5 Big Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make While Visiting Disney

Planning a Walt Disney World vacation has a lot of steps in it.  When it comes to making mistakes, we have all done it.

Scheduled too many dining reservations, slept in when we should have roped dropped, rope dropped when we should have slept in.  We have all been there.

The big mistakes you don’t want to make though during your Walt Disney World vacation are ones that will ruin the trip for someone else.

We have five big mistakes that guests can make that will impact the experience of other guests around them.  Be aware of these and make sure you don’t do them during your Walt Disney World vacation.

1. Skip the Line

One of the biggest frustrations that guests will come across during their Walt Disney World vacation is line jumpers. We have all seen them and know what we are talking about. These are people that push their way through the line to meet up with others in front. Don’t do this.

We understand that parties get split up or that the little one has to go to the bathroom at the worse possible moment. This doesn’t mean you and ten of your friends should be able to push their way past everyone towards the front.

If your party does get split up, step off to the side and wait for them to catch up.  This is the polite thing to do if they weren’t able to get into the queue with you.  For those that have little ones, before getting out of line, talk to a Disney Cast Member to let them know what is going on.

Often Cast Members will help you formulate a plan to meet back up with your party that doesn’t require you to snake your way through the line.

We know we all don’t like standing in lines, but it is part of the Disney experience.  Don’t be the guests that cause this experience to be even more frustrating than it might already be.

2. Reciting the Ride Lines

If you are a guests that have been blessed to have ridden a Disney ride so many times that you know the punch lines, please don’t say them before they happen. Guests don’t come all the way to Walt Disney World to hear you recite the lines.  We love that you have the lines memorized, but don’t feel like you need to share your skill with everyone around you.

This also goes for having loud conversations during a ride. If you are sharing a vehicle with other guests, be aware that your conversation is going to be taking away from the magic.

We know that making your next Genie+ or mobile order is key, but try to keep the conversation quiet enough that you don’t take away from the ride experience overall.

We aren’t saying that you shouldn’t scream as loud as possible on Space Mountain or point out the animals on Kilimanjaro Safaris, but if you are sharing a space — either a queue, pre-show or a ride vehicle — be aware that other guests might not have experienced the ride yet and you want to make sure that they have a magical time doing so.

3. Use Flash

This is a big no-no on dark rides — don’t use flash.  First of all, flash is not permitted on dark rides such as Haunted Mansion or during shows like Festival of the Lion King. Disney has many announcements and signs to let guests know this rule.

If you are taking flash photographs during a dark ride, even though you have been told not to, it completely ruins the ride for those around you.

Rides such as Under the Sea – Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Haunted Mansion are designed by Disney’s outstanding Imagineers to be in the dark.

By using flash you are lighting up areas of the ride that aren’t supposed to be.  This can show parts of the ride that aren’t supposed to be seen by guests or even distort the ride overall if projections are used.

And finally, no matter how great you think your photos might be, they won’t turn out great.  The photos will probably be blurry and won’t show the magic of the ride anyway.  If you took it off your little ones enjoying the ride, they will probably have red eyes and be hard to see in the dark.

Please, put that phone and camera away during the dark rides and just sit back and enjoy the magical moments so you don’t ruin the experience for others around you with one of the most inconsiderate Disney mistakes around.

4. Ruin the Magic for Others

As adults, most of us are aware of how magic and pixie dust are created throughout Walt Disney World.  Make sure while you are on your Disney vacation that there are little ears everywhere around you and you don’t want to spoil the magic for them.

We highly encourage you to take a moment and step away from reality and just enjoy the magic itself as well. Think back to your childhood and be swept away once again by the magic all around.

5. Being Mean to Cast Members

One of the biggest mistakes that guests can make while at Walt Disney World is to be mean to Cast Members. We want to remind you that these people are working extremely hard to create magic for you each and every day. When things go wrong, they aren’t happy about it either.

There is nothing, nothing, good that can come out of yelling at a Cast Member. These are humans who are working hard and want to help you have a magical trip. Take time to be kind and caring and see where that can get you in the magic.

When you are visiting Walt Disney World, make sure that you aren’t the guest that is making these mistakes that can impact others.  Be kind and caring to those around you so everyone can have a magical vacation.