Tips about Food & Beverage, Planning and Strollers

Before buying the guidebooks, try your local public library. Most libraries have extensive sections of travel books. If your local library doesn't have the book you want, they might be able borrow it from another library. If you decide to buy a guidebook anyway, borrowing from the library first can give you a good idea which book or books are best for your needs. - Becky

We like to do the character meals not only for the characters, but for the food as well. Many of the meals are buffet style, and that's great for children (and hungry men!). You know up front what it's going to cost. You're not limited to choosing one entree, and you don't need to wait to be served. The entertainment is just the "icing on the cake"! To me, these are plenty of reasons to do more than one character meal. It really makes you feel like you're in Disney!- Angela

We like to order snacks from www.netgrocer.com and have them delivered. It's cheaper than buying them there, and as we are not big breakfast eaters, a cereal bar works for us and saves us money. - Jess

Mini M&M's tubes are great for storing quarters (and pennies)! I buy the candy for my daughter and when she's done, I "steal" the tubes. Every few days, I fill one up with quarters, and put it in my WDW luggage. When we get to WDW, I'll put one of each (pennies and quarters) in my waist pack each morning, and I don't have to dig through my pockets for change. I also put change tubes in the car so we'll be ready to pay those pesky tolls. I'm ready to press some pennies, y'all! -Ksumn1

I have an important tip for all of you taking a trip during the fall rainy season. My husband and I went last fall and found that one pair of tennis shoes is not enough. If you get caught in a rainstorm, you might be fine in wet shoes the rest of the day, but when you put them back on later that night, it makes for uncomfortable dancing! Buy and break in that second pair of shoes so you have something to wear around while your wet shoes dry.Christie

I will not travel without Ziploc bags, scissors, thread, first aid supplies, a list of everyone's phone numbers, medical cards, an old pair of prescription glasses (in case I break the ones I wear), clothes pins for the hotel room curtains, earplugs (to block out the snoring husband!) and two small flashlights. One other thing I must take is extra instant coffee, creamer and one of those gizmos that will heat just one cup of coffee rapidly. Lynette

Trail's End Buffet at Fort Wilderness was fabulous! My son is a picky breakfast eater, but they had donuts with sprinkles, which he loves. They only charged us $0.60 per donut he ate and for his drink, instead of charging us for the whole buffet. It is a big difference in price, and nice for people with little money. - Jennifer Smith

Remember what is at your child's eye level when they are in a stroller and watch out for branches, gates and especially burning cigarettes.

A plastic cupholder sold as a "Stroller Holder" in most discount stores is invaluable. It can support one or two diaper or shopping bags and your drink cup, leaving your hands free for safe driving.

Many people use either the seat (if the child walks a lot) or the basket underneath to stash stuff in. It may prove helpful to keep everything in your backpack or diaper bag at all times, so you only have one bag to grab when trying to make that last minute bus, etc.

Bring your own strollers! After lunch, we checked out the Kilimanjaro Safari before settling on the train ride to Conservation Station. Great accessibility for the wheelchair, my son simply rolled right on in his power chair, but if you have a stroller you must park it at the train station (tip: if you have your own collapsible stroller you are allowed to bring it along...a good idea since the hike in Conservation Station is a long one with a few hills). The ride was scenic, but no animals. After the train ride, we looked around & started the hike to Conservation Station but turned around since we no longer had our strollers (carrying 2 40 lb boys in 100 degree heat depleted our energy!). - Cherie and Joel Belcher

Strollers roll on fine and kids can remain seated on the ferryboats between TTC and MK. Strollers can also roll onto the larger boats that run the MK-Ft. Wilderness Loop. The smaller motor launches from Ft.W and the Grand Floridian cannot be rolled onto. Strollers and wheel chairs must be folded prior to boarding for motor launches and guests using wheel chairs must be able to walk onboard.

We have a lot of experience maneuvering our double-wide stroller around the "world" and in general it fits everywhere a standard wheelchair can go, but gets twice the dirty looks in a crowd that a regular stroller gets. Connecting two umbrella strollers together side-by-side makes them too wide for most turnstiles and gates, but fold and go on a WDW bus much easier than the double-wide. The Contemporary monorail station can be accessed by elevator.

Also, the AK walkway surfaces are really rough and tough to push a stroller on. I think that is why they rent out strollers with the larger wheels. - Jim Hunt

I have always rented a stroller when in the parks. I have found it invaluable to use for my daughter to take an afternoon nap. If you have a child who can sleep almost anywhere (like mine), try it. It also makes better use of time since you don't have to spend time leaving the park, going back to your room, and returning again after the nap. Sometimes we do walk around still, my daughter likes the movement when she sleeps. In the MK, there is a side street down main street that is usually very quiet and shaded to take a siesta. In Disney's Hollywood Studios, we go to the covered eating place outside of the Beauty and the Beast show/Tower of Terror. We have never found a single spot in EPCOT but my mother-in-law prefers to sit on the bench across from the Rose and Crown pub. Also, for safety's sake, most parents know this but never leave your child unattended while napping in the stroller. We used to take turns "standing guard" or just walk her around. - Corina Drozdowski

We have a 2 year old and took his stroller to all of the parks. Before we left home I bought a Black and Decker snake fan that we duct taped to his stroller and in the afternoons when he was tired and hot we would turn on his fan and it helped alot. It especially worked great when he fell asleep because it kept him cool and he could rest. We got a huge amount of comments from other parents saying that they wished they had thought of something like that. - Robin Sowders

A suggestion from our experience "strolling" around WDW with our 10 week old daughter last December 1998. We found that if we asked very nicely we were often able to bring her into restaurants and attractions right in the stroller. Cast members seemed only too willing to accommodate a sleeping infant in a stroller -- she strolled right up to the table at Liberty Tree Tavern, Akershus and Crystal Palace and into the Flight show at AK (we stood in the back). We learned that if we were polite about including her stroller (and discreet so as not to annoy those who had left their strollers behind), she was able to sleep peacefully through some wonderful meals and times for us. We know that December is the least crowded time at WDW, so this may not be possible in July -- but it can't hurt to ask -- you might be pleasantly surprised. When we were leaving Cinderella's Royal Table, the hostess mentioned that we could have brought her stroller upstairs -- we didn't even think to ask there (and we all would have had a better time)! - Karen, Ken and Baby Elizabeth