Noob Mistakes You Made During Your First WDW Visit

[Janir]

Not so much a "mistake," but if I had our first visit to do over again, I wouldn't have invested in the Disney dining plan (standard). The four of us couldn't remotely eat enough to make it worth our while, and having to make so many table-service ADRs limited our touring flexibility. (Now that both of my kids are over 9 and would have to pay adult prices, the DDP would be even worse for us.)

*Caveat: On a couple of subsequent visits when the DDP was offered "free" (at a discount), we were able to use it very successfully, but I'd never pay full price for it again.

Honestly, other than that, between the Unofficial Guide and this forum, we got so much great advice before our trip that we didn't have any other "noob" mistakes or missteps! Unless you count stepping foot inside Stitch's Great Escape... that's a few minutes of our lives we'll never get back.

Ok, I'll admit I did the DDP once for the DW and I as a WDW parks veteran. Won't again. Too much food. mostly getting full desserts that we didn't always need and want. And attempting to manage the credits to get max value out of them was a pain.

 

[Professor_Jason]

The biggest mistake I made on my first visit was hitting the parks every day open to close without taking breaks, I went home sick and my thighs were on fire for days

 

[stratman50th]

First trip was 1976 and there wasn't much open. Magic Kingdom and River Country. Don't recall any real mistakes then.
The next trip was 1989 which was the beginning of the yearly, and sometimes multiple trips per year. We started as park commandos and went without a break. Suffered from bad shoes, tired legs and chafing! We didn't plan much back then, just tried to hit it all. The lines weren't a problem then either. Exhaustion, baby powder and mole skin were the rule of the day. So yeah, constant movement for six straight days without downtime was the mistake I can vividly remember.

 

[jetnut77]

In 1990, my in-laws had a timeshare and wanted to have a Disney family vacation.
My father in-law, mother in-law, brother in-law, his 2 boys (age 6 and 8) my wife, our 4 year old daughter and me.
The 1st day, my nephews wanted to go to Epcot. I told my wife we should take our 4 year old
girl to MK. My in-laws insisted we all stay together on our family vacation. I reluctantly agreed
and off to Epcot we went. 1st attraction my nephews wanted to go to was World of Energy.
When my 4 year old daughter saw the dinosaurs, she started crying, screaming and trying to get out
of her seat to escape from them. We told her for weeks we were going to see Mickey and Minnie,
but traumatized her instead.

 

[Raineman]

1998 was my first long trip (7 days) as an adult and my first time staying on property. I had no clue parking was free for resort guests and paid for parking almost every day of the trip.

I would imagine, even 20 years ago, that added up to a decent amount of extra $$ spent over a week's time.

 

[Stellajack]

My first mistake was going the last week in July!

 

[bubbles1812]

My first mistake was going the last week in July!

You know, it’s funny, we always went in the summer months when I was a kid but since I’ve grown up and have control of when I visit... I haven’t been back in June, July, or August. Can’t imagine why.

 

[KrzyKtty]

While it wasn't our 1st trip, the mistake I would say we made on the last trip would also be investing and the standard DDP. With a vegetarian and 2 kids in the next, it was near impossible to really get our money out of it to. I was overly optimistic it seems on our eating capabilities.

 

[ElvisMickey]

Crying on Snow White's Scary Adventures because the old hag scared the hell out of me. Hey...it was 1981 and I was 4 years old, what can I say

 

[Kingoglow]

Paid rack rate.

 

[Elfinko]

Opted for a moderate resort and shorter stay vs. just spending less on a value resort and a longer stay.

 

[hauntology]

Honestly portion sizes at restaurants.

I've been going to WDW for years as a kid so I knew the water is gross, which rides to hit up first, etc. Now that I'm in my twenties and going with friends and paying for my own food, it's been a bit of a hassle to figure out which restaurant would give me the most bang for my buck.

The portion sizes at restaurants across the board are so variant that it's difficult to know if you'll be full with what you get. Now I just look up individual dishes with restaurants, and not just reviews of the quality, to see if it's even ENOUGH food.

Places I've had this issue: Kona Cafe, Tiffins (But the food was stellar in taste at both locations!)

 

[WDWFan2018]

My first visit to EPCOT was when I was 9 or 10 I think around 1983.. EPCOT had just opened a year or two earlier and we split the park into 2 days. One day for Future World, One day for World Showcase..

As an uninterested-in-history-or-culture kid, that World Showcase Day was the worst.. This was long before Frozen and even before Norway was built.

Thankfully our next trip was when I was 15 and my parents were nice enough to let me go nuts with my World Hopper ticket (I think that's what they were called?) and I only had to "check in" for dinner at a pre-determined location..

LOL same here. We were there in 1988 and I remember not liking Epcot. I remember saying "Horizon was awesome but everything else was boring" . Now, it's my favourite.

 

[Vacationeer]

We were those clueless parents with a baby in the stroller both times when we brought our son when he was 2 and 3. No plan at all, just exploring the parks haphazardly. It worked out fine and our days were full of fun but we missed some worthwhile attractions and menus.

Now we schedule our trips to make sure we don't miss priorities and also leave time for spontaneity like the good ol' days.

 

[Vacationeer]

Haha, one vivid memory comes to mind. We were relaxing and eating lunch somewhere in the back of Liberty Square when we hear a commotion. We pop up and make our way out... Look at that, it's the parade! Yeah, we were really clueless, I'm surprised we knew enough to catch the fireworks.

 

[brickbuilder711]

I can't name one from a first visit, but a noob move was almost leaving MK when Wishes had a brief weather delay. And standing near the train station. Could have probably been closer.

Another one... waiting 90" for Soarin.

 

[PorterRedkey]

As a 5 year old, I didn't photograph every square inch or video record every second of every ride, attraction, and parade in my days in MK in the late 70's, or in EPCOT Center in the 80's.

Unforgivable!

 

[Po'Rich]

The first time I went was during Christmas time. A friend of mine told me not to worry about ADRs. This was a BIG mistake. After the first day, I was online (and on the phone) trying to grab whatever I could get for the rest of the week.

The second mistake came from not doing enough research. I knew that we wanted to do the Candlelight Processional, but I didn't know about the meal package. We ended up waiting for hours to get in and were finally in last row of the last show. We had eaten at Marrakesh earlier that day (one of the ADRs that I was able to get), but I didn't even know to ask about a Candlelight Processional package.

Since that time, I spend a LOT more time researching every option. I must say that these boards are a great place to learn about opportunities.

 

[danyoung56]

Another one... waiting 90" for Soarin.

You waited 90 seconds for Soarin'???