Tips about Disney Dining Plan, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Mousecellaneous, Planning and Souvenirs

As an avid visitor to the world, we have found a few ways to save a buck or two. We have found the dining plan is a money-saver and we do not travel to Disney without it. We just returned from a trip and tried the counter service dining plan and enjoyed it just as much, if not more than, the sit-down dinners. Also, trade in those left-over snacks for some take-home magic! - Jodi from Louisiana

We are going on our next trip in June and are taking advantage of the quick service dining plan. We did our math and it seems like a pretty good deal. We've done the regular dining plan before, but this time around our pocketbooks (and our time... we're only there for five days) couldn't afford it. We'll have to see how we like this dining plan! - Laura Amlung

I have found that over the past several years that it's great to go during the "Free Dining Plan." The schedule works out very well for us. We have not changed our eating habits, only the amount of money we spend. We use the counter service credit for lunch time and then have a nice sit-down dinner (with the table service credit). I still find that paying for the meal plan is still a good savings. - Dianne Spawn

We used the basic Disney Dining Plan this trip. After having a quick-service lunch the first day, we decided we didn't need the dessert that came with our meal. If we were in a place such as Starring Rolls Cafe or Sunshine Seasons, we chose a muffin for our dessert, bagged it up with napkins, forks, and knives and saved it to have for our next morning's breakfast along with a cup of tea we could get with our resort mug. Voila -- free breakfast. - Fran

Just a comment on the sale of shuttle launch tickets. Any follower of the shuttle program knows that tickets can sell out quickly. NOT TO FRET! If you don't have a ticket to get onto the Cape Canaveral grounds, you can stop anywhere along the river at any parking area, or park and see the launch. You will see the shuttle as soon as it crosses your horizon and you will hear it. It is an amazing sight! You might even be better off not getting a ticket, because there is always a chance the launch will not happen for some reason. Go to a park, bring a blanket, some coffee (early morning launch) and enjoy the time. Go early and you will meet some interesting people along the way! - Geri Preisser

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

We just returned from a short trip to Walt Disney World. We had purchased the dining plan and on the last day, each person had two counter-service meals remaining. We found out that last morning that each adult counter service can be "exchanged" for four snacks. Wish we had known this earlier because we ran out of snacks and ended up paying for numerous bottles of water on the last full day. - Nancy

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

ALL PARKS - This is a tip for anyone who celebrates a special day or occasion on the same day every year at one of the Disney parks. My wife and I have celebrated every one of our 11 wedding anniversaries at Disneyland. To add to our tradition, we get a Fastpass that is marked for that day and covers the time that we were married, i.e. 4 p.m. Then we have a cast member take a picture of us in front of that attraction at the exact time that we said our "I Do's." Between the photo and the Fastpasses, it makes a nice keepsake of that specific day and time. The only drawback is we can see how we have aged over the years. Go out and CELEBRATE! - Michael Greening

ALL PARKS - This is a tip for anyone who celebrates a special day or occasion on the same day every year at one of the Disney parks. My wife and I have celebrated every one of our 11 wedding anniversaries at Disneyland. To add to our tradition, we get a Fastpass that is marked for that day and covers the time that we were married, i.e. 4 p.m. Then we have a cast member take a picture of us in front of that attraction at the exact time that we said our "I Do's." Between the photo and the Fastpasses, it makes a nice keepsake of that specific day and time. The only drawback is we can see how we have aged over the years. Go out and CELEBRATE! - Michael Greening

Be careful while driving on Disney property. We were there this past weekend and they had a speed trap set up right before the Contemporary resort. There were four or five sheriffs and one had a radar gun. They had a car pulled over and that person had a ticket in his hand and did not look too happy. The next day we saw two sheriffs over by Pop Century. Just drive the speed limit. - Suzy

My family of four (kids are 18 and 15) just returned from Disney World. We stayed at Pop Century and had the quick-service dining plan. The best value we found in using our quick-service dining credits was for a whole pizza at the hotel food court. A whole pizza was only two quick-service dining credits and it came with two desserts and two drinks. Since we had our refillable mugs, we traded the drinks for two more desserts. Desserts included hand-dipped ice cream sundaes, milkshakes or ice cream cookie sandwiches, all of which were huge and delicious. We were each able to have two large slices of pizza and a dessert of our choice for only two credits. Also, we all prefer to drink water rather than soda, so we found that when using quick-service credits in the park, we could request a free cup of ice water and trade a drink credit for an extra dessert that we saved for a snack later in the day. Extra chocolate cake from Cosmic Ray's is always a treat! - Amy from Baltimore

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

In addition to free Wi-Fi at McDonald's, the Chik-Fil-A restaurant on Route 535 (Apopka Vineland Road), just south of I-4 also has free Wi-Fi. - JohnH

Wal-Mart is now carrying Disney shirts in the stores and online. However, they run small! I normally wear a 2X, but I feel much more comfortable in Wal-Mart's 3X or even 4X! - Jo-Anne Harris