Tips about Magic Kingdom, Mousecellaneous, Resorts, Souvenirs and Transportation

While preparing for our trip and reading all the tips I could find, I came across the tip about getting the dish wipes for washing out the refillable cups or anything else you might need to wash. I thought that it was an excellent tip and set out to try to find them. I looked in every store in my area trying to find them, but could not. Finally I decided to try to make my own. I got some thick baby wipes and laid them flat on the kitchen counter. I squeezed on some dish soap and left them to dry until the next day. When they were dry, I put them in a zipper top bag. It worked perfectly and I was able to use things I already had around the house! - Angela B.

All Resorts - In the room at the hotel, there typically isn't any place to store your bathroom stuff. Toothbrushes, makeup, medicines, shaving supplies, or whatever else ends up sitting on the counter where it either gets moved or is subject to cleaner overspray when the staff comes in to make up the room. My wife found this tip on a cruise ship website and it worked great for our Disney trip over Thanksgiving. She found a clear plastic hanging shoe holder, the kind that has pockets for holding individual shoes. We hung this in the closet and put all our bathroom stuff in there. It was out of the way, but easy to see where individual items were. The holder went down to the floor, too, so we could put things our 5-year-old needed towards the bottom so she could get them herself. Everything had a place so the bathroom countertop was completely clear when we left for the parks each day. - Pete Johnson

Contemporary - Though you can't just go to the top floor of the Contemporary to watch the fireworks, you can go to the third floor lookout (or the stairwells of the 4th-14th floors). Also, remember that the monorails stop when there are perimeter fireworks. - Kenny

Fort Wilderness - We seem to arrive at Fort Wilderness late in the afternoon after driving for several days. After setting up, it's too late to visit any of the parks. What we do is take the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge for some minor shopping (the Orlando paper) and then over to the Magic Kingdom. We don't go in, but exchange our vouchers for the park tickets. By that time of day, there's no line but a couple of Cast Members are still on duty. If we time it right, we can watch the fireworks from the boat on the way back. - David and Dayle Youngs

We have been several times to WDW throughout the past several years, with and without our daughters. Now that they are all grown up, we seem to visit WDW more often without them. They always get a postcard or two from us to let them know we are thinking of them. On our latest trip we started what we call our "audio postcards." While we were in Pirates of the Caribbean we called them on our cell phone and instead of saying "Hi" we put the speaker phone option on just as "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me" could be heard. After a few moments of that I quietly said (so as not to disturb others in our boat), "We're having fun and guess where we are." They LOVED it, and we used several more opportunities during our visit. Some easily recognizable sounds are "Dead men tell no tales,""It's a small world after all," the "zapping" sounds from Buzz Lightyear, and the drummers from the Japan pavilion. There were so many opportunities once we got started. We just had to be careful not to disturb our fellow park-goers with our phone. Toward the end, we didn't even have to say anything; we just let Disney do the talking for us. - Jodi and Jim M.

Grand Floridian - We found that the Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian Resort provided decent food at just a small premium over counter service in the theme parks. The food available poolside at the waterside pool was very expensive; however, you could get a tray from Gasparilla's and bring your food out to the pool. - Michael Gizzi

Regarding the crowded buses from the parks back to the Value Resorts, we would get in line and when close to the front, if the bus was really crowded, we'd just step back and let the people behind us go on and stand. We stayed at the beginning of the line for the next bus, which at closing time was ready to pull in as soon as the loaded bus left. A few extra minutes in the bus line to board first on an empty bus and get a seat was worth it. Plenty of people were willing to board the standing room only bus, and no one challenged us for our place in line. - Deb Koch

When we travel to the World, we make sure to purchase as much as we can on our Magic Band. On one hand, there's no need to carry cash around, but the real benefit for frequent visitors is that at the end of your stay you get an itemized list of all expenditures. We still pay for it all with cash when we check out. After we get home and are settled in from our trip, we go through the list and use it to track exactly where we spent our money (dinner, lunch, toys, etc.). Doing this allows us to budget almost exactly how much money we will need for our next trip and there's no need to save all of your receipts to do it. - Fred Block

When my wife and I are at WDW we always send postcards home to our parents. Each parent gets their own postcard for each day that we are at WDW. It is a lot of fun finding the right card and writing the right message. Last year, while at breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, we had all the characters sign each card and we didn't add any message of our own. Our parents got the cards and couldn't figure out what was going on, since they had been reading our messages explaining what had happened on each day. They loved them! We later found out that these cards were our parents' favorites and are the ones that they show to other family members first. - Ray & Cindy Kuykendall

ALL PARKS - While spending the day in Epcot in the hot weather, when my feet are hot from the pavement, I always change to another pair of socks and sprinkle on some baby powder. It's a quick refresher. - Claire Rozzi

EDITOR'S NOTE: this works great at all the parks!

ALL PARKS - If you are not going to ride an attraction with your family, meet them in the ride's air-conditioned gift shop. Most rides have a gift shop into which the ride will exit, so it's a convenient place to meet up with your family. - Angela H. Nisbett

ALL PARKS - On some of the rides, it was easier to stand up slightly when pulling the lap bar down (so that it actually fit closer to my lap than my belly) and then sit down properly for a snug fit. This worked especially well when I went on the rides with my younger children -- they felt more secure with the lap bar closer to them. I can honestly say that large-sized folks are easily accommodated at WDW -- so go, have a great time and don't worry! - Grace

Port Orleans Fench Quarter - We had several problems with our room at Port Orleans French Quarter, the worst of which was being locked out three straight days due to a malfunctioning lock. Readers should know that there is a courtesy phone in the vending areas at each hotel that can be used to reach the front desk. This could have saved us the long walks back to the lobby had we been told! - Andrew from Boston

Magic Kingdom - Some people don't realize that many of the table service restaurants in the parks seat until park closing. We have found it's nice to have a late lunch, and then after watching the evening parade at the Magic Kingdom, go to the Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. We've always been able to get seated as soon as we go in, even without reservations. When we've finished our wonderful meal, the park is practically empty and we can take our time walking down Main Street and not fighting a crowd. It really makes a nice, stress-free ending to an enjoyable day. - Stacey Kiefer

Save those receipts! Twice our receipts from food service locations at Walt Disney World included a 20 percent off total merchandise purchase (from store opening to 1 p.m.) coupon at the bottom, good at select locations, good through January 5. This happened at both Pizza Planet in Disney's Hollywood Studios and also at the Electric Umbrella at Epcot. - Cheyenna

EDITOR'S NOTE: This promotion usually runs several times a year. Be sure to check if your receipt is one that has the coupon.