Worst advice you got

[mdsouth]

Pack 47,000 things in your park bag just in case you need them. You must be prepared. Extra shoes, band-aids, every kind of medicine you can think of, bottles of water, crystal light, socks, ponchos, baggies, toothbrushes, kitchen sinks, and a dishwasher. Ok, so that's hyperbole, but you catch my drift. After the first evening, we carried what we "needed" in our pockets and never carried the bag again. STEP AWAY FROM THE BAG!!

Too Funny because it is so TRUE!

Before our first trip, I did a lot of research here on DIS, and other places as well. Prevailing thought seemed to be you absolutely HAD to have park hoppers or you'd never see everything you wanted. If you weren't hopping, you were wasting your time. No way could you stick to one park a day. So I bought them. Never used them! Wasted over $200 for our family. We've never bought them since and have done just fine on all five trips! I know this is personal preference. There's no one right answer--but it certainly seemed that way at the time!

I agree with many here. We do not see the need for parkhoppers. We tend to go to the park in the morning, take a break in the afternoon and then either go back to the same park or go to Downtown Disney or visit another resort for dinner in the evening. We pack a lot of stuff into our days without parkhopping. Each family is different so this is something, you really have to decide or try our for yourself.

We sat on the bus with one other family going back to AoA for an afternoon break. The dad was kind of grumpy and mentioned not doing the dining plan if they return because he was tired of eating at the resort every day.
Apparently their TA told them their free QS dining plan was only good at their resort! We quickly set them straight, but I wish we would have met them earlier. It was day 4 of a 7 day trip.

WOW! So glad, you helped the family out! Their Travel agent should give them money back on their purchase. It is sad when some travel agents do not take the time to be fully informed before spouting out information.

 

[worm761]

Here are some things I've heard people tell other DISers. Again, I disagree with these in my opinion...not saying that im 100% right!

-Not needing dining plan: Sure, if you're not a foodie; that's fine. But you do have to eat! A burger and fries is $10 and a small pizza is $8. Plus another snack.... you're saving money in the long run (most likely.)

Again, all subjective and my opinions!!!

The dining plan thing really depends on how you eat. The QSDDP is $41.99 per night. I can eat counter service meals all day and spend less than that! I averaged our counter meals at about $15 per meal per adult. We don't eat dessert with every meal even on vacation. Plus, the CS desserts aren't that great to begin with. That's only $30. I have yet to see a snack credit worth $12. We stopped using the dining plan when DH became used to Disney's prices and I showed him that we don't eat the way the meal plans work. We tend to prefer apps to desserts. If the QSDDP still had 2 snacks a day, I might have a different opinion but they stopped that.

 

[Buttrcp16]

Maybe not the worst, but it definitely sticks out because it happened on our last trip. I was advised to take the resort monorail to the TTC instead of the express after Wishes because there is such a large number of people waiting for the express it actually saves you time, even though you stop at the CR first. Well, not only did we wait for the first resort monorail to come while 3 express came and went, when we finally boarded, we traveled maybe 50 yards then stopped. And waited. And waited some more. Then maybe after 5 minutes we pulled into the CR and waited. Again. For like 15 minutes! It was maddening! They later explained it was due to a monorail ahead of us getting service checks. Wow. Could have timed that one a little better! I know that this was all simply bad luck and not truly bad advice, but with 2 very young and very exhausted kids, I was kicking myself for taking the advice!

 

[gdrj]

She was the same mom who tried to convince me that Epcot was called Expo.

Was at WDW last week. Overheard a Mom yelling at her child that they were going to be late for Magic"al" Kingdom, don't you want to go to magical kingdom! I felt the need (but did not) to slap her and kick her off property.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Don't go in Summer; it's too hot.

In 3 Summer trips, it's not once been as hot as it was "back home". Even at 102 & high humidity a few days back, at least there was a breeze pretty much all the time. No sweat

 

[Robo]

Maybe not the worst, but it definitely sticks out because it happened on our last trip. I was advised to take the resort monorail to the TTC instead of the express after Wishes because there is such a large number of people waiting for the express it actually saves you time, even though you stop at the CR first.

