Tips about Disney Cruise Line, Epcot, Mousecellaneous, Planning and Souvenirs

Having just returned from a Disney cruise, I wanted to share a shopping tip. If you are serious about shopping in the ports of call, make sure to talk with the shoppers on board the ship and get VIP cards. A group of us in St. Thomas were trying to negotiate a fair price on several items and when the store manager said that was it, we pulled out the VIP cards and mentioned the Disney Cruise Shoppers by name. A further discount followed! - Deb Wills

I haven't seen this widely publicized yet, but Amazon Prime Now has started delivery to the WDW resort hotels. It's open to Prime members and can be used to order groceries, diapers and tons of other things that you may need while on vacation. Delivery is free within two hours and $7.99 if you want it delivered within one hour. They'll drop your items at Bell Services for you to pick up. You have to order through the primenow.amazon.com website or use the Amazon Prime Now app to place your order though, not the regular Amazon site or app. It's certainly a convenient way to get the stuff you need without having to leave the property. - Brian B.

Epcot - My wife and I went to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival a couple of weeks ago. Knowing we were going to end our night in the Magic Kingdom we parked there in the morning and took the monorail to Epcot. My tip comes from that ride. When you get to Epcot, the monorail goes into the park so you get a bird's-eye view of the flowers that you can't get otherwise. Now that we have taken this ride we plan to do it more often. - Mike Sikorski

Epcot - My wife and I went to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival a couple of weeks ago. Knowing we were going to end our night in the Magic Kingdom we parked there in the morning and took the monorail to Epcot. My tip comes from that ride. When you get to Epcot, the monorail goes into the park so you get a bird's-eye view of the flowers that you can't get otherwise. Now that we have taken this ride we plan to do it more often. - Mike Sikorski

ALL PARKS - It's been said before, but the early bird gets the worm. Each morning we rose with the sun and were at the gates of our chosen park at opening. We literally cruised through on every ride, numerous times. (Expedition Everest five times in 20 minutes!) We were out of the parks by 10:30 each day. Our kids left vacation feeling like we had seen and done everything and we never noticed the crowds. We heard so many complaining about how horrible it was and we shared a private chuckle about our planning. - Michelle K

For international visitors, using mobile phones abroad can be very costly as roaming charges vary so much. We bought two-way radios to keep in contact in the parks. They have become a Walt Disney World trip essential for us. We bought ours with a charger pack. One word of advice though: the radios bought in USA are not legal in UK and vice versa. - Heather Young

Please call your credit/debit card company before leaving home and alert them to all the places you will be traveling. My card was locked out at Disneyland after I bought my annual pass! The companies are trying to minimize credit card fraud. The worst thing is if customer service isn't there 24/7, and you can't use your card until they reopen. - Leslie Seibert

Epcot - I was also at Epcot on New Year's Eve 2012 along with Zamgwar and many thousands of others. We had done New Year's Eve twice before, both times at Hollywood Studios. If you want to ensure you get to ride the popular attractions with little wait, you should plan on being at the parks at least a half hour BEFORE the parks open. For special days like New Year's Eve, plan on spending 16 to 18 hours in the park so get plenty of rest the night before. My son and I were the first ones on Mission: Space while my wife and daughter went and got FastPasses for Soarin'. At 8:30 we were allowed to get new FastPasses and got them for Test Track, which was closed for most of the morning due to technical difficulties. Plan on doing attractions you might not normally do and try to rest when you can during the day. I caught some zzz's at the American Adventure. This was the first trip in almost 20 to the World that we walked the entire World Showcase and visited every country and saw all the movies. The only hiccup of the night was IllumiNations was supposed to start at 11:40, but was 10 minutes late starting. That threw off the New Year's fireworks as the "Countdown to New Year's" started at 12:10 a.m. on January 1, 2013. - Rob Ripper

Epcot - I was also at Epcot on New Year's Eve 2012 along with Zamgwar and many thousands of others. We had done New Year's Eve twice before, both times at Hollywood Studios. If you want to ensure you get to ride the popular attractions with little wait, you should plan on being at the parks at least a half hour BEFORE the parks open. For special days like New Year's Eve, plan on spending 16 to 18 hours in the park so get plenty of rest the night before. My son and I were the first ones on Mission: Space while my wife and daughter went and got FastPasses for Soarin'. At 8:30 we were allowed to get new FastPasses and got them for Test Track, which was closed for most of the morning due to technical difficulties. Plan on doing attractions you might not normally do and try to rest when you can during the day. I caught some zzz's at the American Adventure. This was the first trip in almost 20 to the World that we walked the entire World Showcase and visited every country and saw all the movies. The only hiccup of the night was IllumiNations was supposed to start at 11:40, but was 10 minutes late starting. That threw off the New Year's fireworks as the "Countdown to New Year's" started at 12:10 a.m. on January 1, 2013. - Rob Ripper

