Tips about Food & Beverage, Health, Magic Kingdom, Mousecellaneous and Planning

Many attractions at WDW are tied to amazing stories, but some of the stories are not as popular as they once were. We recommend watching classic movies like "Swiss Family Robinson" and "Tom Sawyer" so young children can understand, appreciate and experience the attractions. Otherwise, climbing a tree house or rafting to an island may not have the same "magic" as it could. Also, as a mother of boys who are not as familiar with princesses, we watched "Snow White," "Cinderella" and "Little Mermaid" so they are familiar with the stories and could recognize the princesses more easily. - Sandy

I haven't seen this widely publicized yet, but Amazon Prime Now has started delivery to the WDW resort hotels. It's open to Prime members and can be used to order groceries, diapers and tons of other things that you may need while on vacation. Delivery is free within two hours and $7.99 if you want it delivered within one hour. They'll drop your items at Bell Services for you to pick up. You have to order through the primenow.amazon.com website or use the Amazon Prime Now app to place your order though, not the regular Amazon site or app. It's certainly a convenient way to get the stuff you need without having to leave the property. - Brian B.

Magic Kingdom - While at Magic Kingdom at night, we tried to take advantage of some busier attractions during the fireworks, in hopes there would be short wait times. We chose Enchanted Tales with Belle, as the wait time stated 20 minutes. Well, there was essentially no line. But the best part was that standing just outside of Maurice's house turned out to be one of the best places to see the fireworks. They appeared to be shot off right behind Beast's Castle and were literally right over our heads. And then when they were done, we were able to walk into the cottage and participate in the Belle experience right away. It was magical! - Megan

My husband uses an ECV to get around the parks. After several trips to the parks, we came up with an easy way to attach our hotel refillable mugs: a shoestring! Usually the basket in front of the ECV is full of other things, so attaching our cups with a shoestring or cup holder is essential. - Judy Shock

ALL PARKS - It's been said before, but the early bird gets the worm. Each morning we rose with the sun and were at the gates of our chosen park at opening. We literally cruised through on every ride, numerous times. (Expedition Everest five times in 20 minutes!) We were out of the parks by 10:30 each day. Our kids left vacation feeling like we had seen and done everything and we never noticed the crowds. We heard so many complaining about how horrible it was and we shared a private chuckle about our planning. - Michelle K

Magic Kingdom - We were just at Disney World last week, and we spent two days in the Magic Kingdom. The crowds weren't too bad, but the lines for the Be Our Guest Restaurant were very long. The wait was 45 minutes around 11:30. A helpful cast member told me that many times the line is shorter around 1 or 1:30 p.m. We had a snack to tide us over and went back at 1:20 p.m. Sure enough, we were in the castle in 10 minutes. It was totally worth it! You can research allergies on the touch-screen menu to see what foods are OK to eat. It was wonderful for my gluten-free son. Lunch prices were just slightly more than prices at the Columbia Harbor House, but the ambiance and decorations were priceless. My kids spent half the meal staring at the snow falling outside the giant picture window lining one wall. I really enjoyed the vegetable quiche, and the gluten-free Lemon Raspberry Cream Puff was great, too. Everything about the restaurant is done right. It was a wonderful memory for us. - Ali Sanders

Magic Kingdom - We were just at Disney World last week, and we spent two days in the Magic Kingdom. The crowds weren't too bad, but the lines for the Be Our Guest Restaurant were very long. The wait was 45 minutes around 11:30. A helpful cast member told me that many times the line is shorter around 1 or 1:30 p.m. We had a snack to tide us over and went back at 1:20 p.m. Sure enough, we were in the castle in 10 minutes. It was totally worth it! You can research allergies on the touch-screen menu to see what foods are OK to eat. It was wonderful for my gluten-free son. Lunch prices were just slightly more than prices at the Columbia Harbor House, but the ambiance and decorations were priceless. My kids spent half the meal staring at the snow falling outside the giant picture window lining one wall. I really enjoyed the vegetable quiche, and the gluten-free Lemon Raspberry Cream Puff was great, too. Everything about the restaurant is done right. It was a wonderful memory for us. - Ali Sanders

