Tips about Disney’s Magical Express, Kids, Resorts and Souvenirs

When traveling to my favorite place on earth, it's inevitable that I will hear from my family and friends: "Be sure to send me a postcard." Of course, not wanting to miss a moment of the magic that Disney has to offer, writing out postcards can be a bit of a chore... but to make it easier, I always compile a list of names and addresses of people that I am going to send postcards to and then simply do up a sheet of labels on my computer before the trip. I then pre-buy the stamps and pack them away with the address labels in my backpack that I will be taking to the parks. The day that I arrive at my resort, I buy all the postcards I need. Then during my vacation while I'm waiting in an attraction line, or for a show to begin, or in a restaurant, or on the resort bus, I simply apply my label and stamp to a postcard and write a quick note about my trip so far, as well as what I am about to do (e.g., "As I write this, I'm standing in the line-up to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster... you can't believe how my heart is pounding!!!"). It sure makes postcard writing a lot easier and faster, and when you get back home and see the postcards that you wrote to a friend or family member, you instantly relive the moment of what ride or attraction you were waiting upon. What a way to transport yourself back to the magic! - Shelly Theriault

FORT WILDERNESS - If you're staying at Fort Wilderness or any of the resorts on Bay Lake and plan on staying to the Magic Kingdom until closing, take the ferry back to the buses, rather than trying to take the resort launches or monorail. We found this to be a much faster and less crowded method. - Jennifer Smith

If you are wanting to purchase fragile items like stemware or coffee mugs, consider ordering directly from The Disney Store online. They have many items that are available at the parks. This way they can ship it to you and it will be well-packaged with separate boxes for each item and bubble wrap. - Cindy Waters-Goodman

Costco has an amazing backpack by Baby Innovations for around $25 that was fabulous. It has a zippered thermal side pocket that accommodated 4 juice boxes and a removable lunch container (thermal) that held a few more juice boxes, sandwiches and fruit snacks. It was well worth it, especially if you have kids who are young and/or picky eaters. - Lisa Cappabianca

I was reading in your toddler section about explaining to kids about "big" Mickey and wanted to share our trick. My husband and I are taking our children ages 4 and 1, and our niece age 3 to Disney World in January. To make sure they know what to expect when they see a "big" Mickey we've been attending our local bookstores monthly character story time where a "big" sized character is present each month. This has allowed the kids to see first hand what to expect. We are also planning a visit a regional amusement park for a day as a dry run of sorts to prepare for our week at Disney. - Laura Hulse

Our family loves WDW and between trips we really miss it. One way to bring back the fun is to play the Disney game during mealtime or car rides. Each person takes a turn giving one or two clues and the others must guess what the ride, hotel, place, character meal or activity for which the clues are related. For instance, I might say, "This place has a big dinosaur." The others might guess the dinosaur ride at Epcot or the dinosaur ride at AK. But the answer I was thinking about is the toy dinosaur at the All Star Movies. It's a great game that all can play and have fun. I've been stumped a few times by my 9 and 6 year old girls. - Kenna Washington

I shopped for months before the trip and purchased little items that were from Disney. At tag sales I found little Disney items that were from Happy Meals. By saving Kodak UPC codes I got 4 puppets for the kids. I found Disney coloring books at a discount store. Before the trip, I wrapped up a package for the children to open each day. That way we did not have to buy gifts each day. We allowed them to buy one gift at the end of the trip. - Sally O'Brien

Since our daughter is almost 12 years old, she didn't want an autograph book or EPCOT passport this trip. We bought her the Pressed Penny book and set out to collect at least one penny from each place we visited. We found most of them, but then discovered that Guest Services and cast members in gift shops throughout EPCOT and MK have lists of where the machines are and what their pennies look like. This made it even easier for her to complete her collection! - Lisa Heisel, Succasunna, NJ

I love to collect the smashed pennies at Walt Disney World, but hated always fumbling through my wallet for the correct change (two quarters and one penny, preferably bright and shiny!). Now, a few months before my trip I start to put aside my quarters and pennies. I store them in empty film canisters and then just toss the canisters into my backpack. Now when I'm at the park I just pull out one of the little canisters of coins and have the change right at my finger tips with no searching. - KrisAnne Warren

When you see something you want at the parks/hotels, buy it - Too many times I said I'll buy it later and it was gone or I forgot where I saw it. - Anonymous

Save all your shopping at the World of Disney for one day. If you ship everything home, $8.95 for under $100 or $13.95 for anything over $100, you will save sales tax and not have to worry about packing everything in a suitcase!! This was a big plus for us. Discounts are sometimes available.

Suggest your child start a collection - whether it's key chains, postcards, or whatever. It may be a bit pricey (esp. key chains) but they can collect them or give them as presents. - Keely

Before you spend too much money in the gift shops in and around the world, I'd recommend checking out the character warehouse shop in the Beltz outlet mall. On our last trip, I found some identical items to the ones on sale in the world at 50 - 75% off! There was quite a variety of items, but as with most outlet mall shopping, you have to do some digging. Items available included themepark clothing, resort logo clothing, plush characters, pins, and lots of character themed clothing. - Boris Beckert

ALL RESORTS - Be sure and take plenty of one dollar bills for tipping the castmembers in your hotel. We stayed at the Beach Club and the castmembers there are so helpful & friendly that I found myself wanting to tip everybody!! I left an envelope for the maid everyday that I had printed on the computer with Disney graphics on the front that said "Merry Mousekeeping" for the maid. The maid did a super job!! I ordered from room service several times during our stay & the service was impeccable. Each time I was delivered my order promptly & the tray always had a fresh flower on it & plenty of food! - Margaret Wilkins

POLYNESIAN RESORT - Watching Fireworks from Polynesian - The view is wonderful; the fireworks will appear right above Cinderella Castle. I'd recommend starting at the pool, and working your way along the beach toward the Contemporary until you find a comfortable spot with a good view of the castle. The music is piped through the speakers along the path, but it's not very loud so if you want to hear it, find a spot near a speaker. No need to go early, unless you want to be sure to get a beach chair or a hammock. We find that beach towels on the sand work just fine too, and there are always plenty of great spots left at fireworks time. At the end of January, when we were there, the beach was actually deserted for the fireworks. Last May, it was a little more crowded but still no trouble finding a spot. - Joyce Ruppert