Every time I see that advice posted, I want to contradict it.

But, some are convinced that the resort guests are getting some kind of special treatment riding near-empty monorails at MK closing time.

Not so much.

 

[NZMUM]

Here are some things I've heard people tell other DISers. Again, I disagree with these in my opinion...not saying that im 100% right!

-Not needing dining plan: Sure, if you're not a foodie; that's fine. But you do have to eat! A burger and fries is $10 and a small pizza is $8. Plus another snack.... you're saving money in the long run (most likely.)

-Saving money by staying offsite. You're losing DIS transportation and the allure of being encompassed by Disney 24/7. Also, no Magic Hours!

-No getting park hoppers. I couldn't imagine being at one park open to close, but that's me. I love going back to my resort to rest for a bit or swim or also going to another park or resort for dinner. I love the freedom of being able to roam all of Disney as I please.

On our first visit we got the dining plan, after reading that it was what should be done. For us it was a waste of money. We couldn't eat that much food (1 x TS, 1 x CS, 1 x Snack). I looked into the CS dining plan for our last trip and calculated that we would save money by not getting it. We're not foodies, we're not big eaters (but we don't split meals), we don't eat dessert with every meal or every dinner. We do get a snack each.
We also prefer to ride as much as we can so TS is, for us, taking time away from that. We usually spend about 30 minutes eating (including getting the food), and then we are off again.

I agree that for us park hoppers are a must. And staying onsite is the way to go, for the transport, evening EMH's & the Disney feel.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Worst advice I got: A Guest Relations cast member told me the shortest line to meet Talking Mickey would be around 3PM. What they didn't tell me is that Talking Mickey would be in the 3:00 parade, so the Town Square Theater would have Silent Mickey instead. That's why the line was so short.

Worst advice I overheard: A parent telling their young child who was blowing bubbles while in one of the theme parks, "We don't have time for that. We're supposed to be somewhere." Not the parent's fault, but it's sad when people are so compelled by the system to pre-schedule every moment of their vacation that they don't have time for their child to enjoy such basic joys of childhood.

 

[Robo]

Worst advice I got: A Guest Relations cast member told me the shortest line to meet Talking Mickey would be around 3PM. What they didn't tell me is that Talking Mickey would be in the 3:00 parade, so the Town Square Theater would have Silent Mickey instead. That's why the line was so short.

I'm thinking that is unlikely the case.
The fact that you had a "silent Mickey" likely had nothing to do with the parade.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I'm thinking that is unlikely the case.
The fact that you had a "silent Mickey" likely had nothing to do with the parade.

When I asked another cast member why it was Silent Mickey, they told me it was because there is only one Talking Mickey, and that he was in the parade. I wonder if this second cast member was misinformed.

 

[Robo]

When I asked another cast member why it was Silent Mickey, they told me it was because there is only one Talking Mickey, and that he was in the parade. I wonder if this second cast member was misinformed.

More like the other Cast Member was telling you a tale of his/her own making.

Yes, the Mickey on the float in the parade "talks" but it is a far different "system"
of talking...
and very, very likely, an entirely different (shall I say) "outfit."

 

[101Pongo]

I have yet to see a snack credit worth $12.

Venti Caramel Frap at Starbucks with 6 shots. Cool you down and give you a good jolt!

 

[worm761]

Venti Caramel Frap at Starbucks with 6 shots. Cool you down and give you a good jolt!

LOL... I guess that would work but would you want one every day? And I'm not a fan of stuff like that so wouldn't do it.

 

[angierae]

The worst advice we got was to not buy hoppers. After our first trip, we've never gone without them.

