AVOID These 50 Disney World Mistakes

is it really possible to vacation the wrong way at disney world well yeah it is planning a disney world vacation is fun but if you don't plan ahead for these possible mistakes then there are gonna be some problems [Music] hey everybody it's aj for disney food blog and today we're going to talk about the 50 mistakes you need to avoid making in disney world as you're planning for disney world etc now i know you're thinking 50 really aj there are that many mistakes but honestly there are so many more that we've already talked about a lot in previous videos and we didn't want to reiterate all of those here so you're going to find some more unique mistakes here that are going to be things we don't talk about all the time that you definitely don't want to encounter or let happen to your trip though you can't control every little mishap that might happen on your disney world vacation i'm going to give you this list of no-no's that'll hopefully help your next disney world trip go much much much more smoothly don't take notes get all the info i'm about to share in this video in an easy and free printable cheat sheet so you won't make these mistakes head to disneyfoodblog.com mistakes to get a copy sent right to your inbox we'll also sign you up for our free newsletter so you can stay on top of all the updates and changes happening in disney world all right let's talk about reservations number one you want to avoid waiting to make your park pass reservation ever since disney world reopened last year guests now need to make park pass reservation after purchasing their tickets this reservation will get you into a park everybody has to have one today this reservation system is still a vital part of making sure you can step into the most magical place on earth and it doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon so unfortunately it's something we're all gonna have to learn how to do now if you wait to make a park pass reservation or if you forgot to make a reservation entirely then it doesn't matter if you've made the ticket purchases ahead of time or not you will not be allowed to enter any of the disney parks without a reservation so don't forget to make those reservations immediately after you purchase your tickets to guarantee your park day now disney will send you a reminder to make your park pass reservations so you don't have to worry about this extra step completely slipping your mind but if you don't make that reservation right when they remind you then it could absolutely be something you forget to do so don't like put it off and say oh i'll do it later and then you don't do it later or you get around to doing it and there are no park passes left so in some instances you'll still be able to make a park pass reservation for the day before your visit but that's definitely not something you want to gamble on especially when disney starts hitting their busy season with the 50th anniversary going into christmas and then spring break those are days that you can't make a park past reservation same day or the day before you want to make sure those are locked in you can always change your park past reservations if there are reservations available at another park but you definitely want to have one at least and then you can park hop someplace else now if you wait there is the possibility the parks will hit their daily capacity and you will be out of luck and that's no bueno you definitely don't want to get stuck in that box because we see lots of people wandering around our disney world hotels totally dumbfounded that they can't get into a park because they didn't make a park pass and there's really nothing the cast members can do for them all right now speaking of resort reservations don't be caught without a resort reservation and by resorts we mean hotels if you want to go to a disney world hotel other than the one you're staying at you might find yourself disappointed currently resort hopping is not a free activity a cast member at the front gate of these resorts is now required to ask drivers if they have a hotel reservation or dining reservation before allowing them passage into the parking lot so if there's a particular resort you're wanting to visit on your trip that you're not planning on staying at check out the different table service dining options the resort has to offer and as long as you have a reservation to eat you'll be welcomed on in building on that don't forget to cancel your last minute dining reservations remember if you have a dining reservation and you do not show up for it you will be charged ten dollars per person on the reservation so if you have six people on the reservation you're gonna be charged 60 and that absolutely happens so you want to make sure you cancel your dining reservations 24 hours in advance to make sure you don't get charged that no-show fee now if you are in a situation where somebody gets sick or you're not able to make a dining reservation for a completely valid reason maybe we're stuck on the monorail or whatever you can go to the restaurant or you can go to guest services and say this is the situation my child is sick he's not able to go to the dining reservation or whatever and they should be able to help you out but just a heads up if you know you're not going to be able to make it to that reservation or that restaurant you absolutely want to cancel within the cancellation window if you can okay let's talk hotels next avoid waiting to book that discounted hotel discounts come and go on the disney world website but when they go it's impossible to determine when they're going to return or even if they will before it's time for you to lock in those reservations if you see a super awesome deal pop up on the disney world website for the resort you've been eyeballing then get it there's a very good possibility the resort discount will attract many other guests looking for a good deal on their disney hotel stay and those discounts are limited not everybody can get them so don't let everyone else jump on those savings before you can if you change your mind about the hotel later you can always cancel your reservation as long as you cancel 30 days out or within the cancellation window of whatever type of hotel package or room only reservation you booked you should be able to get a full refund on your purchase so make sure you know what the cancellation window is for what you got but if you see a great deal go ahead and jump on it go ahead and book it you can always change it or cancel it if you need to also don't forget to make those room requests in advance if you want a room with a fireworks view if you want a room on the top floor closer to bus stops closer to the elevator closer to the lobby just put in a request while you're making your hotel reservation these requests aren't guaranteed but they are taken under consideration and if those specific requests of yours are available during the time of your stay then your wish will be disney's command now there are two ways to make room requests you can call the resort hotel let them know your confirmation number and ask if they will please note your request on your reservation and also when you do online check-in they will usually have a couple of standard options that you can make room requests for for example if you want to be closer to the lobby closer to an elevator on a certain floor if you want to be on the ground floor or the top floor or something like that that should be kind of an auto-generated request that you can click on when you're doing your online check-in if you have other requests for example if you want to be close to the pool or and this is my favorite request if you book a water view room if you want a view of the lake instead of a view of a fountain those are requests you absolutely need to make separately also please note rooms with fireworks views are usually going to come at an extra cost you're going to have to book the fireworks few rooms at a more expensive price tag so usually a fireworks view request is not going to be granted unless you're in a fireworks view room number six on our list don't forget to bring a white noise machine to your hotel