Tips about Health, Magic Kingdom, Mousecellaneous, Planning and Souvenirs

Ever wonder how much walking you do at the different parks, or on different days? So did we. A couple of years ago I bought an inexpensive pedometer basically for this purpose. You may want to consider this, as it gives you a little more to talk about after your vacation. We keep a daily log of the miles we walk and share it with our friends back home. Also you will either confirm what you already think about how far you walk, or you may be quite surprised that you walked as far as you did. Just a note -- we always rack up the most miles on our days at Epcot. - Bob Rogers

Ever wonder how much walking you do at the different parks, or on different days? So did we. A couple of years ago I bought an inexpensive pedometer basically for this purpose. You may want to consider this, as it gives you a little more to talk about after your vacation. We keep a daily log of the miles we walk and share it with our friends back home. Also you will either confirm what you already think about how far you walk, or you may be quite surprised that you walked as far as you did. Just a note -- we always rack up the most miles on our days at Epcot. - Bob Rogers

This year I bought the travel BINGO cards at a store before we left for Disney World. I gave each of my children a card when we got in the car. The first round of BINGO was postage stamp, the next round was horizontal, etc. Each time one of the kids won, they would receive a Disney Dollar. The final round was a $10 Disney Dollar. Of course, no one wants to leave Disney World, so on the way home they played BINGO again. This time, while we were there, I had picked up a few pins, pens, an ornament, keychains, and a cup for the prizes. The grand prize was another $10 Disney Dollar to save for the next trip. - K. Watson

This year I bought the travel BINGO cards at a store before we left for Disney World. I gave each of my children a card when we got in the car. The first round of BINGO was postage stamp, the next round was horizontal, etc. Each time one of the kids won, they would receive a Disney Dollar. The final round was a $10 Disney Dollar. Of course, no one wants to leave Disney World, so on the way home they played BINGO again. This time, while we were there, I had picked up a few pins, pens, an ornament, keychains, and a cup for the prizes. The grand prize was another $10 Disney Dollar to save for the next trip. - K. Watson

We have accumulated so many Disney photo keychains over the years that I decided to use them to decorate our Christmas tree. I crochet around the keyring with red and green yarn. I make a loop and it is all set to hang. Now I have my own Disney Memories ornaments. - Joanne Dillon

ALL PARKS - My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon at WDW and had a MAGICAL time! One thing that I would like to share concerns the "Magical Wishes" pins that you can pick up from Guest Relations at the theme parks. My advice is that everyone celebrating a special event -- honeymoon, anniversary, birthday -- pick up one of these buttons. Everywhere we went in WDW we were warmly congratulated by Cast Members! We had an incredible time! I would recommend WDW to any couple who wants a truly special honeymoon! - Christina Church

EDITOR'S NOTE: There are many styles of buttons available at Guest Relations. Among the more popular: "Best Wishes,""Congratulations," "1st Visit", "Happy Anniversary" and "Today is My Birthday."

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.

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.

We have been several times to WDW throughout the past several years, with and without our daughters. Now that they are all grown up, we seem to visit WDW more often without them. They always get a postcard or two from us to let them know we are thinking of them. On our latest trip we started what we call our "audio postcards." While we were in Pirates of the Caribbean we called them on our cell phone and instead of saying "Hi" we put the speaker phone option on just as "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me" could be heard. After a few moments of that I quietly said (so as not to disturb others in our boat), "We're having fun and guess where we are." They LOVED it, and we used several more opportunities during our visit. Some easily recognizable sounds are "Dead men tell no tales,""It's a small world after all," the "zapping" sounds from Buzz Lightyear, and the drummers from the Japan pavilion. There were so many opportunities once we got started. We just had to be careful not to disturb our fellow park-goers with our phone. Toward the end, we didn't even have to say anything; we just let Disney do the talking for us. - Jodi and Jim M.

Flying the red-eye from Las Vegas to Orlando (three-hour time difference) on the first day of your vacation, after exhausting months of work earning this vacation, guarantees that when the excitement wears off you will hit the wall hard! I love the researching and planning and getting the most for my time and money, but stop! Think! After three eight-day vacations, I've learned that the best time I ever had was when I didn't hit the parks on the first day, but instead went to a water park for some exercise and sunshine (to reset my clock), then to World of Disney in Disney Srpings to get my pin collecting/souvenir shopping out of the way (check for discount deals from Disney Visa), then to an early seating at 'Ohana at the Polynesian. Trust me, a slow start will give you tons more energy over the next few days. - Leslie Seibert

If you are an American Automobile Association (AAA) member, be sure to tell Disney when booking reservations. We just saved $100 per night at the Animal Kingdom Lodge! You must specifically ask the Disney employee on the phone though. They never volunteer money-saving opportunities like this one! - Amy

For those Disney visitors who live in Florida, unless you specifically ask for a Florida residency discount when making reservations, they don't offer it. Case in point: when calling to make my reservation at Animal Kingdom Lodge, I told the Cast Member that I was a Florida resident, and she quoted me the same rate as it was online. Only when I asked about a discount for Florida residents did she quote a rate substantially lower. I asked her why she didn't quote the lowest rate from the start and she informed me that it's Disney policy not to "assume" that because you mention being a Florida resident that you are asking for a discount. - Bill

I just returned from WDW where I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge with my mom who has trouble walking. We were returning from the California Grill by taxi and she was in a lot of pain by the time we got to the lobby, so I sat her in a chair right inside the lobby doors. I asked at the front desk if there was a wheelchair I could borrow to take my mom back to the room. Moments later the Cast Member returned with a wheelchair -- all I had to do was sign in a few places on a form since I had a credit card down on my room. They took my name and room number and the wheelchair had a number on it that they recorded. They asked me my departure date and asked that I return the chair before I leave the resort on that day. I thought maybe your readers would like to know that at least this resort has a limited number of wheelchairs available for rental during your stay. I was leaving the next morning and was not charged anything. - Erin Reich

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please note, you can not check into the resort and expect a free wheelchair for your stay. The loaner chairs are for unexpected situations as described above. If you need a wheelchair, push or electric, during your stay, AllEars recommends

http://www.buenavistascooters.com/

Last September, my mom and I made a wonderful discovery when suffering from corns and blisters. All the first aid stations in the parks have corn pads, band-aids and moleskin! We visited several times to patch up our blisters, and the nurses were kind enough to give us extra supplies to use throughout the day. I recommend going at the very first sign of discomfort. You can also buy your own packages of these at most of the sundry shops. - A. Johnson

When my wife and I are at WDW we always send postcards home to our parents. Each parent gets their own postcard for each day that we are at WDW. It is a lot of fun finding the right card and writing the right message. Last year, while at breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, we had all the characters sign each card and we didn't add any message of our own. Our parents got the cards and couldn't figure out what was going on, since they had been reading our messages explaining what had happened on each day. They loved them! We later found out that these cards were our parents' favorites and are the ones that they show to other family members first. - Ray & Cindy Kuykendall