Tips about Other and Resorts

FORT WILDERNESS RESORT - I enjoyed your review of the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue. It brought back fond memories of our trip last December. Something I think worth mentioning for those going with kids are the pony rides. We traveled over a little early and enjoyed the ride. - Jim Morgenland EDITOR'S NOTE: The petting zoo is no longer operated at Fort Wilderness however, they do have pony rides for the younger children. Height and age restrictions are posted. Parents must walk the pony around a sandy path so be sure both parents and riders have closed toed shoes. Pony rides close at 5pm.

ALL RESORTS - Even if you have express checkout (where they hang your statement on your doorknob the morning of your departure saving you a trip to the front desk and a wait in line to check out) be sure to check your statement for errors! I always do this and have found errors such as overcharges, duplications, charges for things that were supposed to be free etc. A trip to the front desk, statement in hand, usually results in a quick fix. - Beth Eloheimo

ALL RESORTS - My wife and I just got back from Port Orleans Riverside and discovered a neat idea. All the TVs are in armoires. Tune into the daily happenings channel. They play just instrumental music in at least 60 minute groupings. Turn up the volume, close the cabinet door, and you have the Magic all evening long. On another channel they feature Disney Radio. Each evening from 7-10 they have audio stories. Again, just turn up the sound, close the door, and you've got more magic! - Jim Miller

ALL STAR RESORTS - When we stay at the All Star Resorts we like to make our room feel larger and also give our daughter more playing room. Simply push the two beds together against the wall and move the night stand and table between the beds and the door and these small All Star rooms become much more roomy. Just leave a note politely asking the housekeeping to leave the furniture the way you have arranged. - Amy Kearns

SHADES OF GREEN - With a military ID, you can purchase items at the Shades of Green Gift Shop that are VERY reasonably priced. For instance, we bought pins there for my son to trade in the parks: $3 for pins that are $6.50-$8.50 in WDW gift shops. - Joseph and Renee Witmer

SHADES OF GREEN - We stayed at the Shades of Green this past October during the National Car Rental Golf Tournament. The great perk of staying there was admission to the tournament was FREE! My husband got to see Tiger Woods in person for free. Needless to say we've made reservations for this year's tournament. - Connie Roberts

Pop Century - My wife and I just returned from a stay at the Pop Century Resort. We discovered that if we were trying to catch a bus from a park back to Pop Century and the lines were very, very long, we could sometimes hop on the Art of Animation Resort bus instead. (The stops are usually next to each other.) The walk from the Art of Animation, through the lobby, and across the short bridge to Pop Century took only a couple of minutes -- much quicker than the possible long wait we would have had for our own resort bus. - Rory Osborne

This isn't a new tip, just some feedback on a tip I saw last year on the ALL EARS® newsletter. The five of us (mom, dad, son and 2 daughters) recently spent Christmas and New Year's at the Contemporary. Even with the larger room, things were a little crowded, but thanks to the tip to hang an inexpensive shoe bag over the bathroom door for storing everyone's 'stuff', the bathroom was clutter-free. I think my oldest daughter took up half of it. This is by far the best tip we've taken away from your informative newsletter. - Keith Link

When we were planning our trip to Disney World, we made our reservations at one of the hotels that was on Disney property. Our family is on a budget so it was hard for us to try to save all at once. I called the hotel and asked if I could send so much money each month. The money we sent went towards the hotel bill, like a prepayment. So each month I sent money towards our stay. I made the reservation a year in advance therefore we had all year to send the money. Well, we went to Disney World at New Year's and guess what? Our room was already paid for! I thought I would pass the idea to you since it seems like Disney World gets more expensive every year. - Linda Martin of Mt. Sterling, KY