Let's be honest: who hasn't come back from a trip thinking that they ?should have planned this? or ?having done that?? Everyone! It's very common with tourists. To avoid this on your trip to Disney, we've separated the top 7 mistakes at Disney that can put an end to your trip.
In this post
Although we are a bit dramatic when we say that these mistakes will “wreck your trip”, it is true that these mistakes can disrupt your trip to Disney a little.
Therefore, if you are a first-time traveler or are preparing your return, check out the 7 Disney mistakes that can put an end to your trip (and, as a bonus, a special tip on how to make a good itinerary for your trip!) .
1) Do not include travel time in your planning
There are two types of tourists: those who plan to brush their teeth and those who don't.
![map-mk-without-planning](https://partiudisneyparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/mapa-mk-sem-planejamento.jpg)
Interestingly, both types tend to forget an important piece of information when planning to go to Disney: travel time.
Yeah, people. It takes time to get from the hotel to the parks. Even if you stay at one of Disney's resorts, such as Pop century, Art of Animation or others.
Even more expensive hotels, like the Wilderness lodge or the Caribbean Beach Resort, also account for their locomotion delays.
Is this because the transportation that Disney offers is a little? Magic. There are days when you leave early and arrive late. In others, he leaves late and arrives early.
What if you are going to have lunch outside the parks and then come back? That's where things get even more complicated.
How to correct or avoid this error at Disney?
This mistake is easy to fix: just consider travel time when planning your day. It may take you up to an hour at most to reach the Disney parks.
It usually takes a lot less than that. The default time is 20 minutes, 30 minutes. Maybe 40 minutes in a day when the bus makes many stops in various places.
A good way to not depend on Disney schedules is to rent your own car and keep it in the Disney hotels.
You are going spend more on it? Go. But it will control your schedule more precisely. It's a matter of weighing the pros and cons of each option.
Another alternative is to wake up really early to catch the first buses. But now, we'll talk about that.
2) Take new or uncomfortable sneakers to the parks
Do you know how many steps we take in a day at a Disney park? Without straining, about 10,000 steps.
In a large park like the Epcot or the Animal kingdom, this value can rise to around 20 thousand.
If you want to explore special areas (like the Tom Sawyer's Island), more than that.
Do you know what this information means? You're going to walk a lot.
Do you know what ?to walk a lot? means?
That you'll need comfortable sneakers or you'll have a big blister on your foot at the end of the day.
With the blister on your foot, you won't be able to walk straight the next day.
If it pops then?
Seriously, I've seen people miss a day at the park because a blister on their foot burst and the pain was too intense when I put on the shoe the next day.
Unfortunately, this is still one of the most common Disney mistakes.
How to correct or avoid this error at Disney?
New sneakers tend to be tighter than old ones or those that have had time to break in the foot. So, avoid them when packing.
?But what do I do if I want to wear that nice shoe on the fancy dinner with Snow White??, you may wonder.
The answer is simple: take the uncomfortable shoe in a backpack and change there in the park, before entering the restaurant.
Remember: you will walk at least 10,000 steps a day at Disney. Therefore, it is mandatory to take comfortable shoes that do not hurt your feet.
It's better to walk with an extra shoe in your backpack than to get a horrible blister and miss a day at the park because of it.
3) Forgetting umbrellas at home or at the hotel
Florida is known in the US as the "Sunshine State". Just spend a day there to understand the reason for this nickname.
The state has one of the highest temperature averages in the US. Despite this, on some nights the temperature can reach negative levels, especially during winter.
However, the most defining feature of Florida's climate is that? well, it's going to rain. At any moment, rain can start to fall.
![Magic Kingdom With Rain](https://partiudisneyparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Magic-Kingdom-Chuva-1.jpg)
This happens for two reasons.
First, do you have the ?perismell of the rains?. In Florida, this happens more or less between June and October. From August to OctoberThis is also the period with the highest incidence of hurricanes.
So you have about 5 months where it's going to rain every day.
Secondly, there is a good chance of rain because of the infamous ?random rains? from Florida.
One of the most common mistakes at Disney is forgetting this detail and not taking an umbrella or raincoat to face the Orlando rains.
