Tips about Countdown, Epcot and Souvenirs

No need to wait for your trip to Disney World to purchase the Disney Silly Bandz. I found the Fab Five, Princesses and Toy Story sets at our local Office Depot for $4.99 each. Silly Bandz are the big craze now. They are rubber band bracelets that will revert back to their original shape when you take them off of your wrist. - Amy Cribbs

ALL PARKS - We have gone down to Walt Disney World 24 times and are looking forward to going again in November. My tip is that when you go, always take a break where there is a water feature. If you are over-warm, they will help cool you off and if you are not then the sound helps relax and focus your mind so you can enjoy the rest of your day. At Magic Kingdom, the best one is right next to the Splash Mountain ride. If you don't want to get wet, step back. In Epcot, they are all over. They are in every park and various places, so ENJOY. - Dana Lind

EDITOR'S NOTE: The water features Dana refers to include the various fountains, water play areas, and misters found around the parks, such as the squirting Tiki Gods in Magic Kingdom's Adventureland or the Cool Wash mister near Test Track in Epcot.

On our last trip to Walt Disney World, when our girls ordered kids' meals we saved the Mickey-shaped plates they were served in. I cleaned them and once we returned home I pasted/taped snapshots of our girls in each compartment. Makes for a really cute, one of a kind souvenir that doesn't cost an arm and leg. - Karen Connell

Epcot - My husband and I recently learned of something called the "Wine Walk" at Epcot. For $20 you can purchase a passport at the France, Germany or Italy wine shops. The passport allows you to taste six different wines (two per country). The passport lists the two specific wines in each country. What is unique about the Wine Walk is that you do not have to use the whole passport in one trip. You can try a few and then save the rest for a future trip if you like. Each wine is a two-ounce pour, but Germany seems to be the only country that was very strict on this. Italy and France were a bit more liberal with their pours. Our favorite country for the tastings was Italy. Even though you only get about two ounces per taste, we felt it was a pretty good bargain as we would have paid about $35 if we bought each pour individually. - Tiffany Harmon

Epcot - My husband and I recently learned of something called the "Wine Walk" at Epcot. For $20 you can purchase a passport at the France, Germany or Italy wine shops. The passport allows you to taste six different wines (two per country). The passport lists the two specific wines in each country. What is unique about the Wine Walk is that you do not have to use the whole passport in one trip. You can try a few and then save the rest for a future trip if you like. Each wine is a two-ounce pour, but Germany seems to be the only country that was very strict on this. Italy and France were a bit more liberal with their pours. Our favorite country for the tastings was Italy. Even though you only get about two ounces per taste, we felt it was a pretty good bargain as we would have paid about $35 if we bought each pour individually. - Tiffany Harmon

The entire Disney World resort now has 3" Vinylmation trading. Shops that sell Vinylmation have a trading box out on the cash register that contains three Vinylmation figures. Like a pin-trading lanyard, you are free to trade from this box. In addition, some locations have large, black "mystery boxes" containing about 25 Vinylmation figures that you cannot see beforehand. You pick a number and they trade the Vinylmation that is located in that number's corresponding box. It was a lot of fun. - Nikki

Epcot - When my family and I go to Epcot we try to make our World Showcase adventure memorable. We have tried making a mask and saving a section for each country and writing a special fact in that section, but that didn't work very well, so we then tried having the people working at the Kidcot station write our names on the attachable paper picture from each country. This was very cool, but if they got wet from rain they bled and washed away. This past time my sister and I decided to get a candy from each country. You can usually find these in the gift shops or even at restaurants. At each pavilion we took a picture of us eating the candy and we saved the wrapper/box. We then came home and made a collage with the wrappers and pictures. This was a very exciting thing for us -- we had never thought of doing anything like this before. You can even do this with the little kid menus. I know when I was little I used to circle what I wanted to eat, write the restaurant name and chef's name on top, and then if it was a character meal, have the characters sign the menu. I did this with my younger sister and she loved doing her paper menu collage while I worked on my candy wrapper collage. I think this is a very creative and fun activity for kids of all ages. My mom is going to do it with us this time! - Lindsay

