Tips about Food & Beverage and Photography

I have a tip for the vegetarians visiting Disney. At some counter service restaurants (Cosmic Ray's in particular) you can order just a bun and two slices of cheese for $1.79 and put whatever toppings you want from the topping bar. This works really well at Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland because they have a huge variety at the topping bar including sauteed mushrooms. - Angie

Regarding hard to get dining reservations. If at first you don't succeed... Count back 45 days from the date of your desired reservation. Call that day to check for cancellations. The thinking behind this is your final payment for any Disney vacations is due 45 days prior to arrival. People may need to change travel dates or cancel before final payment is made. It worked for me with Chef Mickey's. I called 45 days prior to my desired reservation date and got a 5:00 ressie. The cast member and I were both shocked and surprised. Simply Magical! - Gina Thayer

T-REX, the restaurant, is loud. We brought earplugs, but only needed them during the meteor shower. I saw some people complaining about the ice room, but it was actually pretty cool (ha ha) to look at... We were seated in a room that had the woolly mammoth, the baby mammoth and some flyers. The Dino room was very cool as well, and one of the tables is surrounded by a dinosaur. Neither of my kids was overwhelmingly disappointed that they weren't in that room, though. They liked looking around. - Holly P.

This tip is for all fans with video cameras. On our recent Disney trip we filmed a total of six video cassettes, which we packed in our check-in luggage as we usually do. When we played them at home, we found that four of the six tapes were blank. We called a professional photographer who told us that they were erased when they went through the airport scanner and there was nothing we could do to recover them. His advice is to ALWAYS carry on your video cassettes in a clear plastic bag, hand them to security and ask them to check them without putting them through the scanner. Please, please follow this advice to avoid the heartbreak we experienced! - Tracy

My kids, ages 7 and 9, take me to Disney World for a three-day weekend about six times a year. Through our many trips, we have come to learn that it's necessary for us to have enough energy to enjoy ourselves and eat as healthy as possible. It also cuts down on the whining that occurs when kids are bored and tired and hungry, and saves us some money as well. As a routine, each night each kid packs himself parent-approved snack bags, brought from home or bought in the gift store, divided up into those little snack bags (fruit roll-ups, Chip n' Dale pretzels, raisins, grapes, etc.). My kids are usually OK with about four to six little snacks apiece. The kids are then responsible for their own fanny pack all day and can help themselves to what snack they want when they want without whining or fighting or arguing. I keep additional snack baggies in my purse for those times when we indulge in some Cheetohs or chips in the park so the kids can share more easily or save for later. It works well for us!! - Ellen Holbrook

Another place that serves real coffee (including espresso drinks) is the walk-up window at Pepper Market at the Coronado Springs Resort. The latte I ordered there was actually larger and cheaper than the one I usually get at my local Starbucks. - Anne Hickling

For your vegetarian readers -- We had dinner last week at the Garden Grill at the Land in Epcot, and I was talking with our server about vegetarian options. Usually I request a child's dinner in addition to the usual family style fare (even though we travel without kids), because it gives me a few more side dishes to snack on. However, the server told me that they are now serving a vegetable couscous for those who want a vegetarian option. He said they had just started offering it. I'm not usually a fan of couscous, but it was wonderful! I also still sampled the sides from the regular dinner plates. I definitely felt like I had a healthier dinner, instead of just filling up on mashed potatoes and mac and cheese! - Shelley

Following on with the tip to change memory cards every day, in case you lose your camera -- I created a document on my computer with a note: "Please return memory card to..." with my address. I take a picture of that document on each new memory card. Hopefully if the camera is recovered I will at least get my memory card and priceless pictures returned! - Kristeen Kohrs

I make many ADRs for every trip I take to Disney. When it comes to checking in at some restaurants it can, at times, be a noisy, bustling and confusing atmosphere. To make it easier on both myself and the host, I neatly write my name and confirmation number for each ADR on individual sticky notes, which I hand to the host when I check in. I've found that having the information on paper in front of them cuts down on any confusion (about the spelling of my name, etc.) and allows them to look up the reservation more effeciently and quickly. - Juliette Miranda

My advice to anyone bringing a digital camera to Disney World is to change your memory card every day! We lost our digital camera at Epcot last month, and it still hasn't been recovered. I do not miss the camera as much as the photos that were lost from my children's first three days at the parks. I can't say enough about the kind staff members at Epcot guest services. They did everything they could to help us recreate our lost photos. - Rebecca Sherfey

I have been very nervous about making Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs), especially since I feel like I am making them "last minute" with only about a month to go before our trip. After several phone calls, trying to get character meals booked and a couple of other "fun" reservations for my family, I realized that my notes were a mess and I couldn't decipher them all. With more than a little hesitation I called WDW-DINE and expected to get an unhappy CM who would have to go through many computer screens and so forth to help me sort it all out. However, I did one thing right. I made all the reservations under the same phone number (my cell) and I knew what that number was. Just by typing in my number the CM was able to pull up all my reservations in one list and read them back to me. So my tip: make sure you make your ADRs all under the same phone number, and know that number. It would have been very easy for me to have mistakenly used my husband's cell number for some, or our home number, or our hotel number, especially since the ADRs were made over a period of a few weeks and multiple phone calls (looking for cancellations, etc). - Rebecca Addison

If you like Sweet'N Low artificial sweetener, bring lots with you. The parks only have Splenda and Equal (although the resorts had Sweet'N Low). - jnscook

If you're looking for Kosher food while visiting Walt Disney World, you'll find it now at Satu'li Canteen in Animal Kingdom (no longer at the Kusafiri Bakery). And it's also at both Liberty Inn and the Electric Umbrella in Epcot. By the way, the vendor for Kosher food has changed. It is no longer Weberman -- they now use Sterling. Thanks for the great site! Hopefully these updates will help others. - Josh

I just returned from a terrific stay at the Grand Floridian and wanted to share a unique experience if you're looking for something extra-special. My husband surprised me with an Intimate Dining Experience. It's a two-hour dining experience for up to four people, even if staying off-property, with a choice of locations throughout the resort, personalized menus and a butler. Ours was on a balcony of the Grand Floridian with a view of the lagoon and fireworks. It was arranged directly through the front desk at the Grand Floridian. - Denise D.

For those of you with the Wii game system, you can insert an SD card into the game and play games on the Photo Channel. You can view your photos as a slide show, draw on your photos, or send your photos to your Wii Friends. My son has fun with the photos he took at Disney by turning them into tile puzzles. The first time he did, I was unaware that the Wii had that capability, so to see his photos on the TV when he was playing the Wii was a little surprising to say the least! - Defessa