5 Mistakes we made on our Disney Vacation

A few days ago we returned from our latest trip to Walt Disney World. Each trip is unique because of the people that are along with us, where we stay and what we do. Each trip we come home with a list of things that we’ll have to do again and a list of things to learn from. Today’s post is all about the mistakes we made on our last Disney vacation. Hopefully you can learn from them so you can have the best Disney vacation possible.

1. Not Taking the 1st room we were offered.

We arrived at our resort, Saratoga Springs, around 12 o’clock. Fairly early. We had the whole afternoon and evening ahead of us. When we checked in at the lobby, Jeff immediately asked if we were staying in the Carousel, the furthest building from anything at Saratoga Springs. The cast member thought Jeff was hilarious and informed him we would be staying at the Grandstand. Great, but when she showed us where in the Grandstands it was, the room was very far from many amenities so she offered us a room at the Paddock. Perfect! We love the Paddock pool, and there’s a quick-service restaurant right there that serves breakfast! Wonderful. Unfortunately we were not forewarned that this room change could take hours. We spent a couple of hours off property and expected our room to ready upon our return. It was not. It was coming on over 4 hours when we finally spoke to the supervisor and he got us sorted out with a room at the Paddock, not the room we were supposed to have but a room none the less. Lesson learned. Just take the room you are given.

2. Don’t make a snack goal list when you’re dining on the Deluxe Dining Plan.

For the first time ever we decided to indulge with the Deluxe Dining Plan. We were not spending any money on parks, and it was just the two of us, so we thought it was the perfect time to dine at the many Signature Restaurants we hadn’t enjoyed yet. We totally underestimated how much food we would be consuming. The idea of eating outside of our meal times did not appeal to me in the least. Only two of my wish list items were purchased and enjoyed. I used a few snacks for breakfast and for treats for the kids. If you’re dining on the Deluxe Dining Plan, don’t put a whole bunch of time and effort into dreaming of these epic snacks found around property, there just won’t be room for them.

3. Disney in August.

Friends, as you’d expect, Florida in August is hot! Like crazy hot! We were so glad we did not have our littles with us and that we had opted out of park days for this mini vacation. Each day I spent at least an hour in the hotel room in the comfortable AC. We definitely got great use out of the pools, with plenty of pool hopping. But we won’t travel down to Florida again in August.

4. Only dining out for 1 breakfast. 

I don’t know how we could have done this differently because of our schedule, but dining on the Deluxe Dining Plan you need to spread your meals out as much as possible. For every evening meal we either dined at a Signature Restaurant or a dinner show, we should have enjoyed breakfast each morning as well. Every day we dined on lunch and dinner both serving us appetizers, entrees and desserts. It was two big meals back to back. That’s not really the way we eat on a regular basis, so we should have spread out the meals better.

5. Shopping.

We are Disney people through and through. Disney is in our kitchen, Disney is on our bookshelf, Disney is all over the playroom, we love it. There has never been an item that I’ve regretted purchasing from Walt Disney World. I have shirts I’ve worn for ages, and my mom has even passed down some gems she found stored away from the 20th and 25th anniversaries. This time I was a little tentative with my shopping because I didn’t want to buy any apparel for myself. I would either buy it to wear now and then it won’t fit later or buy it for wearing later and maybe it will never fit (because I was 4 months pregnant during our trip). But some of the items I came across were fantastic and I know in a month I would be so glad I would have purchased it. Whether it’s clothes for the kids, or toys, or our favourite Disney mugs: I don’t get buyer’s remorse on things purchased at Walt Disney World. I do get the “I wish I had bought that when I saw it” feeling. So I need to learn to go for it. Within reason of course.

Those are the big take aways from our vacation. Lessons to be tucked away for the next Disney vacation: January 2020 is so far away. Happy Planning, Friends.