Tips about Magic Bands, Planning and Resorts

Most TVs in the hotels have an HDMI port. This means you can connect your HDMI-ready laptop to them if you have the proper cable. This is nice for end of the day unwinding if your little one needs a favorite movie or some such to go to sleep. - Mike Layman

I found out last week that distilled water is available to purchase upon request at the Everything Pop food court (at Pop Century Resort). Distilled water is important to the many guests who use CPAP machines. It was as easy as going to one of the cashiers at the Everything Pop food court and requesting it. They keep it stocked in the back. I'm guessing many/all of the Disney Resorts carry it, too. Next visit I won't have to pack small bottles of distilled water in my luggage! Thanks, Disney! - Catherine Ryan

I read Barbara's dilemma about using MagicBands with less flexible wrists. Even though I have flexible wrists, I have found it much easier to fasten the band so that the Mickey head is on the inside of my wrist. This technique causes much less contortion than having to flip your wrist over for kiosks and other point of sale areas. - Michelle B. (and several others) reply with a tip in response to an item in last week's newsletter

I found out during our last trip to WDW that being older can be a disadvantage with the new wristbands. My wrist doesn't bend all that well and I had difficulty using the MagicBand to enter the parks or to open room doors. Each time, the cast member at the park entry would take my arm and force my wrist to bend to make the band work. They didn't want me to take off the wristband, which is what I had to do to open the hotel room door. My advice is be prepared if your joints aren't flexible. - Barbara

EDITOR'S NOTE: For those like Barbara with less flexible wrist joints, or for anyone who would prefer not to use a MagicBand: Disney will provide you with a plastic RF card for admission/room entry instead of a MagicBand. Simply request it at your Disney Resort hotel. Read more on our MagicBands page.

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

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

If you want to purchase a limited edition or limited release MagicBand (e.g. Frozen-themed), please note that you must have the ticket or annual pass with you to link it. It cannot be linked at a later date. On a recent weekend trip, my husband and I tried to buy one for our son for Christmas and were told that they cannot link the limited editions/releases later, only solid colors can be linked at another time. I just wanted to let everyone know so they don't make any promises or special trips like we did. - Tami Nutt

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

We recently visited Fort Wilderness for the Campfire Sing-a-long. We headed over early, and were surprised to find that they were playing games and Chip and Dale were there. My daughter was able to play with Chip for more than five minutes all by herself. She was in love! - Robin Tater

For all those folks writing about nightlight options -- Make sure your wall-mounted hair dryer is plugged in! Each room I've ever stayed in, regardless of pixie dust level, has the built-in night light feature. Though, as a retired teacher, I admit that the cyalume sticks (glow sticks) are always fun! - Scott Stuart

At many of the Disney Resort rooms the drapes don't always come together enough to ensure privacy, especially the ones that are right next to the entrance door or the ones on corner rooms. I always bring along a couple of clothespins to clip them together at night. Then I can use them to hang up wet bathing suits on the line over the tub, too. - Marlene Culver

When I called to book Lilo's Playhouse (the children's activity center at the Polynesian Village Resort), I was originally told that it was completely sold out already for the period of July 14-18. However, I tried calling Lilo's myself directly. I was told that since they changed their system some cast members do not yet know that they must select a reservation time of 4:30 p.m. to midnight for the system to show availability for the date, otherwise it will show as fully booked. I thought this would be helpful for people looking to use this service when they stay at the Polynesian. We are now booked after calling back a second time. - Mark

We have vacationed many times at Walt Disney World since 1993. Oftentimes, I will ship a package a week in advance, filled with snacks and surprises. I've learned the hard way, if you're staying at a conference center resort (for example, the Contemporary or Bay Lake Tower) send the box via USPS. If it is shipped UPS or FedEx, you are charged a service/handling fee when you check-in and claim your package. - Ann