Tips about Epcot, Food & Beverage and Kids and Money

We took our 3-year-old son to lunch at the Garden Grill. The character interaction was fun and he really enjoyed it. One tip for those with young kids: ask to be seated in the upper tier if you want a high chair. We went without and he felt free to hop down and run to the edge of the restaurant a lot. It would have been nice to keep him in one spot. All in all, this is a good meal, lots of fun and well worth your time. The character interaction was first-rate and our son was charmed by how the restaurant rotated. We were still full well into the evening. - Jennifer Maxwell

Epcot - The new Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival in the Magic Eye Theater (in the Imagination pavilion) has a 15-minute standing pre-show that, while informative, is not very entertaining for kids. - A Reader

Epcot - The new Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival in the Magic Eye Theater (in the Imagination pavilion) has a 15-minute standing pre-show that, while informative, is not very entertaining for kids. - A Reader

Epcot - Don't forget the single rider lines at Test Track and Mission: SPACE, especially if you're just part of a couple. This is a GREAT way to ride quickly. Even when we have the kids, we'll each take the 9-year-old (the other kids are too small) and ride using the single rider line, then we switch... oftentimes it even beats out the child swap option because you don't have to stand in the regular line. - - Sarah

Epcot - Don't forget the single rider lines at Test Track and Mission: SPACE, especially if you're just part of a couple. This is a GREAT way to ride quickly. Even when we have the kids, we'll each take the 9-year-old (the other kids are too small) and ride using the single rider line, then we switch... oftentimes it even beats out the child swap option because you don't have to stand in the regular line. - - Sarah

Last year, the day before we were leaving for Disney World, I remembered my daughter had received some Disney Gift Cards over the years that were never used. I put them in a separate envelope for her and stuck them in my purse. When I pulled them out at WDW, she was so excited to be able to spend her own money. It seemed to make her feel so grown up and she actually took the time to decide what souvenirs she REALLY wanted, rather than asking me to buy her everything she saw. - Marissapg5

We just returned from another great trip to our favorite place on earth... Disney World! We homeschool, so since we have a more flexible schedule, we have taken several trips there this year. The only problem we've encountered is that our three children (7, 9, and 13) never seem to get tired of souvenir shopping, or those yummy Mickey ice creams, and let's face it... Mickey ice cream isn't cheap. So, to save tears and money out of Mom and Dad's wallet, we've implemented a pretty workable plan. All three children are responsible for earning their own spending money, or saving their gift money for our Disney vacations. We provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner... anything else the children pay for themselves. Not only do they enjoy freedom from the words, "No, you can't have that," but they are learning how to handle and manage money at the same time. Who would have thought... Disney, three kids, and no tears! - Evelyn Horton

For those who are staying in Home Away from Home accommodations and are interested in grocery delivery, I would highly recommend a company called WeGoShop. They are a national grocery shopping and delivery company, and their Orlando location is run by a husband and wife team who are very nice people. You can email them your exact order (including product brand names, sizes and quantity), your hotel and the time you'd like your delivery, and they will be there with your groceries safely stowed in a large plastic container. They will charge you cost for the items you've bought, as well as a modest delivery charge. Their website is at www.wegoshop.com. Our groceries were just as we'd asked for them, and they even brought them to Bell Services for us as our room wasn't ready yet. - Jessica Slivak

ALL PARKS - I just returned from a trip to WDW. The 3M Company now has a new Post-It Flag Highlighter that includes both a highlighter and Post-It flags in one. It was PERFECT for marking the maps to the parks. I would circle the attraction number with the highlighter and then put a Post-It flag on the number on the map. They are see-though, so they don't cover up the number. The "pen" fit perfectly in my fanny pack! - Leah Price

The Gooding's Store at Crossroads in Lake Buena Vista will deliver right to your resort. Your order must be at least $50 and there is a $10 delivery charge. You can order via Internet or fax before you leave home and they will guarantee delivery on the day of your arrival, usually late in the afternoon. Your order will be delivered to the concierge (or the office) of your resort. They will also deliver personalized birthday cakes! No alcohol delivery is allowed, but they do deliver perishables. To place an order: Phone: 407-827-1200; Fax: 407-827-1219; Website: http://shop.goodings.com/ - Glo from Miami

I just wanted to let you know of a tip I found out this past trip. A friend who was with me can't eat sesame seeds, but most hamburger buns in the parks have the seeds on them. After pulling the seeds off the bun the first few times, he asked the cashier if they could give him a burger with two bottom buns. When the Cast Member heard it was because of the seeds, she said that they could make him a burger with a seedless bun. She added that most fast food counters in the parks have a supply of seedless buns on hand. You just have to request them. - Rob Steere

Recently on a vacation to Walt Disney World, we noticed several refillable mugs left unattended and presumably left behind by mistake. Oftentimes cast members just tossed them in the trash. We brought address labels and added our cell phone numbers to the labels. We attached the labels not only to our refillable mugs, but also our camera and other valuable items just in case something got left behind. - Becky from Oshkosh

I am an 11-year-old girl who has visited WDW at least 35 times, and I found the best Disney World product for us Disney nuts. It is the Walt Disney World Resort Scavenger Hunt. It is only $4.00 in the Magic Kingdom Emporium on Main Street. It has questions like: What is the name of the mill on Tom Sawyer Island? What are they auctioning in Frontierland? If you WANT to know everything about Disney, or think you DO know everything, then this is for you. My family and I thought that we knew Disney, but we were so wrong! I thought you would like to know about this awesome product. - Chris B.

Did you ever go for breakfast or dinner and find out your Priority Seating cannot be found, and you don't have the PS number with you? Well, this happened to me a couple of times. The cast members were very nice, but also sorry because the wait for dinner at Cinderella Castle would be at least one hour and Chef Mickey had no openings at all. So this past May I made a printout of our restaurants, times and Priority Seatings, shrank it to the size of a credit card, had it laminated and put it in my wallet next to my credit card. It worked wonders because for dinner at San Angel in Mexico they could not find our seating -- I gave them my PS card and within seconds it came up on the computer. By the way, dinner at San Angel was just too delicious, you must give it a try! - Fran Giambalvo

Greetings from Alaska! I just read a tip from another reader about bringing snack size bags of Gatorade powder to add to water. Recently, I bought a round plastic container that has three compartments to hold servings of powdered baby formula to use in our upcoming trip to WDW. It has a top that twists to allow an opening to pour the contents of one compartment at a time. I think the container is made by Munchkin, and I found it in the baby products section of one of our local stores. Next time I'm out shopping, I'll pick up another container to use for Gatorade powder. - Anne-Lise Hagevig