Tips about Epcot, Food & Beverage, Planning, Security and Souvenirs

Goofy's Candy Co. in Disney Springs has an area next to the cash register that offers large danish and pastries, bagels, coffee, etc., that you can purchase and save for a great breakfast the next morning in your room. The cost was extremely reasonable: danish - $1.25, huge sticky buns - $1.50, and bagels were only $1.00. All were very delicious and filling. They even include butter and cream cheese along with utensils and napkins. If your day of arrival to Disney is late in the day or early evening and you don't want to use a hopper pass for only a few evening hours in a major park, try Disney Springs instead. It's a great way to get in some "Disney," shop, eat, see a fireworks display at midnight, and get breakfast items for the next day to have with the in-room coffee. These sweet treats also came in handy to keep in our room to satisfy a late evening sweet tooth craving after being in the parks all day. - Susan Fadel

We have visited Walt Disney World 10 times over the last eight years. Needless to say, we've dined at quite a few of the restaurants. Sometimes when you are hot and sweaty, you just don't want a big meal, and salads seem to be a perfect choice. Here are some of my favorites: 1) The chicken salad at Pecos Bill's is delicious. The lime vinaigrette is superb. The salad is so large, two could share! 2) Chicken Caesar Salad at Pizzafari in the Animal Kingdom. There is just enough dressing on the salad without taking away from the delicious mesquite-flavored chicken. 3) Vegetarian Salad at Liberty Inn in Epcot. The salad has lots of veggies, including romaine lettuce, huge black olives and red peppers. You would never know the vinaigrette was low-fat! 4) China Salad at Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs. A salad unlike any other -- chock full of crisp lettuce, potato sticks and rice noodles. Very unusual.- Lisa McBride

We have been several times to WDW throughout the past several years, with and without our daughters. Now that they are all grown up, we seem to visit WDW more often without them. They always get a postcard or two from us to let them know we are thinking of them. On our latest trip we started what we call our "audio postcards." While we were in Pirates of the Caribbean we called them on our cell phone and instead of saying "Hi" we put the speaker phone option on just as "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me" could be heard. After a few moments of that I quietly said (so as not to disturb others in our boat), "We're having fun and guess where we are." They LOVED it, and we used several more opportunities during our visit. Some easily recognizable sounds are "Dead men tell no tales,""It's a small world after all," the "zapping" sounds from Buzz Lightyear, and the drummers from the Japan pavilion. There were so many opportunities once we got started. We just had to be careful not to disturb our fellow park-goers with our phone. Toward the end, we didn't even have to say anything; we just let Disney do the talking for us. - Jodi and Jim M.

Flying the red-eye from Las Vegas to Orlando (three-hour time difference) on the first day of your vacation, after exhausting months of work earning this vacation, guarantees that when the excitement wears off you will hit the wall hard! I love the researching and planning and getting the most for my time and money, but stop! Think! After three eight-day vacations, I've learned that the best time I ever had was when I didn't hit the parks on the first day, but instead went to a water park for some exercise and sunshine (to reset my clock), then to World of Disney in Disney Srpings to get my pin collecting/souvenir shopping out of the way (check for discount deals from Disney Visa), then to an early seating at 'Ohana at the Polynesian. Trust me, a slow start will give you tons more energy over the next few days. - Leslie Seibert

Epcot - I have a tip for keeping children occupied while waiting for the fireworks at Epcot. On our last trip to Disney, we wandered into the Toy Soldier at the United Kingdom before we went to get a place to sit for the fireworks. While we were in the store our 3 1/2-year-old son saw a Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle he wanted. We bought it for him and let him put it together while we waited for the fireworks to begin. It completely occupied his time and by the time he was finished, it was almost time for the fireworks. We are planning another trip in November 2005 and this time I am going to pack some of his puzzles into Ziplock bags to take with us. He will have something to do while we wait and we won't have the box to take up a lot of room in our bag. - Tiffany Lueck

