Tips about Epcot, Food & Beverage, Magic Kingdom and Rain

If you have something in a restaurant at WDW that you like, don't hesitate to ask for the recipe. They have always given it to me. I still can't figure out how to cut down the recipe for Cheddar Cheese Soup from Le Cellier but my best surprise was the email that was waiting for me from Boma after our last trip. It adds the fun and extends your trip. - Joan Riegger

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS - Being a finicky eater I have found that in a lot of the restaurants, '50s Prime Time Cafe is one, just ask and they will do their best to please your tastebuds. For example, at Mama Melrose's, our server noticed we were not crazy about all types of cheeses on the four-cheese pizza, so he offered to have it prepared the way we wanted it. It was great! - Malcolm Mann

As a health inspector and food safety education specialist, I implore you to please, please advise your readers NOT to carry perishable leftovers around in the parks. Leftover portions of entrees and prepared foods can multiply bacteria *very* rapidly, especially in the heat of Florida. Even if reheated, these foods can make you or your family mildly or very ill... a sure vacation disaster. - Michele Samarya-Timm

Dining at Disney World is fun and delicious and first quality, but can get expensive. We eat our larger meal at lunchtime - some restaurants will even serve as late as 3:30 or 4:00 for lunch. The same item for dinner can be lots more expensive. All the theme parks have "turkey leg" carts. I believe they cost about $5 and are a hugh piece of meat. One smoked turkey leg will serve 2 children or 2 smaller-appetite adults. This or food from other carts (baked potato, etc.) are filling enough for a light dinner and inexpensive. This helps us with our family of 5. - Peggy from Florida

We asked a locker attendant where we needed to go to make dining reservations, assuming it would involve standing in a line, and were told all we needed to do was to pick up any WDW pay phone and dial *88. This was perhaps the most timesaving and convenient tip we received while at WDW. We made calls from virtually every park and were usually able to make our dinner reservations in about two minutes. - Laura Bynum

To those Disney enthusiasts who know about the suspension of early entry days [Editor's Note: this was written during the time that early entry or Extra Magic Hour as it is now know was not being held], it didn't matter during this time of the year. Besides, we encountered a lovely way to enter the park early... Character Breakfast. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom one day about 35 minutes before the turnstiles were open. We saw people going in so we headed in that direction. We were told that only people with breakfast priority seating were able to enter early, so we made them. That's right! We made them at the gate and entered into the park and got a 5- minute head-start on everyone who didn't have priority seating. Our breakfast was at the Crystal Palace and we loved every bit of it. The food was good and the characters were everywhere. Because it was not 100% full, the characters made many rounds to the tables and all the kids got hugs, autographs, and pictures. It was awesome! We decided right then and there that we were going to have Character Breakfasts every morning for the rest of our stay and we did and we loved it!!!! - Skipbroome

One more tip: Schedule your character breakfast just before lunchtime. We had ours at Hollywood & Vine (in Disney's Hollywood Studios) at 11 a.m. We were seated by about 11:15 and were able to enjoy the breakfast and lunch buffet. It was great! - Barb Jensen

EDITOR'S NOTE: This tip applies to all the other character breakfast locations.

We just returned from a wonderful week in WDW. We were traveling with a 2 & 5 year old and it was imperative that we stay stocked on water. The bottled water was expensive and often not very cold. We did have a small Coleman personal water bottle container. I know you can request ice water at any location that serves drinks in cups, however the wait for a single drink could be 20 minutes or more. We found that in some of the outdoor cart locations where they sell the squeeze breeze misters, the hosts were more than okay with us getting some ice and some water out of the tub. It was quick, free and easy (as very few things are in WDW in August. LOL!) - Amy Miles

An inexpensive rain-cover for the double strollers that the parks rent is a clear rain poncho that can be purchased for less than a dollar at Wal-Mart. I was able to snap the poncho in with the top cover of the stroller and then draped it over the sides and in front. The kids tucked the poncho around themselves and enjoyed the view as we strolled through the rain. - Patricia Moery

We just returned from a wonderful two-week trip to Disney and I have a great tip for anyone traveling with a stroller. We brought our own ultralight stroller, and along with it a plastic rain shield that covered the entire stroller. I cannot tell you how much this saved us during the many rain showers we had over our trip, since ponchos do not work well for a baby in a stroller. Even if it looked like there was a chance of rain I pulled the cover over our son's stroller before going into an attraction, and the seat never got wet. During one storm at Disney's Hollywood Studios, we were able to walk across the park to attractions that had no line, because so many people were staying put under shelters. We got the rain cover at Babies R Us and it is made by Graco, but is supposed to fit most strollers, and I am sure there are similar products out there. - Tanya Sheehan

Whenever possible, park your stroller under a designated shelter. We parked both of ours outside during the Country Bear Jamboree, and were surprised by a total drenching shower that left about a quarter-inch of rain in our belongings and two very soggy toddlers for the rest of the day! - Mark Brown

The Coral Reef restaurant is no longer considered a signature meal! When I visited in August it was still considered a signature. I went onto the Disney site recently, though, and noticed that it was changed to a table service meal. - Michael Venere

A great new item for that hot thirsty Disney trip -- individual cold brew tea bags! Any restaurant will give you free tap water but it doesn't taste very good. Just pop in a tea bag and some sugar (if desired) and you have delicious iced tea. - Amy

There is no milk on the beverage island at any of the food courts, but if you are a coffee drinker like me who prefers milk to cream, just ask one of the CM's. They have some put aside in the "back room" just for this. - Jack Marshall

We stayed at the All-Star Movies Resort. My tip to everyone who's gotta have MILK: Instead of buying the little cartons of milk at the food court for 99 cents each, go into the gift shop and buy a whole quart for $1.50. This saved us a lot of money, once we realized they sold milk in the back of the gift shop. Take your own cereal from home, send someone for the bottle of milk in the morning and this will save you lots of time and money. - Donna Glatfelter