How to correct or avoid this error at Disney?
Well, there's nothing you can do to stop it from raining. But there are ways you can plan your trip around this problem.
First, it is important to try to schedule your trip outside the rainy season. This helps to lessen the chances of getting caught by a storm in the parks.
Also, of course, buy an umbrella or a raincoat, which is easier to store and transport.
The third point is to plan your visit based on the weather forecast. Weather forecast broadcasts on TV or the Internet are relatively reliable, especially if you go with ?little? advance.
For example, it is pretty sure that the forecast for tomorrow will come true in Florida.
Therefore, you can try to rearrange your activities based on this forecast. In this case, if the expectation is that it will rain tomorrow from 2 pm to 4 pm, then it is better to save the indoor attractions for that time, like lunch.
4) Waking up too late to go to the parks
One of our philosophies around here is trying to remind people that a trip to Disney is a dream come true.
It's vacation, it's special days. Magic days, that will last forever in the memory.
We know that, for many people, this means that their days at Disney have to be perfect. Nothing can go wrong.
Usually, this doesn't work out very well.
It generates a lot of stress, people get nervous, they end up fighting. In this way, what was meant to be a magical moment ends up being remembered by tears and sadness.
![Sleeping too much at disney](https://partiudisneyparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Dormir-demais-na-disney.jpg)
That said, there's one thing most anxious people are right about: you can't afford to wake up late at Disney.
Yes, it's a vacation trip, but you can rest and enjoy the afternoon. The ideal is to arrive EARLY at the parks. Like, with the opening of the gates.
The reason for this is quite simple: the opening and closing times of the parks are the least crowded.
Taking two hours at the beginning and two hours at the end is much better than taking 4 hours in the middle of the day. Is it less queues, less heat, less confusion? anyway, it's preferable.
The problem is that you don't get to enjoy this delicious period if you sleep too much, wake up late or take too long to get ready in the morning. This is one of the Disney mistakes most made by beginners.
The parks open at 9 am (with the exception of water parks like the Blizzard beach it's the Typhoon Lagoon).
This is the golden hour to enjoy the best of attractions.
How to correct or avoid this error at Disney?
The answer to this one is pretty easy: wake up earlier.
You see: the parks open at 9 am, right? We will allow 30 minutes for your transfer from the hotel to the park. This means you would have to leave the hotel at 8:30 am.
The ideal time to wake up will depend on your routine. If you have time for the night, you can pack some fruits and snacks in your backpack for breakfast the next day in the park itself.
Therefore, I could even wake up at 8 am, take a shower, brush my teeth, get ready and go.
If you need more time, you can wake up at 7:30 or even 7:00.
Keep in mind that some perks (such as renting a car) may cost more on your budget, but allow you to sleep a little longer in the morning and still arrive at the park's opening hours.
5) Not resting during the day is one of the classic Disney mistakes
Most mistakes at Disney seem predictable in hindsight. And this one is pretty obvious, right?
After all, we already said that you need to wake up early to get the best times for the attractions and that you will walk 10,000 steps a day in the parks.
![Ariel Meet and Greet at Magic Kingdom](https://partiudisneyparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Ariel-Meet-and-Greet-no-Magic-Kingdom-2048x1365.jpeg)
This means that you will be tired during your Disney ride. This is absolutely normal.
However, it is a mistake not to rest during the day whenever possible. If you don't, you'll lose a lot of energy and won't make it through the nightly activities or the week-long Disney marathon.
Unfortunately, this is one of the most common Disney mistakes. Wanting to enjoy every detail of the parks, people want to start at 9 am and go until 9 pm without stopping for a second.
It arrives on the third or fourth day, they can't take it anymore.
How to correct or avoid this error at Disney?
Well, that's pretty easy: rest during the day. It's relatively easy to find good places to get some rest at Disney, especially if you don't have trouble sitting down and relaxing anywhere.
Some restaurants, for example, are excellent places to rest for an hour and a few minutes. While you wait for food and eat your lunch, you can relax in the air conditioning.
In addition, each Disney park has a Baby Care Center, places that are intended for moms and dads who want to change diapers, breastfeed and take care of babies.