Epcot - I have a tip for keeping children occupied while waiting for the fireworks at Epcot. On our last trip to Disney, we wandered into the Toy Soldier at the United Kingdom before we went to get a place to sit for the fireworks. While we were in the store our 3 1/2-year-old son saw a Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle he wanted. We bought it for him and let him put it together while we waited for the fireworks to begin. It completely occupied his time and by the time he was finished, it was almost time for the fireworks. We are planning another trip in November 2005 and this time I am going to pack some of his puzzles into Ziplock bags to take with us. He will have something to do while we wait and we won't have the box to take up a lot of room in our bag. - Tiffany Lueck

If you are an American Automobile Association (AAA) member, be sure to tell Disney when booking reservations. We just saved $100 per night at the Animal Kingdom Lodge! You must specifically ask the Disney employee on the phone though. They never volunteer money-saving opportunities like this one! - Amy

For those Disney visitors who live in Florida, unless you specifically ask for a Florida residency discount when making reservations, they don't offer it. Case in point: when calling to make my reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge, I told the Cast Member that I was a Florida resident, and she quoted me the same rate as it was online. Only when I asked about a discount for Florida residents did she quote a rate substantially lower. I asked her why she didn't quote the lowest rate from the start and she informed me that it's Disney policy not to "assume" that because you mention being a Florida resident that you are asking for a discount. - Bill

Grand Floridian - We found that the Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian Resort provided decent food at just a small premium over counter service in the theme parks. The food available poolside at the waterside pool was very expensive; however, you could get a tray from Gasparilla's and bring your food out to the pool. - Michael Gizzi

I wanted to expand on a tip given this week from Alea Laughery in regard to taking pictures of your kids in each country in Epcot. We do this every year and some other ideas we have done: playing an instrument, waving a flag, eating a candy or treat not from a restaurant and taking a picture with a cast member from that country. My son gets excited every time and is always coming up with what he wants to do. (He came up with the instrument idea!) Next trip... Toys! - Lisa H.

I wanted to expand on a tip given this week from Alea Laughery in regard to taking pictures of your kids in each country in Epcot. We do this every year and some other ideas we have done: playing an instrument, waving a flag, eating a candy or treat not from a restaurant and taking a picture with a cast member from that country. My son gets excited every time and is always coming up with what he wants to do. (He came up with the instrument idea!) Next trip... Toys! - Lisa H.

We just got back after spending 10 wonderful days at the World. It is very hard for me because I can neither have sugar nor caffeine in any kind of drink. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and they do offer caffeine-free diet Coke. The tip that I have to offer, though, is that before you depart for your vacation, go to your local supermarket and buy the little packets of diet drink powder that you add to bottles of water. I found that one packet in the small bottle of water that Disney offers now was just right. You do, however, have to put two packets in the large bottle of water that they sell. If you're like me, and plain water just doesn't cut it, try this. It was very refreshing and a great change from the cola. - Debbie A. Holt

When my wife and I are at WDW we always send postcards home to our parents. Each parent gets their own postcard for each day that we are at WDW. It is a lot of fun finding the right card and writing the right message. Last year, while at breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, we had all the characters sign each card and we didn't add any message of our own. Our parents got the cards and couldn't figure out what was going on, since they had been reading our messages explaining what had happened on each day. They loved them! We later found out that these cards were our parents' favorites and are the ones that they show to other family members first. - Ray & Cindy Kuykendall

Three of the restaurants at Disney Springs (Fulton's Crab House, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, and Portobello Yacht Club) are operated by the same parent company, Levy Restaurants. They have a Preferred Frequent Dining Program that you can use at any of those three restaurants and earn points that can be traded in for gift cards, etc. http://www.levyrestaurants.com - Erick

I am an annual passholder and have realized that my pass usually has discounts available during lunch hours and not dinner. We either make the latest reservation that would still give a discount for lunch, or eat a nice lunch and grab something not as expensive for dinner. We would actually switch and eat our bigger or more expensive meal at lunch, and then have a hot dog or delicious turkey leg for dinner, which was usually a bit lighter also! - Niki Koullias