yeah this one's for all my light sleepers out there your disney hotel might be top-notch but at the end of the day it's still a hotel and hotel room walls are notorious for being paper thin i have stayed in many many deluxe disney hotels and i can still hear the guy snoring next door every single time i can hear the people arguing next door i know that if i'm going to take a sensitive phone call that i need to do that very very quietly because who knows who's going to be next door right and i can always hear people talking over there so bring a white noise machine or download a white noise machine app on your phone just in case you're stuck in a room next to some party people and if you need complete silence when you sleep well pack a few sets of earplugs instead earplugs are also sold at the disney hotel gift shops just in case you forget yours back home another great reason for a white noise machine if you have kids who are nappers if they still need to take one or two naps a day the white noise machine is going to help out a lot because people run in those hallways and they get very very loud if you happen to have a hotel room near a pool and there's lots of pool games going on during the day that can absolutely seep into your room and you will hear those pool games so the white noise machine is a godsend when it comes to napping during the day as well all right you're going to want to avoid booking the wrong hotel room there are more than 25 disney world hotels you can book for your vacation and each of those hotels is a completely unique vibe so if there's a certain occasion you're traveling for or if your travel party has a specific set of hotel requirements for your trip make sure to study up on each one of the places ahead of time and book the right hotel for you and your group we actually have a video that talks all about choosing the right hotel for you so you want to go check that out definitely here are a few examples if you're planning a honeymoon trip in disney world you're probably going to want to choose some place a little more romantic like disney's grand floridian resort coronado springs resort or even a third-party hotel like disney's swan and dolphin or the four seasons or the ritz carlton now if you're planning on taking kiddos on their first ever disney world vacation or if you want to give them the whole experience you may want to book a hotel with more colorful characters at a more affordable cost so you can spend your budget in the parks rather than investing it in a more luxurious stay a few great options for kiddos you may want to consider are art of animation resort pop century resort or one of the disney's all-star resorts location is also a key factor for booking your hotels if you're wanting to spend most of your time over at epcot don't book a hotel at disney's animal kingdom unless you really want to wake up with giraffes next to your window which fair i can see your argument there but it's going to take you a long time to get over epcot by bus if that's your choice now instead consider booking a hotel that's on the skyliner route with direct access to abcot's international gateway or book a hotel that's within walking distance of epcot like boardwalk in yachting beach club or swan and dolphin number eight on our mistake list not taking the time to enjoy everything at your hotel now this is important to take note of especially if you decide to stay in a deluxe resort if you're laying out the cash for a super fancy hotel you definitely want to benefit from what you're paying for you don't want to just pay boku money to simply sleep in a hotel that's it allow the added amenities to become an extension of your disney vacation dine at the high-end restaurants take strolls around your hotel lounge in the whirlpool spas relax on the beaches use the pool slides enjoy where you're staying and enjoy what you're spending all that money for all the hotels have fun pool themes and daily itinerary activities that'll be posted somewhere in the lobby of the hotel or near the main pool those activities can include tai dying mickey shirts competing in poolside trivia contests and even watching disney movies under the stars or making s'mores at campfires for an extra cost some hotels have unique activities you're not going to find in any of the parks like disney's fort wilderness and all their recreational options like archery pony rides fishing biking canoeing kayaking segwaying yes that's right there's even a wilderness back trail adventure where you can rent a segway if you're looking for a unique disney world activity then there you go but there's lots to do with these hotels if you are shelling out the bucks to stay there give yourself a resort day build a resort day into your vacation so you can enjoy the place that you're spending so much money on all right next hotel tip don't forget about good neighbor hotels disney world has a lot of great hotels to choose from but you shouldn't limit yourself to only considering disney-owned hotels those are obviously going to be the most expensive ones good neighbor hotels quote unquote these are close to the parks they've partnered with disney world to provide you with a lot of the same park benefits you'd receive if you were staying at a disney hotel plus they're usually cheaper than staying at a disney hotel for example one of our favorite places to stay the swan and dolphin over there by epcot and hollywood studios they're super duper close to the parks they're still considered third party hotels though since they reside on disney property but aren't directly owned by disney that being said disney treats swan and dolphin as a deluxe resort even though the prices for their rooms are lower than other deluxe resorts on property so good neighbor hotels have complimentary transportation to and from the parks and guests will still be eligible for the early park hours that will be available to all disney resort guests starting october 1st these early park hours will allow guests to enter any of the four parks 30 minutes before the official park opening and swan and dolphin also will get you into the evening extra magic hours now called extra magic hours evening extra park hours whatever that are only available to people staying in disney's deluxe resorts so swann and dolphin gets you a cheaper price tag and all the amenities of a deluxe resort plus you get to walk to hollywood studios in epcot yeah that's a game changer all right number 10 on our list don't rent a dvc without knowing the catch okay there are a lot of benefits to renting a disney vacation club room we've got a whole video on how this nifty little trick could end up saving you hundreds in the long run so go check that out but if you do decide to rent a disney vacation club room just know that you're not going to receive that complimentary mousekeeping you might be used to by the way mousekeeping that's what disney calls housekeeping so don't trash your nice hotel room and expect it to be magically clean when you return from a long day in the parks you're gonna have to be your own mouse keeper in those ones that means you have to either reuse bath towels or remember to ask for more at the front desk you'll only get a few complimentary joffrey's coffees for your coffee maker and if you want your bed made then you get back to the room after a day in the parks and you'll have to make it yourself ahead of time is this a big deal probably not for most of us after all even disney hotels are only doing housekeeping every other day and i recently had a stay where the housekeeper came in and left me a bunch more towels but didn't actually make the bed so i'm like okay that wha why but that's what happened so basically everybody's still in the same boat so renting a dvc hotel room you're only gonna get housekeeping every four days but these days you're only getting it every two days at the disney hotels anyway so it's not that big a deal but if you're watching this video back when you know normal times return and we don't have a bunch of covid era changes than fyi on this one okay next mistake at the hotels don't assume there won't be lines at your resort okay you can run but you can't hide