Tips about Characters and Planning

My tip is to take a deep breath, relax, and let the magic come to YOU. So many people go to Disney World frantically searching for it and hunting it down, meanwhile they're missing it! It's passing them right by. The most magical moments happen when you least expect them. Experiencing the magic that happens shouldn't be stressful. It shouldn't be work or effort. People who have never been, hear so much about other people's experiences and memories. My tip for them is don't go looking for those particular things that you've heard about. So much can happen there -- let your OWN memories happen. Forget about what other people experience. You'll have your own stories to tell when you get back. And for people who have been a million times, they might go back trying to recapture the fond memories they've had from past trips. So my tip to them is keep those experiences as fond memories and every time you go back, create NEW memories. Just let the magic happen. Don't force it and don't rush it, because believe me, it WILL happen. - Twincess

Just wanted to mention that readers of this newsletter in the UK can use MouseFanTravel.com to get quotes or book trips to WDW (as well as those readers in the US). The prices are very competitive and often better offers or packages are available than here in the UK. It seems that some of the deals that Disney offers are not recognised by UK travel agents. - Mark Burden, Dorset, UK

We have been planning a March 2009 family get-together at Disney World since last summer. Trying to read up on and make all the right choices has been overwhelming. Your AllEars.Net site and newsletter helped a lot. We are all driving from Canada and we are staying off-site, so attraction ticket prices with foreign exchange rates added on has been a wait-and-see decision. Until a trip to one of the Disney Stores in the Toronto area in February, that is. Much to our delight (and financial relief) we learned that the attraction tickets (including the 6.5% Florida tax) are currently priced in Canadian dollars and the prices are comparable to all of the other US-priced tickets out there. The brochure price is what you pay, as no other taxes are added. Our family group of 12 adults and one child are very happy to pass this information on to all of the Canadians who are planning a trip to Disney World in the near future. - Anne Hewton

Since you're talking about the Character Experience, a true rare one to find is Jiminy Cricket. He only comes out once a year to meet and greet -- Earth Day, of course, at Rafiki's Planet Watch in Animal Kingdom. And to get my picture with him, I took a day off from work, drove a couple hours and made a day of it at the World --on my birthday, naturally. - Sergio Piedra

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Earth Day (April 22) Jiminy can also be spotted in the front of Animal Kingdom -- and sometimes over in the Magic Kingdom, too!

I always take a spiral notebook along and leave it out in the room for "where we will be" notes. As family returns to the room/villa, they can see that, "Mom & Dad went to the main pool at 3:45 p.m., back to room at 6 p.m.," so they know where we are, and if they have time to jump into their suits and join us; or "left for Epcot at 9 a.m., remember dinner res 6 p.m. in Canada," etc. This notebook travels with us from year to year, and is fun to look through once in awhile! Of course, cell phones make communications like this not quite as necessary as in past years! - Karen Jacobi

Over the years, our tween daughter has filled a few Disney autograph books and is (in her words), "too old for that now!" But her younger brother still likes to get character autographs. So, for her birthday celebration trip I found an 11x14 (easy enough to carry in a backpack), white "signature" photo mat. (You can find these in any discount store, usually in the wedding or scrapbooking sections.) She had characters and family sign it. Inserting one of her favorite photos from the trip, we now have a nice memento and a personalized art piece for her room. - Maura

Instead of the typical autograph books, we purchased softballs and had the characters sign them. Both my children are avid sports fans so when we got home, we purchased the clear boxes to store them in. We added the year after we got all our autographs. This year when we go, we are taking a bag of baseballs. - Natalie

EDITOR'S NOTE: Clever autograph idea! But remember, many of the costumed characters may find it difficult to hold and sign a baseball.

Forgive me for recycling these old tips I learned a few years ago. I am a planner and before I leave home (UK), I prepare all my "mousekeeping" tips in separate envelopes with a little message of thanks and the date to be given. This saves a great deal of time -- more time for the World -- and a lot of scrabbling in purses and wallets for the requisite amount. Before travelling and when changing my currency I always ask for small denominations so I am prepared for those immediate gratuities (luggage, valet parking, etc). I am already writing my envelopes for our next trip, September '08 -- Boardwalk Villas!

We took a short trip to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and it rained quite frequently. We have two children in strollers, and the best thing we bought prior to the trip were two $10 stroller covers. Our girls were comfortable and dry, even when it was pouring and windy. There were a lot of people using ponchos, but we noticed that they did not stay on the strollers like ours did. When it stopped raining, we put them in the storage area under each stroller (ours are the larger umbrella strollers). - Angie

If you're a teenage girl (like me) and you're going to Disney, bring your cellphone or iPod with you! It's nice to be able to listen to your music while waiting in line. Another thing: make sure you put your name and address on everything -- with iPods or mp3 players, stick some white tape on the back and write your info with a pen or marker, because Disney will return items if they find them! - Stephanie

If you're a teenage girl (like me) and you're going to Disney, bring your cellphone or iPod with you! It's nice to be able to listen to your music while waiting in line. Another thing: make sure you put your name and address on everything -- with iPods or mp3 players, stick some white tape on the back and write your info with a pen or marker, because Disney will return items if they find them! - Stephanie

To make my children's autograph books a little more special we always save a page for each member of the family on the trip. Towards the end of the vacation we share a special memory of each child from that trip. This works especially well when traveling with extended family. I know I still enjoy reading what my grandmother, mother and aunts wrote about our special trip when I was 10, and that was 25 years ago. - Amanda Spears

I thought that Alice McNutt Miller's post about money saving tips was spot on. Our family has enjoyed Disney World every few years and I always consult the AllEars® tips database while planning. One tip that I would add to Alice's list is considering travel during the room-only discount periods. This way you can combine frugal and fairly extravagant if you're willing to move from value/moderate to deluxe for a few days (especially to the BoardWalk area). Our kids felt like it was two vacations in one. - Jack

Don't be too quick to dismiss the Deluxe resorts. For the UK visitor, free dining is usually not available at the Value resorts, while the Quick Service plan is included at the Moderates and the regular dining plan comes with Deluxe or Villas. We have found that it can often work out cheaper for us to book a villa when free dining is included than it would be to book at a Value resort and buy a dining plan or just pay for food as we went along. - Debi

I wanted to capture my daughters' first trip to WDW by collecting character autographs. However, with my girls being 3 years old and 16 months, a collection of autographs in a book wouldn't be much fun for them, so I decided I would make them a blanket of autographs. I pre-washed a heavyweight white cotton fabric and cut it into 7"x10" panels. I found iron-on appliques of Disney characters. I also cut out extra blank panels. I cut foam core to the same size as the panels and secured the panels with binder clips. I found fabric markers that worked well, but the X-tra large chisel tip Sharpies (in various colors) worked great. The characters, especially the princesses, loved being able to sign next to their applique. With the blank panels, I asked characters to sign as big as they wished. I used iron-on transfers to transfer the photos of those characters onto fabric. I then sewed the panels together with a backing fabric and both girls ended up with a custom blanket to commemorate their trip. - Kelly Ostroski