We ate the World! What we learned, and what we can use for next time

Here, in no particular order, are

The Things We Learned From This Trip:

1.  Organization is our Key To Success.  I read a lot on the DIS about people who can't stand to have a plan, they just wake up at whatever time in the morning, roll out of bed, and get on whatever bus shows up first.  My family would combust on the spot if we ever tried something like this.  WE MUST HAVE A PLAN.  THE MORE DETAILED, THE BETTER.  It just helps us to function, with as few meltdowns as possible.  It also helped that the Hubs had his own version of The Plan, laminated even, so he knew what was happening. 

2.  Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are half day parks for us. 

3.  Free dining is the way to go for our family.  I know, I know, everyone says "it's not really free, as you're paying more for your room..." blah blah blah.  It worked for us.  Having a table service (sit down) meal each day forced us to take a break in our day.  Plus, we got to eat some pretty amazing food that we never would have ordered if we had to "pay" for it.

4.  The Hubs says to bring an umbrella.  I don't agree with this, because then you have to deal with a dripping umbrella. 

5.  Hats are a must!  During the heat of the day it kept the sun out of my eyes.  During the every day rain showers the hat kept the rain off my glasses.

6.  Orlando water isn't that bad.  Our first trip, we spent over $200 on water.  For 8 days.  The FL water was completely undrinkable to me.  This time, it was fine.  We brought filtered water bottles to refill, and while they were great, and we were able to carry water with us at all times, we really didn't need the filtered bit.  Next time I'll probably just bring regular bottles.

7.  Dinosaur is NOT like Indiana Jones in Disneyland.  The only resemblance is the ride vehicle.  Riding Dinosaur did not make up for missing Indy.  I miss Indy, it's our family's absolute favorite ride.

8.  Having a rental car is the way to go for our family.  We never had to wait for a bus.  And while it seemed silly at the time, and I really thought, "how much am I packing for this trip??"  bringing the antennae topper for the rental car was an awesome idea.  We never "lost" our car. 

9.  Disney hotels are extremely efficient.  They have a lot of storage space, especially in the bathroom area.  There's a curtain that separates the bathroom sink area from the rest of the room, and that was just awesome.  Every hotel should be this well designed!

10.  Putting the Kid's clothes in a baggie for every day of our trip was one of the smartest things I've ever done.  There were absolutely no fights about what clothes she needed to wear.  No, "but I don't want to wear that today!"  It was all, "ok, where's my baggie for the day?"  I put everything she needed in there, including undies and socks.  If she found a pair of socks, she knew it was a tennis shoe kind of day.  If there were no socks, she knew it was a sandals day.  No arguements!

11.  I need to bring my own cheap coffee maker.  In fact, I've already bought one for the next trip.  It was $7, and is a 4 cup size.  Even if I have to ditch the thing at the end of the trip, I'm still better off!  The Disney coffee is just dismal.  I travel with my own coffee (nothing special, just a mild coffee that doesn't upset my stomach), filters and even a reusable Kuerig filter as more and more hotel rooms have that kind of maker.  Naturally, the last 2 rooms I've stayed in have had some random coffee maker with it's own special pod type thing, and the coffee provided is way to strong for me.  I need coffee, and if not coffee then at least tea.  Coke in the AM, just for the caffeine, is not my friend.

12.  We need to do our shopping as we go, and not wait until the last day.  By that time, we were shopped out, tired of spending money, and tired of trying to figure out what someone might or might not like.  Shop early!

13.  Even though Disney considers the Kid to be an adult, for tickets and the dining plan anyway, she is not.  There were several meals where she just wanted to order a burger, or maybe not even order her own meal at all but share with us.  We pushed her to order though, because of the dining plan.  Next time, I'm planning to pay out of pocket for most of her meals, and that will leave us with even more credits to use!

14.  We also learned that the Kid is not really a dinner eater.  She loves breakfast, and by the time dinner comes around she's just not that hungry, especially for the fancier places like Narcoossee's and Artist Point.  We need to schedule more breakfasts for her.

And that's what we learned this trip!