Tips about Food & Wine Festival, Kids and Souvenirs

ALL PARKS - I have three kids and live a couple hours away from Disney. My children range in age from 5 to 14. One of the most useful tips I could give is to pack a pair of flip-flops in your backpack for water rides. Before you get in line, change from your tennis shoes to flip-flops and then you can change back into your dry tennis shoes after the ride. - Elizabeth

Last time I went to Walt Disney World I bought a fleece shirt that had a "security tag" on it. Unfortunately, I did not realize until I got home that the cast member who checked me out never removed it. How frustrating! Do yourself a favor and double-check your clothes for those tags before leaving for home. - mkmouse

We reuse our popcorn containers we get from Disney. They come in handy for many things. Our main use for them is to cut up fruit, like watermelon or pineapple, and store the fruit in those containers. Then the kids can grab their fruit whenever they want some and it's already cut up. We also use them for markers and crayons, great storage containers. - Nicole Miller

The best investment of my recent trip at Disney was two notebooks and a couple of pencils. They were real lifesavers to entertain the girls while we were waiting, or just when they were bored. They used them at restaurants, on the buses, in the stroller, in the lines, waiting at the shows... and they also used them as autograph books. They ended up being the most useful thing I brought with me! - Melanie

All Resorts - If you have toddlers and/or crawling babies, it is a good idea to check the floor, including under the beds, for medications dropped from the previous resort guests. We found an unknown pill picked up by our one year old as he was scouting out the place. It only takes a minute and is well worth the effort! - Timothy

Some tips for Epcot's Food and Wine Festival from AllEars: -- Some of the most popular food booths, such as Australia, Desserts & Champagne, Craft Beers, and Canada, have registers on both sides of the booth. We found that the side furthest away from Future World usually had a much shorter line. -- The food and wine vendors for Epcot's Food and Wine Festival close at 9 p.m. every night. Don't be surprised when you can't buy any food from the marketplaces during evening Extra Magic Hours. -- Stop at the Welcome Center before going into World Showcase for a free Passport to the Food and Wine Festival. You can check off the items you've sampled, jot notes on what you've tried, and get the passport stamped at each kiosk you visit. It's a great way to remember where that dessert, drink, or food came from that you liked so much, and it makes a wonderful free souvenir. -- Use the snack option of your Disney Dining Plan to pay for food items at the Epcot Food and Wine festival International Marketplaces. (DDP is not valid at other Food and Wine Festival events.) EDITOR'S NOTE: On select nights, Epcot and the Food Booths may be open later (typically on Friday and Saturday)

All Resorts - We just returned from a visit to the World. We have a 3-year-old, so upon check-in I asked if I could have a stepstool in the room so he would be able to easily use the sink to wash hands and brush teeth. I am happy to report they were able to accommodate my request! It was great! I thought other parents traveling with toddlers would find this helpful. - Amy Devoe

We recently went to Walt Disney World with a 7-year-old and 5-year-old. We rented a stroller with a glider board, which saved the day. Both kids were able to either sit in the stroller or stand on the board, and we never heard, "I'm too tired of walking." The stroller also came with a storage area underneath, a mini-cooler bag and a parent tray to hold a few bottles of water! - Scott Paul

I enjoyed reading the article on tips for taking children on an airplane (AllEars® Issue #661, May 22, 2012). It reminded me of the first time I took my four young children (age 6 months, 4, 8 and 10 years) on a plane. We were going to meet up with Dad who was doing work out of state, so I was on my own with them. To prepare for the flight we did "airplane practice" at home. I lined up chairs in our living room in rows like on a plane. We practiced how we would walk through the airport in a row like a mama duck and her ducklings. They carried their backpacks. We practiced talking to the flight attendants and having snacks. We practiced appropriate behavior on the plane and I told them they could only go to the airplane bathroom one time. (I knew my son would think it was cool and want to keep going in there.) That trip was many years ago, before the enhanced security requirements implemented by TSA, but we did practice walking through security as well. The funny thing is they still remember having airplane practice and they are 15, 19, 23 and 25. We were reminiscing a few weeks ago about that very thing. They were laughing so hard about airplane practice and walking like a row of ducklings. The practice really worked because I got several compliments on how well they behaved on that trip. - Jennie Blakeney

I just placed a merchandise mail order online and the cast member was able to offer me an annual pass discount as long as I emailed or faxed her a copy of my pass. - Michael Landman

Beach Club - We will be staying at the Beach Club in August. I recently called to add some room requests. When I requested a metal crib (the deluxe resorts used to have these, as opposed to the soft-sided Pack 'n' Plays), they informed me that they are no longer providing them. My son does not sleep well in Pack 'n' Plays. He is a tall 2-1/2-year-old. We requested a roll-away and will be transferring our son to a big boy bed this summer. The metal cribs were a nice feature that the deluxe resorts provided. - Sara

As a long-haul flying mum of four children (who have all flown from a very young age) I would like to add "KEEP CALM" to your tip list. If you get worked up about what 'might' happen, the chances are that the children will sense this and become nervous themselves. Treat every flight as if it is a perfectly normal way to travel and your child will soon become relaxed about flying. A distraction technique we used when our children were younger (and still do to a lesser extent today) was to have a 'goody bag' full of wrapped gifts. I used small things like toys, puzzles, colouring sets and candy all with a Disney theme and they were allowed to pick something from the bag every hour if they were good (UK to Florida flights can take more than eight hours!). I always included a few extra in case of delays, for friends made on the plane and to use on the final leg on the resort bus. - Debi

Parents who are traveling with little ones who have problems with their ears on planes might want to purchase EarPlanes. They are special ear plugs that help ease pressure during flight. They come in adult and child sizes. I had horrible issues with my ears when I was little and this was the only product that worked! Best of all they're only about $4/pair. - Emily Scotti

If you have small children that wear diapers at night, we found it extremely helpful to bring their pajamas and diaper to the park and change them there. This was great on late nights and made it easy to put them to bed even if they fell asleep on the way to the hotel. - Kelley

We always like bringing pieces of WDW home with us. One of our favorite restaurants, Liberty Tree Tavern, sells the glass mugs that are used in the restaurant for only $5 each. We brought a few home with us and love using them. They make a fun, inexpensive souvenir that we actually can use every day. - Lori Craig