5 mistakes I’ve made when planning Disney World trips

In years and years of planning Disney World trips, we've made some mistakes.

And you will too.

You can read and research to plan your trip but some of what you learn will be gained just by going there and figuring things out in person.

But, there are a few mistakes we've made that you can learn from.

Here's 5 of the most common mistakes made when planning Disney World trips and what you should do instead.

Mistake #1: not allowing enough time for transportation

You may read that the distance between any 2 points at Disney World is just a few miles so you might assume that it'll just take a few minutes to get there.

Trust us:

Nothing at Disney World takes a few minutes.

When using Disney transportation, allow for at least 60 minutes (and 90 minutes is even better!) to get anywhere. It may not end up taking that long but often times, it does.

Shannon remembers:

On our first trip, we had young children so I planned an afternoon break each day but a dining reservation around 5. By the time we left the parks around 1 or 2, got back to the hotel, laid down for a few minutes it was time to go again!

Because of that, we suggest considering taking a taxi or Lyft/Uber or even a Minnie Van to alleviate some of the long travel times.

Times when taxis/Ubers make a lot of sense include:

• Traveling between many resorts
• After a nighttime show when the bus line is really long
• When your schedule is tight and you need to save some time

Mistake #2: eating all over the place

There are a LOT of places to eat at Disney World.

Our mistake was reading about a fun place to eat and adding it to our plans without considering where it was located.

That's why we suggest making your daily plan (step 3 in the planning process) and then choosing your dining based on where you'll be located each day.

Mistake #3: planning too much

The top thing that we recommend to people is that they pare down their plans.

It's super tempting to want to do it all but you won't. It's important to be realistic and allow some free time to be flexible.

Planning too much means you spend your trip being frantic to get to the next thing rather than enjoying things as you do them.

Mistake #4: not using PhotoPass photographers

After our first Disney World trips, we realized we didn't have many pics with our entire families in them.

Now whenever we go with our families we make sure to seek out the handy PhotoPass Photographers so we can have pictures of everyone all together.

Learn more about PhotoPass photographers.

Mistake #5: booking flights based on cost alone

This is sort of a general mistake but after getting stuck at Ohare well into the wee hours of the morning after a Disney trip, we really suggest not doing this with your Disney trips.

Most people book flights based on cost which is why the airlines know they can get away with not offering much seat space or any extras.

If they do offer extras and charge more, people will still always be looking for the best deal.

Flights really need to be chosen based on a combo of things including schedule and price.

If you can book direct flights, do that. That reduces the possibility of delays and allows you to start and end your Disney World trip with less stress.

And, when looking at flights, make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

To learn more about booking flights for your Disney World trip, read my article on finding the best flights.