Every trip I take teaches me things. Some things are simply useful when I’m at that place, and some are general. I like writing them down so I can go back and reference them later!

Closer is Better The first time we went to Universal Orlando we stayed at Loew’s Portofino Hotel, and we loved it. I think it may be my favorite hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Still, this time we wanted to try something different, so we booked at the Hard Rock Hotel. We really liked the hotel, but not as much as the Portofino. However, the difference in walking distance was really dramatic. The closeness made the less great hotel my overall preference. After 20,000 steps in a day, cutting a couple hundred off the walk back to the resort is welcome.

A Day Off is Important In the past when we’ve visited Disney, I’ve always scheduled a day off in the middle of our stay. With little kids, that was really necessary. We’d take a day to sleep in, hit some character meals at resorts, and enjoy the things outside of the parks. This time I wanted to schedule a day off, but I also wanted to be spend five days in the parks and be home before the July 4 holiday. The latter won out, but I think I made the wrong call. We had a lovely pool at our resort, and we barely got to spend any time in it. We also chose sleep over park time on Friday, which I think we would not have done if we’d had a day off. So, if I had it to do over again, I would have taken Thursday off and flown home early on Sunday, July 4. Or spent only four days at the parks. But only one day at Magic Kingdom might have been too much pressure!

Sometimes the Splurge is Worth It When I was considering booking a cabana at Volcano Bay, it was a tough call. It was a lot of money for one day. I don’t think I would have booked if it hadn’t been a present for Andy, but I’m really glad we had it. It made the day so much less stressful not to have to worry about whether someone was going to steal our seats — and our belongings — while we were riding a ride. And having someone get us food saved a ton of time, which is a premium when you’re at a park. I’m very thankful that we have the luxury of splurging sometimes, and that I took advantage of it.

You Can Deactivate Magic Bands Did you know this? I don’t even remember how I learned this. You can deactivate magic bands using the My Disney Experience App. It’s really easy once you know it’s there. It saves the battery so that you can use your magic band more times. It also means that no one can somehow gain access to your old magic band and start making purchases on it. If you have a magic band from an old park visit, go log into My Disney Experience and deactivate it right now! Log in, then go to My Account, My Profile. Click on Magic Bands & Cards, then Your Magic Bands & Cards. Simple!

Cooling Towels Really Work At the big store at Disney Springs I saw a towel with Mickeys on it that claimed to cool you down. I figured it was worth a try. The instructions said to get the towel wet with water or sweat (I thought that was weird when I read it, but let me tell you, I was so sweaty all week that I actually used that option a couple times), then hold on to both ends and “snap” it. Somehow that activates something in the towel, and it is way cooler than it would be with water alone. I tried it, and that thing is magic! I wore it all week. Andy bought one a couple days in so that we didn’t have to share. It really made a huge difference in my enjoyment on those hot Florida summer days.

You Can’t Get from Beach Club Resort to Magic Kingdom Unless You Take a Bus When I booked at Beach Club, one of the big draws for me was that (I thought) we’d only have to take a bus to Animal Kingdom. From Beach Club you can walk or take a boat or the Skyliner to Animal Kingdom. You can easily walk to Epcot. And I was thinking that we could either take the Skyliner to the Ticket & Transportation Center, then take the monorail to Magic Kingdom or go to the far side of Epcot and take the monorail the whole way to Magic Kingdom. I was wrong. The Skyliner doesn’t go to the Ticket & Transportation Center! It goes to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and the following resorts: Riviera, Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, and Art of Animation. Oops. And there’s not really a way to get to the far side of Epcot from Beach Club unless you go through Epcot, which is impossible without park hopper passes that we didn’t have. Since we went to Magic Kingdom two days, and we took a nap break in the middle of one of those days, it was six more bus rides than I’d counted on.

The Default Setting on Memory Maker Sets a Filter All week we couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t see Ellie’s PhotoPass photos on the My Disney Experience app. Finally, on our last night, I stopped in at PhotoPass building on Main Street USA and asked. It was as simple as turning off a filter that defaults to “Only Mine.” The lady switched it to “View All,” and there they were! Simple, but only when you know about it.

There are a few mistakes I don’t need to make again, but I’m sure there are plenty more waiting on the next trip.