Tips about Mousecellaneous, Photography and Souvenirs
After 5 trips to WDW, you start to realize that you are taking the same pictures over and over again! Here are a few suggestions of pictures you may not have taken yet!
*Try to take at least one picture per country in the World Showcase.
*Take a picture of the same spot twice. Once during the day, and once when it's all lit up at night!
*Take a picture of one of the shows or parades in progress and turn the camera to capture your little one's reaction!!!
*Aim up! Inside many of the resort lobbies and restaurants, you'll find themed ceilings that make very interesting pictures! We were waiting for the parade and I had my husband hold my daughter up above me and I was able to take a cool picture of her with the decorations strung across the street above as a backdrop.
*At Christmastime, you'll see Mickey and pals in several different outfits. See how many different outfits you can capture Mickey wearing. (At any given time you can catch the characters in "Park Appropriate" outfits, so you can do this anytime of the year.) - Alea Laughery
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When we returned home, I couldn't wait to get back all the pictures of the two of them together with the characters and their grandparents. We were very disappointed that the negatives for five of the rolls were damaged during processing. We were heartbroken that we didn't get one picture of the kids with Mickey or many of the other characters. Next time we will have our film processed while we are there. That way if there are any pictures that don't come out, we can be sure to go back and try again. Although it may cost a little more, we won't lose the memories. - Jennifer, Binghamton, New York
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Antenna Toppers -- They make a good identifier for a rental car in a parking lot. - Monte Kremin
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One of our favorite souvenir items from Walt Disney World is picture frames. We have gotten quite a collection over the years. It is a wonderful way to remember your trip and you can fill them with pictures of your trip and look at them every day. We also have a collection of magnets, license plates and beach towels. - Deb Curl
This summer, my family decided to give back a little to the Cast Members who make each stay even more magical. Before leaving home, we printed (using print programs that are out there on the Web) character thank you cards. Each card had a different princess or Tinker Bell on it, and said something nice like, "We put your service to the test, and you're the best!" or "Thank you for making our vacation magical!" We added our family name, hometown, and "Summer 2004." We printed them out, and each member of our family got a sheet of their own to color. After coloring, we laminated them. Once in the park, we handed them out to Cast Members who we felt had gone above and beyond the call of "normal magic." Most of the Cast Members we handed them out to were so surprised and thanked *us*! We really enjoyed doing this, and I feel sure that it will be a new tradition for our family. - Ashlee Farris
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After traveling to Disney four days after September 11th and having all of my pictures come back with a "hazy" appearance due to the x-rays at the airport, I learned a great trick: I take along film mailers (York, Clark) which they provide for free and mail them directly from the Disney Hotels. They pay the postage and I have my pictures usually by the time I get back home. I simply write out checks before I leave home, put them in the mailers and keep them with my money so I don't lose them. They also offer to e-mail your pictures for a reasonable amount of money. When I first did this, I realized that I needed some tape to seal the envelope but the Disney staff were more than happy to provide me with some even though they have their own film developing. Now I always pack the mailers. Hope this comes in handy. - Dawn Hewitt
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During the course of our Disney vacation, we accumulated a huge number of plastic Disney bags. Instead of throwing them away after we removed our purchases, we kept them in a drawer in our room and used them to wrap and cushion breakable items that we were carrying on the plane on the wayhome. - Erin
I agree whole hearty about getting one "nice" gift / souvenir. My DW and I for years always got the "usual" stuff to bring home. T-Shirts, hats, etc. Nice stuff to remember our trip but would always seem to get put away and never really used. On our last trip we decided to try something a little different. We had always wanted a coo-coo clock so when we were in EPCOT we bought a very nice clock in Germany. It was expensive but they shipped it home for us (it arrived the day after we got home) and it now proudly hangs in our kitchen. It is a constant reminder of our trip. - Jim B
Disney has such a large selection of coin banks. We bought one toward the end of our trip but next time we will buy it on the first day. THEN as we get back to our room or camper each night, all change will go into the bank to begin our savings fund for our next trip. I found that halfway thru this trip I was lugging around a huge change purse of coins that added a heavy load to my backpack. Buying a bank the first day will not only give us a fun sense of "when we come back again" but i won't be lugging all those nickels & dimes around trying to pawn them off on kiosk vendors paying for my stuff. - Amy Miles
I've often asked the cast members at the cash registers to remove tags so someone in my party could wear a hat, put on a shirt or slip on new shoes. There has never been an occasion where a cashier did not have a pair of scissors handy to comply with the request - Phyllis Wirick
We love collecting pressed pennies and quarters. We always bring many rolls of quarters and pennies. Since they are heavy and jingle a lot, we found this great idea. The quarters and pennies fit nicely in empty mini M&M plastic containers with snap tops. They are the exact size of a quarter and can fit well over a whole roll of quarters. They work for pennies also. So, before going to Disney we go to the bank and load up on rolls of quarters and pennies, so we don't have to scramble for them at the park and storage them in mini M&M containers. - Mary Smith
On a recent Disney trip I decided to forgo bringing my purse and just buy a cheap, small man's wallet. I just popped my ID, credit cards, ticket and a few dollars in, and off I would go. I could skip the bag line and not worry about where my money and information was. It made airport check-in a breeze also. I still use it today and leave all my other seldom-used cards in my larger wallet in my purse. How often do you really use all that other stuff you drag around with you? - Donna
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Just to touch on those wonderful pressed pennies: Don't forget to leave them out of your luggage when going through airport security. We lost some precious time and almost missed a connecting flight because our coin rolls had to be pulled out of our carry-on luggage for further inspection. Having them out of the luggage and accessible prior to going through the scanners makes it quicker and easier to get through the security check points. - Julie Wagner
Want to get prepped for your Hidden Mickey hunt at WDW, Disney style? Just watch Lion King 1 1/2. There are so many Hidden Mickeys in this movie that I lost count! - Alea L.
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