For international visitors, using mobile phones abroad can be very costly as roaming charges vary so much. We bought two-way radios to keep in contact in the parks. They have become a Walt Disney World trip essential for us. We bought ours with a charger pack. One word of advice though: the radios bought in USA are not legal in UK and vice versa. - Heather Young

We all remember to notify our credit card companies before we leave home to let them know we will be out of town so we can use those cards. Something I failed to remember, though, was to notify the company that manages my health insurance "Flex Spending" debit/credit card that I would be in Orlando! Of course, the fourth day into our vacation I got sick. My physician called in an antibiotic to Turner Drug (which, by the way, does not accept any form of insurance). Turner Drug would have accepted my flexible spending card, but it was declined since I hadn't updated it with my traveling details. Also, you don't get a traditional receipt that you can turn in for reimbursement -- that fee was charged on my resort bill. I can't imagine trying to recoup that money with a Disney Resort receipt! - Peggie Radke

I like to bring an extra sandwich-sized zipper-top bag to the parks with me. That way if the kids don't finish a meal we can take some of it with us as a snack for later. - Ingrid

Please call your credit/debit card company before leaving home and alert them to all the places you will be traveling. My card was locked out at Disneyland after I bought my annual pass! The companies are trying to minimize credit card fraud. The worst thing is if customer service isn't there 24/7, and you can't use your card until they reopen. - Leslie Seibert

For all those with peanut and/or tree nut allergies, make sure you have a meal at the Be Our Guest Restaurant (which was breathtaking, by the way). The chef advised us that no nuts are used on premises, and although the bread was made in a facility that may have resulted in cross contamination, ALL of the desserts were safe for those with peanut/tree nut allergies! My son was able to pick his own cupcake for dessert, and I'm not sure who was more excited -- him or me. The chef just had to prepare the cupcake without the garnish, which did not take away from it at all. Not to mention the cupcakes are amazing! I would highly recommend Be Our Guest, as most other sit-down restaurants are only able to offer ice cream without the Mickey sprinkles for dessert! - April Slavin

For all those with peanut and/or tree nut allergies, make sure you have a meal at the Be Our Guest Restaurant (which was breathtaking, by the way). The chef advised us that no nuts are used on premises, and although the bread was made in a facility that may have resulted in cross contamination, ALL of the desserts were safe for those with peanut/tree nut allergies! My son was able to pick his own cupcake for dessert, and I'm not sure who was more excited -- him or me. The chef just had to prepare the cupcake without the garnish, which did not take away from it at all. Not to mention the cupcakes are amazing! I would highly recommend Be Our Guest, as most other sit-down restaurants are only able to offer ice cream without the Mickey sprinkles for dessert! - April Slavin

When our family stays on property we like to have breakfast at our hotel. The last time we went we stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort so our room was pretty far from the food court. We didn't want to walk all the way back to the room to brush our teeth again after we had eaten and then walk again to get on the bus to head to the park. To solve this problem I purchased a few disposable toothbrushes. They are little pre-packaged toothbrushes that have a little bit of toothpaste on them. They are small enough to fit in your bag so you can take them with you to the parks to use after lunch and dinner, too. Just toss them in the garbage when you are done with them! - Nicole Benko

My family, which includes my 4-year-old son who has a peanut and tree nut allergy, recently visited Disney World. I did my research and contacted the Special Diets and Dietary Needs cast members prior to our visit, I noted his allergy on all of our Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) and made sure we mentioned it at all quick-service meals. I am happy to say everything went great! The only minor issue we ran into was at all of our ADRs, some type of bread or rolls were served before dinner and if they were not made in the restaurant, there was no guarantee that they didn't contain any nuts or were cross-contaminated in the bakery. It doesn't sound like a huge deal but when you are a hungry kid and everyone else is eating, it is tough. If I had known this in advance, I would have brought some crackers or something for my son to snack on. Also, a lot of the desserts are not made in the restaurants, so we ran into the same concern there. - Stacy Hearn