Tips about Kids, Laundry, Magic Kingdom, Mousecellaneous, Planning and Souvenirs

Ever since my son was small, I have purchased Disney plush characters at home, at either a drug store or when The Disney Store has sales. I bring them hidden in our luggage and surprise him with one every day we're at WDW. He believes it's Disney magic that he gets a fun, new toy every day! He doesn't ask for as many toys from the parks and I save a ton of money not having to pay retail prices! - Nancy Cohan

A great way to save money is pre-purchase Disney souvenirs for your kids before you leave for your trip. You can then surprise them every morning with something new. Whether it just be a dollar store Mickey sticker book or a new t-shirt, your child will love it and you will save money! My mother did this on our 1998 trip and to this day I can remember receiving something every morning from a character. - Jessica Stahl

The $1 section of Target and Michaels craft stores always have Disney items. Check out your local Disney Store and Disneystore.com to buy items for the kids before you get there and present them as a gift. I am not going to lie, we still buy stuff at the parks, but give the kids a limit. Also if you drive like we do, check out the Disney outlets in St. Augustine and Orlando. - Michelle G.

I didn't buy our goodies to take home with us until the last day. I know it is tempting to buy everything right away, but if you wait, then when you do buy them, you don't spend more than the budget. - Heather

For someone who wants to visit the parks often and have a souvenir each time without spending a ton of money, postcards are the key! Postcards are like miniature art. Upon your return, they can be framed, made into a collage, or even turned into a border around the room. On the back, you can also write the date or even a message about unique details from that trip. - Crissy Stout

Magic Kingdom - My daughter is 8 years old, and on one of our last trips to Magic Kingdom she asked if we could make a reservation for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I was unable to get a reservation that fit our schedule. She was understanding, but a little disappointed. We decided to have our older boys experience the barber shop in the Magic Kingdom on the same trip. After we entered the barber shop and the boys were in their respective chairs, a cast member asked us if our daughter wanted her hair "done." They proceeded to put her hair in an up-do, complete with sparkling glitter! She looked like a princess and the up-do was a mere fraction of the cost that the Biddidi Bobbidi Boutique would have charged for a similar hairdo! - Danielle

Did you know that the cost of booking a vacation with a Disney travel agent is the same as booking a vacation yourself directly through Disney? Sometimes it can even be cheaper, as the agent will watch for discounts to help you get the most value for your hard-earned dollar. - Melissa Weis

Take advantage of all the discounts -- we use the military and annual passholders' ones regularly. We also stay Sunday through Thursday to avoid "weekend" rates and bonus! -- parks are usually less full weekdays. - Katherine Marshall

Research! Utilize the excellent menu feature here on AllEars.Net. Know what the different restaurants or service counters offer so that you know they serve something both you and your kids like. With the costs of an entree, you definitely don't want your child to tell you they don't like what you ordered. Make a list of the places in each park that satisfy all of your needs. Then, if possible, actually make choices before you go. Stick with what you know works, especially for your kids. - Tom Galloway

Many attractions at WDW are tied to amazing stories, but some of the stories are not as popular as they once were. We recommend watching classic movies like "Swiss Family Robinson" and "Tom Sawyer" so young children can understand, appreciate and experience the attractions. Otherwise, climbing a tree house or rafting to an island may not have the same "magic" as it could. Also, as a mother of boys who are not as familiar with princesses, we watched "Snow White," "Cinderella" and "Little Mermaid" so they are familiar with the stories and could recognize the princesses more easily. - Sandy

Many attractions at WDW are tied to amazing stories, but some of the stories are not as popular as they once were. We recommend watching classic movies like "Swiss Family Robinson" and "Tom Sawyer" so young children can understand, appreciate and experience the attractions. Otherwise, climbing a tree house or rafting to an island may not have the same "magic" as it could. Also, as a mother of boys who are not as familiar with princesses, we watched "Snow White," "Cinderella" and "Little Mermaid" so they are familiar with the stories and could recognize the princesses more easily. - Sandy

I haven't seen this widely publicized yet, but Amazon Prime Now has started delivery to the WDW resort hotels. It's open to Prime members and can be used to order groceries, diapers and tons of other things that you may need while on vacation. Delivery is free within two hours and $7.99 if you want it delivered within one hour. They'll drop your items at Bell Services for you to pick up. You have to order through the primenow.amazon.com website or use the Amazon Prime Now app to place your order though, not the regular Amazon site or app. It's certainly a convenient way to get the stuff you need without having to leave the property. - Brian B.

Magic Kingdom - While at Magic Kingdom at night, we tried to take advantage of some busier attractions during the fireworks, in hopes there would be short wait times. We chose Enchanted Tales with Belle, as the wait time stated 20 minutes. Well, there was essentially no line. But the best part was that standing just outside of Maurice's house turned out to be one of the best places to see the fireworks. They appeared to be shot off right behind Beast's Castle and were literally right over our heads. And then when they were done, we were able to walk into the cottage and participate in the Belle experience right away. It was magical! - Megan

The best idea I ever had was on our last visit with our 11- and 7-year-old grandsons. I bought the most inexpensive prepay phone I could find and $10 in minutes. I programmed my cell phone number in for one-button dialing and then programmed that phone's number into mine. We never lost the boys because we could call and find them if they got separated from us. We even let them do Tom Sawyer Island and similar attractions by themselves. We were able to call and let them know when it was time to return. This gave them a great feeling of independence and gave us a break. - SJPEC

Shades of Green - The laundry facilities at Shades of Green only accept tokens, not actual quarters. We learned that the hard way when we brought down about $12 in quarters last summer. You must purchase tokens from the change machines in each laundry room to do your laundry there. On the plus side, the kids had a blast at the arcade with those leftover quarters! - Teri Biebel