Tips about Food & Beverage, Magic Kingdom, Planning, Resorts, Souvenirs and Strollers

I will not travel without Ziploc bags, scissors, thread, first aid supplies, a list of everyone's phone numbers, medical cards, an old pair of prescription glasses (in case I break the ones I wear), clothes pins for the hotel room curtains, earplugs (to block out the snoring husband!) and two small flashlights. One other thing I must take is extra instant coffee, creamer and one of those gizmos that will heat just one cup of coffee rapidly. Lynette

Before you leave for vacation, keep your eyes open for sales at the stores (Disney Store, Wal-Mart, Target) or online for Disney stuff. Discreetly purchase Disney trinkets, and take them with you to the resort. Each day, you can give your children a new "souvenir" that will remind them of their trip, but you won't have to pay theme park prices for them. Also, keep your eyes open for bargains before you go, and you might be surprised to see "must-have" items available outside of WDW. This might prevent you from buying something for $12 at the parks and then seeing it sold at home for $5. Christie

My kids are always begging me to buy them those giant hats at WDW. You know which ones I mean -- the Goofy, Dwarf, Donald Duck, Sorcerer Mickey, etc. hats. Well, whenever we go, we only budget $10 per park/per child for a souvenir. Not to mention, I just can't see buying that hat just so it can sit and collect dust at home or wait for "Silly Hat Day" at school to be worn again. So, I came up with a definite $$-less solution to the problem. I take a picture of my kids in their "silly" hats. They have the memory of the hat for always and the hat doesn't come home with us. Problem solved. - Jen

I enjoyed Deb's recent article on things that go wrong on WDW trips and I have a tidbit to add, something that happened to me more than once. We bought tea at Epcot's British shop and had it delivered to our resort. I threw it in the closet when it was delivered to our room and three days later, when packing to go home, discovered that it wasn't my tea, but a very expensive china teapot. I was feeling very sorry for the person who bought it and would discover my tea instead! Luckily we were staying on the Polynesian Concierge level and they were able to switch packages in a matter of hours, before my plane left.On another WDW trip, our package from the Epcot France store (gargoyle snowglobes) arrived broken and wet... I would tell people to be very careful using the package delivery service, and to always check what they deliver right away. - Cammie Sawyer

Don't plan on mailing your vacation postcards from your gate at the Orlando airport -- there wasn't a mailbox anywhere near our gate. We had written a stack of postcards while we waited for our flight home, but we were subsequently informed that the only mailboxes were back near the check-in areas... meaning that they were on the other side of the airport monorail route and on the other side of the security checkpoint! We didn't have enough time before our flight to make this special trip, so we had to mail these postcards from our hometown. - Louis Rios

ALL PARKS - In regards to having bags and whatnots inspected at the parks, the best thing is to have all pockets and pouches opened. Also, if you have a dayplanner or something similar, have that unzipped, too. When we went to Disneyland recently (to see the new Haunted Mansion Holiday), my husband was asked to open his dayplanner for them to inspect. When we park-hopped over to DCA, he was ready for the inspection process and dutifully had everything unzipped and ready to be looked at. - Milady

When traveling to my favorite place on earth, it's inevitable that I will hear from my family and friends: "Be sure to send me a postcard." Of course, not wanting to miss a moment of the magic that Disney has to offer, writing out postcards can be a bit of a chore... but to make it easier, I always compile a list of names and addresses of people that I am going to send postcards to and then simply do up a sheet of labels on my computer before the trip. I then pre-buy the stamps and pack them away with the address labels in my backpack that I will be taking to the parks. The day that I arrive at my resort, I buy all the postcards I need. Then during my vacation while I'm waiting in an attraction line, or for a show to begin, or in a restaurant, or on the resort bus, I simply apply my label and stamp to a postcard and write a quick note about my trip so far, as well as what I am about to do (e.g., "As I write this, I'm standing in the line-up to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster... you can't believe how my heart is pounding!!!"). It sure makes postcard writing a lot easier and faster, and when you get back home and see the postcards that you wrote to a friend or family member, you instantly relive the moment of what ride or attraction you were waiting upon. What a way to transport yourself back to the magic! - Shelly Theriault

Trail's End Buffet at Fort Wilderness was fabulous! My son is a picky breakfast eater, but they had donuts with sprinkles, which he loves. They only charged us $0.60 per donut he ate and for his drink, instead of charging us for the whole buffet. It is a big difference in price, and nice for people with little money. - Jennifer Smith

FORT WILDERNESS - If you're staying at Fort Wilderness or any of the resorts on Bay Lake and plan on staying to the Magic Kingdom until closing, take the ferry back to the buses, rather than trying to take the resort launches or monorail. We found this to be a much faster and less crowded method. - Jennifer Smith

Remember what is at your child's eye level when they are in a stroller and watch out for branches, gates and especially burning cigarettes.

A plastic cupholder sold as a "Stroller Holder" in most discount stores is invaluable. It can support one or two diaper or shopping bags and your drink cup, leaving your hands free for safe driving.

Many people use either the seat (if the child walks a lot) or the basket underneath to stash stuff in. It may prove helpful to keep everything in your backpack or diaper bag at all times, so you only have one bag to grab when trying to make that last minute bus, etc.

Bring your own strollers! After lunch, we checked out the Kilimanjaro Safari before settling on the train ride to Conservation Station. Great accessibility for the wheelchair, my son simply rolled right on in his power chair, but if you have a stroller you must park it at the train station (tip: if you have your own collapsible stroller you are allowed to bring it along...a good idea since the hike in Conservation Station is a long one with a few hills). The ride was scenic, but no animals. After the train ride, we looked around & started the hike to Conservation Station but turned around since we no longer had our strollers (carrying 2 40 lb boys in 100 degree heat depleted our energy!). - Cherie and Joel Belcher

Strollers roll on fine and kids can remain seated on the ferryboats between TTC and MK. Strollers can also roll onto the larger boats that run the MK-Ft. Wilderness Loop. The smaller motor launches from Ft.W and the Grand Floridian cannot be rolled onto. Strollers and wheel chairs must be folded prior to boarding for motor launches and guests using wheel chairs must be able to walk onboard.

We have a lot of experience maneuvering our double-wide stroller around the "world" and in general it fits everywhere a standard wheelchair can go, but gets twice the dirty looks in a crowd that a regular stroller gets. Connecting two umbrella strollers together side-by-side makes them too wide for most turnstiles and gates, but fold and go on a WDW bus much easier than the double-wide. The Contemporary monorail station can be accessed by elevator.

Also, the AK walkway surfaces are really rough and tough to push a stroller on. I think that is why they rent out strollers with the larger wheels. - Jim Hunt

I have always rented a stroller when in the parks. I have found it invaluable to use for my daughter to take an afternoon nap. If you have a child who can sleep almost anywhere (like mine), try it. It also makes better use of time since you don't have to spend time leaving the park, going back to your room, and returning again after the nap. Sometimes we do walk around still, my daughter likes the movement when she sleeps. In the MK, there is a side street down main street that is usually very quiet and shaded to take a siesta. In Disney's Hollywood Studios, we go to the covered eating place outside of the Beauty and the Beast show/Tower of Terror. We have never found a single spot in EPCOT but my mother-in-law prefers to sit on the bench across from the Rose and Crown pub. Also, for safety's sake, most parents know this but never leave your child unattended while napping in the stroller. We used to take turns "standing guard" or just walk her around. - Corina Drozdowski