from the disney queue lines even your hotel is going to have lines you might have to wait in line at the pool bar the check-in desk the bell services the quick dining locations try to use your my disney experience app when you can to figure out stuff you need to know so you don't have to wait in a line to ask questions in most cases you'll be able to check into your hotel on your phone without having to wait in that line unless you have a special circumstance that you need to talk through with a cast member up front mobile order is also available at the quick service restaurants in the hotels so order your resort dining ahead of time if you're able even with the wonderful world of technology mostly on our side not every line can be avoided if you have a dining reservation at one of the parks but you've got to physically check in at the front desk calculate that into your park itinerary ahead of time that way you're not pressed for time because of an unexpected resort line okay number 12 don't forget to keep gatorades or electrolyte drinks in your mini fridge now just tell me if this has ever happened to you your return from a long successful day at the parks completely wiped out and thirsty beyond belief but the only thing available in your hotel room is the sink water gross consider stocking up ahead of time on gatorades powerades other electrolyte heavy drinks that way when you're parched and totally dehydrated after a full day in the parks you don't have to buy an overpriced powerade in the vending machine outside your hotel room you can either pick these up at grocery stores outside the disney bubble or pack a few cases in your car if you're planning on driving as long as you've got the room for them but seriously i can't reiterate enough how destroyed you will feel if you are completely dehydrated after a couple of days in the parks i was recently in disney world for a week i did not drink enough water despite what i tell you all the time on these videos and i had the worst headache i've ever had for three days straight i was exhausted i was brain fogged i was dizzy i just felt horrible for days and it's because i was dehydrated i know it is because as soon as i got some decent water and a little bit of extra sleep i was fine so bring those electrolytes smart water has electrolytes in it if you don't want the calories from gatorade or powerade you can absolutely do smart water and do some research online to figure out how to replenish your electrolytes what i've heard some marathon runners do and please let me know in the comments if this is right or wrong is put a little salt into some flat sprite or 7up and that might work as well i don't know do some research but please please please don't suffer from the dehydration it will ruin your disney world trip also don't forget ice okay this was one of the dfb reporters were particularly adamant about me adding to this list apparently it's traumatic to get out of bed in the middle of the night and not have ice readily available to put in your tap water i've never really had this experience i've spent many many many happy hotel experiences without having ice but they are serious about it so do that when you first get to the hotel room put your things away first then go grab some ice out of the ice machine just like having gatorades and powerades on hand after your day in the parks i guess you're gonna thank yourself for this later i don't know maybe this is a young person thing i don't know i've never had ice in my room really i've never really cared about it but my writers and reporters really really care and they want you to know all right let's go to transportation mistakes number 14 on our list we are gonna avoid long skyliner weights oh man this one will sneak up on you the skyliner can seriously mess you up if you aren't planning for it waiting to ride the skyliner after the epcot fireworks can be just as bad as trying to figure out the monorail or buses after the magic kingdom fireworks wait times can get up to 35 to 45 minutes per multiple stations depending on what resort you're staying in even if the initial skyliner weight outside the international gateway doesn't look terrible keep in mind that there'll be a second mandatory station stop outside caribbean beach resort if caribbean beach is not your final destination and you're staying at disney's riviera art of animation disney pop century you're gonna have to wait in another line mixed in with the guests that are also leaving disney's hollywood studios for the day so yeah wait times can get pretty steep there are two things you can do to avoid waiting in a massive skyliner line one leave the park early i know i know that means missing the fireworks or at least missing the finale but if your travel party is exhausted and you feel like it'd be more beneficial for you all to rest now and maybe see the fireworks at different time then escape while you can and avoid the hectic post-fireworks crowds can't bear to leave before the fireworks understandable but after the show concludes consider sticking around for a bit shopping at a few of the gift shops because even though the rides and attractions will close after the fireworks conclude many of the main shops will remain open for those last minute purchases so you might as well kill time staying in the park rather than waiting in a gigantic line outside of it right and remember skyliner lines can get really really long at the beginning of the park day as well so plan accordingly all right number 15 avoid forgetting your disability parking placard in your car at home i know this is going to be very specific to a certain group of people but i know it's going to be helpful to you guys if you decide to rent a car at the airport so you don't have to rely solely on disney's transportation systems bring your disability parking placard if you have one like for real though put it on top of your must bring to disney list if you have one it's so easy to let this slip your mind but if you want to receive disability parking access at the disney parks and those valet benefits at the hotels you've got to have it with you otherwise disney can end up charging you a hefty fine for parking in their handicap parking spots on property and that's just an easily avoidable hassle you don't want to mess with number 16 don't repay for parking disney's going to charge you a pretty penny when it comes to parking your car on their property so don't accidentally pay for more parking than you need first off if you're already paying for parking at a disney hotel you do not need to pay for parking at the parks as well just have your magic band or ticket loaded with all your hotel information ready to be scanned at the park entrance secondly if you do have to pay for theme park parking but you have a park hopper ticket you only have to pay when you arrive at the first park you do not have to pay for parking again when you drive over to your second park on the same day just show the cast member at the front gate your parking receipt and they'll let you go on through number 17 don't try to get back to your hotel mid-morning all right this sounds a little scary but let me explain if you left behind your sunscreen your sunglasses your poncho back at the hotel room once you've taken the bus transportation over to a park in the morning it may be hard to get it back to the hotel mid-morning is prime park arrival time for disney guests so you'll be fighting against the masses and wasting precious park time by backtracking and on top of that not a lot of disney hotel buses kind of deliver guests to the hotels mid-morning if it's like 10 30 11 o'clock you could sit there and wait for a bus for an hour i've done it several of my team members have done it if you try to get back to your hotel like 10 30 11 a.m it may take a long time for a bus to come back you know those buses don't just go back and forth back and forth disney directs them to go where the most people are so just because a bus drops you off at magic kingdom doesn't mean it's going right back to your hotel so it can be harder to get a mid-morning ride back to your hotel so just be prepared for that make sure you got everything