When booking rooms at a WDW resort, be aware that adjoining rooms and connecting rooms are not the same thing. Adjoining rooms are next to each other. Connecting rooms share an interior door. Don't rely on the reservation employee to explain the differences in terminology to you. - Elizabeth

Last time I went to Walt Disney World I bought a fleece shirt that had a "security tag" on it. Unfortunately, I did not realize until I got home that the cast member who checked me out never removed it. How frustrating! Do yourself a favor and double-check your clothes for those tags before leaving for home. - mkmouse

We reuse our popcorn containers we get from Disney. They come in handy for many things. Our main use for them is to cut up fruit, like watermelon or pineapple, and store the fruit in those containers. Then the kids can grab their fruit whenever they want some and it's already cut up. We also use them for markers and crayons, great storage containers. - Nicole Miller

ALL PARKS - A great way to save time if possible is to go to the park without a bag. We could not accomplish this on every park visit, but when we would go to Magic Kingdom for a short visit in the morning or evening, we packed small necessary items (camera, lip balm, antibacterial gel) in my husband and son's cargo pockets, wore our Photopass and tickets around our necks and breezed into the parks. - Tanya

Before our current trip to the World we were trying to come up with a way to tell each of our water bottles apart in the insulated bag that we carry to the parks. We decided to use six different color ponytail holders, which we placed around each bottle. No confusion as to whose bottle was whose! - Gerrie Springer

AllEars.Net Team Member Gloria recently returned from a family cruise on the Disney Dream -- with a party of 12! Here are some of her tips for "cruising by the dozen" -- and just on Disney cruising in general:

-- If you have your own transportation, get to the port early, as early as 10:30 or 11 a.m. The line to register the kids for the Oceaneer's Club activities can get quite long and they begin boarding the ship right about noon. If you're in the first few groups, you can go directly to Cabana's and have a leisurely lunch while you wait for your room to be ready.

-- You have two options for parking at the port: in the garage ($90) or on a surface lot ($110). We chose the surface lot because we were told the lines to get out of the parking garage can get pretty crazy. We walked off the ship, over to the car and were on our way with no wait at all. Well worth the extra $20 if you're in any hurry (and we were since we wanted to go to WDW for the day). Got to WDW right at 9 a.m. for park opening.

-- Read the directions to use the Wave phones. We didn't, and couldn't figure out why they weren't working! You must dial a 41 first if you're going phone to room or room to phone. Phone to phone, just dial the phone number. Wave phones work on Castaway Cay.

-- It is futile to try and limit soda and ice cream for the kids. Just explain to them that the cruise is special and regular rules apply once back on land.

-- It's hard to find 12 seats together at the buffets. Stick to the table service dining when possible.

-- Take an iPod with soft music or white noise. It is VERY quiet at night (except for kids [not ours!] running down the hallways).

-- We stored lots of "junk" in the coffee table. The top opens and there's lots of room for things you don't need, but don't want to lose. Just don't forget to empty it when you pack the last night.

-- Try to schedule a short nap (or at least an hour of relaxing time) each day if you plan on any of the late-night adult activities. Morning comes very early on the ship and you don't want to be dragging all the rest of the day.

-- Remy is awesome, but only worth the $75 up-charge if you truly enjoy food and food preparation as an "art," and understand that this is an "experience" and not just another great meal.

-- The second family beach (near Pelican Plunge) on Castaway Cay is much less crowded than the one near Scuttle's Cove.

-- Cookie's BBQ on the island is outstanding! Get off the ship if for no other reason than to have lunch, and don't pass up the ribs!

-- Bring a couple bottles of pump/foam soap for the bathrooms. It's much less messy than those little bars of soap.

-- Be sure to keep your smart phone on airplane mode (except when using it to access WiFi is you purchase a package). Otherwise, texts, "push" messages and e-mails may come through at international data rates.

-- Lost Key to the World cards are not a problem; just get a replacement from Guest Services. You WILL need your Key to the World cards to debark on the last day, so don't pack it in your luggage.

-- Bed rails are available. Think about doing without a porta-crib. It makes your room much less crowded to just use the bottom bunk with a rail for a little one if at all possible.

-- Don't forget that Disney will let you bring aboard wine in your carry on luggage (NOT in your checked luggage!). You cannot carry an opened bottle around the ship. If you take an unopened bottle to dinner, there might be a corkage fee.

-- If characters are scheduled to appear twice during a day (around 4:30 and 7:15 usually), go to the earlier appearances and get there a bit early. The lines are MUCH shorter than the evening appearances.

-- Don't wait until the last night to go to Shutters (for your photos). It's a zoo! Same advice for any souvenir shopping. The stores are really crowded on the last night, so shop earlier in your cruise.

-- If your gratuities are not pre-paid, go to Guest Services the second or third night of the cruise to take care of it. If you wait until the last day, you will have a much longer wait in line.