Tips about Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Special Events

Food & Wine Festival - If you are planning to do the Party for the Senses, skip the Eat to the Beat Concert unless you really like the group. Seating is limited in the dining venue. People start to line up at least one hour before the World Showplace opens. Once it does, which is before the concert is over, it's a mad dash to grab a table or at least a seat. If you don't mind standing while you eat, enjoy the concert. If you like to sit and eat, get to World Showplace early. - Ray S.

Food & Wine Festival - To get the most "bang for our buck" from the experience, I save our Disney Reward Dollars from the Disney Visa and use the "reward card" to purchase from all of the vendors. I can swipe the card and get a printout of my balance. It takes some of the pain out of spending so much at Epcot during this time. We try just about EVERYTHING around the World. - Susan Black

Food & Wine Festival - We absolutely LOVE Epcot's Food and Wine Festival and would go every year if we could! The first time we attended we quickly discovered that even when we shared each country's offerings, we'd become full way too fast and never get a chance to try everything. So now we try to plan at least two days (three is better) to munch our way around the World. We carry a program with us that lists the offerings in each country. Then we do every OTHER food stand! It gives us the chance to walk a bit between "meals." We make sure to mark off the items that we try in each country. Then, when we return the next time, we visit the food stands that we bypassed on our first visit. If we do have a third day to spend at Epcot, and if we managed to make our way around the World on our second visit, we return to those stands where we really enjoyed the offerings and have seconds! Otherwise we just pick up where we left off. It is also great fun to attend with another adventurous couple! Be sure to attend any seminars being offered, and if there are any wine tastings going on, do those, as well! - Donna Brewer

Please be aware if you have food restrictions or allergies that hopping from booth to booth can take a while. At each booth they will have to call a chef to clear what the ingredients are for the food served and this can take up to 10-15 minutes. This becomes hard when the rest of your group is ready to move on. (Kay)

Food & Wine Festival - Most people don't realize that the Food & Wine Festival stands have a "sneak peek" on the day before the Festival officially opens. It was a great time to sample the food and wine offerings with little or no wait... - Elaine P.

Magic Kingdom - I enjoyed reading the article on bashful travelers (AllEars Newsletter Issue #460), as I am one myself. I had a comment that might help people who want to see the Monsters, Inc. show in Tomorrowland. There are tabletops in front of everyone when you sit down in the theater. On the tables, there are "reading" lamps every so often. Those conceal the cameras that they use to interact with guests. Avoid sitting directly behind one of those and you should be fine. - Mandy Blank

Flower and Garden Festival - If you plan on seeing any of the Flower Power concert acts, keep in mind that only the front part of the American Gardens Theater is covered. If being seated out of the sun or rain is important to you, you need to be in line at least 1-2 hours before the show time. - Jack Marshall

Epcot - We are currently planning a trip to Disney. There are two pieces of information I discovered while making reservations that I would like to share, one about the spa and one about diving in The Seas in Epcot. Being a plus-sized woman, I asked about robe sizes available at the spa, and was delighted to learn that they have robes up to size 5X. In the past, I have brought my own robe so as not to be surprised by a robe that wasn't comfortable. Also, when making reservations to dive in the Living Seas, I was informed that wet suits were available to size 5X. Another wonderful surprise! Good information for visitors who may have ruled out this experience for fear of not fitting into a wet suit! - EL

Epcot - We are currently planning a trip to Disney. There are two pieces of information I discovered while making reservations that I would like to share, one about the spa and one about diving in The Seas in Epcot. Being a plus-sized woman, I asked about robe sizes available at the spa, and was delighted to learn that they have robes up to size 5X. In the past, I have brought my own robe so as not to be surprised by a robe that wasn't comfortable. Also, when making reservations to dive in the Living Seas, I was informed that wet suits were available to size 5X. Another wonderful surprise! Good information for visitors who may have ruled out this experience for fear of not fitting into a wet suit! - EL

Going through the metal detectors at the park entrances, you have to remove celebratory buttons and put them in the little bins with other metal objects. This can be a pain, especially if you're park-hopping! Consider wearing buttons on a lanyard or bag strap to make it easier to take them on and off. - Gilly R.

Going through the metal detectors at the park entrances, you have to remove celebratory buttons and put them in the little bins with other metal objects. This can be a pain, especially if you're park-hopping! Consider wearing buttons on a lanyard or bag strap to make it easier to take them on and off. - Gilly R.

Magic Kingdom - An unexpected bonus tip happened one morning when we entered the Magic Kingdom park early. The opening music was playing. We headed to the Crystal Palace for an early breakfast. Near there was a flower garden, which also faced toward the Adventureland sign. Using my camcorder, I was able to have a few of the songs of the opening music playing as the background for the scenes I was shooting. It was an extra freebie. There are always new scenes to shoot and new movies to make. You could easily find your hardest decision to make is how many cameras to take. - Murry A.

Epcot - If you've been to Le Cellier you already know there's more to the Canada pavilion than the beautiful landscaping. But I walked through the garden in Canada for years without ever noticing the wooden walkway that takes you through the waterfalls behind this wonderful setting. Don't miss it! - Emily Pickle

Epcot - If you've been to Le Cellier you already know there's more to the Canada pavilion than the beautiful landscaping. But I walked through the garden in Canada for years without ever noticing the wooden walkway that takes you through the waterfalls behind this wonderful setting. Don't miss it! - Emily Pickle

Magic Kingdom - Regarding Mike Scopa's article about saving time (AllEars® Issue #443, March 18, 2008): One of the queues that you can save a lot of time on is the Indy Speedway. The line goes up a ramp and then turns right. From there you can go down the first ramp or continue on the bridge to the second ramp. When I have been there lately, there are two lanes of cars running from the bottom of the first ramp and only one lane of cars on the second ramp. The second ramp is also further away. Therefore, do not go to the second ramp! - Sara