What are some of your favorite Disney secrets? What tips have you learned from your travels or heard before you went and are glad that you listened to? We are planning our first trip and I am putting together a list of secrets and tips from those that have been there to help make it more enjoyable and maybe point out something that is easily missed.
Some things that I have picked up from another site:
--pack individual outfits for the kids in ziploc bags - makes mornings easy - just grab a bag - plus just grab an extra to bring into the park just in case
--if you buy a Disney poncho and it rips, bring it to any store and it will be replaced for free
--in Hollywood Studios if you pull on the handle of the umbrella from Singin' in the Rain, it will actually rain
Does anyone have any other little fun tips like these that we could all enjoy?
Abigail 5/17/06 Isabelle 10/17/07 Baby #3 Due Dec
If you want to make a good investment, take the afternoon off and play with your kids. - paraphrased from Ben Stein
Tie something bright around your stroller handle, so you can find it in the sea of strollers
Bring extra batteries, or be prepared to remortgage your house to pay for them in the park
We love to find hidden mickeys, so much that my kids find them EVERYWHERE now!!
-If you haven't picked a date yet then try the beginning of September or Early March. WDW is fairly empty during the week and has little or no wait for rides.The beginning a December is also a great time to visit. Avoid the two weeks before and after Easter and after mid may until late August if you have little ones.Peak season and lines can reach hour long waits. They also have to shut down the gates if the park reaches capacity. People are asked to visit other parks until crowds thin out.
- If you want to attend a character breakfast that's not as crowded as MK then go to the Cape May cafe at the Yacht and Beach Resort, an all you can eat breakfast that few people know about. Usually attended by Mickey ,Minnie,Goofy , Chip and Dale.
- If you want the best seats in the house for EPCOT's Illuminations then eat at the Rose &Crown in the UK Pavilion. Their back deck is on the lagoon. Children are usually chosen from the guests to start the festivities. They use a magic wand to begin the magic. Or chose the bridge by France.
- Snow White and other favorite characters are all at EPCOT in small courtyards for visits throughout the day. You have to look for them in the back of each pavilion. Pooh and Friends are in the back of the UK. EPCOT has a character bus that makes it's rounds four times each day. Up to 10 characters ride and stop for meet and greets.These lines are much shorter than waiting in MK.
- Watch day parades from the start point in Frontier land at MK. Everyone crowds onto Main street and causes confusion and stress. Also it frees up the back of the park for easier playtime while the rest of the world is up front.
I hope some of this helps.
Bring a pair of PJs for the younger kids (stored in ziplocs) and a also change of clothing for the baby. Before you leave the park at night, change the kids into their PJs so that if they fall asleep on the way back to the hotel, you can just slip them into bed without waking them.
Use a clear see-thorugh bag/backpack for carrying around your stuff in the parks. It makes it MUCH easier to get through the security bag checks at the front gates.
Pack one of those large ziploc bags with snacks to take into the parks.
For the baby, pack a bib, wipes, toddler utensils, and any baby food you need in another ziploc bag. That keeps everything together for an easy grab-n-go packet when you park your stroller and go into any of the restaurants.
I second the bright scarf/hankerchief around the stroller handle idea. On our last trip in October, someone walked off with our stroller, and we walked off with theirs. Fortunately, theirs had a luggage tag on it, so I could call the owner and arrange to exchange our strollers.
Write your cell phone number on your business card, then take a picture of the card with your digital camera (first photo). That way, if your camera gets lost, an honest person will be able to call you to return it. Also keep a business card w/your cell phone # in the camera case.
www.safetytats.com. We put one of these on my daughter nearly every time we go to the parks, in case she gets lost.
Sit up front near the skipper on the Jungle Cruise. Last time we "sailed," our daughter Alyssa was invited to drive the boat and got a Jungle Cruise Skipper's license. It made her day! (Note - this opportunity may or may not be available, depending on the skipper of the boat.)
More to come as I think of it.
Oh yeah! If you get a photopass, take a picture of the number on the back with your digital camera, just in case you lose the pass.
In AK, Tusker House has (or at least they did in Jan.) a lunch + show package, where if you eat lunch during specific hours there, they will give you reserved seating tickets to the Nemo show. A similar Plan-n-Dine package is available at certain restaurants in HS for dinner + the Fantasmic show.