you need in the morning don't waste your time going back to the hotel or to waiting for a bus to go back to the hotel i know a couple of us have actually had to have like a shuttle take us back to the hotel because they didn't have any buses that were going now if you forgot something important like any medications or even your park passes if they're not already downloaded onto your phone then yeah you're gonna have to make that trip back and it's not gonna be fun so try to avoid having to backtrack make sure you got everything ready to go the night before that way you're not scrambling to gather all your park essentials while also trying to take your morning shower brush your teeth get dressed and the zillion other things you need to accomplish before you're out the door and starting your day all right moving on to our technology section number 18 here avoid obsessing over the weather before your vacation this sounds really funny but i have to tell you a lot of people spend a lot of time refreshing their little weather channel app or their accuweather app and just freaking out over is it going to rain today or not and that's just not worth the emotional exhaustion if you're one of those people who like to look at the forecast ahead of time for your trip well that's pretty normal you gotta know how to pack but when it comes to an orlando vacation the weather here is just as random as a roll of the dice in the summer there are only two guaranteed temperatures heat and humidity and florida weather changes constantly one second you'll be caught in a monsoon the next second it'll be sunny and you'll be tracking down someplace to stand in the shade because florida weather is finicky it's better to download an app like accuweather that keeps track of the hour-by-hour radar but oh my goodness please don't keep refreshing and refreshing and refreshing worried it's gonna rain it's gonna rain it's always gonna rain so just be aware of it and if that's gonna ruin your vacation then it's time to you know really rethink your perspective change that mindset because it's going to rain you're going to have to be cool with it and just make sure you plan ahead to not ride outdoor rides in the afternoon put all those outdoor rides in the morning because it's going to rain as much as i hate to tell you that just be prepared and know that that will happen and figure out a way to mentally make peace with yourself that that's not going to ruin your vacation so may the odds be ever in your favor all right don't ignore the disney genie app all right before you freak out on me i know everybody's mad about it the disney genie app is on the horizon it will launch this fall it will be our new normal there are a lot of new features that are going to be included as well like customized itineraries premium lightning lane access updated disability access services so when you first hear about the app all the new gadgets and gizmos about it can be overwhelming take the time to learn about the new system ahead of time figure out what it means for your upcoming trip it will be our new normal we're going to have to use it so figure out how you can best use it to your advantage now we've got a couple of videos breaking down the disney genie app and answering all your disney genie questions so make sure to check those out after you're done watching this video and also number 20 here don't avoid learning about the my disney experience app if this is your first disney rodeo since the my disney experience app launched back in 2012 you got some catching up to do the my disney experience app holds important vacation planning info like your tickets dining reservations boarding passes photo pass photos and mobile ordering capabilities it even tells you where the bathrooms are if you decide to hold off and learn about all these functions on your first park day rather than learning about it all ahead of time you could find yourself overwhelmed by the different features and not really knowing how to use them to your best advantage just like i recommend doing for the disney genie app whenever it launches this fall study up on the my disney experience app ahead of time in fact download it right now you can get it for free in the app store today that way you can have hands-on practice before your trip look at the maps pull down the wait times practice mobile ordering you don't have to pay for it just practice pressing the buttons and like finding the things you want on the menu and stuff like that there's lots of things in the my disney experience app you want to know how it works before you go because it's not worth wasting valuable park vacation time trying to figure that out number 21 don't forget a plug for your phone charge cord i know i'm always telling you guys to bring an external charger and connector cord for your phone but don't forget to bring a usb plug as well several restaurants have wall plugs that you can use to charge up your phone without depleting your external charger battery however people often forget to throw a usb plug into their charger case ahead of time it's me i'm people that being said if you do bring a usb plug don't expect to charge your phone in the middle of gift shops i've seen guests attempt to do this before like when they're escaping another random orlando rainstorm and they're planning on hanging out in a gift shop and sitting on the floor and charging their phones and cast members will always tell you to move along to avoid blocking other guest pathways remember there are also designated charging stations throughout the parks too you can charge your phone at charging ports located around the parks like the hidden outlets and the tree stumps across from the tangled restrooms in magic kingdom and the wall outlets and star wars launch bay in hollywood studios the wooden light posts with four outlets attached to their backsides near expedition everston animal kingdom and the outlets near the bathrooms between germany and italy pavilions in epcot lots of places to charge your phone lots of wall plugs bring your usb plug because i always forget mine and you don't want to be me alright number 22 don't forget about boarding passes yeah as technology continues to change so do the ways we wait to experience disney world's most popular attractions in order to ride rise of the resistance and pretty soon remy's ratatouille adventure you can't simply jump in line and wait for a couple hours to get in you'll have to reserve a boarding pass which you can find in your my disney experience app see this is why i want you to study the app ahead of time there are so many features you need to have all figured out before your trip boarding passes or boarding groups sometimes they're called are distributed twice daily once at 7am once at 1pm and they're grabbed up within seconds usually if it's busy at the parks so you got to be on your app and ready to secure your group's place in line at 7am or 1pm on the dot now i've got some tips for you in another dfb video on how to secure those coveted boarding passes so make sure to check that out when you get the chance along with rise of the resistance's boarding pass system remy's ratatouille adventure like i said is also going to have the same virtual queue system when it officially opens on october 1st remy's virtual queue will also be available for park guests at 7am and 1pm on the my disney experience app if you're nervous about securing your boarding pass spot for either of these hot item rides you can pay for an individual attraction selection in the future that's debuting with disney genie plus okay moving into dining number 23 don't count out table service breakfast if there's a table service restaurant you're really wanting to visit that offers up a breakfast menu then don't pass up that opportunity breakfast is going to be your cheapest meal at a table service restaurant so if you're dying to try out chef mickey's or maybe cinderella's royal table then breakfast is gonna be your most affordable option prefix prices that chef mickey's for breakfast are 42 per adult 27 per kid as opposed to the prices around dinner time which are 55 per adult and 36 per kid so don't automatically blow