Tips about Disney Springs and Planning

Here's a tip for UK guests -- If you need to phone Disney to make reservations (restaurants, dessert parties, etc.), try phoning the US telephone number direct using Skype, as this is much cheaper than landline or mobile calls to USA. - Nicky

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is actually a good tip for US vacationers, too. If you use Skype or some other VOIP (voice over internet protocol) service, you can avoid a lot of long-distance charges.

I LOVE your YouTube videos. I watch them a lot -- especially when I am missing Disney World, and want to go right now! I'm not sure how many of your readers know that you have this channel on youtube. But I think it'd be a great "tip" or comment to make! I love your website and appreciate all the work you put into it. We go to Disney every year, and this site is my first site for planning, and for just keeping in touch with my favorite place in the world! - Melissa

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for giving us a chance to plug our YouTube.com channel here, Melissa! You can see all of AllEars.Net's videos, covering a wide array of Disney subjects, at: http://www.youtube.com/allearsnet

I went to the Earl of Sandwich in Disney Springs and found that the Earl has free, unsecured Wi-Fi access using the SSID "EOS_Guest." The only problem is the signal is sporadic and does not reach all areas of the restaurant. The best place that I've found the signal is strong is by the Coca-Cola soda dispenser. When I connected my iPod Touch to the Internet there the best things that worked were email, text messaging apps such as TextFree and some low-key audio/video apps. Streaming video doesn't work and neither does VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Be aware that there is another SSID which is named "EOS" -- this is NOT the public Wi-Fi, this is a secured Wi-Fi signal for employees. Make sure you only connect to the SSID "EOS_Guest." - Rick Schwarz

After reading the tip in a recent newsletter about utilizing Google Docs for planning purposes, I thought that I'd share, too. I utilize Microsoft OneNote for Disney (and other) trip planning. OneNote is included in the Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition, as well as the higher-end Office editions. I have tabs for an overall trip calendar (generated from MS Outlook), travel itineraries for my husband and me, as well as our two adult children (traveling from different cities), Roman Catholic mass times, dining reservations, park operating hours, and that ever-useful Miscellaneous tab. I then set the Notebook to be shared via MS SkyDrive (Hotmail addresses and the like) and our kids can pull up whatever information I have culled for the trip, as well as dining reservations. OneNote has a newly released iPad specific app, as well as an iPhone App (alas, I have an Android phone. But the Android Disney Parks app is terrific!). All your information available to you at your fingertips! - Cel V.

I am currently planning a trip to WDW for a large group of 15. With crazy schedules and one family living in another state, it's hard for us to get together to plan. In order to include everyone in on the planning, I am using Google Docs (http://docs.google.com/). They are easy to set up, easy to share with others (via email) and allow everyone to edit/add to the document. I just ask everyone to use a different color font when using it. We have three docs going: one to plan where we need ADRs, one to discuss special events/activities that we may or may not want to do, and one that is a to-do list (dates to purchase tickets, reservations, make ADRs...). As we get closer to the trip, I'll probably add another doc for our itinerary (with reservations written in) to allow people to comment on it and make suggestions. - Cate

On a recent trip to WDW, we stayed at the brand new Wyndham Grand Orlando in Bonnet Creek... However, we found out that when some non-Disney hotels include "scheduled transportation" to the parks, it doesn't always mean that the buses run every 20 or 30 minutes as the Disney resorts and Disney Springs member hotel buses do. The shuttle from the Wyndham Grand only went to and from the parks two or three times PER DAY! Just beware that if you want the convenience of being able to head to the parks (or head back from the parks to your hotel) whenever you choose without renting a car, stay at at a Disney-owned hotel or one of the Disney Springs member hotels that run several shuttles per hour to and from the parks. Otherwise, if you intend to stay at a hotel with less convenient transportation options, consider renting a car so you can still come and go as you please. - Jeff Hogan

Buy a thin wallet that fits in your shorts pocket to hold your Disney cards, Fastpasses, and money, then buy an antibacterial lotion that clips to your belt. You can then go right through the no bags line at the park entrances. It saves you waiting in another line. - Michelle

We are planning a trip to WDW this December-January. I was surprised to find out that some tours do not take place the last two weeks in December. We were interested in Backstage Magic, which is one of the tours that does not go when the park is that crowded. Readers might want to check on available tours when planing their trips. - Sue Lykins

On a recent family trip to Disney I soon found out that a bottle of hand soap should have been on my list of things to bring. With five of us sharing a hotel room, the bar soap can be not so nice to share. - Susan Riedling

On our last trip we brought a couple of the battery-operated tea candles. Used one in the bathroom as a night-light. - Brenda

Pick up some 3M Command hooks with the removable adhesive and put them, along with some extra adhesive, into your suitcase. We are a family of six, and I have the problem of too many wet things and not enough room, too, and this seems to solve the problem. They're easily removed when you leave and don't take paint off the walls. - Beth McMeekin

The last trip to Walt Disney World, I brought three plastic hangers with me -- handy for drying bathing suits or any hand wash things. They can be hung on the shower rod or in the closet. - Gaylin in Vancouver

My way to dry bathing suits when there are a few of us in a room: I bring a bungee cord in my suitcase, then string it up on the balcony outside my room. Instant clothesline! - ckjrn1959

Just saw saw that someone mentioned in a recent newsletter that they were used to traveling with a sound machine, and suggested that guests bring them to help drown out noise from traffic. Wanted to share my tip -- we found it helpful to just put the room's clock radio to a static channel. - Tracey DiMillo

Contact lens solution, glasses, and a spare set of contact lenses. (I forgot 'em a few trips ago and had to spend two days with one eye, since my prescription is so bad that most eye facilities don't stock them). - Michele