. Best tip from me is get up early and be at the park for the rope drop.
"Best tip from me is get up early and be at the park for the rope drop." - Ham Ham Amen!!! I was also a victim of #9, resulting in a kiddie meltdown. ; This happened on our first trip. ; I then learned the true value of down time by the pool!
I was fortunate not to have a #9 (a la king-sized kid meltdown), but the last time we stayed offsite, we'd taken a bus back to one of the good neighbour hotels late at night with a bunch of other parents that had definitely tried to do too much and their kids had hit the wall - the bus was full of screaming kids, parents totally exhausted and frazzled - it was not pretty. ; It was the last time we stayed offsite (only one of many reasons that our family chose to stay on property - and on the monorail if at all possible, so that pool is close by).