your budget on a table service dinner if you can experience the restaurant during breakfast this is especially a win-win if your travel party loves breakfast options if you opt for a big table service breakfast you'll start off the day full and satisfied and then you can just snack on and off for the remainder of your park day this may even save you some money in the long run number 24 don't pay for food you won't eat if you or someone in your travel party tends to be a picky or eater never be afraid to ask for certain toppings or sides to be left off you don't want to pay for something you're going to end up picking around but ultimately pushing away that's just a waste at counter service restaurants you can often ask to hold the condiments the bun or anything else that might be tripping you up about a certain item and in some special cases the entree might end up costing you less if you do that not always but sometimes so for instance if i were to dine over at situli canteen and i don't want those sweet bursting boba balls and slaw on top of my chicken bowl i can request that to be left off the mobile ordering app often has a place where you can check off an item you'd rather do without if you're not seeing that customizable option you can always ask a cast member at the front of the counter service restaurant for some further guidance number 25 on our list don't eat at a restaurant just for the novelty look i get it places like rainforest cafe t-rex cafe they're great for kids the theming is fun the characters are entertaining and it's definitely gonna make you feel like you're on vacation these aren't places you normally go however if you're looking for a stellar dining option then these are more than likely going to let you down don't get me wrong they're not terrible by any means but for the prices you're paying here for mediocre food you could be dining at disney springs locations that will provide you with really memorable meals homecoming raglan road wine bar george pretty much anywhere else really disney springs has a great variety of options to choose from and if you're looking for some high quality dining those novelty restaurants aren't going to cut it however you will get to see animatronic gorillas freak out during a tropical rainstorm over at rainforest cafe and that could be entertaining now are there some restaurants that we recommend just for atmosphere well sometimes 50s primetime cafe sci-fi dine in theater cinderella's royal table but when it comes to t-rex and rainforest cafe the food is gonna be extremely expensive and rainforest cafe you might even have in your own hometown so think carefully about dining at those spots if your kid loves them great but if you're looking for decent food and a good value for your money they're not it all right number 26 don't prioritize something else over your dining reservation okay here's the specific scenario let's say the my disney experience app is about to ping you to let you know your boarding group for rise of the resistance is next great right yeah only problem is that your reservation over oga's cantina is now so which do you choose easy go to ogus cantina right now do not pass go do not collect 200 dining reservations don't have a lot of wiggle room disney restaurants will give you about 15 minutes to arrive after your scheduled dining time before they consider you a no-show and give your table up to the next available party oh and if you're considered a no-show you'll also have to pay a 10 cancellation fee for everyone in your group however the moment your rise of the resistance boarding group is ready you have one hour to arrive back at the ride and get in the queue so choose to dine now and then get to the ride within that hour all right number 27 is beware of the late night meals don't forget to eat something before 9 to 10 pm did you get caught up on all the disney parks fun and forget to eat your dinner well lately a bunch of the restaurants around the parks have been closing early so it becomes a bit difficult to find a place to eat after you leave the parks there used to be three locations in disney world that were open 24 7. those aren't open 24 7 anymore so to avoid limiting your options make sure to schedule in a dinner break or snack break ahead of that kind of 9 p.m time frame even put an alarm on your phone if you have to or rely on your natural alarm your growling stomach if you happen to come down with late night munchies anyway a handful of disney resort restaurants will stay open a little bit later for famished park guests when you book a resort check their list of restaurants and find out what the hours of operation are for each just in case you need a plan b number 28 avoid booking a restaurant that's all hype i hear all the time from people who went to a particular restaurant just because it's the only restaurant they've really heard a lot about now remember how i talked about how disney hotels are all different and you should book the one that's going to best satisfy you and your travel group take that advice and copy and paste it into your dining reservations as well don't blindly book a reservation just because someone else has hyped it up to the max before you book a dining reservation look over the menus ahead of time make sure the dining experience is something everyone's going to enjoy and that the food is something you're going to be able to eat sure cinderella's royal table is fun but if you and your travel party aren't going to enjoy anything on the menu then paying that prefix price is going to be not so fun do yourself a favor do your own research outside of the recommendations of others who knows you might stumble across a favorite restaurant of yours that's highly underrated it happens all the time this youtube channel i hope is very very helpful in that context but remember there's lots of people telling you to go lots of different places and so doing a little bit of your own research can also be super valuable number 29 avoid choosing the wrong snacks is it possible to choose the wrong disney snacks debatable but what i can tell you is that the snack you've chosen might be of lesser quality than others i'm almost afraid to bring up this example but i've got to mickey shaped items aren't always the best choice there i said it i got it out of the way i love these snacks because they're cute and on theme but honestly they're pretty standard and you can find them anywhere around the disney property so instead of getting that mickey shaped pretzel consider grabbing a bavarian pretzel over at baseline tap house this one's easily shareable comes with a side of beer cheese fondue and spicy mustard and it's nine dollars and instead of the mickey premium ice cream bar perhaps you should try a limited edition treat instead something you can't get right in your own grocery store the dole whips are constantly changing out their seasonal and limited edition flavors so you might want to try one of those before they're gone different dole whips i've seen offered in the past have included the limited time raspberry jehey cone the mango adventure is out there cone the lemon lost princess cone some of these flavors linger for a while and some of them disappear almost in the blink of an eye so don't miss the opportunity to try something you may never get to try again over something you can literally pick up at your kroger yeah mickey premium bars are sold in a six pack in most big box stores nowadays i know this because i ate one yesterday on my back porch now let's move on to our packing mistakes number one in our packing mistakes number 30 on our 50 list avoid bringing too much stuff to the parks i still haven't really taken this to heart i still bring way too much stuff all the time but this is for you guys even if you have what others might call a state-of-the-art backpack that's been recommended by pass holders and vloggers over packing said bag is going to leave you hurting by the end of the day we're talking back pressure sore shoulders and an extra layer of exhaustion that probably could have been avoided had you not been lugging around an extra 20 pounds on your spine so try bringing a smaller travel backpack