Tips about Food & Beverage, Mousecellaneous, Resorts and Tickets

In response to Shawna's tip from last week regarding children's foods at 'Ohana, we recently found out that this should be available at all WDW restaurants. We were dining at the Hollywood Brown Derby and asked our waiter what the children's menu was like since we are expecting our first child and would hate to have to give up our favorite restaurants for a while. Our waiter told us that most WDW sit down restaurants can make most typical children's food favorites -- hot dogs, mac & cheese, chicken fingers, etc. -- whether they are on the menu or not. Just ask! - PJ

ALL STAR RESORTS - We stayed at All Star Music Resort during a "value" or low attendance time period for WDW. As it turns out, due to the lower volume of people, the transportation buses tend to make stops at All Star Sports, All Star Music and All Star Movies -- in that order. The end result is that by the time the bus gets to Movies over 50 percent of the time it's standing room only. This may not apply during the regular season and I'm sure it does not apply during the peak or holiday seasons. I developed a saying midway through the vacation: If you want to sit and ride, stay at All Star Sports. - Michael Dodson

I noticed in some of the online forums that many people will use their vacation as a reason or inspiration to get in shape. After all, you will need your "walkin' shoes" in the World! I, too, have begun walking in the mornings for exercise... inspired by our pending trip to that Magical Place! My tip is: there are many new sources for podcasts about Disney World. Listening to these podcasts really makes your walk go quickly! You don't need an iPod to listen; any MP3 player will do, or even burn them to disc for your old-fashioned CD Walkman! - Tom in Connecticut

EDITOR'S NOTE: We're aware of several Disney podcasts that have started up in recent months -- there's MouseTunes found at: http://mousetunes.com/ There are also the podcasts at WDWToday.com -- be sure to check out Episodes #19 and #22, which feature ALL EARS® editors Deb Wills and Deb Koma, discussing their book (PassPorter's Walt Disney World for Your Special Needs). We're sure there are other podcasts out there, too -- do a quick internet search if you're interested in finding more.

For parents interested in eating at 'Ohana at the Polynesian Resort, we just learned while there last week that they do have a few items available for children that are not listed on the menu. So, if you have picky eaters, be sure to ask. Macaroni and cheese and PB&J can be more appealing to some kids than the Polynesian fare 'Ohana has to offer. - Shawna

While preparing for our trip and reading all the tips I could find, I came across the tip about getting the dish wipes for washing out the refillable cups or anything else you might need to wash. I thought that it was an excellent tip and set out to try to find them. I looked in every store in my area trying to find them, but could not. Finally I decided to try to make my own. I got some thick baby wipes and laid them flat on the kitchen counter. I squeezed on some dish soap and left them to dry until the next day. When they were dry, I put them in a zipper top bag. It worked perfectly and I was able to use things I already had around the house! - Angela B.

All Resorts - In the room at the hotel, there typically isn't any place to store your bathroom stuff. Toothbrushes, makeup, medicines, shaving supplies, or whatever else ends up sitting on the counter where it either gets moved or is subject to cleaner overspray when the staff comes in to make up the room. My wife found this tip on a cruise ship website and it worked great for our Disney trip over Thanksgiving. She found a clear plastic hanging shoe holder, the kind that has pockets for holding individual shoes. We hung this in the closet and put all our bathroom stuff in there. It was out of the way, but easy to see where individual items were. The holder went down to the floor, too, so we could put things our 5-year-old needed towards the bottom so she could get them herself. Everything had a place so the bathroom countertop was completely clear when we left for the parks each day. - Pete Johnson

Contemporary - Though you can't just go to the top floor of the Contemporary to watch the fireworks, you can go to the third floor lookout (or the stairwells of the 4th-14th floors). Also, remember that the monorails stop when there are perimeter fireworks. - Kenny

Fort Wilderness - We seem to arrive at Fort Wilderness late in the afternoon after driving for several days. After setting up, it's too late to visit any of the parks. What we do is take the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge for some minor shopping (the Orlando paper) and then over to the Magic Kingdom. We don't go in, but exchange our vouchers for the park tickets. By that time of day, there's no line but a couple of Cast Members are still on duty. If we time it right, we can watch the fireworks from the boat on the way back. - David and Dayle Youngs

Goofy's Candy Co. in Disney Springs has an area next to the cash register that offers large danish and pastries, bagels, coffee, etc., that you can purchase and save for a great breakfast the next morning in your room. The cost was extremely reasonable: danish - $1.25, huge sticky buns - $1.50, and bagels were only $1.00. All were very delicious and filling. They even include butter and cream cheese along with utensils and napkins. If your day of arrival to Disney is late in the day or early evening and you don't want to use a hopper pass for only a few evening hours in a major park, try Disney Springs instead. It's a great way to get in some "Disney," shop, eat, see a fireworks display at midnight, and get breakfast items for the next day to have with the in-room coffee. These sweet treats also came in handy to keep in our room to satisfy a late evening sweet tooth craving after being in the parks all day. - Susan Fadel

We have visited Walt Disney World 10 times over the last eight years. Needless to say, we've dined at quite a few of the restaurants. Sometimes when you are hot and sweaty, you just don't want a big meal, and salads seem to be a perfect choice. Here are some of my favorites: 1) The chicken salad at Pecos Bill's is delicious. The lime vinaigrette is superb. The salad is so large, two could share! 2) Chicken Caesar Salad at Pizzafari in the Animal Kingdom. There is just enough dressing on the salad without taking away from the delicious mesquite-flavored chicken. 3) Vegetarian Salad at Liberty Inn in Epcot. The salad has lots of veggies, including romaine lettuce, huge black olives and red peppers. You would never know the vinaigrette was low-fat! 4) China Salad at Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs. A salad unlike any other -- chock full of crisp lettuce, potato sticks and rice noodles. Very unusual.- Lisa McBride

Grand Floridian - We found that the Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian Resort provided decent food at just a small premium over counter service in the theme parks. The food available poolside at the waterside pool was very expensive; however, you could get a tray from Gasparilla's and bring your food out to the pool. - Michael Gizzi

Grand Floridian - We found that the Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian Resort provided decent food at just a small premium over counter service in the theme parks. The food available poolside at the waterside pool was very expensive; however, you could get a tray from Gasparilla's and bring your food out to the pool. - Michael Gizzi

When we travel to the World, we make sure to purchase as much as we can on our Magic Band. On one hand, there's no need to carry cash around, but the real benefit for frequent visitors is that at the end of your stay you get an itemized list of all expenditures. We still pay for it all with cash when we check out. After we get home and are settled in from our trip, we go through the list and use it to track exactly where we spent our money (dinner, lunch, toys, etc.). Doing this allows us to budget almost exactly how much money we will need for our next trip and there's no need to save all of your receipts to do it. - Fred Block

We just got back after spending 10 wonderful days at the World. It is very hard for me because I can neither have sugar nor caffeine in any kind of drink. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and they do offer caffeine-free diet Coke. The tip that I have to offer, though, is that before you depart for your vacation, go to your local supermarket and buy the little packets of diet drink powder that you add to bottles of water. I found that one packet in the small bottle of water that Disney offers now was just right. You do, however, have to put two packets in the large bottle of water that they sell. If you're like me, and plain water just doesn't cut it, try this. It was very refreshing and a great change from the cola. - Debbie A. Holt

Three of the restaurants at Disney Springs (Fulton's Crab House, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, and Portobello Yacht Club) are operated by the same parent company, Levy Restaurants. They have a Preferred Frequent Dining Program that you can use at any of those three restaurants and earn points that can be traded in for gift cards, etc. http://www.levyrestaurants.com - Erick