Tips about Kids, Magic Kingdom, Mousecellaneous, Photography, Resorts and Souvenirs

SHADES OF GREEN - We stayed at the Shades of Green this past October during the National Car Rental Golf Tournament. The great perk of staying there was admission to the tournament was FREE! My husband got to see Tiger Woods in person for free. Needless to say we've made reservations for this year's tournament. - Connie Roberts

Pop Century - My wife and I just returned from a stay at the Pop Century Resort. We discovered that if we were trying to catch a bus from a park back to Pop Century and the lines were very, very long, we could sometimes hop on the Art of Animation Resort bus instead. (The stops are usually next to each other.) The walk from the Art of Animation, through the lobby, and across the short bridge to Pop Century took only a couple of minutes -- much quicker than the possible long wait we would have had for our own resort bus. - Rory Osborne

The only really important advice I would add to this [bringing other people's children] is to make a copy of the other child's health insurance information and also have a signed or even notarized letter from the child's parents stating they will be traveling with you, to where, and on what dates. Hopefully you will never need to use it, but you never know! - Tara Felicio

To help create a trip report complete with all rides and activities done throughout the day,take a digital photo of each ride sign before you ride and each place where you eat or snack. This will help you create a timeline of activities done throughout the day and in the correct order. If your camera has a clock on it you can have it listed in the photo as well. We usually can't remember which ride we rode and in what order. This helps greatly for us. - Laurie Hoffman

Our small kids don't care for sudden or loud noises. Take along a couple pairs of kid-sized ear plugs. They don't take up much room, but they make all the difference in the "world" to jumpy little ones! - Vicki Knuckles

At the beginning of each roll of film, take a photograph of an index card with your name, address and phone number, or even just your phone number, written in large letters. When someone develops the roll, they'll know who to contact. - Bill Wilson

On our last trip I applied a return address-sized label to each roll of film with our name, address, phone number, our dates of visit and resort visited. On one occasion I had to change film in the middle of an act that my child was invited to participate in. Later in the day I realized that I had absent-mindedly left the roll of film on the bench next to me. I was not worried, because I knew it was labeled. Later in the day I went to the park's lost & found (at Guest Relations) and described the roll. The Cast Member came back with it in no time. - Flybaby Deb

I wanted to let you know that some cameras end up LOST for good. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write your name and hotel, or a phone number where we can reach you, on your cameras -- disposable or not. We would just LOVE to be able to call and let you know we found your camera! - A Concerned Cast Member

We also lost a camera at WDW, which was never recovered. They actually sent us someone else's camera once we got home, which I returned. Now, when we go to WDW, I put two or three of those self-stick return address labels on all cameras, equipment, and anything else I don't want to lose. It's an easy way to identify your stuff. - Disnemom

For digital camera users, bring several smaller memory cards instead of a large memory card. Each day swap out the used memory card for a new one. In addition, label your digital camera with a name, address, and something like: "Reward if returned." Last week at Disney we lost our digital camera with a week's worth of pictures. Since we had used a massive memory card everything was lost. Despite registering with lost-and-found the camera was never recovered. - Brian

When you get your picture taken by the park photographers, have the picture put on a watch. You can ask Guest Relations where to get this done. I had it done at the watch shop on Sunset Boulevard in Disney's Hollywood Studios. There is also a watch shop on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom. It is a wonderful souvenir. - Connie La Tempa

Like most of you out there, I take lots of pictures when I am at Disney World. In order to keep the taken film separate from the untaken film, I have finally come up with a simple method of identifying the canisters of film. When packing my camera case, I put some of my self-stick address labels in with my film. When I finish a roll of film, I attach one of the labels to the outside of the canister to identify it as being taken. I also use these labels when I take my film for processing -- I don't have to write my name and address on all those film envelopes that way! I have been known to double expose rolls of film and to process blank rolls of film, but this is the best solution I have come up with to avoid that. - Sue Nelson

I am the picture taker in our family, so needless to say I am not included in our family vacation photo album! Solution: I have a group shot taken at every park that we visit by the Disney photographers at the entrance way. I also have them taken at the water parks. I use these pictures for our yearly Christmas cards. - Fran Dodge

One other thing I didn't read anywhere before we went was that some of these meals (Chef Mickey's and Tusker House) offered family photos. I know some people are put off by this, but for families with young children, who are often in strollers in the parks, this is a nice way to get a picture of everyone together and (hopefully) smiling! We found the photographers in Magic Kingdom and Epcot especially seemed to avoid those of us pushing our clan in strollers... especially doubles! - Hollie Moots -

Just call 1-407-363-6200 -- WDW Merchandise Guest Services! You can order just about anything they sell at WDW! Holly