6 Mistakes Every Disney Fan in Their 20s Makes at Disney World

I’m a 20-something Disney Adult who goes to Disney World a LOT, and my friends and I have made a bunch of mistakes in the parks!

When visiting Disney World, you learn through quite a bit of trial and error, and some of these mistakes are incredibly easy to make in your 20s. Let’s go through some of the biggest offenders and break down how you can avoid falling into these traps!

Getting Dehydrated

I see this one ALL THE TIME, and it has definitely happened to me a time or two. When you’re grown up and on your own, going to the parks as a young adult, it’s easy to forget to hydrate since you don’t have your parents and guardians reminding you at every turn. This is particularly true for those who choose to imbibe and pick up a few alcoholic beverages throughout the day — it’s even more important for you guys to make sure you’re drinking water between every cocktail or brew.

My personal issue is that I often bring my own refillable water bottle and then forget to refill it, so make sure to keep your eye out for bottle refill stations around the parks. They’ve been popping up with increasing frequency in recent years!

A Full List of Water Bottle Refill Locations in Disney World

Trying to Do Too Much

It’s so easy to feel invincible in your 20s, and that often translates to park guests who think they can handle anything. You make ambitious plans to rope drop and stay until park close while hitting all the big coasters and subsisting on Mickey bars and spring rolls.

But by day two or three of your trip, that plan is going to fail you. Theme park days in Disney World often have 20K+ step counts and can be more than 12 hours from start to finish. Add in the little sleep you’re probably getting, and you’re not giving your body enough time to recover. Plan for a resort day…trust us, you’ll need it. It’s okay to take breaks because you’ll enjoy the trip more overall!

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Not Dressing Practically for the Parks

When you’re young and hot and vivacious, you want to dress like it! And I totally get it…but you have GOT to plan your outfits better for the parks. The itty bitty shorts that’ll leave you chafed halfway through day one and the shoes that give you blisters when you wear them for more than six hours are simply not cutting it. There are plenty of ways to dress practically for the parks and still look cute.

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Invest in some fun athleisure sets, get yourself a comfy pair of walking shoes, and for the love of all that is good, style your hair in a way that you won’t regret when it’s approximately one million degrees outside. If you want to wear a dress, get some slip shorts or use an anti-chafe stick. Just make sure you’re setting yourself up for success, because an uncomfortable outfit will ruin your day so fast.

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Not Planning Enough

Okay, you’re in your 20s, which means YOU are the adult now. You may have managed to round up your friends for a trip, and you’ve got the hotel and park tickets…but that is NOT all! If you’re going to lead the trip, you need to do some basic research before heading to Disney World.

Those who show up without a plan to tackle the parks often make major mistakes, like choosing the exact wrong rides at rope drop and being forced to wait in long lines later on. I’ve seen many confused groups standing around midday for half an hour, figuring out where to eat lunch. If you don’t do a little planning in advance, then you’ll actually waste time in the middle of your day and won’t get the most bang for your buck.

In general, you’ll probably want to check out the list of attractions each park offers and choose a plan of attack for your day. Also, make sure to look at the available food and entertainment options to see which appeal to you. A crash course on using Lightning Lanes to cut down on wait times wouldn’t hurt, either. To help with that, make sure to check out our YouTube channel for plenty of park tips!

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Skipping the “Lame” Stuff

When you’re in your 20s, you can definitely get caught up in the “I’m an adult now and need to do adult things” mindset. But Disney World isn’t just made up of big thrill rides and roller coasters…arguably, it’s not as adult-forward as other theme parks in the area.

You’re not too old or grown to enjoy things like character meets, live entertainment, or walk-through exhibits. In fact, sometimes those “extras” besides the big thrill rides can be the things that truly make a trip. And don’t skip the “kiddie” rides either — everyone deserves to have a blast on Dumbo the Flying Elephant and spin a teacup at top speed. It’s what makes Disney, Disney.

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Going With the Wrong People

Last but not least, we’ve got to talk about your travel party. Once you’ve caught the “Disney bug” it can be tempting to include anyone and everyone in your trip, but sometimes choosing the wrong people to travel with can make the experience not-so-magical.

And it doesn’t always happen the way you think. Even if you get along fine, traveling with people who have vastly different budgets, thrill levels, physical stamina, or sleep schedules than you can pose a lot of problems. You’ll spend the whole trip arguing about what to do and when.

The best way to mitigate this is to have honest conversations about expectations BEFORE your trip so that everyone can be on the same page. There’s plenty of room to compromise. And if you can’t, it’s totally okay to split up — stay at different hotels, eat at different restaurants, or break to go on different attractions.

Going to Disney World in your 20s can be a peak experience, especially if you know how to do it right! Just make sure you do the planning ahead of time…AND drink lots of water.