Tips about Food & Beverage, Mousecellaneous, Resorts and Tickets

Here's a must-have! Take along a "plug-in" air freshener with your favorite scent. Not only does your room smell good, but you have a nice glow of a nightlight to keep from tripping over your suitcases at night. - Judy Shock

Whenever we go on vacation I always bring a power strip to charge all of our electronics (cell phone, camera, DVD player, iPod, etc.) The rooms never have enough outlets and are usually in an akward spot. This helps so much and you never have dead batteries. - Julie Pagano

I pack a travel French Press to ANY Walt Disney World resort hotel. The inability to get fresh-brewed coffee at WDW is frustrating to a coffee drinker like me! I only need one good cup in the morning for me and it makes my day. You can get a travel coffee press from online retailers for $20. It's only slightly bigger than a soda can and easily fits in a carry-on. Simply put the grounds in the bottom (you can buy Mickey coffee at the hotel), add hot water, wait 5-10 minutes, press, and pour a great cup of coffee!

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you don't want to bring your own, AllEars.Net maintains a page of places to get fresh-brewed coffee around the World: http://allears.net/din/coffee.htm

For anyone considering purchasing Disney tickets through a military MWR office, check to see if your command offers matching funds. While we were stationed in Pearl Harbor all the ships on the waterfront gave matching funds each month. Our command put in $30 per sailor per month, so when we decided to visit Disneyland while my husband's ship was doing exercises in San Diego we bought one ticket on June 30 and one on July 1 and saved an extra $60. - Lindsey B.

This is for brides-to-be who are interested in planning their wedding at Walt Disney World, but who are not into the traditional Disney Wedding Pavilion: be aware that there are unique sites available for your ceremony and reception. When we mentioned to our Disney wedding planner that Animal Kingdom was our favorite theme park, she told us about a wonderful site in Harambe. Our daughter and son-in-law had a truly magical outdoor wedding ceremony in the candlelit Tamu Tamu courtyard with a fabulous dessert reception to follow at Tusker House. - Debbie Gneshin

For anyone who has celiac disease or wheat allergies in general, Tony's Town Square was a treat. Two of my traveling party have celiac disease and the chefs were amazing. So many options for gluten-free, including pasta and special gluten-free, dairy-free meatballs. We all ate like royalty the entire trip and can't wait to go back. - Richelle H.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Just about every table service restaurant at Walt Disney World will try to accommodate guests with special dietary needs.

Please do not feed the birds. We all know this is wrong, but many an enjoyable Disney lunch is ruined by this. Birds are not supposed to eat popcorn and turkey legs! - Bonnie C.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Disney does post signs to this effect and prints a gentle reminder on its paper napkins, but it bears repeating. It's very unhealthy to feed "people food" to the birds, squirrels and other animals around the parks.

Best Friends Pet Care is now taking online boarding reservations for repeat customers. To read more, go to: http://wdw.bestfriendspetcare.com/news/online-reservations-now-available-repeat-guests - Sheamus Hunt

Epcot - We found that the Electric Umbrella restaurant at Epcot has free drink refills... not only for soft drinks but for apple juice as well, which worked out great for our little one. This is the only "quick service" restaurant we visited that didn't give us a juice box when we ordered her a kid's meal with juice. - Michelle P.

Epcot - We found that the Electric Umbrella restaurant at Epcot has free drink refills... not only for soft drinks but for apple juice as well, which worked out great for our little one. This is the only "quick service" restaurant we visited that didn't give us a juice box when we ordered her a kid's meal with juice. - Michelle P.

Even though Tables in Wonderland hasn't officially announced that the 20% discount would be available at La Hacienda de San Angel in Mexico, I asked our server anyway if they took the discount and they did. So be sure to let your server know if you have it! - Jeannine Wallace

EDITOR'S NOTE: The official word from the Tables In Wonderland people is that the discount is not valid at La Hacienda de San Angel. It never hurts to ask though.

I really wanted to make a reservation for T-REX: A Prehistoric Family Adventure restaurant during our upcoming trip, but the Disney online reservation system was showing absolutely no availability for dinner. So, I looked up the phone number for the restaurant and called them directly. I told them I wanted anything they had for a certain night and they told me I could pick any time I wanted because all the times were available. The phone number I used was 407-828-TREX. Definitely give them a call if you're having trouble getting a reservation. - Whitney

We think one of the "hidden secrets" at Walt Disney World is The Wave restaurant at the Contemporary Resort. As a person with a variety of health problems, and always looking for the healthiest thing to eat, I found that this restaurant had the best and tastiest selection of healthy food anywhere. The multi-grain bread is out of this world, especially when used for the lunch Reuben. Not only that, but there are discounts for Disney Vacation Club members and no problems getting a table, especially for lunch. This is a great place for a break from the parks or just a special visit to the wonderful Contemporary Resort. - Helen Phelps

We had the free dining plan during our visit to the World in August (as did 90% of all guests, according to a cast member). Due to some poor planning and indecisiveness, we were unable to get any dining reservations during our stay. However, we did eat very well. We walked into every restaurant of our choice and waited less than 15 minutes! Only 30 minutes in Canada. The trick is that we planned our meals for either the opening time of the restaurant or 2 to 4 p.m. Plenty of tables are available at those times. - Joanne

Polynesian - We recently returned from a six-night stay at the Polynesian. We stayed in the Tokelau House and found that walking to the Transportation and Ticket Center when going to Epcot was a timesaver versus taking the Resort Monorail through the Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom then to the Transportation and Ticket Center. - Lori C.