Tips about Disney Dining Plan, Food & Beverage, Magic Kingdom and Resorts

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

My husband and I went to WDW for our honeymoon and had the time of our lives. We purchased the deluxe meal plan, but we noticed that it was A LOT of food for two people, we'd go to our lunch reservations still full from breakfast! We have a new strategy for our next visit: get the deluxe plan again, have breakfast every morning, use the snack points in lieu of a sit down lunch, and book as many fancy "two-meal" dinners as possible to maximize the experience! We definitely thought the deluxe package was worth it (for two young adults, no children yet) and we can't wait to try this new strategy out next time. - Adrienne

While Disney resorts don't have microwaves in the room, they do have at least one microwave for common use that is usually situated close to the food court. They are available 24 hours a day and can be a great money-saver. From a snack such as popcorn to soup or noodles, using the microwave to replace or supplement bought food can be a big money-saver. - Connie McGouldrick

While Disney resorts don't have microwaves in the room, they do have at least one microwave for common use that is usually situated close to the food court. They are available 24 hours a day and can be a great money-saver. From a snack such as popcorn to soup or noodles, using the microwave to replace or supplement bought food can be a big money-saver. - Connie McGouldrick

If you are there for a week or longer, find out how much it is to take a cab for shopping. We did a roundtrip cab (having him even wait for us in parking lot) and it cost us $32 with tip to Walgreen's. We got much needed cold/flu supplies, drinks, and snacks. I added up just two of the tons of items we bought price for price for what they were in the gift shop, and there alone was our cab fare! - Dana Barish

Animal Kingdom - If you're looking for a cheap, healthy snack in the Animal Kingdom, check out the fruit cart in the Harambe Village of Africa. There's lots of fresh, ice cold fruit that's cheap and much healthier than ice cream or popcorn. Our family got apple slices with caramel, fresh oranges and bananas, and it was delicious. The cart also sells chips, water and drinks. - Katherine

Animal Kingdom - If you're looking for a cheap, healthy snack in the Animal Kingdom, check out the fruit cart in the Harambe Village of Africa. There's lots of fresh, ice cold fruit that's cheap and much healthier than ice cream or popcorn. Our family got apple slices with caramel, fresh oranges and bananas, and it was delicious. The cart also sells chips, water and drinks. - Katherine

Magic Kingdom - If you have young children who watch Playhouse Disney's "My Friends Tigger and Pooh", it may be wise to explain to them before you ride "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" that the story takes place before Pooh met Darby and Buster (the little girl and her dog who appear in the TV show). I have been showing my 2-year-old YouTube videos of some of the rides in preparation for our April visit to the world, when she watched Pooh she kept asking, "Where Darby? Where Buster?", it would not have occurred to me that she would notice that they were not there. - Melanie Dye

Animal Kingdom Lodge - If you are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Jambo House, I would strongly suggest considering renting a car. My husband, 4-year-old and I have just returned from a 14-night trip and found that with the completion of Kidani Village, the bus transportation picks up and drops off at Kidani FIRST. This meant that when the bus transportation arrived at Jambo House to go to the parks, it was sometimes already full (standing room only) and on the return journey from the parks we had to drive past Jambo House to drop off and collect new people at Kidani before going to Jambo House.

Magic Kingdom - While stopping for a Photopass picture on our way to watch the "Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party," a cast member suggested we stand in the middle of the circle (next to the Walt and Mickey statue) in front of the castle to watch the show. The Street Party parade comes up main street and fills the circle. By standing in the circle you can move around and see all the various floats, dancers and characters. - Jim

Magic Kingdom - Just a little tip about viewing the Wishes fireworks outside of Magic Kingdom. If you go to the Transportation and Ticket Center via monorail you are able to get a very good view of the fireworks. They also play the music through the speakers so you can hear what is going on instead of just watching the fireworks without the music. You get all the excitment of feeling like you are in the Magic Kingdom during the fireworks without the huge crowd. - Aesha Richardson

When on the Disney Dining Plan, signature or character restaurants require the use of two table service meals. To compensate for not having a table service dinner one night try having a late lunch/early dinner on your first night with the counter service meal for that day at Disney Springs's Wolfgang Puck Express at the Marketplace. You won't even miss the table service meal for that day with selections like roast chicken and garlic mashed potatoes. The portions and items on the menu are large and definitely not your typical counter service fare. Since you'll be eating a little earlier than usual, that day's snack will definitely hit the spot later that night. - Diane Fehring

EDITOR'S NOTE: The only character meals that currently require two table service credits are those at Cinderella's Royal Table. All others currently require just one. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

MAGIC KINGDOM - Even though we've been to the Magic Kingdom five times in the past 18 months and are avid listeners to Disney podcasts, we just recently discovered the hidden gem of the Harmony Barbershop. What a bargain! For $21.50 (plus tip) my son got a haircut AND his hair painted and sprinkled with confetti AND my daughter had her hair done in pony tails with paint and glitter! MUCH cheaper than Bibbidi Bobbidi and SO many compliments to them, which they loved! It is off the beaten path, in the corner between the firehouse and Emporium, so you need to keep an eye out for the striped barbershop pole (which can be a challenge to see during Christmas season). It is first come, first serve so get there early. And as a special treat you may get a performance by the Dapper Dans Barbershop Quartet! What a find! We will definitely be holding off on haircuts before our next trip in order to do this again. By the way, the paint and glitter come out pretty easily even after two days -- would recommend a comb for the confetti though. - Becky Koehl

We just stayed at the Old Key West and took the basic Dining Plan. What we didn't know was that the OKW doesn't have too many counter service options, basically just sandwiches, so the counter service option really isn't useful here. It would have been much cheaper if we had just paid for our table service meals. Also with the change of tip not being included and appetizers not being included, it's not such a good deal anymore -- unless all you do is eat 24/7, and not visit the parks at all. The resort itself is great though. We had an older unit, huge, and a great location. Bus service was very dependable. - Nancy Morris