Tips about Countdown, Mousecellaneous and Planning

When our daughter was younger we decided to countdown to Disney. We got a Disney-themed calendar and wrote the countdown days on it. On each day we would attach stars (or small Disney stickers) that represented money our daughter earned doing her chores. She got $.50 to $2 per day. She enjoyed counting the stickers on the pages. I enjoyed knowing she had her own money for souvenirs. - David Colvard

Be careful about leaving valuables in your stroller/wheelchair. On the last day of our trip my camera and my daughter's purse were stolen directly from our wheelchair in the wheelchair area at the exit of the Haunted Mansion. The camera was in one of the drink pockets and her purse was under her backpack that was on the seat. The most valuable items were the pictures themselves, after a week of Disney parks. We have been going there for quite a number of years and never experienced a similar problem (except for one stuffed critter grabbed). Security said that instances like this were rare. - Jim Colman

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

We just returned from a great five days down at WDW... One thing I discovered this trip was how many cards I ended up carrying around: park ticket, hotel room key, Disney Visa redemption card, Photopass card (or cards, because we always end up with more than one), Fastpasses... whew! That's a lot, and that's not even counting what's usually in my wallet, like a credit card and ID. I was constantly afraid I would lose something. My uncle (I have to credit him on this one) came up with a great solution: he picked up a small business card case (around $5) at an office supply store to keep all of his important cards in. He always had his Fastpasses ready to get in line while the rest of us were still digging through our pockets. I've already picked one up and it's in my "things to take to Walt Disney World" pile for our next trip! - Nathan Jones EDITOR'S NOTE: Magic Bands have eliminated a few cards to carry around the parks. However you will still want to carry your Annual Pass card (for discounts), photo ID, and if you have it, your Tables in Wonderland Card

The BoardWalk often offers jugglers and magicians in the evening. My son loves just sitting and watching all of the performers. But we just returned from our rainiest Disney trip ever. We certainly thought that the performers would not be on the BoardWalk on those nights. We were right, they weren't -- but, to my son's delight, we found that they perform indoors on those nights. We found the performers near the bar area and also in the lobby. - Kelly

Our most recent trip to Disney was a very busy one between extra activities and dinner reservations. Before leaving home, I prepared a schedule, which upon arrival I posted on the fridge (we stayed in a villa) with magnets I brought from home. This way, everyone knew where and when they needed to be somewhere. - Ann

Don't be afraid to use GoLynx, the public buses serving Orlando. Using the No. 50 gets you to Seaworld and I-Drive from the Ticket and Transportation Center and Disney Springs. The No. 111 is a direct bus to the Florida Mall. It's cheap, reliable and punctual, and way cheaper than shuttles or taxis. - Diane

Know the theme park closing schedule and schedule your non-hotel dinners before the buses make you route to Disney Springs to get back to your "home" hotel. We went from Boma (Animal Kingdom Lodge) to Disney Springs and back to All Star Music. That occurred starting at 10:45 p.m. We didn't make it to bed until just before 12:30 a.m. Fortunately we didn't have to be at Typhoon Lagoon until 10 a.m. the next day. - Rudy Costa EDITOR'S NOTE: Sometimes it is in your best interest to use the taxi service for late evening transportation from resort to resort. Cost is usually under $20.

To keep the thread, no pun intended, of lost glasses pins/screws going, here is a tip to keep from losing them in the first place -- put a drop of clear nail polish on the thread end of the screw and it will act like Loctite®. - Marc

I saw the tip from the reader regarding getting her husband's eyeglasses repaired at the Magic Kingdom watch store. On our trip in April, the screw in my mother's eyeglasses came out. We were staying on property and called the front desk to see if they would happen to have an eyeglass repair kit. They did and promptly brought it to our room-free of charge. My mother now carries it in her purse for any future accidents. - Tracie Smith

My family has been going to WDW since 1971, so needless to say there are occasions when we are looking for things to do that are outside of the parks, but still in the World. After I read Jack Spence's article on thinking "outside the box," my family came up with this idea that we are going to do over the Labor Day weekend. Prior to our trip we will put the names of the three monorail resort hotels in a hat and each of us will draw a name. Then, on our first evening, after dinner, we will ride the monorail, stopping at each resort hotel, and the person with that hotel name will get to select a "dessert" at a quick stop location to share with the group back in our hotel room. No one knows what was selected and it continues the party well into the evening after leaving the parks. - Betsy Vancura

Recently, I have discovered that Disney offers recyclable shopping bags. They're very inexpensive and I find (as a teenager) that they function as great waterproof tote bags! - Jacquelyn

Everyone knows that when you arrive at Disney you want to see everything. It is extremely difficult to predict what the crowds will be like and how fast or slow lines will be moving, though. No one wants to be disappointed by missing out on the one thing they wanted to do the most. We traveled to Disney with my sister's family (at the time they had a 2-year-old) and my family (three children ages 5, 7 and 9). Each night we would sit down and look at the map for the park we were going to the next day. Everyone got to pick one thing that was tops on their list to see (usually there would be duplication) and then everyone got to make two other suggestions. We then ranked them, so everyone's top priority was on the list and then other suggestions, depending on their number of votes, got put on the list after that. Therefore, everyone got to do at least the one thing they were looking forward to doing the most and usually one or two more things that were high on their list. It did take some advanced planning but was well worth it. It also made the kids feel like they were making a significant contribution to the vacation planning. - Heidi Koll-Pio