Tips about Disney Vacation Club, Epcot, Kids and Magic Kingdom

Epcot - Just wanted to add to the reason to pick up a Passport kit from Epcot. I got one on our last trip and secretly had each country stamp and write Happy Birthday to my husband on the Passport. A month after we got home it was my husband's birthday, so I put the Passport in a Mickey birthday card. He was very pleased and surprised with his multi-language greetings. - Sue Schultz

Epcot - Just wanted to add to the reason to pick up a Passport kit from Epcot. I got one on our last trip and secretly had each country stamp and write Happy Birthday to my husband on the Passport. A month after we got home it was my husband's birthday, so I put the Passport in a Mickey birthday card. He was very pleased and surprised with his multi-language greetings. - Sue Schultz

Epcot - On our last trip to Epcot, we purchased the passport set that allows children (or adults who are children at heart) to visit the Kidcot stations in each country and get a passport stamp. On that day, my daughter happened to be wearing a Minnie Mouse shirt that was personalized with her name, Isabelle, on the front. That turned out to be wonderful, since every time she went to get her stamp, the Disney cast member would write her name in their native language. I think they normally do this, but they never had to ask her name since it was on her shirt and every cast member seemed to notice it right away. Now, she has a wonderful keepsake with her name written in several languages. - Teresa Frangakis

Epcot - On our last trip to Epcot, we purchased the passport set that allows children (or adults who are children at heart) to visit the Kidcot stations in each country and get a passport stamp. On that day, my daughter happened to be wearing a Minnie Mouse shirt that was personalized with her name, Isabelle, on the front. That turned out to be wonderful, since every time she went to get her stamp, the Disney cast member would write her name in their native language. I think they normally do this, but they never had to ask her name since it was on her shirt and every cast member seemed to notice it right away. Now, she has a wonderful keepsake with her name written in several languages. - Teresa Frangakis

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

I found a tip that sounds really good especially if you are traveling with little ones. Get a pizza box for each child and you can store crayons, paper and color book in there and they can use the box as a desk when riding in the car. Crayons don't roll around the car and when done it all goes back into the box. I think you could just go to your local pizza store and ask for a clean unused box. - Suzy Kozicki

Epcot - We went to WDW in October to avoid the crowds. It was almost sucessful! Epcot was jammed like New Year's Eve because of the Food and Wine Festival. My suggestion is to go to Epcot very early in the morning to catch the normal stuff and then come back later to enjoy the Festival! - William

Epcot - We went to WDW in October to avoid the crowds. It was almost sucessful! Epcot was jammed like New Year's Eve because of the Food and Wine Festival. My suggestion is to go to Epcot very early in the morning to catch the normal stuff and then come back later to enjoy the Festival! - William

We are going to WDW in January. Right now, we have two nights at Kidani, followed by four nights at Bay Lake Tower. We are wait-listed to get into BLT for the first two nights. In speaking with DVC, they are considered two separate reservations. Thus for the Disney Dining Plan, we will have to purchase twice. Once at Kidani check-in for those two nights and then again at BLT for those four nights. If any entitlements from Kidani are not used by midnight on the night of checkout, they are lost. You cannot transfer them to the BLT entitlements. So, for those who are staying at WDW, but are splitting their stay between two or more resorts, they need to plan accordingly, so that they don't lose entitlements. This is not just for DVC of course, but for anyone using the DDP. Also, for anyone in a family/group staying in the same room, where any members of the group may only be in the room for a subset of days, they still need to get the DDP for everyone in the party for all nights. - Marc

EPCOT - My family was reminiscing about our trip last year and my husband reminded me of something I wanted to share: for the Illuminations show in Epcot, pay attention to which way the wind is blowing! We ended up sitting downwind and all the soot blew all over us. We had to close our eyes and duck our heads several times to avoid it! - Sharon Smith

EPCOT - My family was reminiscing about our trip last year and my husband reminded me of something I wanted to share: for the Illuminations show in Epcot, pay attention to which way the wind is blowing! We ended up sitting downwind and all the soot blew all over us. We had to close our eyes and duck our heads several times to avoid it! - Sharon Smith

Even though my children (ages 11 and 8) have just returned from their sixth trip to WDW, there are still so many things we haven't done -- and not just the EXTRA things like the water parks. So now in addition to our must-do list, we put together a "New Things to Do" list. With each trip we try to do a few new things. This trip we tried California Grill and Teppan Edo, met Jiminy Cricket in Animal Kingdom, and actually used our rain ponchos in the rain! We are revising and adding to our lists for our next trip. - Janice Dion

My children love looking for "hidden Mickeys." We have discovered a way to practice searching while at home. We realized that there are a number of hidden Mickeys placed in the Playhouse Disney show, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." Apart from the more obvious ones, there are other Mickeys in the backgrounds of scenes that are more subtle and fleeting, but every bit as legitimate. Sometimes we even go so far as to try to count how many we can find in each episode! - Chris Morris

Magic Kingdom - We have a GREAT spot for the afternoon parade in the Magic Kingdom but you have to get there early. After you cross over the bridge into Liberty Square there is a little cart where they handpaint umbrellas. Well, next to that cart is a much larger umbrella mounted into the ground -- SHADE! Even Lady Tremaine, Drizella and Anastasia thought it was a good spot -- while we were viewing the parade in June, they stopped and told us we were the smartest peasants they had seen all day. How kind!! Then the last float in the parade stopped right in front of us and all the characters came off to dance and interact with the crowd. It was awesome!! I am sharing this with everyone on one condition - you have to promise to let us have our spot when we are there next June. - Sharon Stieg

Epcot - When in Epcot's World Showcase pavilions, I try to have my children say at least one phrase in the native language of the Kidcot host or hostess. It is amazing the response that can be elicited from a simple "Cheers!", "Hola, buenos dias!" or my favaorite "as salaam alekem" (Morocco). We have ALWAYS been met with incredible warmth and extra kindness. Take the time to learn a few easy phrases, stand back and watch a world of smiles unfold! - Tom McManus