Therefore, they are places with plenty of shade and silence, being a great environment to rest a little.
Finally, there are some attractions that help you rest. An example is the PeopleMover, in the area Tomorrowland, at the Magic Kingdom. It consists of a very light walk around the area, which lasts about 10 minutes.
6) Book your trip during the main holidays
Holidays are the busiest days at Disney parks. There is a clear reason for this: it is the period when more people are out of work and take the opportunity to spend a few days in the parks.
![Halloween and Christmas Party at Disney](https://partiudisneyparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Christmas-Party-700x467.jpg)
At the Christmas, for example, Disney parks are so crowded that employees have to control the entry of people because there is not room for everyone.
The same goes for other famous US holidays like the 4th of July, Easter (and Spring Break), New Year's Eve, O Halloween and Martin Luther King Day.
Because of this, traveling to Disney for the holidays ends up detracting from your experience at the Mickey House parks.
As they are all crowded, the queues for the attractions are huge. In addition, it also takes longer to eat in restaurants and, to top it off, hotels are more expensive.
This is one of the most common Disney mistakes, and one of the hardest to fix, too. After all, sometimes there's not much maneuver to book your vacation at work, right?
If you still have doubts about a good time for an excellent trip, see our post about what better time to go to disney!
How to correct or avoid this error at Disney?
This one is also relatively simple. Do some research before purchasing your plane ticket and scheduling your trip to Disney.
See when the most visited holidays fall and choose a date away from these days. Thus, you can avoid overcrowding at Disney, ensuring shorter queues at attractions and restaurants, as well as cheaper hotels.
7) Missing the dose when planning your trip
One of the biggest Disney mistakes beginners (and even some veterans) make is getting the dose wrong in planning. Both for more and for less.
We have already lightly mentioned that some people even plan to brush their teeth and go to the bathroom. This causes stress and leaves people stuck in an unpleasant schedule.
![Orlando Custom Itinerary](https://partiudisneyparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ROTEIRO-PERSONALIZADO-1.png)
Others go to Disney without planning almost anything. Therefore, they cannot do much and return home without having seen 10% of what the parks can offer.
Over-planning or under-planning is one of the worst mistakes at Disney for one simple reason: it's one of the few that actually hurts the content of the trip.
You see: making the mistake of not taking an umbrella is bad, of course. But even wet, you can enjoy the parks. But make mistakes when planning? Then you go home disappointed.
How to correct or avoid this error at Disney?
The first task is to relax and list on paper everything you WANT to see at Disney. And then start planning some itineraries based on that, leaving a good margin for improvisation.
Or you can hire someone to do this job for you. We, for example, make specialized and personalized itineraries for your trip.
Our itineraries take into account all the Disney mistakes we've mentioned here and many others to ensure your trip is the best it can be.
With them, you'll have a clear schedule of what to do each day to fill in your dream checklist, but you'll still have a good amount of time off to improvise and enjoy your trip the way you want.
After all, visiting Disney is a dream, right? The central objective is for you to de-stress and enjoy this magical moment. So don't worry so much about mistakes at Disney. Leave the planning to us and just focus on enjoying the magic of the place. Contact us and learn how we can help!
I hope again that this post helped you in your research for your trip to Disney or Orlando.
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About the Author Carlos Braga:
Unparalleled experience in Orlando and Disney! As a former Universal Orlando team member and a passionate devotee of the magic of Disney, I have become a true Orlando travel expert. Before becoming a renowned travel consultant dedicated to Orlando, I had already made hundreds of visits to the parks, cultivating my knowledge and passion mainly over the last 7 years as a consultant and specialist in Disney travel.
My journey into this enchanted world began in 1995, when I took my first trip to Orlando. Since then, my love for Disney and the city has only grown. In 2023, we celebrate the sixth anniversary of 'Partiu Disney Parks', consolidating our role as one of the main sources of information about Disney and Orlando Parks.
During these six years of existence, we have continued to offer quality and updated content, being the reliable source for all those looking for essential information to plan their trip to Disney and Orlando. With my vast experience and passion for this magical destination, I am here to guide you every step of the way towards the most incredible Orlando and Disney experience!