Tips about Food & Beverage, Keep The Magic Alive, Kids, Magic Kingdom and Mousecellaneous

Preparing for our family reunions at Walt Disney World was always exciting. I would make up games and we would have a friendly competition for the few months leading up to the trip. Each week every family member would receive a new puzzle and would complete it and send it back. Most had to do with trivia about Disney World and Disney but all ages could enjoy the game. Winners were announced once all arrived at WDW and of course everyone received a special Disney surprise! - Kay

On our last stay, we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside for 10 nights. We were a bit worried: How could we enjoy some late night TV without waking our 5-year-old daughter? How would she fall asleep with the lights and TV on? We found a great solution. We bought our daughter a small dome tent (it packs up very compactly), which we shipped ahead of our arrival. When we got to the room, there was just enough space (once we rearranged a table and chair) to set her tent up in a corner. She loved it! She put all her "babies" in there each night with her, and couldn't wait to zip herself in for "camping out." Interestingly enough, the housekeeper brought in extra bedding unasked and one of those foam egg-crate pads to soften the "bed" inside the tent. Housekeeping also rearranged the "babies" around the tent each day. - Laura Suffi

The BoardWalk often offers jugglers and magicians in the evening. My son loves just sitting and watching all of the performers. But we just returned from our rainiest Disney trip ever. We certainly thought that the performers would not be on the BoardWalk on those nights. We were right, they weren't -- but, to my son's delight, we found that they perform indoors on those nights. We found the performers near the bar area and also in the lobby. - Kelly

Magic Kingdom - While stopping for a Photopass picture on our way to watch the "Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party," a cast member suggested we stand in the middle of the circle (next to the Walt and Mickey statue) in front of the castle to watch the show. The Street Party parade comes up main street and fills the circle. By standing in the circle you can move around and see all the various floats, dancers and characters. - Jim

Magic Kingdom - Just a little tip about viewing the Wishes fireworks outside of Magic Kingdom. If you go to the Transportation and Ticket Center via monorail you are able to get a very good view of the fireworks. They also play the music through the speakers so you can hear what is going on instead of just watching the fireworks without the music. You get all the excitment of feeling like you are in the Magic Kingdom during the fireworks without the huge crowd. - Aesha Richardson

One of the things I started doing when my daughter Britini returned from one of our trips was to play the "ride game." She was just starting to read and write and this game helped her. You could name any ride in the park and whoever goes next needs to name another ride that starts with the first letter from the previous ride. If Splash Mountain was first you could use the S or the M to name another ride. Next could be Soarin' and so forth, throughout all the rides. We would do this until we could name no more rides and the last person to name one was the winner. After a while we changed the rules so everything in Walt Disney World was "fair game," from hotels, to restaurants, etc. It was a great way to help her to learn to spell and also have a fun time learning while also trying to remember all the fun places throughout Walt Disney World. We have done this for a couple of years and now my son is getting into it, too. - Adam Guthy

MAGIC KINGDOM - Even though we've been to the Magic Kingdom five times in the past 18 months and are avid listeners to Disney podcasts, we just recently discovered the hidden gem of the Harmony Barbershop. What a bargain! For $21.50 (plus tip) my son got a haircut AND his hair painted and sprinkled with confetti AND my daughter had her hair done in pony tails with paint and glitter! MUCH cheaper than Bibbidi Bobbidi and SO many compliments to them, which they loved! It is off the beaten path, in the corner between the firehouse and Emporium, so you need to keep an eye out for the striped barbershop pole (which can be a challenge to see during Christmas season). It is first come, first serve so get there early. And as a special treat you may get a performance by the Dapper Dans Barbershop Quartet! What a find! We will definitely be holding off on haircuts before our next trip in order to do this again. By the way, the paint and glitter come out pretty easily even after two days -- would recommend a comb for the confetti though. - Becky Koehl

I found a tip that sounds really good especially if you are traveling with little ones. Get a pizza box for each child and you can store crayons, paper and color book in there and they can use the box as a desk when riding in the car. Crayons don't roll around the car and when done it all goes back into the box. I think you could just go to your local pizza store and ask for a clean unused box. - Suzy Kozicki

Our family has found an easy way to keep track of our dining information during a Disney trip. I use my cell phone's calendar to enter the times and confirmation numbers of all our meals. My phone is always with me, so I don't have to carry an extra list. If we're really trying to pack a lot into our day, I set my alarm to go off a half hour before our reservation. Having our confirmation number handy helped us out a couple years ago when our reservation got mixed up. - Deborah Shauan

I wrote you in January of this year regarding the fact that Earl of Sandwich in Disney Springs was using latex gloves in food prep. I wanted to update you with the fact that when we were at WDW at the end of September, we were happy to learn that "Earl" has now become latex-free! Of course, it's always important to ask at the time of ordering, but we were told they would be latex-free going forward. Unfortunately, when we went to purchase fudge at the Main Street Confectionery, we were told that they for some reason are still using latex gloves (despite the fact that we've been told over and over that WDW food prep is now latex-free) as well as vinyl gloves, so we were advised not to chance purchasing anything. Very disappointing! - Amy Keen

Even though my children (ages 11 and 8) have just returned from their sixth trip to WDW, there are still so many things we haven't done -- and not just the EXTRA things like the water parks. So now in addition to our must-do list, we put together a "New Things to Do" list. With each trip we try to do a few new things. This trip we tried California Grill and Teppan Edo, met Jiminy Cricket in Animal Kingdom, and actually used our rain ponchos in the rain! We are revising and adding to our lists for our next trip. - Janice Dion

Save yourself time and money on hydration while roaming the parks. My husband and I each have a CamelBak hydration pack (they have packs with only a beverage bladder or models with decent-sized backpacks for the rest of your Disney necessities). A trip to the resort ice machine, a little powdered drink mix and you're good for the whole day. Plus, the ice in the pack keeps you cool on a hot day, even through the insulated padding. You'll save the cost of the CamelBak in the first couple of days plus no time waiting in line for an expensive bottle of water! - Karen Henny

My children love looking for "hidden Mickeys." We have discovered a way to practice searching while at home. We realized that there are a number of hidden Mickeys placed in the Playhouse Disney show, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." Apart from the more obvious ones, there are other Mickeys in the backgrounds of scenes that are more subtle and fleeting, but every bit as legitimate. Sometimes we even go so far as to try to count how many we can find in each episode! - Chris Morris

To keep the thread, no pun intended, of lost glasses pins/screws going, here is a tip to keep from losing them in the first place -- put a drop of clear nail polish on the thread end of the screw and it will act like Loctite®. - Marc

Magic Kingdom - We have a GREAT spot for the afternoon parade in the Magic Kingdom but you have to get there early. After you cross over the bridge into Liberty Square there is a little cart where they handpaint umbrellas. Well, next to that cart is a much larger umbrella mounted into the ground -- SHADE! Even Lady Tremaine, Drizella and Anastasia thought it was a good spot -- while we were viewing the parade in June, they stopped and told us we were the smartest peasants they had seen all day. How kind!! Then the last float in the parade stopped right in front of us and all the characters came off to dance and interact with the crowd. It was awesome!! I am sharing this with everyone on one condition - you have to promise to let us have our spot when we are there next June. - Sharon Stieg