I know everyone’s feet are different but I wanted to throw out some love for Merrill sandals 
I have 2 pairs and I rotate then with sneakers. They have been great even for full length park days. They are my favorite sandals ever and come in cute colors or neutrals (I have a tan and a baby blue of different styles)
This guy is really making me rethink shoes and making me want to buy some xero shoes
Be aware there is an adjustment period if you move to minimalist shoes. It can be significant for some people as they try to retrain the muscles and ligaments in the foot. It’s definitely not for everyone.
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yeah…they’re probably not right for disney (bc they aren’t water resistant)…especially since I leave in 10 days, but this has definitely led me to start rethinking how shoes should fit and I will probably get a pair soon.
I’ve heard this guy’s arguments (not form him specifically) in the past, but I think he’s just got a good sales pitch. I tried low profile/minimalist running shoes…and while they were fine, I actually overall found them a worse experience longer term. I had more foot pain and more leg/back pain as a result.
The toes splaying thing is true…if you aren’t wearing shoes. Your toes have to naturally splay out to give you more balance if your shoes aren’t doing it for you. Your toes shouldn’t be squished, either…but there is no need for your toes to splay out if the toe box of your shoe provides adequate support/balance.
I’m not saying there is anything WRONG with these kind of shoes. I’m just saying, he does a good job of unnecessarily vilifying standard shoes.
most shoes do feel tight and uncomfortable on the toes. The wide toe splay definitely makes sense for someone like me who sometimes has to buy wide shoes.
It seems like that probably is unhealthy to keep the toes squished a little when walking or running on them.
Yeah. Most places, when recommending running shoes, always tell you to make sure the toe box is not squishing your toes. None of my running shoes have ever squished my toes together…but they also don’t allow them to “splay” as this guy suggests because the width of the toe box part of the shoe is plenty wide enough to offer stability.
I guess everyone’s feet are different. Most shoes don’t seem to offer enough room for the toes for me.
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What you say is interesting and I tend to agree. My sister and mom swear by Altras because of the zero drop and wide toe box. I tried them and did not like them. My gait naturally has me walking more on the balls of my feet maybe so I want a shoe sole to have lift? Idk. But I think you are right about the toe box because that part also threw me off. I do martial arts and yoga so can see lots of splay being a good thing for balance in bare feet, but in a shoe it just felt weird, like you said the shoe grip is really more important than whatever your feet are doing inside the shoe to grip. Probably being too analytical (gasp! not again! 
).
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I don’t think you need to have your toes be able to spread out like fingers in your shoe, but I also think most shoes don’t have enough room for your toes and tend to squish them super slightly.
I ordered some xeros from amazon to test out. The great thing is they have free returns for any reason. The only thing I’m concerned about is the lack of heel elevation.
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Wear whatever is most comfortable. I’ve worn black sneakers with khaki shorts before.
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Maybe get a wider width shoe?
the problem is, alot of shoes don’t have wider widths. Especially when you’re cheap like me and you try to get adidas ultraboost on super sale.
In the end, I’m gonna wear my old ultraboost with some gym shorts. shorts are quick dry, so good for rain and dreaded water rides. I’ll have sandals as a backup just in case. And i’ll be trying on some xero shoes today just to test out.
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I really like my sneakers, they’re so comfortable.
Me (Female, 64) and son (28) both wore sketcher sandals on days we knew it was going to rain alot (September - lots of rain several of the days). They were great - comfy and waterproof. Be sure to break them in before trip and take some moleskin to put on the minute you feel a hot spot coming on because you will start getting blisters no matter what show you wear if you are there long and walk alot like we did for 8 days. Our Sketcher tennis shoes were even more comfortable for all day so we wore them more often. On Amazon we bought some soft silicone shoe covers that you pull on over your tennis shoe and zip up and tighten around the top that were awesome to keep our shoes dry in the rain - the ones we got were $14 and the seller was Yueva. They were awesome and so many people were envious of my dry tennis shoes. They were thin and didn’t take up much space in backpack. Mine could fit in a large fanny pack but son’s feet too big - had to have a small backpack for his. For water rides, I carried a kitchen trash bag in my backpack and put my feet in it and held it up around my knees to keep my tennis shoes dry - quick and easy. I also took a Lavieair Shoe Dryer I bought off Amazon that dried my son’s tennis shoes when he didn’t wear his shoe covers. It took up room but is worth it if your tennis shoes get wet. I also bought some very cheap thin plastic shoe covers that come up the leg a bit off Amazon that we could have worn - especially for a quick water ride, but I found the trash bag was quick and easy and the silicone shoe covers were more durable for walking around in the rain so we didn’t try the thin inexpensive ones we took.
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