and only packing the essentials a couple of popular options i often see at the parks are lounge fly backpacks and cavu bags they're light durable and they provide just enough room to carry the essentials but before you bring any type of backpack to disney make sure you wear it out in about first just like breaking in shoes if you're going to wear them to the parks which i've told you to do time and time again so i hope you listened breaking in a backpack by trying it out ahead of time is going to let you know if it's going to be a great bag to take on your trip or if it's gonna be one of those bags that's gonna cut into your armpits all day you know the feeling it's like college all over again figure out the bare minimum you need to bring and just bring that you can always head back to your hotel if you really really need to of course not mid-morning and your back will thank you all right number 31 on our disney world mistakes list crowds don't go to disney springs on weekend evenings should you plan some extra time during your trip to explore disney springs and all of its different shops and restaurants and out of park experiences yes you totally should should you do that on weekend evenings no disney springs is the hip happening place for not only tourists but also locals it's free to visit and explore making it the perfect place for locals to chill and celebrate the weekend it's also a great place for those who are just starting out their disney vacation if guests fly in on a friday for a weekend getaway a common place to start that getaway without having to pay for an entire day's park ticket is disney springs if you want to go to disney springs and avoid the crowds try going on a weekday morning this is also going to help you secure your spot in line for one of those coveted gideon's cookies which is pretty impossible to snag if you're just arriving at disney springs on a weekend evening number 32 on our mistakes list don't start your vacation by drinking around the world i could probably do a whole video on this type of topic but i probably sound more like a lecturing parent and i don't want to be that don't make me become that so i'll just leave you with this simple warning if you're wanting to go to epcot and drink around the world remember that there are 11 countries 11. that's 11 different drinks of varying proportions and alcoholic content if you accomplish this feat and don't take care of yourself in the process you're bound to have a pretty lousy next couple of days for sure and come on you paid enough for this trip as is don't waste precious time being sick if you can avoid it okay i'm gonna slip in a few more mama aj tips here just because i can't help it drink plenty of water pace yourself consider splitting drinks with your travel party or vouch for the non-alcoholic version of drinking around the world instead there that's it i'm done i just care about y'all okay so don't mess up your whole trip by doing this first thing number 33 avoid filming the fireworks right in front of other people i'm not saying don't record the fireworks you may want to record them for your social media platform or live stream them for family members back home to watch along with you that's adorable and very very nice but be cool about it don't lift your phone over your head or in another guest's viewing window other guests aren't there to watch the show through someone else's phone screen they want to be in the moment and experience the spectacle in real life and for a handful of guests a disney trip is a once in a lifetime experience so don't be that person who's sour is the moment for somebody else even outside the fireworks be kind to people and cast members and cast members that are people period don't try to push ahead of the long queue lines by claiming your parties just up ahead and waiting for you don't stand too close to another person's personal bubble if you can avoid it and don't roll your eyes or say something condescending to a family who's trying to calm their crying child just be cool guys listen to cast members do what they say oh here we go number 34 don't be a jerk to cast members on a much similar note please don't be hateful to these cast members there are a lot of park changes going on right now and with these changes comes an overall sense of frustration and overwhelm from park guests and sometimes these feelings can bubble up and over and they very much impact the cast members just like a server isn't responsible for an undercooked steak at a restaurant cast members aren't responsible when the my disney experience app is glitching out or the bus transportation is running slowly or even if someone accidentally bumps into you and you drop your dole whip all over the sidewalk they're wonderful they will replace your dollop even though they had nothing to do with it but there's no reason for you to take out your frustration on them cast members are available to help so if you're frustrated about something going on in the parks remember to take a deep breath try to gain your composure and then approach a cast member about whatever situation you're experiencing they want to help that's their job but they are also getting verbally smacked around all day long by not so gracious visitors so just don't be one of those now 35 avoid waiting until you're sick to medicate listen to your body if something feels off don't wait until the last minute to take those prescribed or over-the-counter meds whether you're worried about getting queasy on a ride or you can tell a meal's not gonna settle well don't wait to medicate until you're already feeling lousy on the flip side of things listen to your body and figure out what it's asking for aside from medication if you're feeling light-headed you have a headache is it because you haven't hydrated in a while i had a long-term three-day headache the last time i was in disney world and that i realized i had not drunk more than 16 ounces of water for the whole day i think i already told you this in this video i'm but i'm very mad at myself for it so don't do that don't make that mistake also when's the last time you had a snack do you need to sit in the shade get out of the blistering orlando sun for a bit don't push yourself until you're miserable catch it early get it sorted out and then you're gonna have a much better trip number 36 is avoid killing the magic at disney world you and your travel party will get the opportunity to meet so many popular characters from your favorite disney movies it's a magical experience for kids and adults alike because these characters we love them and we appreciate them stepping away from their worlds like arendelle and agrabah and hundred acre wood to come hang out with us for a bit so don't be a hater is that what cool kids say these days i don't know it's just like i said before when i mentioned you need to be respectful to everyone's own disney experience don't try to get our disney characters to try and break character because yes kiddos the fab five that you see in the parks are the fab five and the princesses waving at you from their character sighting spots are the princesses don't let anyone tell you otherwise character integrity is there for a reason just respect it be cool all right number 37 don't get in line for an outdoor ride when the weather's bad let me paint the scenario for you you get in line for test track despite some pretty sus clouds out in the distance you stand in line for half an hour and then you're almost to the front of the line when all of a sudden the ride shuts down for inclement weather now i know i use test track in this example all the time but you can replace it with anything big thunder mountain seven dwarfs mine train expedition everest insert outdoor ride here now if an outdoor ride shuts down for inclement weather then it's not gonna reopen until all signs of lightning are out of the nearby vicinity meaning you could be waiting in a standstill line for an extra half hour or longer and that's just a waste of precious precious park time remember what i said about the accuweather app yeah use that don't stress about it but use it if the clouds are looking a little darker you think you saw