Tips for Disney Parks & Cruise Lines

Deb Wills shares: A recent item in the Orlando Sentinel reminded me of the threat of lightning strikes in Florida. According to the National Weather Service, Florida averaged more than 1.2 million lightning strikes a year during the last decade. It also has the most lightning-strike deaths and injuries each year. Lightning Safety Awareness Week began on the first official day of summer, so I thought it would be good to share the following safety tips:

• Lightning can strike even when it isn't raining.
• When you hear thunder, take shelter, since that means lightning is close. The safest place is inside a sturdy, enclosed building.
• A metal-topped vehicle with the windows up is also safe shelter.
• Stay inside for 30 minutes after you hear the last sound of thunder.
• When inside, stay away from corded phones and electronics.
• Avoid sinks, showers and faucets.

Deb Wills shares: A recent item in the Orlando Sentinel reminded me of the threat of lightning strikes in Florida. According to the National Weather Service, Florida averaged more than 1.2 million lightning strikes a year during the last decade. It also has the most lightning-strike deaths and injuries each year. Lightning Safety Awareness Week began on the first official day of summer, so I thought it would be good to share the following safety tips:

• Lightning can strike even when it isn't raining.
• When you hear thunder, take shelter, since that means lightning is close. The safest place is inside a sturdy, enclosed building.
• A metal-topped vehicle with the windows up is also safe shelter.
• Stay inside for 30 minutes after you hear the last sound of thunder.
• When inside, stay away from corded phones and electronics.
• Avoid sinks, showers and faucets.

I thought that Alice McNutt Miller's post about money saving tips was spot on. Our family has enjoyed Disney World every few years and I always consult the AllEars® tips database while planning. One tip that I would add to Alice's list is considering travel during the room-only discount periods. This way you can combine frugal and fairly extravagant if you're willing to move from value/moderate to deluxe for a few days (especially to the BoardWalk area). Our kids felt like it was two vacations in one. - Jack

We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, so we took the boat ride to Disney Springs, had dinner at Raglan Road and then spent the rest of the evening shopping. Raglan Road was phenomenal! In fact it was one of only two restaurants my boyfriend requested we go back to again this September! The bar was great and the service was excellent. - Betsy Ralph

We always end each trip with an afternoon spent shopping in the Marketplace. Usually at the end of each trip we have a handful of snack credits remaining from the Dining Plan. Instead of them going to waste we take full advantage of The Enchanted Dining Room at World of Disney. This room is divided into two areas, housewares and gourmet food. Here we trade in our credits for Disney cookies, pretzels, snack mixes, candy, or whatever else is available. This way we can take a small piece of Disney home with us to enjoy over the weeks following our return. - Brooke

We just returned from a cruise and parks trip -- two days in the parks, then a four-day cruise, then two more days in the parks. We packed separate suitcases for the cruise and the parks days. We left our "parks" suitcase with bell services and they even transferred it to our next hotel. It was there waiting for us when we got off the cruise. Saved everyone time and energy of having one fewer bag to get on/off the ship. Another part of the Disney magic! - Sue and John Bower

Don't be too quick to dismiss the Deluxe resorts. For the UK visitor, free dining is usually not available at the Value resorts, while the Quick Service plan is included at the Moderates and the regular dining plan comes with Deluxe or Villas. We have found that it can often work out cheaper for us to book a villa when free dining is included than it would be to book at a Value resort and buy a dining plan or just pay for food as we went along. - Debi

My favorite and must shop store at Disney Springs is Disney's Days of Christmas. They have such unique and specialty items. My husband and I bought a large Mickey ornament which we had personalized with our names and marriage info (we were celebrating our 25th anniversary). I always know I can find such cool and unusual Mickey Christmas decorations. I go to the Christmas store early in our trip so that any personalization I want will be finished before I leave the world. If you love Christmas and decorating, then this is the place for you. Disney will ship purchases to your home, or just be sure to bring an extra suitcase and take any fragile items as a carry on. - Jodi Mooney

There are two full service Guest Relations locations in Disney Springs. They handle all the same transactions as the Guest Relations locations at the theme parks but the DTD locations are always less crowded. The Guest Relations offices at DTD are located in the Marketplace and in West Side.

The Marketplace location is between the Team Mickey shop and the Ghirardelli shop towards the Rainforest Cafe end of the Marketplace. This is a walk-up counter located indoors between the two stores.

