Tips about Magic Kingdom, Planning, Pressed, Resorts and Souvenirs

I am an adult with no children and I anticipated getting my Mr. Potato Head pieces for two years. I can sit and play for hours. Do you know that the new World of Disney Store in NYC has special Disney New York pieces? I got a few duplicates for Christmas. - Leslie Johnson

When you have WDW resort hotel reservations, the cancellation policy on the confirmation says you must cancel five days before scheduled arrival or forfeit the deposit, equal to the first night's stay. What that actually means is that you must cancel six days ahead, because what they are looking for is for there to be five days between the time you call and the arrival date. For example, we found out the hard way that you can't call on Sunday to cancel a Friday reservation. - Rhame Nelson

At the Once Upon a Toy store in Disney Springs there is a "My Little Pony" display at the back of the store like the popular Mr. Potato Head one up front -- all you can stuff in the box for $18. The box is the same size as the Potato Head box, but My Little Pony pieces are MUCH smaller! In fact some of them are fabric -- skirts, collars and princess hats, along with plastic shoes, crowns, hairbrushes etc. You can squish lots of those into the box. There are also larger accessories like beds and a popcorn cart. We had put a pony and handfuls of the small accessories in our box and had lots of space left when my husband reminded me that the sign didn't say we could only get ONE Pony. We ended up with two ponies and tons of the "princess" outfits. We might have even been able to fit three ponies if we had tried! Little girls are very into My Little Pony now and as we continued shopping we were stopped several times and asked where we found them. I don't think many people make it all the way to the back and so they miss this display. - Laura Narney

Over the last weeks there has been some discussion on the Mr. Potato Head. We just returned from WDW, and my wife (a true kid at heart) had to have all those cool Disney Potato Head parts. She just stuffed the box full of all the parts, and planned to buy the potato from Wal-Mart when we got home. We don't have any kids, but we have all the cool Disney Potato Head parts! - Josh Nordgren

ALL STAR MOVIES - We recently visited Walt Disney World with my 3-year-old granddaughter. We stayed at the All Star Movies Resort -- I had forgotten how large it was. We had debated over the need for the umbrella stroller but were very glad we had it, as getting to the food court and bus stop was quite a hike for little legs. The airline transported this stroller with no problem. -Donna R.

POP CENTURY - I recently stayed at Disney's Pop Century Resort and I found parking to be a challenge. Beware, the parking spaces are extra-tiny, and there were several large SUVs that had to take up two spots -- which means you have to park further away from your room than you'd like. Other than that it's a great resort, and a real value. - Brennan P.

Last week, Jill Murtha mentioned double-checking your Mr. Potato Head arms before purchasing to make sure they fit. Another tip when purchasing the Mr./Mrs. Potato Heads is to put pieces inside the potatoes before you put them in the box. You pay for whatever you can fit in the box, so you might as well get your money's worth. You can get quite a few extra pieces this way. - Elaine Frazee

I just read over the section on postcards and remembered a crazy idea I had with them. On one trip to Disney World, a friend asked me to get Mickey's autograph. Not wanting to come back with a piece of paper, I bought several different postcards of Mickey. I waited in line to meet the Mouse and when I got to him, I asked if he would give me his autograph on the postcard. He took the postcard, looked at it for a brief second, and then gave me a thumbs up and signed the postcard. It's a great way to add a little magic to the postcard. I would suggest mailing autographed postcards to kids and family members as well. - Skip Broome

If you buy one of those Mr. Potato Head toys where you can fill the box up with whatever parts you want from the bins, double-check that the "arms" fit into the arm holes. Our 7-year-old recently purchased a Mr. Potato Head at Once Upon A Toy at Disney Springs, and after we got back to the hotel room we found that the pegs in the arms were too small for the arm holes so the arms wouldn't stay in their sockets! Luckily we were able to exchange them for a new pair of arms at a different toy store at Disney's Hollywood Studios. When we were exchanging them, we noticed that the bin of arms varied a lot in the size of the pegs -- some were bigger and fit fine, while many others were too small and didn't fit. So, a word of advice: check to make sure that your Mr. Potato Head parts fit into the potato before purchasing them! - Jill Murtha

BEACH CLUB VILLAS - I just got back from a great four-night stay (my first) at the Beach Club Villas. We had a studio with fridge and microwave but I was very disappointed to see there were no real dishes to use. There were a few paper plates and bowls in the cabinet, and I was able to get plastic utensils, but this didn't help with anything needing to be microwaved. I had brought a few of those macaroni and cheese packets for late night snacks, not realizing that nothing is provided for actually USING the microwave. For those of you heading to a studio, keep this in mind and bring a little microwavable bowl with you, especially if you're planning to use it to cook instant oatmeal or that type of thing for the kids. - Amy Miles

EDITOR'S NOTE: EDITOR'S NOTE: Some readers have reported that housekeeping has delivered dishes on request, so if there's something you need, just ask! It can't hurt!

ALL PARKS - I just returned from a trip to WDW. The 3M Company now has a new Post-It Flag Highlighter that includes both a highlighter and Post-It flags in one. It was PERFECT for marking the maps to the parks. I would circle the attraction number with the highlighter and then put a Post-It flag on the number on the map. They are see-though, so they don't cover up the number. The "pen" fit perfectly in my fanny pack! - Leah Price

When I know a trip to WDW is approaching, as I reach the last of the shampoo, conditioner, etc., I stash the almost empty bottle aside, then pack it for the trip. When I run out, I discard the bottle and there is automatically more room for Mickey stuff to bring home! - Jenny Drake

A great souvenir to buy from the China pavilion in Epcot is bamboo. The plant costs about $1-$1.50 and comes with care instructions. You can also buy a vase for the plant starting at about $3. - Jen Wolf

If your child likes to collect the pressed pennies from each area in the park, buy the book that holds them. Buying the pennies will cut down on your child asking for everything in the park. You just have to spend 51 cents! - Randi Gold

If your child likes to collect the pressed pennies from each area in the park, buy the book that holds them. Buying the pennies will cut down on your child asking for everything in the park. You just have to spend 51 cents! - Randi Gold