some heat lightning out in the distance but you're not quite sure check the hourly weather radar on a reliable app if the weather is predicted to storm for the next hour or so don't get in line for those outdoor rides instead hit up some indoor dark rides or take this stormy opportunity to have a quick snack break in a nearby counter service location and building on this tip plan to ride your outdoor rides in the morning because it's going to rain much less in the morning in orlando okay number 38 on our mistakes list don't ignore the new park hopping rules okay park hopping is a much different experience from what it used to be before last year's shutdown if you purchase a parkhopper ticket for an extra 65 bucks on top of your regular ticket price just remember the following one you still have to make a park pass reservation for your first park you visit that day and you have to go to that park before you can park up to another location just last week i had a park pass for hollywood studios and then i had made plans to meet some friends in animal kingdom that night well i never got over to hollywood studios that day and so when i got in the car ready to drive to animal kingdom i was like oh i haven't been to a park yet so i had to go in really really quickly and change my park past reservation from hollywood studios to animal kingdom luckily last week was super dead in the parks and there were park passes available but there have been plenty of times that i've gone to disney world and there were no park passes available for that day or the following day so there's no way i could have changed it so plan ahead on that one two you can't park hop until after 2 pm you don't have to make a reservation for the other parks you decide to hop to but you can't get into your second park until after two and three you can also purchase a park hopper plus option instead for 85 bucks on top of your regular park ticket purchase this is going to grant you access to a day at one of disney's other activities outside the parks just note that some of these activities are currently unavailable typhoon lagoon is temporarily closed for the foreseeable future nba experience has been shut down permanently you can still use the parkhopper plus to visit experiences that are open like disney's blizzard beach or one of the golf courses number 39 on our mistakes list is don't go during the wrong quote season disney world does not have stagnant parks depending on what season you decide to visit you're going to be able to experience exclusive events and features that aren't available during other times of the year if there's a certain epcot festival you're wanting to see and experience figure out what time the festival runs for example if you and your travel party are big artsy people you'll probably want to hit up festival of the arts which we call farts around here which makes sense this runs from january and on into february every year there are also unofficial disney world events that happen in the parks too like dapper days a time when disney guests can get all dolled up and explore the parks and their best vintage disney attire which heads up you can do that any day you want if you're into that but dapper day a bunch of other people are going to do it too this event usually happens around april but the specific date varies yearly on the other hand maybe there's something you really don't want to experience at the park maybe you don't want to see all the halloween decor on your summer vacation at the end of august but honestly is it really ever too early to get your spooky on either way research what events are happening during the time you're planning on visiting so you don't miss out or you do miss out depending on what you're aiming to accomplish number 40 on our list don't pick the most inconvenient parks to hop to this is a huge huge huge tip with great park hopping power comes great park hopping responsibility and your responsibility is to make things as convenient for you and your travel party as possible so you can get the most out of your park hopping day so try to avoid hopping to parks that will require a lot of travel time like park hopping from hollywood studios to magic kingdom the only way to get to magic kingdom from hollywood studios is to either a take a disney bus which can take a long time to even arrive to pick you up or b take your car which means parking in magic kingdom's parking lot and then having to take either a ferry or monorail to get to the front gate a better park hopping option from disney's hollywood studios would be over to epcot since they're both located on the skyliner route as long as the skyliner crowds are low and usually they are in the afternoon you should be able to arrive at epcot within minutes and don't forget you can even boat or walk to epcot from hollywood studios number 41 on our mistakes list don't forget to budget for extra new expenses we hate to see it happen but it is happening disney prices are on the rise again meaning you're going to have to set aside some extra kaching for your upcoming vacation a few examples for starters there are no longer complimentary magic bands that are going to be sent to you for your disney resorts day so if you want any magic bands mailed to you before your vacation you're going to have to pay for them and they'll range from 15 to 30 each another complimentary service no longer provides is free parking of the disney hotels if you're staying at a disney hotel expect to pay 15 to 25 per night to keep your car parked in the resort lot transportation is really being hit hard when it comes to up charges when disney's magical express retires at the beginning of next year mirrors connect will take its place transporting guests from orlando's international airport and over to your disney hotel and those reservations are also going to cost you so check out the mirrors connect website to see how much you and your group may need to save in order to use their service next year and let's not forget the disney genie app i've already mentioned a couple of times before although the app itself is free and will provide you with complimentary customized itineraries to help you maximize your times in the parks there will also be the disney genie plus feature which will include lightning lane access the service that's replacing the once free fastpass system lightning lanes are going to cost you 15 per person in disney world and will give you access to skip that standard queue for over 40 attractions next on our mistakes list don't forget that your locker and stroller rentals transfer to other parks yeah if you rent a locker for 10 to 12 dollars at a disney park and then later in the day you hop to another park you can transfer your locker rental to that second park without paying an extra fee after your rental purchase a cast member is gonna give you a code that you can enter into the self-service locker kiosk locations this code is good throughout all four parks for the remainder of the day the same goes for stroller rentals after you pay for a disney stroller rental for either a single day or multi-day use just keep hold of your receipt when you park hop over to the second park just show a cast member at the next stroller station your receipt you'll be good to grab another stroller without an extra fee number 43 avoid buying fragile souvenirs at the beginning of your park day did you find a disney mug you've just gotta have personally my favorite mug i've seen in the parks lately is the one with mushu on the front and the lucky cricket sitting on the handle very cute well avoid purchasing those fragile items at the beginning of your day more than likely there'll be a lot of mugs still available by nightfall so you don't have to lug that breakable item around in your bag and worry about it getting shattered or just having it weigh you down in general all day long you can also try searching shopdisney.com seeing if that same item is available for you to order online if it is consider that as a better alternative that way you don't have to worry about getting that fragile item home at the end of your vacation either next on our list don't forget to buy your sunscreen