The West Side location is on the outside left the Disney Quest building. - Jack Marshall

My tip is to make sure you remember where you park your car. One time we were at Disney Springs at night and didn't pay attention in which lot we had parked. When we came back to the lot, we exited through a different pathway. It was raining and we looked up and down the aisles, finally contacting security. Luckily, I had written down the rental car company, make and model and license plate number. Then the security guard said to go to the office to call the car rental agency and that's when we noticed another lot, with our rental car in it. Even though our kids were young, they still remember this story to this day. Now we always write down the lot number and section or which store we park near. - pletschdoc

The second day of our trip we woke up early and got the bus to Disney Springs Marketplace. The shopping there was great and since the stores were just opening in Once Upon a Toy the ladies let my boys turn on the train and be the conductors for the day... We had a great time sitting by the water and watching the lizards sun themselves. Then since we were staying at Port Orleans Riverside we got the ferry back to our hotel. It was very nice and relaxing. Truly one of my favorite moments at Disney. - Jennifer Clark

The LEGO store is a must visit! Kids will love the chance to play with LEGOs and the LEGO statues are a must-see (including a dragon statue actually in the lake!). If you see an item you want to buy, consider checking its availability online. One member of my party was swayed to buy a LEGO chess set after realizing it was unavailable online, even on the LEGO website. Also, LEGO enthusiasts (or people who lose LEGO pieces) will love the ability to buy individual LEGO pieces and create personalized LEGO people. On another note, when you buy a personalized light saber at "Once Upon a Toy," you get a free Sith or Rebellion pin at checkout. But if you want one or the other, be sure to ask. My cashier gave me a choice, but two other cashiers just gave my friends pins without offering a choice. - Tammy Ivins

When my family of four goes to WDW I carry a small bicycle lock with us to put on our stroller to prevent someone from taking it by accident. It only takes a minute to put on. It beats having to go back to the front of the park to get another stroller, which could wear you out with the extra walking. - Danny Gauthier

Toddler Tips by Kelly Ostroski

Toddler Tip #1: Traveling with a 16-month-old who loves to walk and doesn't want to stay in her stroller is a challenge. However, we found a perfect spot at Magic Kingdom and Epcot to allow our daughter to run around, yet not be in the way of other park-goers. At the Magic Kingdom, to the right of the castle, is a walkway down toward the water. There are park benches and a big open space that we had all to ourselves. The ducks kept us quite amused, too.

In the evening, it is hard to find well-lit areas to allow your toddler to amble along without being in the way or lose footing. We found the perfect place in Epcot. The lit circular courtyard in front of France is the perfect place for running around. There was nobody around and with the poster-covered lamppost being a light, it was perfectly lit to make sure our little ones could see where they were going.

Toddler Tip #2: This tip is for those traveling to the World with small ones using a double stroller. We took our double jogging stroller for our 3-year-old and 16-month-old. We couldn't have survived the week without it. Though our stroller fits perfectly through normal doorways, we did encounter a problem with the monorail system. Some of the monorail lines (namely the red line) have not been converted, so extra-wide strollers will not fit in all of the cars, only those deemed for wheelchairs. So, if you have a side-by-side stroller, you might want to ask the attendant what monorail line is coming and ask if it has been converted yet.

Toddler Tip #3 It is a lot easier going through security at the parks when everything is in its own see-through bag. Traveling with little ones, you need an extra change of clothes, snacks, sippies, bottles, diapers, wipes, etc. I placed each item in its own Ziploc see-through bag. It was a snap to get through security because they could see everything and so could I (minimizing tantrums). It also kept my items clean and dry.

Toddler Tip #4 Afraid of toddler tantrums? Our only fear of taking our small girls to WDW was our 3-year-old's recent tantrums. She doesn't understand the concept of having to wait for things. So, I decided to try to minimize anything that would require waiting for long periods of time. Since we live in the north, we did not need our "vacation" clothes prior to leaving. So, I shipped all of our clothes, diapers, snacks, etc. ahead of time to the hotel so we wouldn't have to wait for our luggage at baggage claim. We hired a car service (Quicksilver Tours - they were awesome) to pick us up and take us directly to the hotel. We did the same for the return trip home. Even though we did have to wait in security lines and wait to board the airplane, we were able to minimize the "waiting" as much as possible.

Toddler Tip #5 If you have a child that has a favorite toy that they do not give up easily, consider not letting your child see or have the toy until AFTER the security line at the airport. TSA will not let them go through security with anything in their hand.

I have a tip about an AllEars Hears item, which said WDW wedding packages start at $4,000. You can be married at The Swan and Dolphin resorts for much less and still receive some of the benefits of a Walt Disney World Wedding, including appearances by characters like Mickey and Minnie. Packages start at around $2,200. Shades of Green is another lower-cost option (for those who have family in the military). - C. Hayward