Tips about Animal, Food & Beverage, Mousecellaneous and Souvenirs
Antenna Toppers -- They make a good identifier for a rental car in a parking lot. - Monte Kremin
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One of our favorite souvenir items from Walt Disney World is picture frames. We have gotten quite a collection over the years. It is a wonderful way to remember your trip and you can fill them with pictures of your trip and look at them every day. We also have a collection of magnets, license plates and beach towels. - Deb Curl
We took in small snack-sized bags of Gatorade to put in our water bottles for the really hot days. The park charges a lot for Gatorade -- almost as much as the canister itself costs -- and you can just tear a tiny bit of the bag off and pour it right in. We also carried our water bottles with our own water bottle holders. Family Fun Magazine shows you how to make your own. We made some for our Girl Scout troop that were similar: Use two to three feet of webbing, which you can get at a fabric store, or get those cheaper dog leashes from a dollar store. Cut to your desired length, fold each end around a rubber O-ring (found in plumbing areas of hardware stores) and sew the ends to form your water bottle holder. You simply slip the O-ring over the mouth of the bottle and you have a hands-free bottle of water that you can refill and use to keep yourself hydrated. - Clemley
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This summer, my family decided to give back a little to the Cast Members who make each stay even more magical. Before leaving home, we printed (using print programs that are out there on the Web) character thank you cards. Each card had a different princess or Tinker Bell on it, and said something nice like, "We put your service to the test, and you're the best!" or "Thank you for making our vacation magical!" We added our family name, hometown, and "Summer 2004." We printed them out, and each member of our family got a sheet of their own to color. After coloring, we laminated them. Once in the park, we handed them out to Cast Members who we felt had gone above and beyond the call of "normal magic." Most of the Cast Members we handed them out to were so surprised and thanked *us*! We really enjoyed doing this, and I feel sure that it will be a new tradition for our family. - Ashlee Farris
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When we go down we ship down [to our resort] a variety of food etc via UPS. We send down coffee, bagels, peanut butter, jelly coffee filters, cereal (Disney themed of course), snacks, iced tea and kool aid mix to name a few things. It takes about 5 days from Vermont. We address it including our ressie number and arrival date. When we check in they tell us there's a package waiting. It sure beats hauling a lot down and beats the prices at Orlando stores. - Heidi Coughlin
EDITOR'S NOTE: Resorts with convention services will issue a delivery charge for all packages shipped.
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During the course of our Disney vacation, we accumulated a huge number of plastic Disney bags. Instead of throwing them away after we removed our purchases, we kept them in a drawer in our room and used them to wrap and cushion breakable items that we were carrying on the plane on the wayhome. - Erin
MAGIC KINGDOM - I've found that making a lunch reservation as early as possible at Crystal Palace is far better than the breakfast. You can get to the park early and get a lot of stuff done before the crowds pour in and then take a break in the air conditioning! - Julie Budd
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I agree whole hearty about getting one "nice" gift / souvenir. My DW and I for years always got the "usual" stuff to bring home. T-Shirts, hats, etc. Nice stuff to remember our trip but would always seem to get put away and never really used. On our last trip we decided to try something a little different. We had always wanted a coo-coo clock so when we were in EPCOT we bought a very nice clock in Germany. It was expensive but they shipped it home for us (it arrived the day after we got home) and it now proudly hangs in our kitchen. It is a constant reminder of our trip. - Jim B
Disney has such a large selection of coin banks. We bought one toward the end of our trip but next time we will buy it on the first day. THEN as we get back to our room or camper each night, all change will go into the bank to begin our savings fund for our next trip. I found that halfway thru this trip I was lugging around a huge change purse of coins that added a heavy load to my backpack. Buying a bank the first day will not only give us a fun sense of "when we come back again" but i won't be lugging all those nickels & dimes around trying to pawn them off on kiosk vendors paying for my stuff. - Amy Miles
If you go to the Winn-Dixie store, sign up for a free money saving card...you will save even more with each purchase! - Ricke Z
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My wife and I have found a great way to save money on food if you have a car or the car service will make a grocery stop. We drive out to the Publix supermarket on Rte 192. The way we save on water is we buy several gallon jugs of Publix water and then a 50 oz bottle of the same water. We continue to refill the smaller bottle from the gallon jugs. Using the 50 oz bottle gives you a good supply of water for a good part of the day and saves a fortune by not having to pay the high theme park prices for a small bottle of water. The water may not be ice cold but it is very cheap. - Andy & Denise
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If you are making your own drinks adding sugar or Kool-Aid powder to gallon water jugs, be sure to pack a funnel from home. I did this on the last trip and it made adding the powder and sugar to the containers a cinch! - Wendy Wilson
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When we went to WDW on vacation last year, I packed one suitcase full of snacks and non-perishable food (i.e. mini cereal boxes, cereal bars, various pre-packaged snack packs, juice boxes). Our entire family was able to eat a quick breakfast before going to the parks, have mid-day park munchies, and late evening snacks. The suitcase was then used to bring home dirty laundry at the end of the trip. - Julie Duffy
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ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE - This one is a reminder that the Animal Kingdom Lodge is a must-see even if you're not staying there! On cool, overcast days, the animal viewing can be better than the Safari ride! Walk to the end of any floor, going toward the pool area, and go onto the outside staircase. Climb to the top floor. It's amazing! The Lodge lobby is not to be missed! You pick up a visitor's pass ("does not include swimming privileges") at the Security guard's checkpoint and you are free to explore. Because my kids consider AK a "half-day" park, the Lodge is a great teaser first. Or if you just don't have time or inclination to do AK this trip, a visit to the Lodge will make you feel like you've been to Africa!! - Natalie Lipman