and medication before you go to disney world it's nice to know that disney gift shops have essential items like sunscreen medication earplugs band-aids just in case you forgot yours back home but if you can avoid purchasing these items at the gift shop you definitely want to avoid that disney's price these necessities like highway robbery why because they can if you need one of these items you're going to pay that convenience fee to get these items so make sure these essentials are on your must-bring list and double check to make sure you've got them all packed and ready to go before your trip or if you want the convenience factor just make sure there's room in your budget to spend way too much money for you know advil or whatever if you're at your disney hotel and you've noticed you forgot to bring quite a few of these essential items hey it happens you can also get an uber lyft or other rideshare service in the area for a quick trip to a pharmacy or nearby big box store just remember even if these pharmacies aren't too far away from the disney bubble you'll still have to pay your ride share to get over to the store so the cost of just staying put and purchasing your essentials at the disney gift shop could even out in the end depending on how many things you need to grab if you need to have a specific prescription delivered to you you can also use pharmacy delivery options turner drugs is an option i've used in the past the delivery fee was nine dollars but i was able to choose whether i wanted my prescriptions delivered to my hotel room or at one of the first aid centers directly in one of the disney parks so the delivery fee might be a little steep but it's nice to know the option is available beyond resort delivery that means you don't have to sit in your room and wait for them to arrive number 45 don't wait around for forever to see the fireworks the great thing about disney world fireworks shows you can see those fireworks from all over the disney world resort sure some locations are better than others but if you're nervous about securing that prime viewing spot without paying for special restaurant viewing then don't do that don't waste your park day by staking out your fireworks spot hours before the show begins in magic kingdom you'll be able to get a good viewing spot for the fireworks in the castle pretty much anywhere on main street usa but if you don't want to be shoulder to shoulder with other guests and you don't care about missing the projection show on the castle you can watch the fireworks from behind the castle or you can see them from select rides like big thunder mountain railroad or splash mountain as far as the epcot fireworks go you can stand pretty much anywhere there around the world showcase lagoon and be able to see them you can even watch them from disney's boardwalk inn resort and according to the disney website the benches outside jelly rolls are a great place to relax and watch the epcot fireworks from afar you're not going to see those low fireworks so you're not going to see the projections on those giant fountains but you will see the fireworks up in the sky disney's hollywood studios end of the day production is projected on the grommen's chinese theater and has minimal fireworks however if you just stand anywhere in front of the theater you should be good to go i've been able to walk up to the theater with five minutes to spare and watch the show if i can do that so can you number 46 avoid booking a vacation before something you're anticipating opens up okay that's a long sentence but let me explain disney world's got a lot of new rides and experiences opening soon some in the near future some in the more distant future and some well some were still waiting to hear more about but if you've got one shot in an epic disney world vacation don't plan your trip before an experience you're looking forward to opens if you're super excited for tron light cycle run to open in magic kingdom's tomorrowland don't plan your vacation for like tomorrow wait until you hear more news about when that ride's gonna make its debut same goes for guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind hold off on making those vacation plans and save your money until the time is right you don't want to drop a whole bunch of cash and then feel like you didn't get the experience you were hoping for next mistake avoid sticking to your og plan no matter how much pre-planning and itinerary making you do before your disney world vacation your trip is never going to go exactly as you planned so don't stress if you have to change things up a bit flexibility is the name of the game if your schedule has you riding slinky dog dash at two in the afternoon but it's over an hour wait and everyone's cranky and wants to go back to the hotel pool then do that instead you'll make much better memories by going off the beaten path instead of standing for hours on end in a line for a ride that only lasts two minutes and everybody's mad about it okay number 48 on our list we're gonna talk about pins if you're gonna do disney pin trading in the parks it's tempting to buy what they call scrapper pins in bulk from third-party sellers online but don't do that the majority of the time the pins you're receiving in these giant quantities are known as scrapper pins in the pin trading community scrapper pins are not disney made they may resemble original disney design pins but they're a poorer cheaper quality unfortunately there's a good possibility that when you're trading in the disney parks you're going to end up getting one of those pins as a trade it's not the cast member's fault it's the fault of people who purchase these pins and use them to get better quality pins try to help eliminate the over saturation of scrapper bins by purchasing traders from shopdisney.com or from one of the outlet stores these pins will usually be discounted so you can buy multiples to take with you to the parks to trade and avoid pins at non-disney gift shops continuing on from that last point be wary of those floridian gift shops that have quote disney pins for trade as well sometimes these gift shops might actually have authentic pins through disney merchandise overstock but more often than not these pins are not going to be authentic that being said some of these non-authentic disney pins are very similar to the ones currently being sold on property and they're usually a couple dollars cheaper than the ones in the disney owned gift shops so if you aren't planning on trading the pin you find at the floridian gift shop and you want to keep it for your own collection then okay go ahead and get it but don't trade it it's not cool all right are you guys ready for the very last mistake to avoid that is of course not signing up for the dfb newsletter our dfp newsletter sends you all kinds of updates on the latest disney deals news and reviews the link to our newsletter is in the description down below so if you go ahead and subscribe you're already guaranteed to not make one of these 50 mistakes good for you want to kill two words with one stone sign up for our newsletter and get a copy of all the info i just shared by heading to disneyfoodblog.com mistakes hopefully this major list helped y'all but if you need even more tips and tricks we're always happy to help our blog's got a ton of articles just for you we've been in this business for 15 years my friends and this is gonna help make your planning go so so so so much easier for your disney world vacation okay hope you got through this video with me thank you so much for listening thanks for watching stick with us we're gonna help you out and hopefully we'll bring you a little bit of entertainment fun and laughter along the way as always this is aj for disney food vlog and we'll see you real soon you

Channel: DFBGuide

Views: 160,505

Rating: 4.9376788 out of 5

Keywords: disneyfood, disney, disney world, disneyland, disneyvideo, disneyvacation, food, disney parks, disney travel, disney tips, disney guides, disney planning, disney trip, disney how to, disney vlog, disney vlogger

Id: D8O1Lm1ON-8

Length: 53min 50sec (3230 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 15 2021