So as a foot doctor, whenever I see someone walking around in terrible shoes at Disney World, the first thing I think is "I hope they live locally" followed by the thought that this is job security for a foot doctor!  The problem is that a bad pair of shoes can make the "Happiest Place on Earth"..... miserable!

Living just 23 miles from one of the biggest family tourist destinations in the world, we often frequent Disney ourselves.  Our little family of five have annual passes and having 3 children 10 and under, it is one of our favorite places to visit.  But being 2 married foot doctors, we can't help but notice the terrible foot gear that walks by while we are just sitting shoveling in the funnel cake!  So we decided to share with you pictures we took on the down low yesterday at EPCOT while enjoying the International Food & Wine Festival. 

It was not hard to see bad shoes and capture them on the camera phone while sitting eating Chinese Tacos, Patagonia Empanadas, Polish Kielbasa & Pierogies, popcorn and many more treats but I am still in denial about how much we actually ate yesterday! I only wish we would have thought about doing this the night before when we went to the Magic Kingdom and Mickey's not So Scary Halloween Party, because I remember seeing some people in high heels! 

I think it is amazing, in general, when people go on vacation with the mentality that they are invincible and that bad things can not happen to them.  I mean we all do it, we go on a cruise sign up for an excursion to whale watch on a ship cruising right next to huge whale but the ship is 1/2 the size of the whale.  Maybe that seems like a bigger risk than wearing bad shoes to Disney but the amount of times people are hurt by the whales swimming next to their tiny whale watching ship is really, really small.  The amount of people that have foot pain after wearing bad shoes walking around Disney all day is most likely close to 100%. 

Hopefully, you can use our "Do's and Don'ts" for appropriate shoe gear while visiting the many tourist attractions in the Central Florida location.  You can even write down our office phone number so if you have foot pain while visiting Disney you can come see us in our Clermont Florida office:) I try to remind people all the time that foot pain is not normal, so if your feet hurt, you are most likely doing something wrong!

Gladiator Lady

First shoe, "No, No" at Disney walking around has to be the ladies who think they should be in that Gladiator movie 300, I think it was called.  I can guarantee you that this lady will have the sorest feet the next day after walking around.  There is just too much wrong with this shoe for her not to have foot pain.  Let's work from the back to forward.  The awkwardly high material hugging her Achilles' tendon area in an unnatural way that will only result in her getting a nice blister due to the very unforgiving nature of the material of this shoe.  Then the straps in front of the ankle will definitely be causing her some irritation in the front of the ankle and this material extends on the top of the foot and the toes! NO GOOD can come from this type of shoe!  But I left the best for last, the arch, much like her gladiator ancestors the material on the bottom of this shoe looks like a thick leaf meant to try to protect her foot from ants.

Two bad shoes in one picture! (Bonus)

Two of my least favorite shoe types that are unavoidable living in Florida to see out and about is the flip flop and the ballerina slipper shoe.  Now each of these shoes are fine to slip on and run into CVS for some cough drops, but come on! Wearing shoes like this in a place like Disney World is just asking for trouble and here is why.  Both of these types of shoes are so flat and offer absolutely no support.  If you are walking around on concrete all day, this is not a great choice in either of these shoes.  The distance around the World Showcase from China to Canada alone is 1.25 miles, that does not include the distance to get into the park from the parking lot or the walk from your car to the front gate!  I think if you were to really stop and think about walking probably about 3 miles you would not grab these types of shoes. You would think sneakers!! The ballerina shoes also have the added bonus of getting very, very, very stinky in the hot Florida sun. You basically are incubating something in this type of shoe in Florida!

And The Top Three Worst Shoes at Disney are........

To the left you will see the picture my 8 year old made me take while we stopped and had Kakigori in Japan at EPCOT. (Kakigori is shaved flavored ice that is awesome by the way!) She said, "Mommy this lady's feet are perfect for your blog. Check out how her toe is just hanging off the shoe. I bet she is sitting down because her pinky toe hurts!"  Again, she is 8 and states she would never where those shoes, pointing out the obvious flaws and downfalls of the shoe, particularly for this lady's foot type! I concur with the 8 year old.

I call this one, "lady wearing super uncomfortable shoes at Disney."  It works, right! So as we were enjoying our Chinese Tacos(that is also a real thing and also the most delicious thing ever) we saw this nice lady.  Her shoes must have been so comfortable that she felt the need to try to escape them. People again, COME ON, do not wear shoes like this to an amusement park. Your feet are going to hurt! This women is literally trying to escape her shoes.  Don't be like this lady, this is a major Disney Foul!