Quoting LadyJag:
Oh yeah! If you get a photopass, take a picture of the number on the back with your digital camera, just in case you lose the pass.
In AK, Tusker House has (or at least they did in Jan.) a lunch + show package, where if you eat lunch during specific hours there, they will give you reserved seating tickets to the Nemo show. A similar Plan-n-Dine package is available at certain restaurants in HS for dinner + the Fantasmic show.
I second this. We just got back from a week at WDW. I had my photo pass and heard to take a picture of it. So I did. After 4 days, I lost it. I just took the camera to a Photo Pass station, and they found all of our pictures. You get the card in and out so much that it's easy to loose. They also told us if you know when and where you took the last picture that they can look it up by location and time.
THAT'S THE BEST ADVICE FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN GOING AWHILE. THANKS!
Quoting Emme_E:
Quoting LadyJag:
Oh yeah! If you get a photopass, take a picture of the number on the back with your digital camera, just in case you lose the pass.
In AK, Tusker House has (or at least they did in Jan.) a lunch + show package, where if you eat lunch during specific hours there, they will give you reserved seating tickets to the Nemo show. A similar Plan-n-Dine package is available at certain restaurants in HS for dinner + the Fantasmic show.
I second this. We just got back from a week at WDW. I had my photo pass and heard to take a picture of it. So I did. After 4 days, I lost it. I just took the camera to a Photo Pass station, and they found all of our pictures. You get the card in and out so much that it's easy to loose. They also told us if you know when and where you took the last picture that they can look it up by location and time.
Everyone in our family has a Camel Bac backpack - even our 2 year old. You can get these kind of backpacks at sporting goods stores. We have the kind with some small pockets to hold a few little things - like our photo pass. But the water bag is what makes it totally worthwhile. We fill it with ice and a little water in the morning before we leave. Then not only do we have ice cold water - for free - available at our fingertips, but the bag gets lighter as the day goes on since you're drinking the water.
We carry the camelbacs, too. Their great.
Quoting ABNMommy:Everyone in our family has a Camel Bac backpack - even our 2 year old. You can get these kind of backpacks at sporting goods stores. We have the kind with some small pockets to hold a few little things - like our photo pass. But the water bag is what makes it totally worthwhile. We fill it with ice and a little water in the morning before we leave. Then not only do we have ice cold water - for free - available at our fingertips, but the bag gets lighter as the day goes on since you're drinking the water.
We took a clear ID holder w/ us to hold our KTW cards and Photopass card. If you turn the photopass card around where the little black scanning box is pointed outward you dont have to take it out everytime they just scan it through the plastic. I kept that in a cargo pocket (either mine or hubby's) for easy grabs.
We wore the matching shirts each day not only for better pics but for "safety" because if one of our kids walked off (which the oldest was known to do but didnt do) all we had to say was "he is wearing this."
If using DME mail stuff you are going to need right away, but dont want to carry on the airplane (like us we had 2 kids and our diaper bag to deal w/, so we didnt do carry ons). We did a flat rate box and it got there in 2 days.
Carry at least 1 change of clothes for tods and babies. We had one but our son got sick on that, and we had to buy a 2nd change of clothes...that sucked. Pants arent as inexpensive as shirts so I would do at least 2 pants.
If staying at the All Star Sports the parmesean chicken alfredo is good and filling...really good for fast food IMHO.
All of us in Matching MVMCP shirts to demonstrate the matching shirt thing.
Take as much as you can with you from home.
all meds tylenol advil pepto dramamine and ALOE GEL OR SPRAY for sunburns.
Take a cooler with snacks and drinks...
Buy glow sticks and flash lights. Disney themed stickers and sippy cups...ect. We even stopped at walmart not far from Disney and bought disney dolls and mickey and minnie stuff.
Cover your stroller when you park it.....keeps it dry from rain and clean from all the birds flyin at the parks. ***also make sure there are no snacks left on the tray of the stroller and they are put in a zip bag out of sight. Those birds are crazy down there lolol***
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This Nevada mom of two - who are just 18 months apart! - is married to her high school sweetheart and loves to craft in her free time.
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- mupt02
on Nov. 24, 2009 at 11:20 PM