Tips about Characters, Mousecellaneous and Planning

This year, instead of the regular autograph books or white baseball hats to have the characters sign, I wanted something that I could bring home and use in our scrapbook. I bought a "Stax" pack of 100 sheets of multicolored card stock pre-cut into 4" x 6" sheets. (I chose the primary colors.) I then separated them into three stacks, one for each of my children, and punched a hole in the top left corner of each sheet. I had gotten three of the new key rings that are basically oval clips with a ring attached to them. I then let each of my kids choose one of the "shaped" key rings that matched (i.e., heart, star, etc.). That clip was then attached to the oval on each "book" and the outer clip was used to let the kids attach their book to a belt loop, backpack, etc. Then, when we returned home, I just unhooked the pages from the clip and each autograph can be used in the scrapbook. (We always take black Sharpie markers with us to use.) - Michelle Suit
For other scrapbooking tips, visit: http://allears.net/btp/scrapbook/intro.html
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From time to time people want to know the location of the closest church to WDW. Now you can search: http://masstimes.org. You can search for services in any state and town. They even have city maps, too. I thought this might be helpful to anyone wanting to go to services while on vacation. Tina
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When getting character autographs, please have your children hand the character the pen with the tip down. It's very hard to turn the pen around and hold an autograph book. Also felt tip markers work best. - Stacey
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We have been going to WDW since our children were toddlers. Now they are all teenagers (and beyond), but this tip is still good. We have them bring plastic beverage holders that can clip onto a fanny belt. They start out with water, but if we ate a meal in the park, frequently there would still be some beverage left from the meal. The kids would fill the bottle with the leftover drink and take it with them. This has worked well over the years. - Anne Cioffi
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We just returned from our trip to Disney World. The night we went to Fantasmic I knew we would be sitting for a while waiting for the show to begin. The best investment I made was buying one of those soft folding stadium seats. I carried it with me like a purse. Even used the side mesh pocket to carry drinks to our seats. We waited for over an hour and a half for the show to begin but I didn't mind - I was very comfortable with my seat padding and back support! - Marilyn Lewis
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Be flexible with making your ADR dining arrangements. If the table you want is unavailable try different combinations -- 2 tables of 2 instead of one table of four; a 3-2 split rather than a table of 5, etc. Splitting up your group for just an hour or so may be the way to go, given that you're spending all day and all night together for several days on end. Splitting up may also allow you to gain more flexibility in changing ADR reservations without penalty if, after several days in the parks, someone in your party says "I don't need to see any more characters, I'll stay at the hotel, sleep late and meet you later, go and enjoy!" - Phylis
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Even though my son is 15, he still enjoys collecting character autographs. However, he was too impatient to stand in line when we last went to Disney World in April, so he decided to collect autographs from Cast Members. Whenever he would meet a Cast Member who seemed to be doing something interesting (for instance, riding around on a Segway), he would stop them and ask for their autograph. He also requested that they describe what their job is by writing "Keeper of the ____." He ended up getting signatures from the "Keeper of the Peace" (security guard), "Keeper of the Ropes" (from the parade area), and "Keeper of the Baggage" (from the bell services at the hotel), to name a few. He had a blast, and every single Cast Member was so grateful that someone wanted their autograph that they thanked HIM. We met a lot of friendly people, and made some terrific memories. He has more than 100 autographs, and we laugh every time we look at the book. - Thomas Bruinooge
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On a recent Disney trip I decided to forgo bringing my purse and just buy a cheap, small man's wallet. I just popped my ID, credit cards, ticket and a few dollars in, and off I would go. I could skip the bag line and not worry about where my money and information was. It made airport check-in a breeze also. I still use it today and leave all my other seldom-used cards in my larger wallet in my purse. How often do you really use all that other stuff you drag around with you? - Donna
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Want to get prepped for your Hidden Mickey hunt at WDW, Disney style? Just watch Lion King 1 1/2. There are so many Hidden Mickeys in this movie that I lost count! - Alea L.
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I just read your article about trip hassles (When Good Trips Go Bad, Revisited, Issue #233) and I can relate. Although we have had many experiences, both good and not so good in the course of our 30+ trips, one of the worst was when I thought we'd have to break in to our own home. That's right, I lost our house key. Of course, I didn't realize it until we were all packed and waiting for the bellman to come and check the bags. We tore the luggage apart and still couldn't find the key. We eventually called our house sitter (and kitty-sitter) who was able to unlock the back door a few hours before we were scheduled to land. All's well that ends well, but the tears and stress almost wiped out the magic of the trip. Now, I make sure that I carry a spare key in the pocket of my carry-on bag and check it before we leave the house. That way this will never happen again! - Vicki
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A tip for parents is to carry a few changes of clothes for the kids. There are a few places where there are fountains that come out of the ground (like at the bus stop entrance to Disney Markeplace) and some rides on which you can get very wet. This way the parents can take their kids into a restroom and change them into dry clothes so that they'll enjoy the rest of the trip to the park without having to run around in wet clothes or underwear. - W.V. Daniels, Jr.
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There are so many excellent guide books on WDW it would be hard to choose from the many available. Head to your public library, check some out, put those not on the shelf on reserve and look them ALL over before you decide to buy one. You might decide a general guide with great maps is for you or one on doing Disney with children or for seniors or for singles or one that rates the rides or gives you a great strategies for missing the crowds. Whatever you decide, you can easily order the book that best meets YOUR needs to take along from your local bookstore or online book dealer. The maps alone could easily make it worth your while and the info on things outside of WDW can be very valuable. I compared the various strategies for doing Disney and planned out some alternatives for avoiding lines that hit the things MY family wanted to see. I also discovered some interesting strolling musicians and odd little shops that I would have missed in the wild rush to do the rides. (Joy Kennedy)
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Ever wonder how to tell Chip from Dale. It's a snap! Chip has the chocolate brown nose. Chocolate Chip! Get it? Dale has a light tan schnooz. - Don McKee
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I don't know how many folks travel with teens but I travel with my 16-year-old son. We usually stay at the All Stars and the only place for us to change privately is the bathroom. This can cause problems if you have had a shower and it's all steamy. So to solve the problem and give us a little more privacy, I go to the dollar store and buy a cheap white or colored shower curtain. Then I get two of the 3M hooks (with Command adhesive) that have the pull tab to remove them from the wall. We then hang the shower curtain between the sink area and the bedroom area. When we aren't using the area we hang the shower curtain on one hook. But when one of us wishes to change, we just hook the curtain up and we have a nice private area to change. I discovered this about 10 years ago when I was traveling with three kids. This way the two girls could change in one room and the two boys in the other. Editor's Note: We've checked out these hooks by 3M with the Command adhesive, and they seem to really work as the manufacturer claims: they are specially designed so that they won't mark the walls or remove paint, and they don't leave a sticky residue behind.)
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We have been searching for Hidden Mickeys at WDW, so to 'train' my husband for our last trip, I hid one Hidden Mickey a day for him to find before work. I only hid them in the bathroom because if he had to look all over the house before work, it wouldn't be fun! We both enjoyed this pre-trip practice, and I really think it paid off! He did 100 times better at spotting Hidden Mickeys once we got to WDW. A few words of advice for anyone who might want to try this: limit it to two weeks or less before your trip! Also, certain scrapbook stores sell Mickey punches; those were small and I could stick them anywhere! Other good ideas for Hidden Mickeys are placing anything in the three-circle shape, such as dots of cream connected to look like Mickey. There are many Hidden Mickeys like that at the World, so be creative! - Alea Laughery
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