2. You weren’t prepared for the walking

Image: Disney

Walt Disney World can be one exhausting place. The average guest walks a whopping ten miles a day! For the unprepared, this endless exertion can easily ruin a Walt Disney World vacation with blistering feet, cranky family members, and brutal shin splints.

Fortune favors the prepared, and that is definitely the case for minimizing walking pains at Walt Disney World. We found all sorts of hacks you can use to treat your aching feet. For one thing, wear comfortable tennis shoes instead of anything dressier. As much as I love my Ecco walking sandals, they left my feet battered and blistered every trip. Things went much better for our family when we all switched to comfy tennis shoes and socks. Plan regular breaks throughout the day, and it certainly can’t hurt to do some walking and light exercise before your trip. You can also pamper your feet with moleskin patches, foot lubricant, and even something as simple as changing your socks midday.

If the blister blues still strike during your vacation, don’t feel like you have to power through it. Stop by Walt Disney World First Aid. They have a great treatment for blisters ready to go for any guests who need it!

3. You didn’t give yourself any margin of error

Image: Disney

In part one, we mentioned that lack of planning can ruin a good Disney vacation. Even if you’re the spontaneous sort, Fastpasses and dining reservations can evade guests who fail to plan. However, there is another side to this coin.

Overly strict planning can prove just as stressful as no planning at all.

In a place as busy as Walt Disney World, you are going to run into some snags. The kids might have to use the restroom. Dad’s legs might cramp up. Maybe your route to a Fastpass attraction gets blocked by a parade route or the raising of the bridge in World Showcase. If you left no margin for error, the whole family is suddenly angry and stressed out over potentially missing a reservation—or five or six, depending on how many activities you packed into the itinerary.

Wise planning is good, but an overly strict trip plan can exert unnecessary stress on your vacation. You might be a rock star trip planner, but if other members of your party aren’t always good at keeping to that schedule, don’t try to fight it. Instead, plan margins for error and space for spontaneity into your vacation. This can prove especially helpful for large parties with family members who dramatically disagree on how to plan a Disney vacation.