 

[Fierce Fairy]

Worst advice we received: staying onsite is the only way to go, and the only way your vacation will be "magical". While POR was fine, we certainly didn't feel any "magic" in a single, small room with one bathroom. Yes, we may have only used the room for sleeping but separate bedrooms and bathrooms when travelling with a teenager is a special magic all in itself. The "resort" amenities at POR were limited as well. We have found a much greater degree of happiness, satisfaction, comfort and value at offsite properties. And don't even get me started on the "if I have to drive to the parks, it doesn't feel like vacation". Give me a rental vehicle (and control over my arrival and departure times) any day over waiting for a bus in the searing heat/pouring rain and hoping (a) I will actually get a seat and not have to stand and (b) I will make it to my destination at the appropriate time.

Our other worst advice: "you can sleep at home, your touring plan should be commando from open to close". That only makes for an over-tired and cranky family by the time our vacation is half-way over. We learned that it's okay to have a down day. Its okay to take a day away from the parks and the crowds. Its okay to (gasp!) get off Disney property and see some of the other things Orlando has to offer. And its okay to accept that not everyone can go all day, every day, from sun up to sun down without a break somewhere along the way.

I really could have written both of these. Our first trip to Disney was at POR with 2 teens and 1 preteen in 2006. It was cramped, crowded, and rushed due to one bathroom. In 2012 my husband and I stayed at WBC for an anniversary trip. We both asked why did we listen to those other folks and stay in such a small average hotel room. We are going in Oct with the kids again to WBC. Now we have an 8yr, 20yr, & 22yr (our 26yr is doing his own thing) it will have 2 bathrooms and separate bedrooms. What joy this will be.

Also on our first trip I had planed for every second of every day per several Disney veterans advice. I was like a Disney addict with checking on boards and blogs and park plans. I was going to be divorced by the end of that trip if I did not take it easy and let SOME spontaneity happen. Glad I did it was a much more relaxing time. No more commando vacations.

 

[jon18uk]

-Not needing dining plan: Sure, if you're not a foodie; that's fine. But you do have to eat! A burger and fries is $10 and a small pizza is $8. Plus another snack.... you're saving money in the long run (most likely.)

Quick service dining plan is $42, so if a snack is $5 then its $18.50 on each meal. $10 burger and fries, $5 dessert and $3 drink means you are just breaking even on dining plan. Most of the time you won't want the dessert so you are in effect spending $55 on a dessert you may not want.
Take the dining plan if free dining works for you, but other wise OOP is better.

 

[JonnaP]

Totally agree jon18uk!
My first trip I was told if I didn't get a dining plan (at least the QS) that we'd go broke on food.
Well, we quickly realized that 1)we don't eat a lot of breakfast so that was a waste for us 2)we don't eat desserts with every meal, but we felt obligated to grab one because "it came with the meal" 3)we were using our snack credits faster than our meals because we just like smaller portioned food.

OOP works so much better for us.

 

[avic77]

Eat at Chef Mickey's

 

[Misha72683]

We haven't been yet, but so far the worst advice is "Don't go, your children are too young to enjoy it and they'll never remember it". I'm ok with them not remembering it because I will remember it (plus I remember going to the local amusement park when I was my son's age, so I'm not sure they won't remember). I can't remember my first trip to our local amusement park (I wasn't even 3) but my father loved the story about how I only wanted to go in one attraction all day. I've heard that story so many times and I remember the fondness in his voice as he told it. I don't remember it, but he did and it brought him joy, just like taking my kids will bring me joy. As for them enjoying it, my kids love zoos, amusement parks and fairs, so I'm pretty sure that they're going to like Disney.

 

[Tonberry]

I've gotten some really bad advice and heard other people get bad advice as well. Some bad advice given to me:

Mother-in-law: "Be careful in downtown Disney after dark. It can get pretty dangerous there late at night!"
Friend: "Do Animal Kingdom late in the afternoon when the crowds die down."

Worst advice I heard given to someone:
My secretary wanted to go to Disney. She hasn't been in almost 20 years. She also does not do well with large crowds and can get panicked and feel overwhelmed. Her friend told her to go at Christmas time through New Year's Day because the crowds will be very low because everyone will be spending time at home with their families. Luckily I found out and set her straight!