Epcot - When my family and I go to Epcot we try to make our World Showcase adventure memorable. We have tried making a mask and saving a section for each country and writing a special fact in that section, but that didn't work very well, so we then tried having the people working at the Kidcot station write our names on the attachable paper picture from each country. This was very cool, but if they got wet from rain they bled and washed away. This past time my sister and I decided to get a candy from each country. You can usually find these in the gift shops or even at restaurants. At each pavilion we took a picture of us eating the candy and we saved the wrapper/box. We then came home and made a collage with the wrappers and pictures. This was a very exciting thing for us -- we had never thought of doing anything like this before. You can even do this with the little kid menus. I know when I was little I used to circle what I wanted to eat, write the restaurant name and chef's name on top, and then if it was a character meal, have the characters sign the menu. I did this with my younger sister and she loved doing her paper menu collage while I worked on my candy wrapper collage. I think this is a very creative and fun activity for kids of all ages. My mom is going to do it with us this time! - Lindsay

When we go to Disney World there are many children of all ages because it basically becomes a family reunion. To help the kids in the family count down the days until the vacation, my husband and I send them a package each month stating how much time is left until vacation (9 more months!). We begin a year out from our vacation. The packages contain little gifts that get the kids excited but won't break the bank. We may send lip balm with SPF and a note telling them to use it while at Disney, or a pack of gum with a note telling them to chew the gum on the plane during take-offs and landings, or a magazine to read while waiting for flights, or $5.00 to spend at the Main Street Confectionery. The kids love it and look forward to their package each month. - Angela

We normally book our Disney trips well in advance so we have a lot of wait time until the big day. To keep the excitement of Disney going throughout this wait time, we do anything we can that reminds us of Disney. We will make posters of Disney from unused travel brochures and hang them around the house. We will wear our Disney tee shirts to bed. We use our Disney cups at mealtime. When the departure date is near, about a week or so, I will surprise my daughter with a different Disney theme day -- when she gets off the bus, she has no clue what she will find. One day it could be a Princess Day -- I will dig out everything we have on Disney Princesses and decorate her room, then maybe read a Disney Princess story. Other themes we've had are High School Musical Day, 101 Dalmatians Day, Finding Nemo Day. We play music from that theme and maybe watch a Disney movie, etc. Our last visit was over Halloween so I took her Mickey stuffed animal and dressed it up in a witch's costume. I put Minnie Ears on our scarecrow. You get the idea -- use your imagination! - Carol Kuhar

We're taking my niece and nephew to Disney World for the first time (they're 9 and 10), but not until next year. They already know they're going and are excited, but a year is a long time to wait. To help them pass the time, I went to www.disneyphotopass.com and created a personalized calendar using photos from the Disney album. I then personalized it so that it counted down 11 months to go, 10 months to go, all the way until 1 day to go and "We Leave TODAY!" That way, they not only have a nice reminder about our trip, but also a way to pass the days until it's time to go. - Kimberly Kahl

I just returned from Disney and I took some bubble wrap with me this time, because I knew I wanted the Roaming Mickey from Epcot, and I also knew its box would take up way too much room in my luggage. This was a great idea, it doesn't weigh anything and I can pack it flat, it doesn't take up any room at all. I am going to do this every time I go on vacation now, and I don't have to worry about not buying that breakable item that I see and fall in love with! - Melanie

We tackled going to Walt Disney World with three boys ages 10, 8, and 5 who wanted to buy everything they had in front of them like this: We had them hold up the item they wanted and we took a picture of it. The day before we left, while I was packing, they went through the pictures to pick the one thing they liked the best. Now we knew what to look for, as well as having some extra pictures for memories. If we were going to a park, we used the Shop Disney Parks app, which we had downloaded. It told us where to go and in one case had the item delivered to Guest Relations at the front of the park. The app will also tell you what delivery options are available (to your room, to guest relations, or to your home). - Robbie Haines

Epcot - Just wanted to add to the reason to pick up a Passport kit from Epcot. I got one on our last trip and secretly had each country stamp and write Happy Birthday to my husband on the Passport. A month after we got home it was my husband's birthday. I put the Passport in a Mickey birthday card and he was very pleased and surprised with his multi-language greetings. - Sue S.

Epcot - Just wanted to add to the reason to pick up a Passport kit from Epcot. I got one on our last trip and secretly had each country stamp and write Happy Birthday to my husband on the Passport. A month after we got home it was my husband's birthday. I put the Passport in a Mickey birthday card and he was very pleased and surprised with his multi-language greetings. - Sue S.