Tips about Food & Beverage, Pins, Resorts and Souvenirs

My husband and I always buy the refillable mugs for our morning coffee or juice. However, we find we are never able to finish our drinks prior to leaving for the parks. We try to pack light for the parks so we prefer not to bring our mugs with us. So, we buy disposable coffee cups, with lids, from our local supermarket or discount store (they are just like the ones you would get at your local coffee shop). We can just transfer our coffee to the disposable cup and bring it along with us. When finished, they go right into the garbage. Then we don't need to carry the mugs around with us all day. - Joann W.

Wilderness Lodge - For all of you Wilderness Lodge fans, you certainly have found the lobby music list on AllEars.Net (http://allears.net/acc/faq_wl4.htm). To my surprise, I found a few Wilderness Lodge music lists on iMixes on iTunes.com. Some have more selections than others. The one I selected had 25 or 26 tunes. I now have that wonderful music on my mp3 player; I can close my eyes and see the breathtaking lobby of which I never grow tired. Enjoy! - Cleve in Columbia, SC

We just returned from a week at the World. I had read more than once that the refillable mugs were a must purchase at the resort so we picked up a couple on our first day. Between the drinks included with meals and using snack options to purchase water at the parks, we did not make use of them at all. We did spend a few partial days at the resort pools, but did not have them with us to fill up at the right times. The tip here is: unless you plan to spend a lot of time in your resort, the drink options offered with the meal plans may be sufficient. - Jennifer

When we go to get our traveler's checks and cash for our Disney trip, we always get a roll of quarters and a roll of pennies. We place them in a small convenient pocket in our park bag and whenever we see a smashed penny machine we are ready without having to search for 51 cents! - Glenn Vines

I would like to give your readers a tip about the Mail Order department at Disney. I have found that unless it is a "Disney Park exclusive", you are better to go home and shop around. My son went home dejected after our last trip due to the fact that we couldn't find the "air gun" that he played with at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. We were told that he could find it in Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom. Well, we looked and looked but came up empty-handed. So, when we went home I did a search for the gun and found out what it was called. I later purchased the toy at our local Walmart for only $7. Disney had wanted $20. My advice: go home and hit the internet if you don't have to have it right that moment. - Dawn Clark

If you plan on sending postcards, take advantage of the pack of 10 postcards sold throughout Walt Disney World and in resort gift shops. On our last trip in October, a pack of the Magic Kingdom cards cost $4. This is much cheaper than buying individual postcards. If I have leftovers, I just save them for our next trip since the images are standard fare (castle, characters, Splash Mountain...). I believe that there are different packs for each of the parks, too. I'll be returning to WDW next week with six postcards in hand. - Janice Dion

I recently returned from a Disney trip and wanted to let everyone know about a souvenir I brought home. It is the littlest photo album I have ever seen! It is on a key ring and holds 12 pictures, sized about 1.5" X 1.5". It has a cover with a picture of Mickey on the front and the castle and fireworks with Tinker Bell on the back, and it says "My Disney Vacation." It was very reasonably priced at about $4! There was at least one more style with Stitch on it. What a great way to keep 12 of your most magical memories with you all the time! - Kimberly Lawton

Before my last trip i stocked up on pins to trade. I was very excited my first day in the World and asked a cast member to trade pins. When the cast member said "No," I thought she was teasing me like others had done before. However, I was shocked when I realized she was not kidding. When the shock wore off I asked why and she said it was because she was wearing a green lanyard. I soon found out that cast members who wore green lanyards can only trade with kids 12 and under, and cast members who wore yellow lanyards could trade with anyone. Another cast member (wearing a green lanyard) explained to me that there are some people who get to the parks early just to trade and take all of the nicer pins. Having this rule lets the little ones get some nice pins. (I then asked this cast member if I could trade with her if I stood on my knees, but she still said no!) - Carolyn Kiss

At the Liberty Tree Tavern, the mugs that you drink from are also for sale. They cost $5 and they are boxed and bagged for you when you leave. Just ask your server when paying for your meal. It is a cheap souvenir that lasts a lot longer than toys and t-shirts. They are very sturdy and can easily withstand several washes in the dishwasher. - Victoria Tester

Before buying milk in a container at your resort's counter service restaurant, check the price of milk in your resort's gift shop. We found the gift shop price of milk to be less expensive at the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge. - Wendy

POLYNESIAN RESORT - I just wanted to add a great place to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks. At the Polynesian, just off the path that leads to the Grand Floridian (by Luau Cove), there is a nice little beach removed from the rest of the resort, with lounge chairs and a swing. It's a perfect place to watch the fireworks from afar, and you get a whole different perspective and realize just how majestic they really are. It's also nice to watch them and not be in crowds of people. - Tim

ALL STAR MUSIC - I just returned from a very quick trip to Walt Disney World. Normally we stay for at least three nights, but this time we only had a one-night stay. This is the first time that we stayed in Building 1 at All Star Music. Since we made our reservation at the last minute, we did not have much choice in the way of a room selection. We got a room facing the swimming pool. If you are a light sleeper, or have problems falling asleep because of noise, a room facing the swimming pool is a very bad idea. The pool is open late, and the noise from the pool made it very difficult to sleep. In the morning, I was awakened at about 7:15 from more noise coming from people at the swimming pool. The tip here is to stay away from the swimming pool if you can't handle the noise. - Craig M

As a followup to the information about soy milk availability in Walt Disney World: All four of my children are lactose-intolerant, so I have discovered that most grocery stores carry soy milk in cartons that don't require refrigeration. Some wholesale clubs (BJs, Costco) carry single serving soy milk (like juice boxes), which again do not require refrigeration. We have often brought this with us for our children. - Jeanne Sacks

All Resorts - The shower stalls at our hotel (Villas at the Wilderness Lodge) were quite slippery when wet. We did find out that housekeeping has a limited number of rubber floor mats available on request. They also have night lights available. - Naomi

My 20-month-old son is lactose-intolerant and I wanted to share the places that we went that offered Silk soy milk: Port Orleans (French Quarter and Riverside); Chef Mickey's; 50's Prime Time Cafe. Here is a list of other sit-down restaurants we ate at that didn't have any soy milk options: the Crystal Palace; Biergarten; Mama Melrose's; All Star Cafe; Planet Hollywood. Also, no counter service restaurants we visited had soy milk. I hope this helps anyone with a soy milk kid! - Tammy Rother