Tips about Kids, Magic Kingdom and Rain

My kids are always begging me to buy them those giant hats at WDW. You know which ones I mean -- the Goofy, Dwarf, Donald Duck, Sorcerer Mickey, etc. hats. Well, whenever we go, we only budget $10 per park/per child for a souvenir. Not to mention, I just can't see buying that hat just so it can sit and collect dust at home or wait for "Silly Hat Day" at school to be worn again. So, I came up with a definite $$-less solution to the problem. I take a picture of my kids in their "silly" hats. They have the memory of the hat for always and the hat doesn't come home with us. Problem solved. - Jen

ALL PARKS - In regards to having bags and whatnots inspected at the parks, the best thing is to have all pockets and pouches opened. Also, if you have a dayplanner or something similar, have that unzipped, too. When we went to Disneyland recently (to see the new Haunted Mansion Holiday), my husband was asked to open his dayplanner for them to inspect. When we park-hopped over to DCA, he was ready for the inspection process and dutifully had everything unzipped and ready to be looked at. - Milady

In the summer, have ponchos with you at all times. We learned that on the first day of our trip. - Jennifer Smith

I wanted to thank you for a tip I read about on your website. We chose to go to Disney during the hurricane season and although the hurricane never came on land, we did feel its effects. It rained every day at 4 p.m. (more than the usual daily Orlando shower). We have a 4 year old who required a stroller and was extremely afraid of getting his clothes wet. Luckily I had read about the stroller cover you can purchase at Babies R' Us which protects the stroller from rain. It was a lifesaver. Alex and our items that were stored under the stroller, remained dry everyday. It folds away like those playhut tents into a small, flat circle. It was the best ten dollars we spent! Alex was happy and so were we. - Angie and Bill

Costco has an amazing backpack by Baby Innovations for around $25 that was fabulous. It has a zippered thermal side pocket that accommodated 4 juice boxes and a removable lunch container (thermal) that held a few more juice boxes, sandwiches and fruit snacks. It was well worth it, especially if you have kids who are young and/or picky eaters. - Lisa Cappabianca

I was reading in your toddler section about explaining to kids about "big" Mickey and wanted to share our trick. My husband and I are taking our children ages 4 and 1, and our niece age 3 to Disney World in January. To make sure they know what to expect when they see a "big" Mickey we've been attending our local bookstores monthly character story time where a "big" sized character is present each month. This has allowed the kids to see first hand what to expect. We are also planning a visit a regional amusement park for a day as a dry run of sorts to prepare for our week at Disney. - Laura Hulse

Our family loves WDW and between trips we really miss it. One way to bring back the fun is to play the Disney game during mealtime or car rides. Each person takes a turn giving one or two clues and the others must guess what the ride, hotel, place, character meal or activity for which the clues are related. For instance, I might say, "This place has a big dinosaur." The others might guess the dinosaur ride at Epcot or the dinosaur ride at AK. But the answer I was thinking about is the toy dinosaur at the All Star Movies. It's a great game that all can play and have fun. I've been stumped a few times by my 9 and 6 year old girls. - Kenna Washington

ALL PARKS - I found that if you get tired of waiting in long lines, and you don't mind splitting up your party ( maybe to 1, 2,or even 3) some attractions offer singles lines. These lines help fill up unused space. I tried this at Test Track and the normal wait time was 70 minutes. It took me 5 minutes on the singles line and I still got a seat with my parents. - Matthew

We always make sure we have a small or travel size magna doodle in our backpack. The kids can use it to draw a picture, play hangman, tic-tac-toe, anything of that nature. PLUS we always brought it out on the table at character meals & usually at least one character at each meal would sign it, doodle on it or ask my son a question on it. It is more interactive & versatile than a hand held game & it doesn't beep or make noise 🙂 - Missy

I always take a few of the bubble bottles with me. Then, when I'm in a long line or waiting for a parade or fireworks, I just start blowing bubbles. All of the little kids (and some of the big ones too!) are delighted to chase and pop the bubbles or just watch them drift by. It's so funny to hear the comments from guests who don't see me blowing the bubbles - they just think it's more Disney "magic." - Kymberli Oakes

My dh and I have used this idea on our past two trips with our young children (ages 5 and 2 at our last trip last week) We thought it was a sensible "duh" until we had tons of people tell us what a great idea it was. We even had several cast members comment on our "brilliant" idea.

If you are travelling with young children that sometimes would prefer to walk than ride in a stroller all day, tie bells to their shoes. You will be able to keep up with them and if they do get seperated from you, their jingling will alert you to where they are. We had bells tied on two or our children our last trip and used different bells on each of their shoes. Because of all the noise at Disney you don't really notice the constant jingling until it stops or you need to hear it! - Michelle

Here is one of the best tips I can offer. We have just returned from a week in Disney where it rained for three days... and over 10"!! I had forgotten to pack our umbrellas, so we had to pick up WDW rain ponchos. They were $5.66 each. I originally cringed at spending our souvenir money on them (we needed five of them). My son accidentally ripped his while trying to pull up his hood. I had commented to a Cast Member later in the day and she smiled and said "No problem!" They exchanged his poncho quickly and stated that any time your poncho rips, you can trade it in for a new one from any store that sells them. My husband's ripped on our last day and his was just as easily exchanged. Most people I told this to had no idea Disney would give you a new one. My tip: those ponchos are worth their weight in gold! - Colleen Anastasi

If you are traveling with a young girl, around 5, buy a Princess Hat! My niece got one on her last trip and the Cast Members made such a fuss over her. She wore it every day, in every park, and someone commented every day. The CM's asked if she was a princess. The taxi boat CM said to "stand aside, we have royalty coming on board." Goofy even bowed down and worshiped her. It really made her feel very special during the trip. - Holly

I just want to second this. I wore my Nike Prestos to Disney last year, and it was amazing how well my feet held up in these shoes. Not only did I save my feet from blisters, but, because the shoes are cloth, they are extremely light, so your legs are less tired. The cloth also dries much more quickly than traditional sneaker material, which is great for rainy days and water rides. They are around $80, but on a quick trip to the Nike Outlet on 192, I found them for $30-$40. I now have four pairs of them -- they are all I ever wear! - Vanessa Gold

I just want to second this. I wore my Nike Prestos to Disney last year, and it was amazing how well my feet held up in these shoes. Not only did I save my feet from blisters, but, because the shoes are cloth, they are extremely light, so your legs are less tired. The cloth also dries much more quickly than traditional sneaker material, which is great for rainy days and water rides. They are around $80, but on a quick trip to the Nike Outlet on 192, I found them for $30-$40. I now have four pairs of them -- they are all I ever wear! - Vanessa Gold