Tips about Food & Beverage, Mousecellaneous, Old Key West and Planning

If you do decide to go in summer (we went in August), take an extra pair of shoes. Afternoon showers can be mini flash floods. We put on ponchos, but streets flooded and our shoes were soaked. I held the dryer door shut for an hour at the Wilderness Lodge because the tumbling sneakers kept popping it open. The Disney magic was that I wasn't the only one. There were several of us having a good time laughing about the situation and comparing days and experiences. - CassyDix EDITOR'S NOTE: It's always a good idea to bring an extra pair of walking shoes/sneakers to Disney. If it looks like it might rain, put on your older or more waterproof shoes leaving the better/drier pair in the room. Sneakers DO take a while to dry but you can stuff them with newspaper and use the room hair dryer to help speed things up.

I especially like the calendar creator at www.disney.go.com/magicartist/index_main.html! It was great to mark our Disney trip and count down the days! - Jacqueline

Two tips when eating at El Pirata Y el Perico (especially on hot days): 1) Ask for extra sour cream when you get your entrees (none at the topping bar), the packets are a little small; 2) when on the dining plan, ask them to hold the ice cream bars until after you've eaten. It was 90 degrees when we ate, and the cast member at the window was kind enough to hold ours so we could enjoy them as ice cream rather than soup! - NOTE: El Pirata Y el Perico is only open seasonally - tusportsfan

If you are going to Disney to celebrate a wedding, I have some suggestions of what to bring from home. I was told to bring white chalk just in case the bride's dress gets [dirtied] by the seagulls. (It happened to my niece at a beach wedding.) My daughter-in-law used the chalk when something spilled on her dress, but other options include Wite-Out or a Tide to Go pen. Another good idea is to pack a needle and thread in case buttons are loose on tuxes, etc. - Jean

For character breakfasts, I would recommend letting girls wear their princess dresses to the princess meals because it helps with the magical aspect of it. However, on extremely hot Florida days, try putting it on over their clothes a few minutes before your reservation or once you are seated. It will only take a moment and it will save the headache of your child whining about being hot. I put my daughter's dress on her after we sat down because I watched a slew of little girls crying outside while waiting in their hot and heavy dresses. - Mendy776

While at WDW last week I found out that most of the Swan and Dolphin restaurants give a 20 percent discount when you show your AAA card. Exceptions are Il Mulino, bluezoo, Shula's, and Kimono's. - Michelle Buchecker

EDITOR'S NOTE: We double-checked this and found out it's true! Be sure to bring those AAA cards with you. Also, Disney Vacation Club Members get a similar 20 percent discount at the Swan and Dolphin restaurants. Kimono's does participate in the discount program, however.

We brought a travel-sized MagnaDoodle that we found especially handy at the water parks, where we would have a base camp, but would often split up to do different things. We would write messages to each other with the time and place we could be found. It actually became a fun game, as we got into giving clues to the names of the slides and rides. Overall, it was just a simple and fun way to communicate when you didn't want to have your cell phone with you. - Molly from Oregon

We just got back from Disney World today... please let your readers know that "Heelys" (skate sneakers) are not permitted in any amusement park in Florida. We were stopped by a Disney employee who informed us that we could be fined up to $150 by the sheriff! - Barbara Friedman

Fort Wilderness - This year I took my family to dinner at the Trail's End Restaurant at Fort Wilderness Campground. We made a night of it: we started at the Wilderness Lodge, then took the boat ride to Fort Wilderness to our priority seating at Trail's End, which is a very reasonably priced buffet. Then we watched the Wishes fireworks on the beach and the Electric Water Pageant from the boat dock. The kids loved the boat ride and the ducks on the beach. It makes for a lovely and relaxing evening! You could put together a similar evening at any of the Magic Kingdom resorts, although the Trail's End doesn't tend to book up early and it's inexpensive. - Dawn Goodwin

For all WDW visitors from the UK -- try to find jet-setting friends who will bring you home US coins, quarters especially, because when you land at Orlando they're jolly useful for tolls. Saves having to worry about splitting paper money when you're tired and the kids can't wait to get to Mickey! - Rosie, Northampton, UK

Old Key West - As a follow up to Tanya's tip (last issue) about walking around Boardwalk in the morning -- when we stay at Old Key West we always walk all through the resort area and take the paved trail over to Saratoga Springs. We sit by the pool there and have coffee, breakfast or even fruit that we buy in their restaurant before heading back. Golfers would enjoy watching foursomes teeing off as you pass several tee boxes. It is a wonderful trail. When staying at Saratoga we reverse the trip and sit at Turtle Krawl before heading back. It is very relaxing. - Margaret

We're headed down to the world very soon and we've been looking for ways to cut costs. At home, we've found you can save a lot by drinking water. Well, we find the water in Florida to taste a little funny because of the high content of sulfur so we didn't want to do that, but suddenly I remembered those little drink flavoring packets they have now to put into bottled water. The Crystal Light brand says to mix with 16.9 oz. of water but I've found I can go up to 24 oz. and it still tastes strong enough for me. Kool-Aid also makes the individual packets now for the kids and I noticed several other brands at the store. I can't wait to go down and use these. With drinks costing anywhere from $1.50 to around $5.00, I think this will be a huge savings for us! - Terri Daugherty

When purchasing milk, pay attention to the size and the price. During the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend I discovered at Saratoga Springs Spa & Resort, Artist Palette Restaurant a pint of milk was $1.99 and a quart of milk was $1.75. I bought the quart of milk for myself and my daughter. - Mark A. Carlson

The first thing I do each morning, no matter where I am, is drink an ice cold Diet Pepsi to wake me up. It is the only soda I really like. In Walt Disney World, though, there is not a Pepsi product anywhere. One night my husband even walked from Disney Springs to the Hess Station and they don't even carry any Pepsi products. So if you are like me and only like Diet Pepsi or a Pepsi product of any kind and won't have access to a rental car on your vacation, BRING IT WITH YOU! I wish I had known. I would have packed some in my suitcase and our mornings would have been much more pleasant. - Laurel Sloan

All Star Resorts - My husband, 4-year-old son and I just returned from a fantastic 10-day WDW trip and one of the best things we did was ship a small coffee pot with filters and coffee packets to our All-Star resort ahead of time since they do not provide coffee pots in those rooms. What a treat it was to just wake up and make our own personal pot of coffee each morning. The 4-cup pot at Walmart was only $19.99, and the filters/coffee were inexpensive. - Laureen EDITOR'S NOTE: The Family Suites at Art of Animation and All Star Music have coffee pots.