Tips about Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom and Planning

We always carry a cinch-sack to the parks. To help us get through the security bag check a little faster, my husband put all our items in two large zipper-top bags before we put them in the sack. Several security guards commented that it was a great idea. It made their job easier by being able to just look at the bags instead of digging through the cinch-sack. - Chris

We always carry a cinch-sack to the parks. To help us get through the security bag check a little faster, my husband put all our items in two large zipper-top bags before we put them in the sack. Several security guards commented that it was a great idea. It made their job easier by being able to just look at the bags instead of digging through the cinch-sack. - Chris

We always carry a cinch-sack to the parks. To help us get through the security bag check a little faster, my husband put all our items in two large zipper-top bags before we put them in the sack. Several security guards commented that it was a great idea. It made their job easier by being able to just look at the bags instead of digging through the cinch-sack. - Chris

Just got back from our first trip to the Magic Kingdom with a toddler. He goes down for a nap each afternoon and after not getting him to nap while going around Fantasyland/Tomorrowland in a stroller (probably too much noise and visual stimulation), we were going to go back to the hotel. On our way back toward the exit we strolled through the Tomorrowland Terrace. Less noise, no visual stimulation and protected from the sun, it was the perfect place for our son to finally fall asleep! It was also a good place for an adult to rest. It probably saved us an hour round-trip to the hotel and back. - Doug Chen

A tip "for when you are almost on the ride and it gets stopped for bad weather": This happened on our last visit. We were just about to board Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the ride was stopped due to storms. Although the wait was around an hour, my wife and daughter got chatting to others in the queue, and soon one of the girls opened up a game app on her phone. It kept quite a few people busy and the wait just flew by. It's worth loading a couple of games onto your mobile device for delays like this, especially if you have young children, to keep them occupied. - Tony M.

A tip "for when you are almost on the ride and it gets stopped for bad weather": This happened on our last visit. We were just about to board Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the ride was stopped due to storms. Although the wait was around an hour, my wife and daughter got chatting to others in the queue, and soon one of the girls opened up a game app on her phone. It kept quite a few people busy and the wait just flew by. It's worth loading a couple of games onto your mobile device for delays like this, especially if you have young children, to keep them occupied. - Tony M.

If you love to raise your hands during high-intensity rides (or any that take a photo during the ride) please consider sitting at the back of the ride vehicle. If you sit at the front or even in the middle you block out the faces of the people behind you, ruining their pictures. Keep in mind this may be the once-in-a-lifetime trip for those people and they may only have time to ride that once. - Nicole

If you love to raise your hands during high-intensity rides (or any that take a photo during the ride) please consider sitting at the back of the ride vehicle. If you sit at the front or even in the middle you block out the faces of the people behind you, ruining their pictures. Keep in mind this may be the once-in-a-lifetime trip for those people and they may only have time to ride that once. - Nicole

We aren't really big soda drinkers, so the refillable mugs aren't a good investment for us. However, we do like our morning coffee. I found disposable coffee cups with lids at the local dollar store. We make coffee in our room, take it with us on the way to the parks, then throw the cups away when we are finished. It's super-cheap and we aren't carrying around a cup all day! - Laura Briggs

A tip for UK visitors: In shops, kids struggle to work out the cost of something in British pounds, as they have to add the sales tax and then do the currency conversion. When ours were younger I made little conversion charts with the GBP equivalent (with sales tax added) of up to $20. As long as they can add up, they can then work out what things are going to cost from their spending allowance without having to ask Mum or Dad all the time. - Juli Williamson

Magic Kingdom - A not-well-publicized event that is fun to see for the little kids (and those kids at heart such as myself) is the opening ceremony at the Magic Kingdom. It occurs about 10-15 minutes before what Disney refers to as the "rope drop" (the time that they let people through the arches and into the park). The train arrives at the Main Street station above the floral displays with all the characters on board, with Disney music playing. They stop and wave to everyone waiting to enter the park. They let people through the turnstiles into the queue area about 20-30 minutes prior to the park opening. So get there a few minutes early if you want to see it. I believe it is worth seeing. - Mike

Something we tried this last time we stayed at the Boardwalk Villas was to bring a water purifier that you connect to the kitchen faucet. This worked amazingly well! We didn't have to haul or buy a whole bunch of water bottles for our trip, you just keep refilling a glass or reusable container. You don't have the waste of the plastic bottles or have to drink the nasty-tasting Orlando water! Just write down a reminder to take your purifier off the faucet before you leave. When you get home, connect the purifier back to your own kitchen faucet! - Tammy

When making dining reservations using the Disney website make sure you log in before you select your reservation time. I lost two reservations to 'Ohana (on two separate occasions) because after I selected the reservation time the system prompted me to log in. Once I logged in, the system did not hold the reservation that I selected. Very disappointing! I sent a message to Disney regarding this problem and their solution was to be sure that you are logged in prior to searching for a dining reservation. - Sarah Kelley

We bring a sleeve of plastic disposable cups to the Disney parks in our backpack. That way we can buy two or three water bottles and share them among the five of us. The cups are light and when we buy five individual bottles no one ever finishes theirs. - Gail Geiser

Disney's Hollywood Studios - When in doubt about the best place to stand for parades or shows, ask a cast member. We used this tip during our visit to Hollywood Studios for the Anna and Elsa Royal Welcome. The cast member told us they would be closing off the area around Echo Lake across from the American Idol Experience and to stand across from the video screen there. From this point we had a great view of the stage and the video screen to see all that was going on. As an added bonus the float with Kristoff stopped where we were standing! After the welcome ceremony was over the parade proceeded to pass right in front of us as well! By asking a cast member we were able to see the Anna and Elsa Royal Welcome without a long wait or using one of our Fastpasses. - Gail Sheehan