Tips about ChildId and Mousecellaneous

I sure do like those battery-operated personal fans with mister spray! They are a great help for keeping cool in long lines, but, at $15 each, they are not cheap in the parks. While they cost half that in local drugstores, you also have to buy batteries and a strap for them. Therefore I decided to buy one in the park after all, especially since the seller gave me an extra set of batteries to go with them (but you have to ask for this!). Otherwise the batteries run out by the end of the day. Another seller, in Adventureland, said she'd replace the batteries if I showed her the receipt for purchase of the fan within a 2-3 day time span. A very worthwhile purchase that helped to keep my 6-year-old, and me, from the grumps! - Julie Seavello

After-park ideas: You could also take the boat at Disney's Hollywood Studios or Epcot over to the Boardwalk Resort and check things out there after the Studios or Epcot closes. We also did the Hoop Dee Doo Revue, which was great food and great fun, but hard to get to without a car. Marketplace and Disney Springs are always options when a park closes, too! - Christie Falck

I think the best thing that we did was to buy cylume sticks and little LED lights at Target before the trip. We hid them from our daughters and every night we brought out a light toy -- they loved them. (They didn't know where we bought them.) Everyone stopped and asked us about them. One other thing that helped was small elastic laces that we also brought so the girls could carry their drinks and we could also attach their lights to. - The Knight Family from Wyoming

I would just like to say that I love your website and can't wait for our trip to WDW at the end of May 2002. Your website and newsletter have really helped us out a lot!! Maybe my tip can help others out. Last year I bought a CamelBak (www.camelbak.com) for when I race my all-terrain vehicle in the hot and humid weather here in Connecticut. These drinking systems come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are very lightweight -- they are also hands-free. What I like about these is, it keeps your back nice and cool and is also snug against your body, so nothing is bouncing around. Some also have zippers and pockets to store your passes, money, and keys. Some can even hold most of your stuff, which will eliminate all other bags. Hopefully this tip will help others. I know I will be keeping cool on my trip!!! - Jeff and Cherie

A tip for Jacqui Bull on a trip journal, try using an old check register booklet as your diary. I find it perfect to fit in a pocket or my wife's purse. It's small but has about 25 pages, more than enough space to record "holiday" experiences at WDW. - Brian Phillips

My tip involves the keeping a diary of sorts -- after several visits to WDW and trying, unsuccessfully, to keep a journal for whatever reason -- I either left it behind, it was cumbersome to carry about, or I was just too moused out to fill it in at the end of the day -- I eventually hit on the perfect answer (for me, anyway). In the weeks up to our last visit in February, I printed one sheet of paper for every day of our holiday (as we call it here in the U.K.). Of course, I put Disney characters and the day/date on each one, as well as little reminders such as, "Have we got the Valentine's Pin?" and "Have we had a Dole whip in MK?" It was easy to write notes on the page throughout the day as we waited in line, etc., and the crumpled, but well-used sheet was exchanged each evening for the next day's. - Jacqui Bull

On a recent trip to Disney World, my feet were killing me by Day 2. Well, out came the EXTRA pair of memory foam insoles that I brought with me in my backpack. A trip to Guest Relations for a pair of scissors to cut to length and I was walking on pillows the rest of the week. - Craig

Now with Magic Bands you can write your cell number inside of the band of your child.

We tried to make it easy for someone to contact us if our child was to get lost. We simply put a piece of paper in my son's shorts every day that simply said "Daddy's cell phone," and the phone number. If he was to get lost, we told him to give it to a security guard or a store clerk and that they would call us right away. - Julie

We just got back from Orlando, where my 9-year-old son got temporarily "lost." We purchased a "Who's Shoes ID" before the trip and entered our cell phone numbers on the ID band. Within minutes, after our son showed his ID band to a Cast Member, he was back with us. This product is a must for anyone going to Disney, or any other place with large groups of people. We found ours at: http://www.whosshoesid.com/redirect.serv?00006613 - Bob Franklin

While my children were young, I would always dress them in the same color or same character (e.g. Tigger) that I was wearing. If you get separated, one of the first things the Cast Member will ask you is what are the children are wearing. [When this happened to me] in a pre-panic state I couldn't remember anything except that they had on Tigger shirts. Fortunately that was enough. - Denise

I bought my kids inexpensive Disney character watches before we left home. I wrote their names and my husband's/my cell number on the inside of the band. I explained to them that if they got lost, they could take off the watch and show the phone numbers to a Cast Member (or a person from the airline in the airport). One of my daughters is extremely shy and would probably start to cry and not talk to a stranger if she was separated from us. This gave her a way to communicate in both the parks or the airport. - Hope