Tips about Food & Beverage, Magic Kingdom, Planning and Running

When traveling to Orlando from the UK you tend to get to Orlando about 3 p.m. By the time you get to your Disney hotel it's about 6 p.m., so instead of rushing to the parks we head to Disney Springs, pick up our park tickets at Guest Relations (this saves doing it the next morning when you want to hit the parks), then go and have dinner and do some shopping. We are then fresh for the next morning. - Ruth

Save the little bottles of bubbles you get at weddings and bring them with you to Disney. Our daughter keeps one in her fanny pack. She has stopped many a potential meltdown by blowing bubbles for a fussy toddler as we waited in line. It's portable pixie dust! - Karen B

I carry a folded plastic shopping bag in my running belt during runDisney events. After crossing the finish line the bag comes in handy to carry the water, fruit, snacks and drinks that are given at the finish line. The bag also helps carry your items as you get your finish line photo taken. - Stephanie

I think most people going into the parks don't realize just how much they walk. I recommend stretching out all your muscles at the end of the day, holding the stretches for 20 seconds. Going hard a full day in Disney could leave you sore, especially if you're not used to walking 5+ miles a day. - Shannon Ashleigh

This is a tip for those participating in the half or full marathons. Runners need to be at these events very early in the morning and it can be quite chilly standing around waiting for the race to start. While bringing a jacket is the obvious solution, few of us want to deal with it once we get moving and warm up. The solution is to bring a "throw-away" jacket. Just go to the local Goodwill or similar charity and purchase an inexpensive jacket. Wear it that morning until time for your corral to start and then simply leave it behind. Disney staff/race volunteers will gather up the discarded items of clothing and donate them to charity, making it a win-win situation. - Mary Turner

Just learned that if you go to a park prior to checking in to your Disney resort they will reimburse you for parking! Did this myself this past weekend when we stayed at Art of Animation and worked perfectly! Couldn't quite get up early enough to do check-in before park opening and I didn't want to waste any of my theme park time! - Mary

EDITOR'S NOTE: this is also true if you are going to purchase an annual pass that includes parking. Just bring your parking receipt to the Guest Relations window and they will credit what you paid for parking that day towards your annual pass.

On our recent Magic Kingdom visit my two children really wanted to get their faces painted. We first tried the Pirates' League in Adventureland, but it closed at 3:30 p.m. on the day we visited. However, we found a face painting area tucked away next to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland. And the best part -- just keep your receipt, and they'll touch up your face paint throughout the day for no extra charge! - Laura Gjere

On a recent visit to the Magic Kingdom, I stopped in the Main Street Bakery to check out the recent renovation and treat myself to a Starbucks coffee. When I reached the counter to pay, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to pay with my Starbucks gift card. Not only did I buy coffee with my gift card, but also a bottle of soda for my son. Don't leave home without your gift cards! - Kim Chesser

One tip I don't recall seeing concerns the Florida wildlife. As people walk and jog the Disney trails around hotels and ponds they need to be smart about the wildlife. Alligators and snakes in Florida are a way of life. I'm sure that Disney, like most communities in Florida, does its very best to relocate the creatures that wander in, but these are not cute, furry bunnies and are not "fake." Each year tourists in our area are bitten by venomous snakes. Just be careful and mindful of where you are walking, jogging and playing. - Patricia Dahl

-- I bring along suction cups to stick to the bathroom walls. This gives everyone their own place to hang washcloths or other personal bathroom items.

-- A power strip gives everyone easy access to plug in their electronic devices instead of searching for an unused one in the room.

-- Lastly, we always have a spot in the room (a table or the spot next to the door) where we put the things we take with us each day -- for example, sunglasses, backpack, water bottle, celebration pin, jacket. That way when you are ready to walk out the door, you can just grab your stuff instead of scrambling around the room trying to make sure you remembered those things. - Traci Regan

The jogging trail at Pop Century/Art of Animation is wonderful. It's very beautiful to run, approximately 1.4 miles around the lake for the entire run. Saw many bunnies (or it could have been Thumper!) on my early morning runs. Also, all around the lake there are trivia signs, and the trivia is different on each side, so changing the direction of your walk/run from clockwise to counterclockwise around the lake provides the opportunity to read the trivia on both sides. By the way, AllEars.Net has the most detailed information I have found anywhere in regard to each resort's jogging trails! - Susan Fadel

If you have dietary concerns, don't assume you know your "safe" foods, especially at buffets. When recently dining at Cape May Cafe for dinner, I told the chef that I had a shellfish allergy. Surprisingly, he warned me not to eat the steamed corn or steamed potatoes -- they are both steamed with shellfish/fish. The chef offered to make them separately for me, saying it would take only 15-20 minutes.

Another time I was unable to have the chicken dish at Yachtsman Steakhouse because it was fried with seafood.

A friend was also at a buffet with an onion allergy and told not to eat the corn as it was steamed in a broth that contained onions.

Better to be safe than sorry! Be sure to tell the hostess, server and if needed, ask for a chef. - Deb Wills

Join the Earl of Sandwich's Upper Crust sandwich club for free at: http://www.earlofsandwichusa.com/ Get $5 off added to your account 7 days after sign up. - Deb Wills

If you're not on the Disney Dining Plan, I recommend purchasing a Disney gift card to pay for all of your snacks and incidentals. I wish I had done this. We just got home and I have a very thick stack of credit card receipts for amounts ranging from under $3 to $10. It would have been much easier to just buy a $50 or $75 gift card and use that each time we purchased a drink, ice cream, etc. - Christy B.

When making online dining reservations, try using different variations of times. For example, I have noticed sometimes if I enter the time as just "lunch" or "dinner" I get no availability for that particular park or restaurant. If I check again using a specific time, sometimes availability shows up. I have done this when making reservations online at my computer and while in the parks using the mobile Disney app. - Terry Lewis