Tips about Characters, Epcot, Food & Beverage, Magic Kingdom and Planning

If you like a big breakfast, the best deal in the parks is at the Trail's End Buffeteria at Fort Wilderness. It has the same general menu as many of the other buffets, but no characters, plus the price is only $15.99 per adult! Also, if you want the food at Hoop-De-Doo and don't want to pay $50+ per person to go, the supper menu at Trail's End is EXACTLY the same food for about $23 per adult. - Timeless Tip o' the Week brought to you by www.themouseforless.com and Mickey Birt

Save money by ordering water instead of sodas when you dine. It's better for you, and the savings can allow you to purchase one or more desserts to split. Everyone knows Disney has great desserts! - Jane

Instead of an autograph book, have the characters sign a T-shirt with a Sharpie marker. The shirt must either be a Disney shirt or plain, and it cannot be signed while it is being worn. To stabilize the shirt so characters can sign, place a folded rain poncho in a zip-top bag for use as a writing board. A hat can also be used for autographs. - Loma

Bring a soft-sided cooler for your room and fill it with ice from the ice machines to keep beverages and food cold. If you use large zip-top bags to hold the ice, you will keep the contents dry and make it easier to change the ice. This is a way you can keep the fixings for a quick, inexpensive breakfast in the room, and beer or wine for the evening. - Daisimae

Before buying the guidebooks, try your local public library. Most libraries have extensive sections of travel books. If your local library doesn't have the book you want, they might be able borrow it from another library. If you decide to buy a guidebook anyway, borrowing from the library first can give you a good idea which book or books are best for your needs. - Becky

We like to do the character meals not only for the characters, but for the food as well. Many of the meals are buffet style, and that's great for children (and hungry men!). You know up front what it's going to cost. You're not limited to choosing one entree, and you don't need to wait to be served. The entertainment is just the "icing on the cake"! To me, these are plenty of reasons to do more than one character meal. It really makes you feel like you're in Disney!- Angela

My favorite autograph book idea is to buy one of those small-sized, single photo per page photo albums (available in Disney designs at various locations throughout Walt Disney World). Buy some large-sized index cards. Have each character sign the unlined side of one index card. Be sure to take the child's photo with the character. Each evening, have your child write what he/or she liked best about meeting the character or even what they did that day at the park or ate at the restaurants. When you get home from your trip, you might even consider letting your child decorate borders around the character signatures or add stickers. Now assemble the photo album by inserting the index card on one side of a page and the photo with the character on the other. Binnie Betten

We like to order snacks from www.netgrocer.com and have them delivered. It's cheaper than buying them there, and as we are not big breakfast eaters, a cereal bar works for us and saves us money. - Jess

Mini M&M's tubes are great for storing quarters (and pennies)! I buy the candy for my daughter and when she's done, I "steal" the tubes. Every few days, I fill one up with quarters, and put it in my WDW luggage. When we get to WDW, I'll put one of each (pennies and quarters) in my waist pack each morning, and I don't have to dig through my pockets for change. I also put change tubes in the car so we'll be ready to pay those pesky tolls. I'm ready to press some pennies, y'all! -Ksumn1

There are character greeting spots in every park -- just check the guide maps for locations. You can purchase the autograph books in any gift shop. Here are tips I recommend for autograph seekers:

1. Have the page ready for the character to sign before your turn.
1a. That goes for cameras, too! Have the flash charged and camera ready to go!
2. Some characters have a hard time holding thin pens, so have a thick pen or marker handy.
3. You can combine the photos with the signatures by leaving the left side of every page blank. You can leave the first page blank to commemorate the trip date. Decorate with stickers or color.
4. Prime locations to see characters: MK - Town Expo Hall (right next to Tony's Restaurant on Main Street). Epcot - World Showcase. AK - Camp Minnie-Mickey or even right outside the park's entrance plaza. Disney's Hollywood Studios - Mickey Avenue, near Pizza Planet, and at the Backlot Theater.

Locations may change, so verify the greeting spots on the park maps! - Lori

I have an important tip for all of you taking a trip during the fall rainy season. My husband and I went last fall and found that one pair of tennis shoes is not enough. If you get caught in a rainstorm, you might be fine in wet shoes the rest of the day, but when you put them back on later that night, it makes for uncomfortable dancing! Buy and break in that second pair of shoes so you have something to wear around while your wet shoes dry.Christie

I will not travel without Ziploc bags, scissors, thread, first aid supplies, a list of everyone's phone numbers, medical cards, an old pair of prescription glasses (in case I break the ones I wear), clothes pins for the hotel room curtains, earplugs (to block out the snoring husband!) and two small flashlights. One other thing I must take is extra instant coffee, creamer and one of those gizmos that will heat just one cup of coffee rapidly. Lynette

EPCOT - Get a Kids' Guide to Epcot. It's a small, square, blue booklet, found near the turnstiles or at Guest Relations. There's a place for the child to write his/her name, date of trip, and a list of the people they traveled with. For each ride/attraction, the booklet describes in a sentence or two what to expect at the attraction. There's a small box next to each attraction listing, so that kids can put a checkmark when they visited an attraction. Or, they could use these boxes to check off what they wish to see.

EPCOT - Get a Kids' Guide to Epcot. It's a small, square, blue booklet, found near the turnstiles or at Guest Relations. There's a place for the child to write his/her name, date of trip, and a list of the people they traveled with. For each ride/attraction, the booklet describes in a sentence or two what to expect at the attraction. There's a small box next to each attraction listing, so that kids can put a checkmark when they visited an attraction. Or, they could use these boxes to check off what they wish to see.

ALL PARKS - In regards to having bags and whatnots inspected at the parks, the best thing is to have all pockets and pouches opened. Also, if you have a dayplanner or something similar, have that unzipped, too. When we went to Disneyland recently (to see the new Haunted Mansion Holiday), my husband was asked to open his dayplanner for them to inspect. When we park-hopped over to DCA, he was ready for the inspection process and dutifully had everything unzipped and ready to be looked at. - Milady